Good Morning, fellow pool neighbors!
I have "inherited" our family pool following a string of unfortunate financial decisions, and very recent tragic events. Suffice it to say that while my mom was alive, she and my step-dad were not able to afford much of anything, let alone pool maintenance, and what I was left to battle is a legit self-sustaining ecosystem, complete with cattails, wetland grass, and a family of rather cute froggies.
Fast-forward to today: I have gained quite a bit of field experience with cattails and their rather ingeniously designed root systems. I've cleared it all but a couple of smaller patches which will be completed by the end of the day today (it's insanely hot here, so I can only do this in the evenings and still end up completely drenched in sweat). Side note, I'm 46, 5'6", and weigh about a buck-25; I did all of this myself with a metal rake (used pruning shears for all of 5 min), and a heck of a lot of elbow grease, and a sprinkle or two of ingenuity.
My next battle will be the cover, which has disintegrated and become part of the root system in places (made it more interesting pulling everything out of the pool at times). I will likely have to throw a trash pump onto the parts that are still intact and holding water, as I cannot pull that out myself.
Once I get the cover off and skim what I can off of the top, my next mission will be to see what's up with the filtration system and pipes. What I can tell everyone is that this pool has a steel insert (vs fiberglass or plaster), is braced all over the place and set in concrete. I know that the filter was relatively new, and I can find out when something was replaced. The liner is vinyl and replaced "recently", but again, it's been through some nature...
I know if have to shock the bejesus out of this beast, but I don't know how to even go about that, and in what steps to do everything. I'd also really, really appreciate advice regarding what equipment to use to aid in cleanup.
I'm so thankful that I found this group, and eagerly look forward to all suggestions and help that I can get.
Thank you all in advance!
Attached are photos of the before and current state. I left everything to sit out and bake in the sun so it's nice and light to clean up. I'll get photos of the filter later tonight after I've finished up yanking the vegetation off of the top.
I have "inherited" our family pool following a string of unfortunate financial decisions, and very recent tragic events. Suffice it to say that while my mom was alive, she and my step-dad were not able to afford much of anything, let alone pool maintenance, and what I was left to battle is a legit self-sustaining ecosystem, complete with cattails, wetland grass, and a family of rather cute froggies.
Fast-forward to today: I have gained quite a bit of field experience with cattails and their rather ingeniously designed root systems. I've cleared it all but a couple of smaller patches which will be completed by the end of the day today (it's insanely hot here, so I can only do this in the evenings and still end up completely drenched in sweat). Side note, I'm 46, 5'6", and weigh about a buck-25; I did all of this myself with a metal rake (used pruning shears for all of 5 min), and a heck of a lot of elbow grease, and a sprinkle or two of ingenuity.
My next battle will be the cover, which has disintegrated and become part of the root system in places (made it more interesting pulling everything out of the pool at times). I will likely have to throw a trash pump onto the parts that are still intact and holding water, as I cannot pull that out myself.
Once I get the cover off and skim what I can off of the top, my next mission will be to see what's up with the filtration system and pipes. What I can tell everyone is that this pool has a steel insert (vs fiberglass or plaster), is braced all over the place and set in concrete. I know that the filter was relatively new, and I can find out when something was replaced. The liner is vinyl and replaced "recently", but again, it's been through some nature...
I know if have to shock the bejesus out of this beast, but I don't know how to even go about that, and in what steps to do everything. I'd also really, really appreciate advice regarding what equipment to use to aid in cleanup.
I'm so thankful that I found this group, and eagerly look forward to all suggestions and help that I can get.
Thank you all in advance!
Attached are photos of the before and current state. I left everything to sit out and bake in the sun so it's nice and light to clean up. I'll get photos of the filter later tonight after I've finished up yanking the vegetation off of the top.
![image0[1].jpeg](/data/attachments/316/316358-dc3551b2ed8aeac321288670f4facf08.jpg)
![image3[1].jpeg](/data/attachments/316/316360-b979169df2b4ae4ab642480020039395.jpg)
![image4[1].jpeg](/data/attachments/316/316361-dd29acc25c95a8191047913b5a74aeca.jpg)
![image1[1].jpeg](/data/attachments/316/316364-e3c1fa74b9e21d1c6881de5852da4127.jpg)
Be sure to visit our 
