New, proud owner of neglected 50 year old gunite pool

[ulrichsd]

Thanks everyone! Rabbet, we replastered, redid the concrete and added 3 leds. There are some before pictures throughout the thread as well.

Daleyfolk, i have been keeping the chlorine up since putting the cover on. Without sunlight it hadn't been difficult. Since i didn't have any cya i just used one trochlor tab per week. I also added 10 pounds sodium bicarbonate to get my ta back up after adding like 6 gallons, over time, of muriatic acid. Looks like I'm starting to stabilize after 2 months.

I have dissolve 4 lbs cya and added another 4 lbs today, which should get me close to 30 ppm. Have been dosing liquid chlorine since taking the cover off this weekend.

20x40' inground concrete pool
approx 30,000 gallons
1.5 hp hayward pump
refinished spring 2015

 

[reinnov8r]

Do you know what the name/maker of the tiles you used inside your pool? I am missing two and trying to find replacements. I think I have the same tiles.

Thanks!

 

[ctrav]

Outstanding and oh boy if that pool could talk just think of the stories it would tell...

 

[emceelovin]

*bump*

i am so jealous of your remodel lol. its absolutely amazing, worth it, and youll love it forever! i have almost the same situation. i inherited a neglected 44 year old 40x20 35k gallon gunite pool with a house i just bought. im nowhere near as far as you, but i need everything you do. deck, resurface, coping, tile, and a new deck. it also was winterized(whether properly I'm not sure) and not open since 2014. its so amazing seeing gunite pools live up their reputation of withstanding the test of time. im not a fan of fiber glass or vinyl pools to be honest. plaster is more work, but i like the look more. if you dont mind me asking, how much did you end up paying for all of the work? i received a quote of 8k for new marcite, 5k for tile, and 5k for new precast coping. the marcite price im cool with, but the tile and coping seem high. i havent even got a quote for the deck yet because i have to replace my driveway, and thats gonna be about 10k alone. i wouldnt doubt if i had 5k in concrete deck work. what im really shocked is, and only one person in this whole thread mentioned it. you didnt have any leaks, cracks, or oxidation stains? i have two, so far, oxidation stains, and im putting the breaks on my renovation until i get them looked at. im hoping they arent too severe, or even rust at all, and i have two cracks alone each wall that run down into the deep end slope. im hoping my shell isnt cracked. im not losing any water, but seeing a crack along the marcite is worrying me about the shell. i dont wanna invest 23k into this whole job, even though yours is making me have so much confidence and hope, and my shell crack even more or again! im, TRYING, to include pictures of what i started from until what i have now. im not sure if they uploaded correctly. im gonna read the forum on how to get pictures in my post properly. i think im gonna have to resize them. i take every picture in 4k with my phone.

 

[ctrav]

Congrats on an awesome job...you should be very proud!

 

[ulrichsd]

its so amazing seeing gunite pools live up their reputation of withstanding the test of time.

Not sure how I missed this comment, but I hope your pool turned out good! I think yours looks like it is in better shape than mine when I started and from what I've read, my pool 1964 was before gunnite such they just used concrete I guess?

Added a heater and a slide this year so still fun to do upgrades

 

[calinb]

Also only allowed to directly attach so many photos, very few for non-members. Best way to share photos is to upload them to a sharing site like photobucket and link to them in threads. No limit on doing that.

See here: Posting Photos Tutorial

Please avoid using Photobucket, if possible. I'm a member of many forums that once hosted useful information and howtos that were rendered worthless after Photobucket pulled the plug on free photo hosting for the contributor's images. When I think of the efforts lost by dedicated and diligent forum members, it makes me want to promote a total ban on Photobucket whenever possible. Though any hosting service can unexpectedly pull the plug (even pay to play services), it seems to me that using a biggie like a Google drive or Microsoft share would be far more reliable.

Now on to the pool topic itself...

I was in a similar position with the acquisition of a home with a similar age ('70s vintage Gunite) pool a little over two years ago. The pool was a swamp and the pump didn't work. The pump would barely run and then quit when the thermal protection kicked-in. It turned out one of the underground 220 VAC lines to the pump was tripping the breaker on one line so the pump was only getting one phase of AC. It would have been ridiculously difficult to correct the problem beneath the ground so the solution was new above-ground conduit along the house from the breaker panel to the pump house and new wiring. BTW, I believe that many of the older made in the USA pump motors are far higher quality than what's imported from China and sold today--often under the same old brand names. It is usually worthwhile to rebuild these older pump sections and motors, in my opinion.

P.S. The old Gunite with asbestos in it was really tough stuff, which I consider to only be a significant hazard during a pool renovation but best to be aware of it with an old pool.

 

[LoneWolfArcher]

I love this thread! Well done ulrich, that pool is gorgeous!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Please avoid using Photobucket, if possible. I'm a member of many forums that once hosted useful information and howtos that were rendered worthless after Photobucket pulled the plug on free photo hosting for the contributor's images. When I think of the efforts lost by dedicated and diligent forum members, it makes me want to promote a total ban on Photobucket whenever possible. Though any hosting service can unexpectedly pull the plug (even pay to play services), it seems to me that using a biggie like a Google drive or Microsoft share would be far more reliable.

Now on to the pool topic itself...

I was in a similar position with the acquisition of a home with a similar age ('70s vintage Gunite) pool a little over two years ago. The pool was a swamp and the pump didn't work. The pump would barely run and then quit when the thermal protection kicked-in. It turned out one of the underground 220 VAC lines to the pump was tripping the breaker on one line so the pump was only getting one phase of AC. It would have been ridiculously difficult to correct the problem beneath the ground so the solution was new above-ground conduit along the house from the breaker panel to the pump house and new wiring. BTW, I believe that many of the older made in the USA pump motors are far higher quality than what's imported from China and sold today--often under the same old brand names. It is usually worthwhile to rebuild these older pump sections and motors, in my opinion.

P.S. The old Gunite with asbestos in it was really tough stuff, which I consider to only be a significant hazard during a pool renovation but best to be aware of it with an old pool.

Great points! (And yes I was very frustrated by that decision by Photobucket.)