Project in SE PA, bought a foreclosure w A&S pool

[borjis]

haha I get some of those fun "one little thing just happened to cause an issue" issues. Glad you found the drain!!

That pool looks especially good right now considering how it was when you took possession.

 

[kimkats]

I bet your face was all when you saw all of that! You had it looking SO good then......

That channel drain by the house..........it looks all clogged up. Did any water get into the house?

Good luck on the cabinets! 2x over is going to be hard to come down from.

You did a great job getting it back into shape!

Let the kids jump in and swim! They will be blue and shivering but saying "I'm not cold" LOL

Kim

 

[Gorilla83]

John the pool is looking amazing, great job with it. What a transformation! Sorry about the mud but glad you have it all figured out. Definitely going to be swim weather tomorrow

 

[SeaNile31]

I can't even begin to put into words the frustration I am experiencing with the pool and the back yard. Actually the pool is fine except for the one night the Polaris booster pump line broke and drained 1/3 of the water. That left me speechless for a while. Nothing $400 in water and a $6 part can't fix.

The pool becoming "dirty" from the rain runoff is something I've become quite good at dealing with. Run the pump 24/7, backwash often and constant vacuuming since the Polaris won't work because it gets jammed from all the dirt in the pool. After 2-4 days straight of non stop cleaning it looks as good as new.

So.....call our GC and landscaper and come up with a plan to fix once and for all the water drainage. Can't wait for no more dirt in the pool, no more backwashing 24/7 and finally get on to enjoying the pool. Mind you we've made no major progress on the interior, we are still in the selection and design phase of the project. We literally roll up with our cooler, set up our folding table and chairs and use the portapotty in the driveway when needed. Nothin' but first class for us.

Landscaping and a few tweaks to the drainage happen on a Monday afternoon. Major rain comes Wednesday night and here its what welcomes me as i turn the corner....A few before and then the after.

 

[SeaNile31]

Couple more.

Anyone want to buy a house???

 

[kimkats]

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! OH you poor thing! There is not a sad big enough to cover how you must feel when you look at that!

I wonder if that is one of the reasons they walked away from the house

I have faith in you and your GC finding a way to fix this that will also be pretty..............I am guessing some kind of way to make the big water to WAY away from the pool area!!

 

[SeaNile31]

I wonder if that is one of the reasons they walked away from the house

Actually the owner was sent to jail for prescribing opioids. Sad story that resulted in at least one unfortunate death of a young adult.

 

[JodieM]

I can completely relate and feel so bad for you! Our last house had the same problem. There was a very good drain system in place, but a heavy rain would overwhelm it and cause all the sandy soil to erode and wash down to the pool and pool deck. I used to go out when it was going to rain and lay rafts and pool noodles held down by patio furniture as a barricade to direct the runoff away from the pool. It was always a big clean up! I miss that house and property, but I don’t miss that drainage problem. Best of luck to you. A nice deep dry creek bed and French drains might be in your future!

 

[jimim]

I would install a French drain system also. They work well as long as they can take the load of water. Mine works great but what also helps is that it daylights eventually so it can also take a lot more water that way.

 

[HeyEng]

Oh no! I am so sorry to read of this problem! We have had something similar happen a couple of times when we have a deluge of rain and it's depressing to just see the dirt and mud run into the pool. Hopefully your GC and landscape folks can come up with something that won't break the bank.

 

[ModernCha]

I don't understand how anyone would think its OK to have a slope leading down to the pool like that. I get mad seeing the drainage mess as my pool is under construction, I feel bad watching clay slide down to the road. The good news is you can finally fix the previous homeowners lack of thought. I would think a huge french drain on the perimeter of that entire retaining wall would do it. Maybe do a nice rain garden rock design so it looks like a feature, put some matching slate interspersed in the drain cover rock and add slate to block debris.

 

[SeaNile31]

Any advice for the pool? I think it'll take a drain and clean again. Not sure I have the available time to keep backwashing every few minutes and I have no idea how much actual dirt is at the bottom of the pool.

 

[kimkats]

I really hate to say this but I would think about leaving it alone until you get the over flow fixed

 

[crockettjeanne]

I was thinking the same thing but didn't want to say it. We spend more time on drainage design than the pool for this very reason. I managed a property with a pool "in a hole" so to speak and it was a nightmare until we found the right solution. Divert runoff, french drains, retaining walls, etc. Find an engineer that specializes in drainage and runoff to work with on a plan. There is hope for this pool yet!

 

[SeaNile31]

They were back at it again this week working on the back yard and drainage. So far it's held up to one good downpour but I still have concerns about the small part of dirt/mulch right up against the wall. Looks like it can easily pour right over the wall.

Pool company scheduled to start on the pool tomorrow. Agreed its too dirty and full of mud and mulch to run the filter with frequent backwashing. I also don't have the time to pull this off myself so I had to call in the pros. They will start with a blind vacuum and lots of chemicals. We all agree it'll take some time to get it looking good again.

 

[kimkats]

That does look good BUT I also worry about that dirt and mulch in that area. I think I would ask them to get rid of all of that dirt/mulch/plant in that area. Just rock it in and put some pretty, large planters or such in there OR some LARGE decorative rocks/boulders to line inside the wall to really keep the water from even having a chance to come down to the pool.

 

[Rich D]

From the previous flood issue pictures it sure looked like there was substantial water coming down the walk. It looks like you would need a trench drain ( not a strip drain) across the walk.

The first 2 pictures look like all that trap rock is going to keep the water on the walk and send it down to the pool.

 

[SeaNile31]

I agree that this is not the end of the work required. Water still looks like it will get to the pool. Maybe its 90% fixed but the remaining 10% sure will make a mess of the pool. Here are two pics from the driveway area.

 

[ModernCha]

From the previous flood issue pictures it sure looked like there was substantial water coming down the walk. It looks like you would need a trench drain ( not a strip drain) across the walk.

The first 2 pictures look like all that trap rock is going to keep the water on the walk and send it down to the pool.

This!

 

[SeaNile31]

I'm back! Enjoyed the pool for a few weeks last season and closed it up. Work is about to officially begin on the house any day now. Lots of delays with picking out things, etc. I'm also thinking this Covid19 could slow things down as well.

We did have a full court basketball court put in last fall. Just waiting on warmer weather to have the court lines painted.

So pool stuff....I swear there is a leak. When the pool was winterized the level was dropped about 6" or so below the skimmers. The cover was put on (several broken rubber straps so there was a slight bow from side to side) with an automatic pump on the surface. When I look now the water seems to have dropped about 2'. I'll have a better estimate when the cover comes off. Odd because during use of the pool lost essentially zero water for those 8 weeks last summer.

It's always something!