Pool Plumbing replacement?

[jlhaz]

Hello,

I'm wondering if it's a good idea to replace the plumbing at the equipment pad. I've lived in the house for about 2 years and the pool was neglected for a long time. I had some work done last year too so i'm wondering if I should have this done. Right now, I just have a sand filter and pump for a 12k gallon pool. There are 3 valves, a ball valve that goes to the surface "cooler" (recently added - pretty new), an old gate valve that doesn't seem to work, and on more valve that I am not sure does anything or not. I'm trying to do a little bit of work each year to keep up on things until I can afford to have the whole pool redone. Would it make sense to replace the plumbing with new pipes and valves with an eye on the future? (eventually i'd like to add a SWG and a heater)

Would anyone know a ballpark figure of how much this would cost if necessary?

I found an old picture with some of the piping from a problem I had before (ignore the water pooling - that is fixed ), you'll notice that its pretty old and messed up looking.

Thanks for the input!

 

[launboy]

It definitely don't look it's best. You could replumb it now to make it flow better and do it with the heater and SWG in mind, like add in two Tees(capped) with a valve in the middle. This would give you a bypass for the heater and all you'd have to do when you get one is remove the caps. You could also add a nice long straight section for the SWF in an easy to access place.

HTH,
Adam

 

[JasonLion]

As a general rule, it is often best not to replace something that isn't broken. From the picture it looks like the plumbing is getting older, but it most likely has several years left in it. That said, working with PVC is fairly easy and from the look of things there are many improvements you could make, as launboy suggested.

If you do the work yourself, it can be done very inexpensively. Really nice valves can be $50 each, lower quality values are under $10, pipe and fittings are very inexpensive. The price is less predictable if you hire a plumber, it depends on how hungry for work they are (shop around a little). Still it is probably only half a day tops if you only have the work at the pad done and don't replace the underground runs, so it shouldn't be too much money.

 

[jlhaz]

Thanks very much for the advice! i'm starting to picture the extra runs now, so that I have at least a little bit of "future proof-ness"

I don't think the plumbing has a problem per se, except that it's old. I know for a fact the gate valve doesn't work, or works very poorly because it takes many many turns to make a difference in the return. Even then, I still don't think it's doing what it should be doing.

I'm Very leery of doing something like this myself. I'm not usually good at home repair projects and I definitely don't wat to take a chance on this one

I called one local pool company, and they told me it would be parts & labor, the labor was $85/hr. Is that a pretty common labor price or can I do better?

Thanks again!!

 

[spishex]

Where are you located?

That's pretty typical around here. Labor is anywhere from $60-140/hr, the latter being a ridiculous trip charge plus hourly rate figure. Most are in the $85 range these days, or $25 trip + 60/hr.

 

[jlhaz]

Where are you located?

That's pretty typical around here. Labor is anywhere from $60-140/hr, the latter being a ridiculous trip charge plus hourly rate figure. Most are in the $85 range these days, or $25 trip + 60/hr.

I'm located in AZ. I'm glad to hear it's pretty typical, it's so hard to know for sure.

 

[spishex]

AZ may be different, so maybe a few folks from the area can respond. Rates around here tend to be on the high end since pools are spread far and wide vs. a market like Florida where you might have a dozen accounts in one neighborhood.

 

[launboy]

jlhaz, you can do this! It truely is not a hard thing to do. if you can use a hacksaw(or band saw, or mighter saw) you can cut the pipe. If you can swirl a dabber around a pipe you can glue them. It's really simple if you have a plan. I rarely measure anything until it comes down to the last piece of pipe or two. As long as that last fitting is in the right spot, your good.

Good luck,
Adam

 

[jlhaz]

jlhaz, you can do this! It truely is not a hard thing to do. if you can use a hacksaw(or band saw, or mighter saw) you can cut the pipe. If you can swirl a dabber around a pipe you can glue them. It's really simple if you have a plan. I rarely measure anything until it comes down to the last piece of pipe or two. As long as that last fitting is in the right spot, your good.

Good luck,
Adam

Really? I have been thinking a lot about it but it looks a little scary LOL. How would I determine what kind of valves to buy, would I just need 1 Jandy 3-way?

The plan part is probably what will throw me. Any advice on the planning would be great!

 

[launboy]

Nah, it's not scary.

Can you snap a couple more pics that show the whole set up from at least 2 angles? It would help determine exactly what you need and how to best plumb it.

Valves... You essentially have two choices, the Jandy valves or normal ball valves. Most people prefer to use Jandy valves, either two way or three way as they tend to be more durable. The other option is your average PVC ball valve from a hardware store. These are what I'm using for my project for two main reasons. First, they are cheaper and I'm on budget. Second, I can get them at Lowes where I get the rest of the fittings and pipe.
This is the valve I'm using, they turn much easier then the other type of balle valve(with a red handle): http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=209668-34146-P200SUE&lpage=none

HTH,
Adam

 

[jlhaz]

Nah, it's not scary.

Can you snap a couple more pics that show the whole set up from at least 2 angles? It would help determine exactly what you need and how to best plumb it.

Valves... You essentially have two choices, the Jandy valves or normal ball valves. Most people prefer to use Jandy valves, either two way or three way as they tend to be more durable. The other option is your average PVC ball valve from a hardware store. These are what I'm using for my project for two main reasons. First, they are cheaper and I'm on budget. Second, I can get them at Lowes where I get the rest of the fittings and pipe.
This is the valve I'm using, they turn much easier then the other type of balle valve(with a red handle): http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=209668-34146-P200SUE&lpage=none

HTH,
Adam

Hey Adam,

I took pictures this evening, it was raining unfortunately but hopefully these will give a good idea on what I have, and what they old plumbing looks like. Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[launboy]

Thanks, those are very much helpful. I'm guessing the blue handled ball valve(on small pipe) is for the surface cooler, but do you know where the other two go? Have you ever put a wrench on that red handled ball valve and turned it? What happens when you close or open that valve or the other (steel?) valve?

All the piping before the filter looks alright and unless it leaks, you could probably leave it alone. After the filter and that manifold will need tobe redone for sure. Who ever did that plumbing went a little elbow crazy. :lol:

Are you thinking gas heater or electric heat pump(brands/model?) and which side of the equip. do you plan to put it on(looks like leftside has more space)? Also, do you have a brand in mind for the SWG? Does the pool have any special water features or special jets/outlets?

I'll draw up a little diagram tomorrow when I have those answers and a little more time.

HTH,
Adam

 

[jlhaz]

Thanks, those are very much helpful. I'm guessing the blue handled ball valve(on small pipe) is for the surface cooler, but do you know where the other two go? Have you ever put a wrench on that red handled ball valve and turned it? What happens when you close or open that valve or the other (steel?) valve?

All the piping before the filter looks alright and unless it leaks, you could probably leave it alone. After the filter and that manifold will need tobe redone for sure. Who ever did that plumbing went a little elbow crazy. :lol:

Are you thinking gas heater or electric heat pump(brands/model?) and which side of the equip. do you plan to put it on(looks like leftside has more space)? Also, do you have a brand in mind for the SWG? Does the pool have any special water features or special jets/outlets?

I'll draw up a little diagram tomorrow when I have those answers and a little more time.

HTH,
Adam

Hey Adam,

yes, you guessed correctly about the blue valve. the Red ball valve I have not tried to turn, from what I remember I was unable to turn it by hand, so maybe I do need a wrench for it. When I first moved here I didn't know anything about pools and the pool was in such bad shape I was scared to experiment for fear of breaking something LOL. The old steel gate valve i've tried turning. It takes forever to turn until it stops. When it does, it seems that some returns are turned off. It's so hard to tell though because it seems each time I turn it I get a different result. that is probably my imagination from having to go back & forth to the pool so many times to check LOL

Yeah, the old pool company wereresponsible for many of those elbows! The repair guy wold just cut and plug another elbow in when necessary

I was thinking of a heat pump since I live in AZ. I was guessing that the left side would be better. I don't have a brand in mind for that or for the SWG yet. For now, I was just going to go with an Automatic Chlorinator for now ( I brought a Rainbow 300 - offline) andmaybe add the SWG later or even next year.

Thanks very much again for your help!!!