Plug & Abandon Floor Returns
- Thread starter bbaumann19
- Start date
Those are the ports for an in-floor cleaning system. Do you have wall returns? If not how are you going to get filtered water back to the pool. Some IFCS also had one or two wall returns in the system. You should have at least two for good circulation. If you don't have at least two, two or three of those ports could be converted to actual floor returns and the rest filled as below. Takes a little work, but I've done it successfully.
If you have wall returns, then yes, use a roto-hammer or small jack-hammer and cut them out, fill with hydraulic cement so that they can be plastered over with the rest of the re-plaster. I wouldn't trust just filling and plastering over the plastic.
This is a true floor return, that center cone threads into the glued and plastered-in receiver:
yes, I have 2 jet returns on the walls that circulate the pool pretty well.
They are such an eye sore, so I’ll cut them out with a jack hammer as you say. Thanks for the help!!
They are such an eye sore, so I’ll cut them out with a jack hammer as you say. Thanks for the help!!
Be sure to change the plumbing at the pad to eliminate the distribution valve if it is still in place. You will have to determine which of the lines to the pool feed the wall returns, have the filter feed or those, and cap the rest.
I used newspaper to block the 2" pipes of the ports I filled, down about 4," filled the rest with hydraulic cement to the level of the shell and made sure to "score" the cement so that the plaster had something to adhere to mechanically as well as adhesively.
If you don't have a dedicated cleaner line, you could use three or four of the pipes in the bottom of the pool as actual floor returns then use the wall return closest to the center of the pool as a cleaner line and either use, or block the other one. Floor returns look very nice in a pool. They are most commonly used in competition pools and "disappearing edge" pools to keep the surface free of currents and distortion.
That's what I did for a customer about 15 years ago. He still calls me to handle any issues that arise, though retirement is just a few months away now.
A dedicated line is a good thing to have. You can choose to make it a suction or pressure-cleaner line as yo would like. Or, just use them as returns and get a robotic cleaner. No one is happy for long with a pool that doesn't have an auto cleaner of some type.
Thanks for all the wisedom. After reading your suggestions, I’m thinking about keeping them. The only problem is I don’t see threads on the inside of the return just 4 rivets.
Even see these returns with no threads?
Thanks for the help. I don’t see any threads unless it’s deep inside the 2” part of the return. There’s 4 rivets on the plastered in return though. Any ideas?
You do not have floor returns, but in-floor cleaning ports. They would get cut off, the pipe exposed and extended, the floor-return fitting installed. Its a bit of work.
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