Not sure what to do…

[Whysomuch]

Alright, I just purchased a house. It has an amazing looking pool, or so I thought! I talked to the guy who had been taking care of the pool for the previous 3 years today. I wanted him to continue maintaining it because from my noob eyes the pool looks great! Well he tells me instantly that he wanted to drain the pool, he had been telling the previous owner that the pool needed to be drained, they refused because they were selling anyways! Yay!

So here I am, I know absolutely nothing about pools, I think my pool is a Gunite pool, not sure. I’m reading on the net that pools should be drained but sometimes it can be disastrous, so this is freaking me out.

Im really just not sure what to do, do I go with what he says and have him drain the pool? Am I being taking advantage of because of my lack of knowledge of pools.?He seems to not want to just maintain the pool, unless it is drained first. I’m just lost here.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! Pools can be safely drained if needed. Did he leave you a set of test results or say why he thinks it needs to be drained? We only recommend draining for specific conditions, such as too much CYA in the water. If you would like to learn how to maintain the pool yourself we can teach you.

 

[LoneWolfArcher]

I am guessing, since it is a pool service taking care of it, that he wants to drain it because the chlorine stabilizer (CYA) has risen to a high level due to using stabilized chlorine (pucks, tablets, powders). The only way to lower CYA is to drain and fill. It won't have to be drained completely if that is the case. It will only need to be drained to the percentage that the CYA needs to be lowered. (For instance if CYA needs to be lowered by 50%, then the pool will need to be drained to 50%).

Here at TFP, if you read the Pool School on water chemistry, you can learn how to maintain the pool without stabilized chlorine (IE liquid chlorine) and likely never have to drain your pool again. As zea said, it really isn't that hard, and there are choices on the market that will make it relatively easy and save you money in the long-term over paying a pool service.

Congrats on the new pool! I too inherited an IG pool from the purchase of our house. It was beautiful too! But like you it had some issues that really required draining and refilling, though through unique circumstances I didn't have that option. Using TFP methods for maintenance saved me, and my pool has been a piece of cake to maintain ever since! Welcome to TFP!

 

[CrystalRiver]

Depending on your fill water chemistry (specifically hardness), with TFP method maintenance you may never have to drain again. Use pucks or other solid forms of chlorine regularly, then yes draining every couple years is required.

 

[Hootz]

Welcome to Trouble Free Pool! Please take the time to read the pool school articles here. It will help you understand what taking care of a pool is all about and you can ask the pool service more specific questions. Please post any questions here if something in the pool school articles is not clear.

 

[Whysomuch]

Hi! Thanks for all the replies!

Yes, I think the reason that the pool needs to be drained is the CYA levels are too high and from what he told me he will constantly be behind the 8 ball if the pool is not drained. I think after reading everyone's replies I will go ahead and allow him to drain the pool and then continue reading all the great articles on this site and start maintaining the pool myself once I am more educated.

One other question I had is when I was looking at one of the articles about what levels the pool should be at I didn't see my pool, is there a section for Concrete/Gunite? I am pretty sure that is what it is called.

Thank you again everyone.

 

[LoneWolfArcher]

I think you use the plaster numbers, but I will let the experts say for sure.

 

[zea3]

Yes, plaster/concrete/gunnite all use the same values. Any pool surfaced with a masonry product is going to be called a plaster pool.

 

[Bperry]

FYI, the money you’ll save by managing the pool yourself will pay for the Taylor test kit in 1-2 months.