New to TFP, new to pool ownership, extremely lost and I think I messed up

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So, advice needed. I just had to order a few things, main being the attachment plate for my skimmer for the hose. Do you suggest I keep up with SLAM, or save my money/chlorine until that stuff gets here. After all of the Chlorine I've added, it's still cloudy. I suspect there is a ton of stuff on the bottom I can't do anything about (likely sticks, leaves, and even potentially a frog or two..... My current pole is broken. And my R0871 is 3/4 empty already.

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PoolStored said:
Keep slamming while your equipment is on the way. Starting over will cost more.
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So next year, when we get a new winter cover and end the season properly, we won't have to deal with this again this bad, right?
If I scrub the walls and bottom really well? This is so expensive. I'm ready to get rid of the pool 😅
 
Do this.

Maintain the pool until LATE October.
Close the pool using this guide, Link--> Closing (Winterizing) Your Above Ground Pool
Open the pool by April 15.

Close late, open early. Follow the closing guide to a T. Print it out and use it as a checklist. Don't miss a step. You won't likely have to slam. Haven't ever slammed since the first one brought me here...
 
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hvstle said:
Question - can I use this in place of liquid Muriatic Acid? I can't buy liquid anywhere close to me that I can find. Amazon sells it, of course, but it is 3x as expensive as it is if there were somewhere closer to me.
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Eastern Iowa is where i live. It is in every hardware store in the paint section. It is much cheaper than the dry stuff and works better. Seems like i cant go 40 miles without finding a Menards.
 
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hvstle said:
So next year, when we get a new winter cover and end the season properly, we won't have to deal with this again this bad, right?
If I scrub the walls and bottom really well? This is so expensive. I'm ready to get rid of the pool
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Getting a new cover will help. All you need to do about 10 September is cover it and wait for the middle of May. Don't waste money on doing anything after you put the cover on in September as you will be wasting money. My 35,000 gal cost about 15 gallons of bleach from Menards, couple of gallons of muratic acid, 12 -16 pounds of CYA and a lot of beer while i manual vacuum for a few days. I have a SWG so i also have to add salt.
All together this week i spent (15 gal * $3.83) + (2 gal * $8) + ($80 CYA) = ~$160. Pool is now ready (6 days after taking off cover) and waiting for sun to heat up as SWG is running.
I try not to keep track of beer costs..
 
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Darin said:
Getting a new cover will help. All you need to do about 10 September is cover it and wait for the middle of May. Don't waste money on doing anything after you put the cover on in September as you will be wasting money. My 35,000 gal cost about 15 gallons of bleach from Menards, couple of gallons of muratic acid, 12 -16 pounds of CYA and a lot of beer while i manual vacuum for a few days. I have a SWG so i also have to add salt.
All together this week i spent (15 gal * $3.83) + (2 gal * $8) + ($80 CYA) = ~$160. Pool is now ready (6 days after taking off cover) and waiting for sun to heat up as SWG is running.
I try not to keep track of beer costs..
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If I drank every time I worked on the pool I'd likely lose my job.

You're only about an hour away from me!

I'm very excited for the pool, as is my wife. She's been encouraging... The amount of effort and money we've spent so far feels like I'm literally dumping money into the toilet. In hindsight, I wonder if we should have drained the entire pool, cleaned and scrubbed, and started fresh.

Oh well, we're in it now. I was hoping to have the pool ready by next Wednesday when my dad comes down for the rest of the week but at this point I don't feel confident the dang thing will ever be ready.

Okay, no more pessimism from me. We got this. I appreciate everyone that has helped, suggested, commented, and stuck along for the ride so far.
 
You have to learn somehow! My buddy has a pool identical to yours. He follows the TFP plan every year. He can get his ready in 3 -4 days but then he has been doing it for years and years. Experience....
 
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hvstle said:
So next year, when we get a new winter cover and end the season properly, we won't have to deal with this again this bad, right?
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Get a thread going when it's time to start hatching a plan. Tag me and poolstored and we'll set you up. (Along with any other folks free to help).


Exhibit A and B that a little effort along with the proper timing, pays you back in spades : (old house / new house)

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Your first rodeo takes some time to get over your reservations and see what works best. You'll tweak a thing or two the second year. After that, it's an hour to close/open and you'll need about an hour over the winter. (Excluding time waiting for draining. You're free to mow the lawn or watch football while you wait).
 
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Whelp. I'm about ready to stop. I got in the pool to manually scrub and vacuum everything I could. I've been doing the SLAM. It's not clearing up. I don't understand. I am defeated. We've spent so much money and while it's not a green algae looking pool. It's not clear either. I don't know what to do, but I'm well over $500 on chemicals now and this just doesn't seem right.
 
hvstle said:
this just doesn't seem right.
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There's no telling what kind of chemical soup you inherited. It was likely DOA when the closed it, then got to fester for months.

You could have found us after the pool store fleeced you dry, *then* needed what you've needed.

While this stage of slam tests everyone's patience, sand filters make it test-ier

Got a current pic ?
 
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PoolStored said:
Don't stop, you are only 7 days in. Post pictures of the pool water.

How often are you checking and replacing FC?
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At least three times a day. Sometimes more.

Here's the kicker though... my pump has an on switch, but it (like everything else on it label/instruction wise) is super faded. So I went out today to look at it and I had turned it off, then accidentally pushed it harder another way and it turned on on, my pressure went up to 10... I think I have had it running on a "low" mode this entire time >.<. I wonder if that had something to do with my issue.

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I do think that looks better than when you opened.

Are you getting to 28 FC when you add liquid chlorine. Are you still in need of a new pole? It is extremely helpful to brush at least once every day.
 
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Deb04 said:
I do think that looks better than when you opened.

Are you getting to 28 FC when you add liquid chlorine. Are you still in need of a new pole? It is extremely helpful to brush at least once every day.
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Yes, I got everything. I've been doing better at everything. I need to check with the city to see if I can take the guard rail off. It makes everything a heck of a lot harder to clean.
And yes on the 28.
 
hvstle said:
I need to check with the city to see if I can take the guard rail off.
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Likely not, without a fence. It's probably there to satisfy a 5 foot barrier or such.

Your concern would be a (neighbors) kid being able to climb over the slightly lower pool wall, and not be able to swim.
 

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