Our New Pool Build and The FUN (i.e. Stress) that Goes Along with it!

[carnivalday]

What a relief! Now keep that jug of muriatic acid handy and blop some in now and again, and check your pH. Im doing that all the time right now. I used to get all "omg my pH is high!!!". Now Im just, oops, pH went up, blop blop.

 

[MeowMeow724]

I like the "blop blop" haha

I have many gallons on hand, stored in my garage. I also keep a gallon in a 5 gallon bucket with gloves and measuring cup on my porch for easy access for E.O.D addition of MA. ?

Blop, blop isn't that quick or easy for my situation, unfortunately.
I used to pull back our cover halfway to add it, but before doing that I also had to clear off TONS of leaves/acorns around the deck perimeter and top of cover.. but it became such a time consuming process. So now I just clear around the area that I need access to, lift the cover, and pour the acid in from the measuring cup over the return jet in the deep end and brush a little, put the cover back down and voila!
This makes it much easier and something I can actually manage on a regular basis without being super stressed because frankly, I'm too busy these days to take 30-45 mins to add ounces of MA every 2 days, in addition to the other normal pool care steps/testing.
This leaves me seriously considering an auto-feeder for MA.

I also want to strongly consider a screen enclosure but hubby is adamant we won't be doing that, ever. ?

 

[kimkats]

Muriatic acid in the garage might not be the best idea. That stuff is so nasty that even it's FUMES can do some nasty stuff to metal. We saw a picture of a metal cabinet they stored an UNOPENED bottle of m.a. in it. The side of the door and all around where the UNOPENED bottle was rusted!!

I keep mine in a vented plastic bucket outside behind my barn where my critters do not go.

 

[MeowMeow724]

Muriatic acid in the garage might not be the best idea. That stuff is so nasty that even it's FUMES can do some nasty stuff to metal. We saw a picture of a metal cabinet they stored an UNOPENED bottle of m.a. in it. The side of the door and all around where the UNOPENED bottle was rusted!!

I keep mine in a vented plastic bucket outside behind my barn where my critters do not go.

Ohhhhh.....! Wow.
Even if it's sealed in the jugs, inside a plastic bin that is clamped closed?

I thought inside was better than outside because here in FL it's super humid and gross which can compromise lots of things when left outdoors?

 

[kimkats]

The clamped lid could be very dangerous for YOU if you open it and get hit in the face with the fumes.

This stuff is so stable temps or humid or just about anything will not mess it up. I would put it in the bin BUT make sure it is vented some way and find a place out side to put it where little hands cannot get in to it.

 

[MeowMeow724]

Wowza ok!

I think i need to get a little shed or deck box to put near our pool equipment.

What other chemicals should, and shouldn't I keep outside or inside?
Worried about humidity outside of course.

 

[kimkats]

Chlorine should be kept out of the big heat and full sun as it can degrade over time from it. The pucks/tablets should be kept in a vented area as they can off case some nasty smells some times.

M.A. and chlorine are NOT friends! They should not be close enough to even spit at each other! They need to live on other sides of town LOL. My liquid chlorine is kept in a deck box by my equipment. It does get some sun but I tend to go through it fairly fast (within about 3 weeks from buying it) so it is not biggie to me.

Kim

 

[MeowMeow724]

Today's surprise.

White marks all over our coping.
From when they washed inside the pool, from the outside. I saw him with jugs of muriatic acid around the perimeter and it wasn't wet down or anything.

I just sent this to the warranty manager. He said if it was acid (or other chemicals) then the stains would be rusty because it makes the iron in the stone come out. Is that true? That's now what is remember when hearing to not allow acid to get onto concrete, coping, etc... I could be wrong and will admit if I am.

Not sure if this will wash off, but seriously. What am i even supposed to do if every time they FIX something, something else gets messed up??

 

[ajw22]

It will weather out and blend in in time.

 

[kimkats]

I would spray it down and give it a good brushing with the broom also being wet and see what happens.

 

[MeowMeow724]

I would spray it down and give it a good brushing with the broom also being wet and see what happens.

I didn't use a broom yet, but did spray it down twice with the jet setting, and it helped. I can see it's still discolored and there are areas that are definitely stained with what look like smaller "droplet" shapes. I will wet down and scrub with a broom tomorrow.

We also cleaned our filter for the first time and saw that there was no air relief tube or air relief valve screen on the manifold, and let the warranty manager know. He was going to reimburse me for buying one. The hole where the tube goes on the manifold was clogged with dirt. I thought they just didn't install it at all, but later found it sitting on the bottom of the filter container. So it probably wasn't on there, ever, and fell off during installation.

 

[wireform]

I didn't use a broom yet, but did spray it down twice with the jet setting, and it helped. I can see it's still discolored and there are areas that are definitely stained with what look like smaller "droplet" shapes. I will wet down and scrub with a broom tomorrow.

We also cleaned our filter for the first time and saw that there was no air relief tube or air relief valve screen on the manifold, and let the warranty manager know. He was going to reimburse me for buying one. The hole where the tube goes on the manifold was clogged with dirt. I thought they just didn't install it at all, but later found it sitting on the bottom of the filter container. So it probably wasn't on there, ever, and fell off during installation.

I'm not sure how or what the tube does but since it has a mesh screen we can agree there shouldn't be any dirt in there. Make sure that's taken care of before reassembling it.

 

[kimkats]

Glad to hear it is looking a bit better. So sad they can't fix one thing without making problems with something else GURRRRR THEN they messed up the filter in not making sure it was put together with all of it's parts in place UNREAL!

Kim

 

[MeowMeow724]

It's official.
I hate pH, and pH hates me.
Our battle is now a daily thing. And I've even been adding MA twice a day to keep it within range.
The intellipH auto-feeder is looking better and better each day.

I am also starting to keep a log of water depth from top of our waterline tile. I sense we could be losing some water but I am not 100% sure yet.
It is normal to lose a little, over time, right? But not much, and over a long period? Or?

Still working with the PB to figure out what they are going to do about the second failed attempt at this paver installation. White squares/rectangles abound, as well as dark gray due to compounded base they got on top. When they are wet, the compounded base is very prominent and is on sooo many of them, too. Waiting for the plan they said they will be sending me today. Maybe third time is a charm. I don't want to wait and see if they clear up, and don't think I should have to, especially because I paid an upcharge for the addition and they've now failed twice. I asked them earlier this week to tell me what they are going to do about this by the end of this week because we're trying to move forward in getting the rest of our yard done, which includes adding another 450 sq ft or so of pavers. The quote we got per sq ft to install the new area from another very reputable installer in our area, is almost half per sq ft of what we paid as an upcharge for the first addition we had the PB install.

 

[ajw22]

It's official.
I hate pH, and pH hates me.
Our battle is now a daily thing. And I've even been adding MA twice a day to keep it within range.

What range are you keeping your pH? What pH does it get to when you add acid?

I am also starting to keep a log of water depth from top of our waterline tile. I sense we could be losing some water but I am not 100% sure yet.
It is normal to lose a little, over time, right? But not much, and over a long period? Or?

Sounds like normal Evaporation of Pool Water - Further Reading

 

[MeowMeow724]

What range are you keeping your pH? What pH does it get to when you add acid?

7.6-7.8.. but trying more towards 7.6 to satisfy the PB, except it doesn't stay there for more than a few hours probably.
When I add acid, it generally is around 7.6 when I test it a few hours or so later. But the next day, mid-morning, it's shot up to 8.0 or higher it seems like.

Sounds like normal Evaporation of Pool Water - Further Reading

Thank you for this!!

 

[MeowMeow724]

What would you call this?

I have a daylight simulator behind it.
With and without that, it's not a color on the chart..... ?

It's actually a bit lighter than the pic looks

 

[carnivalday]

Looks like 7.8 to me.

 

[kimkats]

I say 7.8 as well.

Kim

 

[MeowMeow724]

Thanks, guys! Hubby and I were thinking 7.6 (as I said the color was actually lighter than the picture so it may be deceiving).
I added some MA tonight to be safe. I need to keep it down, and am working to keep it from going over 7.8 at any time.