Plan for taking over a new pool?

[Abnaxis]

I am buying a house with an outdoor in-ground pool. There is some significant language barrier between me an the buyer, even before you get into the game of telephone that is me sending questions to my agent who sends them to their agent who gets the response, etc...

In the end, I'm going into this semi-blind, other than the fact that 1) I've seen the pool, and didn't see any green--there was some sediment in the bottom but we had a HUGE storm the night before the viewing and 2) I'm having a guy from the reputable construction company/pool installation company come in and do an inspection tomorrow. Also, the current owners disclosed that the heater's busted and the automated cover is torn (we have quotes and allowances to fix both).

So my question is--where do I take it from here? Can I really just test and run with it? I *think* what I saw there was a sand filter which I have no idea how it's been maintained, should I just plan on refilling it? Can I count on the inspector to know all the equipment is appropriately sized? I want to swap the system to SWG (kid has historically had some really bad skin conditions so I'm hoping "better water feel" will translate to "no rashes"), is it better to do that right now before I jump into maintaining the system myself or get everything balanced without it first and readjust later?

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! If I were you, my first priority would be to request a pressure leak test. Equipment like the heater, filter, pump, etc can always be replaced. But a plumbing leak, especially those underground, can be daunting. It would be good peace of mind to know the plumbing has no leaks underground. Converting to an SWG later is something we can help you with later.

Now once you move in and the pump is running with water moving, we can help you with testing as long as you have a TF-100 (link in my signature) or Taylor K-2006C Your water care is 100% dependent on one of those kits. I recommend the TF-100.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[stricttime]

Buy your test kit now. It really is essential in maintaining a sparkling pool. I couldn't handle 3 weeks of chemistry in school, but i can test my water and know what exactly my water needs. It's such a relief to *really know* what you are adding and why!

 

[Abnaxis]

Welcome to TFP! If I were you, my first priority would be to request a pressure leak test. Equipment like the heater, filter, pump, etc can always be replaced. But a plumbing leak, especially those underground, can be daunting. It would be good peace of mind to know the plumbing has no leaks underground. Converting to an SWG later is something we can help you with later.

Now once you move in and the pump is running with water moving, we can help you with testing as long as you have a TF-100 (link in my signature) or Taylor K-2006C Your water care is 100% dependent on one of those kits. I recommend the TF-100.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

Inspection is tomorrow, that advice on the pressure test is suuuuuuuuuper useful!

 

[Abnaxis]

The plot thickens?

Heard from the realtor that the pool "was originally saltwater and was 'rerouted' to use chlorine."

Erm...what? A SWG is just a widget that's mounted on a wall or sitting on the ground in the equipment area? What would be "rerouted"?

Could be the realtor just using a weird turn of phrase, I guess...dunno if that means installing a SWG is going to be easier, or not....

 

[Texas Splash]

Heard from the realtor that the pool "was originally saltwater and was 'rerouted' to use chlorine."

Lots of these people have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to pools. But if it had a salt generator installed, the cell in the plumbing line may be bad so someone might have re-routed the plumbing for some unknown reason (not required). Without a pic it's hard to know. But if the SWG cell or control module are not working, you can manage the pool as a non-salt pool by simply adding chlorine on your own. Not hard at all. Then you can repair the SWG at a later date.

 

[Abnaxis]

Ooooof

Just got back from the inspection, with a few not-so-great takeaways.

First, I don't trust the pool guys further than I can throw them, which is a problem since they're the most reputable pool place in town. They spent as much time pitching sales in a none-to-subtle-way as the did looking at the pool and somewhere about the time the senior tech said "yeah you can install the salt generator (sic) and then you just turn that on and add half a gallon of chlorine each week and it will be fine."

Erm, the "salt generator" is the chlorine, right pool guy? If you're adding even more after that, it means there's something else wrong, doesn't it?

Also, the pool is starting to green. Just a little bit, on the floor of the deeper end of the pool, but I'm not looking forward to what it's going to be like in a month when we move in. The inspectors "helpfully" dumped a bit of algaecide and sequesterer for what's there now (in their defense, they said they left all the chlorine at another job when they came to do the inspection).

It was already disclosed that the heater (wtf is a "heat siphon"? Someone's weird name for a heat pump?) is out of order, and there is a panel with controls and breakers for a SWG but the cell housing was left to freeze over the winter (it was sitting next to the heater with cracks going completely through it). It was also isclosed that the automated cover was torn, but that thing is beyond torn. It's a solid cover that's so threadbare you can see through it, there's absolutely no way the pool is safer with that thing on than it is with it off, which is a real problem since there's no fence (you can legally not have a fence where I live if you have a functioning automated safety cover). The pump housing is cracked and pulling in air, the filter needed a new gage (they had one on hand to put in there to check pressure) and the pool light doesn't come on. And just for the cherry on top, the caulk between the liner and the concrete pad needs touched up and the skimmer basket is cracked.

On the bright side, the pool body itself seems fine, at least to my eye. It's an itty-bitty pool, almost more a double-size fiberglass spa at 6000-7000 gal estimated by the inspectors (9.5x22-ish feet with a peanut shape to it, no depth measurement done). No cracked paint with only a tiny bit of fading at the top, the liner seems intact, and water flow seemed good when the pump was running (the cracked housing wasn't bad enough to keep it from pumping it just takes in air). The jets seemed like they were both functioning well, and water moved from the jet-end of the pool to the skimmer-end of the pool decently? Apparently pressure leak tests cost extra (and the guys didn't bring the equipment for it anyway) but the water level wasn't too low so hopefully that's not an issue. The concrete pad looks pristine, no cracks or blemishes to it.

The control panel for the salt cell/motor/whatnot is a San Juan digital controller/circuit breaker combined thing. It looks like it takes a cell-5 salt cell, whatever that is, to be plugged in when we buy a replacement. The estimate for the replacement stuff is $1600-ish including labor, which is better than I had hoped for since the heater and the cover were quoted at around $6.5K.

Right now my plan is to try to get the sellers to cover the cost of replacing all the busted things, and get my hands on a chemistry test kit as soon as I can. I fully expect to have a green mess when we take ownership (even though the purchase agreement says the current owners should be maintaining everything) but that shouldn't be any worse than opening after winter, I'm hoping? I was hoping for a little bit of an easier time maintain this thing at the outset since I'm not opening it.

 

[Newdude]

First, I don't trust the pool guys further than I can throw them, which is a problem since they're the most reputable pool place in town

Great. You’ve already proved to yourself that you will know more than the best game in town, and nobody will care for your pool like yourself. This is literally the hardest sell for us. Over and over and over. Well done. The rest is EZPZ.

. I fully expect to have a green mess when we take ownership (even though the purchase agreement says the current owners should be maintaining everything) but that shouldn't be any worse than opening after winter, I'm hoping

No matter how bad it is there have been way worse. Full ecosystems with tropical foliage and a slew of animals. We got you.

 

[Abnaxis]

Size check on things: according to the panel, the SWG is capable of creating 1.45 lbs of chlorine per 24 hr day. The pump motor (and it's quoted replacement) is one horse. I didn't see a BTU-rating tag on the "heat siphon," but the condenser on the thing is massive, bigger than the one on the heat pump for th house.

I can't imagine they're under-sized for a pool that small, but it always help to check for sanity purposes?

 

[Texas Splash]

I can't imagine they're under-sized for a pool that small, but it always help to check for sanity purposes?

Sounds like you have plenty of capacity. FYI - You can go to our PoolMath APP, look for "Effects of Adding" and select SWG. Click on the magnifying glass icon to select the SWG that best matches what you have and it's out put. Then list an output % and pump run time to see how much free chlorine it is expected to put-out. Nice feature.

 

[Abnaxis]

What is SWG%? How much life of the salt cell is used up?

 

[Texas Splash]

What is SWG%? How much life of the salt cell is used up?

SWG have not only a chlorine gas rating (i.e. 2 lbs per day), but most have an OUTPUT percentage selection level that can be adjusted as well. A cell set at 100% output is trying to create the maximum FC available in a 24 hr period or for as long as the pump is running. A salt cell set to 50% will product half of its capability, and so-on. We recommend owners have SWGs that are rated for twice the size of their pool so that the cell is not working at 100% max capacity all the time. As pool owners, we hope to never use more than about 4 ppm of FC in a 24 hr period unless there was a heavy bathers load. So you can use the PoolMath info above to calculate how much FC your FC is expected to produce.

 

[Abnaxis]

Except I have NO idea what CYA is. Kinda just assuming it's zero until I test.

 

[Texas Splash]

Except I have NO idea what CYA is. Kinda just assuming it's zero until I test.

All of that can wait until you have access and control of the pool and can test the water properly with your own TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C test kit. Until then, you can read-up on the sub-articles in the link below, create/update your PoolMath APP profile, and just get ready for day 1.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Abnaxis]

Something just occurred to me: I used to work in HVAC controls, and the panel I saw driving the pump definitely did not look like anything but a single-speed driver (not surprising, pretty sure it's 20+ years old). Since I'm replaceing the pump anyway, should I see about a VFD or something? Would that require a whole new panel?

 

[Texas Splash]

If the current motor is a single speed (hog), then you definitely want to upgrade for sound and energy efficiency. Whether you go for one of today's VSPs or just a simple manual two speed depends on various factors such as budget, pool equipment that requires programming, etc. I would suggest waiting until you are able to move in. Then take lots of pics of the existing pool/pad. Make notes of items that require a water feed, pre-existing automation, etc and we'll go from there. Those factors will all help determine whether you can piece-meal new equipment or might prefer to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch.

 

[Abnaxis]

If the current motor is a single speed (hog), then you definitely want to upgrade for sound and energy efficiency. Whether you go for one of today's VSPs or just a simple manual two speed depends on various factors such as budget, pool equipment that requires programming, etc. I would suggest waiting until you are able to move in. Then take lots of pics of the existing pool/pad. Make notes of items that require a water feed, pre-existing automation, etc and we'll go from there. Those factors will all help determine whether you can piece-meal new equipment or might prefer to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch.

Ugh, but I hate idle hands!

Pretty sure at this point in my budget and looking at the equipment I saw (99% certain control panel only had relay outputs) it'd have to be a 2-speed if anything. Looking up the PN for the replacement motor on the like-for-like quote, it's definitely a single-speed.

OK, now I'll chill out until I'm actually in front of the panel *sigh*

 

[red-beard]

Many of the VSP have a control panel on them. You leave the automation turned on and control the pump with the internal system.

 

[Abnaxis]

The pool company has decided they're not going to honor the quote they gave--which is what we got reimbursed by the previous owners to replace--for replacing the automatic pool cover fabric because the quote is "more than 10 days old" (it's been 2 weeks) and they want to gouge us .

This pool place is really starting to Tick me off but they're literally the only place in town

 

[Newdude]

My PBs pool quotes are only good for 15 days. Pool supplies have been so volatile, the prices have been all over the map week to week.. No idea what will happen next week, if there are any parts to be had in the first place.

So they switch to short term quotes and buy your parts immediately if you choose them to do the work. Its the nature of the beast right now.