Results two years and two court dates later

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NO! Clarifier is not sequestrant. We never recommend using clarifier.

In general Clorox pool products are not the best and often labeled misleadingly.
 
The plumbing was done today. Air blower and controller yet to be installed and everything wired up. The heat pump is an ugly and massive thing but can be partially hidden when the pool house is built. Maybe it will grow on me. Water is now up to bottom of lower step and I have the water meter connected. Will have to calculate what was put into the pool before the meter was connected.
IMG_1498.jpgIMG_1497.jpgIMG_1495.jpgIMG_1500.jpg
 
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The guy that was out here doing the plumbing had extra work cut out for him because the magic marker labels were gone. And they should have also been covered before the kool deck was applied because he had to scrape all of it off the pipes before he could glue them.. He said it would have been better to have the pressure pipes on one side and suction on another instead of random like ours was done.

Water has been running all night long and has another 12 inches to go and then I will fill the spa

I sent a message to the builder asking if he was going to take care of start up or if I needed to and as usual, no response.

Picture from this morning.IMG_1507.jpg
 
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Be prepared to do the start up on your own. No one else it going to take care of it as well as you can with TFP support.

Everyone has their way of doing things such as the plumbing.......Hope he got it all sorted out and ready to go.

That color is looking good! It will only get better!

Kim:kim:
 
kimkats said:
Be prepared to do the start up on your own.
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Unfortunately, I have been in that position since it started. Like I told someone else, it seems like the builder would have at least prepped me on what I needed to do or expect but no response to my text or phone calls.

I will read over the startup and try to jot down some notes. Plan on getting some supplies today starting with a metal out product (will see if I can get one from the list here), Muratic acid (don't know how much), CYA?,

Test kit is stuck in CA. Can get some PH strips from my wife who is a bio tech or can buy a small kit to get by with. Last look it may be Tuesday before it arrives.
 
klanel said:
read over the startup and try to jot down some notes.
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Print it out and go from there. One of the ones I linked to has the steps and timing all laid out.
klanel said:
Muratic acid
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They sell it in 2 jug boxes. Find a safe place to put it as it's vapors can cause problems with metal and does not play well with chlorine. I keep mine in a vented bucket outside where the critters do not go.
klanel said:
buy a small kit to get by with
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You can get a simple test kit at Target or Walmart or even the pool store. I would like it to have pH AND TA as that is what you really need to know for now.
 

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Builder says he will do start up. For my info, what is the max timeframe to get water levels balanced? If it sits until next week will that cause any issues for us? He has not said when startup would begin. Electrician scheduled for next week.

On another question, I was looking here at start up, traditional and acid. We have the pebble finish and it has been acid washed by the contractors. Should I still follow the acid startup procedure and add more acid to the water or did the acid wash take care of that step? If I understand correctly, I still need to add the muratic acid to get the ph under control.

I will follow up with the builder on what his plans are for startup.
 
If you are following the guide here, most importantly, you should follow you builder's advice. It's their plaster at the moment, and any chemical you add could possibly end your warranty at the start if stains or worse show up. If they say they are coming to test the water and get it balanced for start up, best to let them do it.
 
kimkats said:
No one is going to care for his new plaster like he will. If the care or lack of care of the new plaster causes his plaster to not cure properly then he is the one that has to live with it long term as the PB will be long gone after the last payment.
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Fully agree! But I think the issue might be there is not even a circulatory system in operation yet to be adding treatments.
 
Latest from the builder, they will come Saturday or Monday and start the process. When I asked if the electrician was coming he said no they would wire a pump temporarily. He said they would brush once every three days for five weeks. I will add my own brushing for twice a day.

I don’t recall anything about a plaster warranty. In my mind I am the only who would care if it lasted 10 years or 20 years. So, I’ll let him do the basics and add the brushing. I’ll also double check the water balance.
 
klanel said:
Latest from the builder, they will come Saturday or Monday and start the process. When I asked if the electrician was coming he said no they would wire a pump temporarily. He said they would brush once every three days for five weeks. I will add my own brushing for twice a day.

I don’t recall anything about a plaster warranty. In my mind I am the only who would care if it lasted 10 years or 20 years. So, I’ll let him do the basics and add the brushing. I’ll also double check the water balance.
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Great! Mine only serviced and balanced for the first week. I don't recall any specific plaster warranty with mine either, just basic pool warranty in general. What I was talking about was an issue of staining in the new plaster during the startup. Who would take the blame?

I don't know whether true or not, and knew even less about it then, but my PB had warned me that due to possibility of high iron in my well water, adding chlorine before the iron was addressed would cause the oxidized and rusted iron to fall out into the new plaster and cause rust spots. Didn't matter to me, because they were responsible, and whether true or not, my tinkering would have given them an out for anything during that period of time till I took it over and was responsible. That first part of the new plaster guide here pretty much states the same thing in round about. I did have a small test kit, though, and followed where I could.

Looking back and after weeks of reading and learning here, I probably could now easily have done what they did then, and have found some of how they left the water was not up to snuff.
 
My contract says 'six year warranty on plaster, delamination only'.
Toxophilite said:
What I was talking about was an issue of staining in the new plaster during the startup.
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I asked him if they were going to add something to take care of metals in the water and he said they would test the water then asked me if I had an iron filter. I told him we had a whole house iron filter but I did not know how much metal might be too much. Don't know if his test is for metals or just other things. I have a TDS meter somewhere around here and if I recall correctly, it's somewhere around 20ppm.

Pool has about 3 more inches to go. It is raining and already starting to look a bit cloudy.
 
klanel said:
My contract says 'six year warranty on plaster, delamination only'.

I asked him if they were going to add something to take care of metals in the water and he said they would test the water then asked me if I had an iron filter. I told him we had a whole house iron filter but I did not know how much metal might be too much. Don't know if his test is for metals or just other things. I have a TDS meter somewhere around here and if I recall correctly, it's somewhere around 20ppm.

Pool has about 3 more inches to go. It is raining and already starting to look a bit cloudy.
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Good! You know more about your water than I do mine :) I had my initial test done 3 years ago when the well was drilled, but do not remember the results on iron. Bacteria count is more what the county looks for. I've lived off iron rich water for 60+ years, so probably wouldn't want it gone from my tap anyway :)

Mine was filled over a weekend and started up on a Tuesday. After they started treating, it got very cloudy and then slowly started clearing each day till the end of the week it was clear. After that week, they gave me the keys and a bottle of test strips :) Lucky I was already here reading and getting my test kit.

Once you start brushing, you are going to see a lot of fallout and plaster dust. Just sweep it to the drain.
 

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