Where to even begin! Well how about September of 2022. In 2022, we began working with a new Pool Company.
End of September, Pool CO replaced our filter sand & laterals. Less than two weeks later, Pool CO came back out because sand was blowing out of our return lines. I do not remember what the resolution was at the time, but we ended up closing the pool for the season.
When Pool Co opened the pool spring of 2023, we had cloudy water constantly.. so cloudy I couldn’t even tell half the time if there was sand blowing out or not. In June, Pool Co replaced the multiport valve. This did not solve the water cloudy issue. They kept insisting water chemistry was perfectly balanced and even ordered specialized test kits to see what could be causing this.
Of course I'm all over this forum as well as the rest of the internet and calling my local pool supply store. Everyone and their uncle says "broken laterals." Pool Co. insisted there's no way that was the problem.... By August of 2023, (water is milky now) Yardvarks was telling me the issue was that my old single-speed pump was failing (we'd already replaced some parts on it earlier in the summer). So we replaced the pump with a variable speed 1.5HP.
After this, we could get pool water to a cloudy blue, sometimes even enough to see the bottom of the pool. But there was still continually sand at the bottom of the shallow end right below the return lines.
September 2023 rolls around and Pool Co continues to insist that it is NOT sand blowing out of the returns; they thought it was dead algae and sediment… They also noted that the CYA level was so high they had to pump at least half the water out of the pool (we have to pump it out because our main drain was sealed off long before I bought the house).
Spring of 2024, Pool Co quoted me $1200 to drain and power wash the pool, which I thought was absurd. I rented the equipment myself and hired my cousin for half the cost. He had no idea about the sand issues, but called me halfway through and said there was tons of sand at the bottom of the pool and all over the deck…
This year, we are still in the same boat. The water is constantly green. After the pool CO comes out for weekly maintenance, they shock it, and we get the pool to a milky color.
2 weeks ago, the maintenance tech called and said… "Guess what. Sand is blowing out of the laterals." NO Darn SHERLOCK. After some back and forth, Pool Co agrees to replace the laterals at no cost to me (they attempted to invoice me $950, saying the work was out of warranty).
We are still having the same issue now. LAST week, Pool Co calls and says, "yes, the laterals WERE broken, so we replaced them… but now we've realized the float valve that sits under the multiport was installed upside down." (Remember, Pool Co. installed multiport valve last summer - not sure, but something tells me this is likely their error).
This week, Pool Co says last summer they only replaced the top half of the multiport valve. Now I need to replace the bottom portion, but they say I might as well replace the whole thing. Pool Co says multiport valve is now out of warranty (go figure...) and they’ll discount labor by 50%, but I have to buy a new multiport valve. The reason they are recommending to replace the multiport valve is because when they vacuum up the sand at the bottom of the pool, it immediately shoots out of the return lines so fast, there’s no way it’s going through the filter. So they think the bottom of the valve is what’s broken now.
I’m way overdue for a second opinion. I have one person coming out Saturday to take a look.
It's one thing if this is my own house, but I have tenants moving out in July and there's just no way I can rent it out to new tenants with the pool in this condition.
Any suggestions!?
Pool Notes - 75 year old in-ground gunite pool, 20,000 gallons. Main Drain is sealed off. Since purchasing the home in 2016, I've resurfaced the pool, installed a new deck, replaced the copper skimmer and return lines, added an auto-fill, replaced the pump, replaced the multiport valve, replaced the sand, replaced laterals twice.. I'm sure there's more!
End of September, Pool CO replaced our filter sand & laterals. Less than two weeks later, Pool CO came back out because sand was blowing out of our return lines. I do not remember what the resolution was at the time, but we ended up closing the pool for the season.
When Pool Co opened the pool spring of 2023, we had cloudy water constantly.. so cloudy I couldn’t even tell half the time if there was sand blowing out or not. In June, Pool Co replaced the multiport valve. This did not solve the water cloudy issue. They kept insisting water chemistry was perfectly balanced and even ordered specialized test kits to see what could be causing this.
Of course I'm all over this forum as well as the rest of the internet and calling my local pool supply store. Everyone and their uncle says "broken laterals." Pool Co. insisted there's no way that was the problem.... By August of 2023, (water is milky now) Yardvarks was telling me the issue was that my old single-speed pump was failing (we'd already replaced some parts on it earlier in the summer). So we replaced the pump with a variable speed 1.5HP.
After this, we could get pool water to a cloudy blue, sometimes even enough to see the bottom of the pool. But there was still continually sand at the bottom of the shallow end right below the return lines.
September 2023 rolls around and Pool Co continues to insist that it is NOT sand blowing out of the returns; they thought it was dead algae and sediment… They also noted that the CYA level was so high they had to pump at least half the water out of the pool (we have to pump it out because our main drain was sealed off long before I bought the house).
Spring of 2024, Pool Co quoted me $1200 to drain and power wash the pool, which I thought was absurd. I rented the equipment myself and hired my cousin for half the cost. He had no idea about the sand issues, but called me halfway through and said there was tons of sand at the bottom of the pool and all over the deck…
This year, we are still in the same boat. The water is constantly green. After the pool CO comes out for weekly maintenance, they shock it, and we get the pool to a milky color.
2 weeks ago, the maintenance tech called and said… "Guess what. Sand is blowing out of the laterals." NO Darn SHERLOCK. After some back and forth, Pool Co agrees to replace the laterals at no cost to me (they attempted to invoice me $950, saying the work was out of warranty).
We are still having the same issue now. LAST week, Pool Co calls and says, "yes, the laterals WERE broken, so we replaced them… but now we've realized the float valve that sits under the multiport was installed upside down." (Remember, Pool Co. installed multiport valve last summer - not sure, but something tells me this is likely their error).
This week, Pool Co says last summer they only replaced the top half of the multiport valve. Now I need to replace the bottom portion, but they say I might as well replace the whole thing. Pool Co says multiport valve is now out of warranty (go figure...) and they’ll discount labor by 50%, but I have to buy a new multiport valve. The reason they are recommending to replace the multiport valve is because when they vacuum up the sand at the bottom of the pool, it immediately shoots out of the return lines so fast, there’s no way it’s going through the filter. So they think the bottom of the valve is what’s broken now.
I’m way overdue for a second opinion. I have one person coming out Saturday to take a look.
It's one thing if this is my own house, but I have tenants moving out in July and there's just no way I can rent it out to new tenants with the pool in this condition.
Any suggestions!?
Pool Notes - 75 year old in-ground gunite pool, 20,000 gallons. Main Drain is sealed off. Since purchasing the home in 2016, I've resurfaced the pool, installed a new deck, replaced the copper skimmer and return lines, added an auto-fill, replaced the pump, replaced the multiport valve, replaced the sand, replaced laterals twice.. I'm sure there's more!
