Should I clean the pool now or wait till Spring?

[kimkats]

Jumping in to say I can't wait to help you rehab that pool and property. I would LOVE to see more pics of the house. Loving all of the doors leading out to the deck and upstairs. What a beauty that is going to be when you get done with it.

I say rake up the leave and stuff that is in the pool now. Keep a deep net near the pool so you can scope up leaves when needed once you get done.

Make sure to post up pics of the equipment so we can look over it as well. We don't want any thing to hurt your pipes and equipment before we can get that pool up and running!

Kim

 

[svtcobra]

I Grew up in the 'burbs, went to (undergraduate) college in Indiana, moved back to Chicago for only about 2 years, spent 20 years in Iowa, then moved to AZ just a little over two years ago. As far as the weather goes, yeah, Iowa was even colder and with worse weather than Chicago. You really get accustomed to warm climates fast. I don't think I can go back to the Upper Midwest, even though I definitely fit in better there. I do not miss the weather and the cloudiness at all in the Upper Midwest.

Yes, the pipes are a Home Depot, Lowe's or (I really miss it: Menards!) item. Yes, with heavy snow it will likely collapse in. Be prepared for that, remove it before the heavy snow (the snow itself is clean water... approaching RO in quality, but maybe with a little "acid rain" mixed in which isn't really a problem). In the meantime it should allow you to skim the crud off the top of the pool instead of having more sink in. I suppose it is up to you if you want to do it at all, but it's really nice to cover the pool when you are not using it for extended periods of time, IMHO. I've been pulling my solar cover off and cleaning thoroughly about once a month (water temp is 55F now...) and if I left it off, I'd be using a lot more chlorine, having more hard water fill in, and I suspect I'd also be cleaning it more. But I still have to add liquid chlorine (bleach) about every other day at a rate about 3x less than when water temperature was in the 80's. You have a mess now, and my personal feeling as a relative newbie is that it can get worse. If it's warm enough to do some of the work now, I would.

Best of luck.

I'm sure one day when all the kids are older I'll venture out to somewhere more sunny. Target is San Diego, but have a long ways to go with the youngest being 11 months. I'm going to look into covers especially with us having 4 little kids it's better to be on the safer side. But from the two local pool companies I spoke with one said it would be 8k or so and the other said "several thousands of dollars" who was rude so I won't use that company anyway.

 

[svtcobra]

Jumping in to say I can't wait to help you rehab that pool and property. I would LOVE to see more pics of the house. Loving all of the doors leading out to the deck and upstairs. What a beauty that is going to be when you get done with it.

I say rake up the leave and stuff that is in the pool now. Keep a deep net near the pool so you can scope up leaves when needed once you get done.

Make sure to post up pics of the equipment so we can look over it as well. We don't want any thing to hurt your pipes and equipment before we can get that pool up and running!

Kim

Thanks Kim!! The deck will need to be replaced but not until the spring...certainly will post more pics. I couldn't make in time yesterday. I was on the road at 4pm and the sunset so quick that when I got to the property it was too dark. Today I will make sure to get their in daylight and will post pics of the equipment.

 

[svtcobra]

First thing you need to do is confirm your pool is winterized. Look in your skimmers and see if they are plugged and what is in them. Look at your equipment pad and the position of valves. Post pics of what you find in your skimmer and your equipment pad and we will help you.



With the mess your pool is in a cover is optional. A cover keeps a lot of debris out fo the pool for the winter. But a bit more in your pool will not make a difference. If your pool is properly winterized you don't need a cover.

You need to buy some equipment to clean the pool:

- a good leaf rake like Blue Devil B4017 Leaf Rake
- a pool pole Pool Poles - Further Reading
- a pool brush or two - Pool Brushing - Further Reading

If you don't have a pool water test kit then when ordering the leaf rake you can also get the TF-100 Test Kits that we recommend.

Once you get one or two leaf rakes and poles you and a friend can go to work weather permitting on the pool and scoop out the leaves and debris. Get as much as you can out yourself before you hire someone.

You will probably need to hire someone to get your pool running in the Spring and you can decide then if you want to pay them to cleanup the pool during the opening.

I'll go back today when there is daylight but the sun set so quickly around 4pm yesterday. Wanted to show these two holes near the pool. Do you think these were for a cover? also, the pool light is outside tied in a bag. the inspector said this is a sign they may have winterized the pool.

 

[Newdude]

They look ladder-y

 

[svtcobra]

They look ladder-y

oh you're 100% right...I just looked at pics of the house for sale and they had the ladders exactly there!

 

[ajw22]

There is no reason to pull lights out when winterizing a pool. Nothing can be assumed because your light is out.

 

[l1ltaral1l]

This is going to be an amazing project. And you found the perfect place for help too! This group has been amazing as a new pool owner.

 

[mikes112]

I can see where the tile is coming off, you have to try to prevent water from getting in the bond beam and allowing the concrete behind the tile to get wet where the concrete can spall and crack once it freezes and the tile will just pop off. Im surprised where they have that big tree and landscaping so close to the pool as water can get in through there behind the bond beam. If you fix that and seal any concrete seams with a flexible caulk that would be good.

 

[svtcobra]

Attached some pictures of the equipment. Also the

 

[svtcobra]

I can see where the tile is coming off, you have to try to prevent water from getting in the bond beam and allowing the concrete behind the tile to get wet where the concrete can spall and crack once it freezes and the tile will just pop off. Im surprised where they have that big tree and landscaping so close to the pool as water can get in through there behind the bond beam. If you fix that and seal any concrete seams with a flexible caulk that would be good.

I started cutting down some of a tree nearby yesterday. The plan is to knock out several of those large trees in the spring or soon. Is placing the new tile pretty easy?

 

[thefloatqueen]

My OCD would not be able to handle that lol. I would at LEAST scoop out as many leaves as you can. If it were me and the water isn’t frozen yet, I would end up cleaning it completely lol. But I’m crazy OCD about my pool water so don’t listen to me lol

 

[mikes112]

I started cutting down some of a tree nearby yesterday. The plan is to knock out several of those large trees in the spring or soon. Is placing the new tile pretty easy?

Placing the tile is easy, but adding in the missing concrete is not because you have to get it flat and attach it to the existing bond beam concrete. I'm using Laticretes Hydroban to seal the bond beam and then there special mortar for submerged tile instillation. The main thing is to try to prevent the spalling before it happens by not allowing the water to get into the bond beam and freeze and crack. The face of the bond beam that is tiled should not have plaster on it or the tile wont stick. The bond beam has to be waterproof behind the tile. Another thing is the pool shell should be water proof at the level of where the ice will form so water doesn't migrate into the shell and spall, so there should be good plaster at that level.

 

[svtcobra]

My OCD would not be able to handle that lol. I would at LEAST scoop out as many leaves as you can. If it were me and the water isn’t frozen yet, I would end up cleaning it completely lol. But I’m crazy OCD about my pool water so don’t listen to me lol

Actually the top layer is frozen of the water. Should I break the ice? it's a thin layer that moves so I can get my pole to fit in and crack it.

 

[svtcobra]

Placing the tile is easy, but adding in the missing concrete is not because you have to get it flat and attach it to the existing bond beam concrete. I'm using Laticretes Hydroban to seal the bond beam and then there special mortar for submerged tile instillation. The main thing is to try to prevent the spalling before it happens by not allowing the water to get into the bond beam and freeze and crack. The face of the bond beam that is tiled should not have plaster on it or the tile wont stick. The bond beam has to be waterproof behind the tile. Another thing is the pool shell should be water proof at the level of where the ice will form so water doesn't migrate into the shell and spall, so there should be good plaster at that level.

OH boy this seem over my head. Should I have this done now or wait till spring? I can certainly call a company.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Don't mess with frozen water. At all. Leave it be until spring.

Maddie

 

[svtcobra]

Don't mess with frozen water. At all. Leave it be until spring.

Maddie

Hopefully it will melt but that's pure wishful thinking. Did you by chance get to view the equipment photos I posted?

 

[thefloatqueen]

Actually the top layer is frozen of the water. Should I break the ice? it's a thin layer that moves so I can get my pole to fit in and crack it.

I definitely would not crack the ice! Just wait til it melts. ?

 

[svtcobra]

I definitely would not crack the ice! Just wait til it melts. ?

Thanks I'll leave it alone

 

[svtcobra]

First thing you need to do is confirm your pool is winterized. Look in your skimmers and see if they are plugged and what is in them. Look at your equipment pad and the position of valves. Post pics of what you find in your skimmer and your equipment pad and we will help you.



With the mess your pool is in a cover is optional. A cover keeps a lot of debris out fo the pool for the winter. But a bit more in your pool will not make a difference. If your pool is properly winterized you don't need a cover.

You need to buy some equipment to clean the pool:

- a good leaf rake like Blue Devil B4017 Leaf Rake
- a pool pole Pool Poles - Further Reading
- a pool brush or two - Pool Brushing - Further Reading

If you don't have a pool water test kit then when ordering the leaf rake you can also get the TF-100 Test Kits that we recommend.

Once you get one or two leaf rakes and poles you and a friend can go to work weather permitting on the pool and scoop out the leaves and debris. Get as much as you can out yourself before you hire someone.

You will probably need to hire someone to get your pool running in the Spring and you can decide then if you want to pay them to cleanup the pool during the opening.

My sincerest apologies if you already pinged about my post with the pictures of the equipment. In case it didn't please take a look whenever you get a moment. I wasn't sure if you would only be pinged if I reply to your message versus just generally on this thread. thanks!