Re-plastering startup help

[pdilow]

We are having our in-ground pool re-plastered at the beginning of June and managing the startup ourselves. I've been reading the info provided by our contractor, as well as other info online (including the guide on TFP) and just needed some additional clarification.

Our pool is traditionally saltwater, but I understand we can't add salt for about 30 days. Around day 3-5 I need to raise the chlorine level to between 1.5 and 3 ppm. What is the best product to achieve this? I've read I can't use shock. We typically use Bioguard products and have some old SilkGuard Complete Tabs/Sticks I could use, but not sure how many.

Trying to avoid messing up the new plaster and have all of my ducks in a row before the work is done. I'm ordering pretty much every chemical I can think of so I can take care of any water quality issues ASAP and not worry about shipping delays on chemicals due to the pandemic. Here is what I'm ordering:

30,000 gallon pool. Being filled by water truck from local hydrants. Not sure what the quality will be, but our well water is pretty hard.
- BioGuard Pool Magnet Plus: 4 quarts (sequestering agent)
- BioGuard Balance Pak 100 Alkalinity Increaser: 50 pounds
- BioGuard Balance Pak 300 Calcium Hardness Increaser: 54 pounds
- Muriatic Acid: 10 gallons
- Some chlorine agent???

Anything I'm missing? Anything I'm way off on my quantities with?

After the 30 days I'm assuming we'll follow standard conversion to saltwater instructions like we did last year (dump a bunch of salt in and turn on the SWG).

Thanks in advance for any help and guidance!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Personally I'd avoid using all those expensive products. Do you prefer using them and if so, why?

Liquid chlorine such as Pool Essentials 10% found at Walmart is ideal. You can also find liquid chlorine at Lowes and HD.

Alkalinity Increaser is very expensive baking soda. Just buy a big bag at Walmart or Costco for a fraction of the price.

Chlorine Stabilizer, aka Cyanuric Acid (CYA) is a must. Lowes, HD, Walmart all sell this.

Most important to all this is a GOOD test kit. Do you have one of the ones we recommend? Either the TF-100, or the K-2006C. Of those the TF-100 is a better buy. A small company in NC was using the TFP method decided to and market this kit to meet the way we care for pools. www.tftestkits.net

Start-up New Plaster

The first few months are the most criticle for a newly plastered pool. We're here to share best practices to ensure the plaster will last for many years.

www.troublefreepool.com

Maddie

 

[ajw22]

Reading articles in Plaster Installation and Maintenance - Further Reading can help you get a quality plaster job.

You should follow the plaster manufacturer start-up guide if available...

Plaster Start-Up Guides - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

What Maddie said about using less expensive generic chemicals.

 

[pdilow]

Thanks for your replies. We started using the BioGuard chemicals because the pool company we used to use supplied them. No other reason really. I wouldn't mind going cheaper if I can get the same outcome, so I definitely appreciate the advice.

I'll take a look for liquid chlorine and cyanuric acid. I've also been meaning to upgrade our pool kit to the TF-100, so now sounds like a good time! Thanks for the help!