The PB sure did jump on the fix but does seems to be dragging on the finish details 
Small Pool Build - Brisbane, Australia [emoji1037]
- Thread starter riley00dog
- Start date
The PB sure did jump on the fix but does seems to be dragging on the finish details
Can’t hurry these things apparently Kim [emoji849] Unbeknown to him he has a three week deadline.
Thanks. I got a TFP email. Hopefully I’ve culled enough now. There’s some important information (mainly from you) that I don’t want to delete.
Merry Christmas TFPers. Yes, I’m still here!
It’s been a bit of a saga since I last posted. The pavers did go down, although we are still waiting on the replacement pavers to be sealed and the 40cm of mastic to be done between the drain and path.
About 6 weeks ago I had a sneaking suspicion that the pool was still leaking. Originally there has been water evident at both ends of the pool. One end dried up immediately and never came back after the ‘fix’. The other end (which is river rock) still seemed damp underneath. We had had large amounts of rain off and on those and it can remain damp underneath, so I couldn’t be certain. It was just a feeling. We weren’t loosing a noticeable amount of water.
Pb humoured me and gave the okay to engage my own independent leak detection company. They found a leak in the solar line. The same line that was ‘fixed’ last time. From what we can gather, both the upper elbow and lower elbow must have been leaking originally. The initial fix replaced the top elbow, hence water no longer being seen at the other end of the pool. The leak detection company were certain the remaining leak was in the lower elbow, which they deemed completely inaccessible after looking at my photos of the plumbing rough in. Their solution was to either go without heat or core drill a new solar line. Obviously neither option were viable. Pb would, under no circumstances, consider core drilling the shell. He would dig out the whole pool before doing that.
Pb remained calm and suggested we replumb at the equipment pad and run the heat pump through the main vs pump. We have never been happy with the boost pump, so were secretly happy to be rid of it. It was loud and sucked power. The proviso we had though was that the heat pump needed to be able to call for the vs outside of its set run times and to also isolate the chlorinator at these times. There is no standard piece of electrical equipment that can do this. The electrician needed to rewire our original dontek box (that originally called for the boost pump to come on) to do this job. It hadn’t been done before that they know of and the electrician wasn’t sure it was doable. I had faith that if anyone could do it, it was him. He has been our favourite tradie and very professional. I didn’t tell him that if he wasn’t successful that it would be a whole pool rip out. It was a success as far as I can tell and overall we are happy with the solution. Obviously it’s not ideal to loose our solar line permanently. Being realistic though, we did not want to have to pursue a dig out and redo. Goodness knows how long that would take and the dramas that would unfold next time. The solar lines are permanently bunged with full nylon bungs. It looks fabulous and is able to heat to temp when it needs to. I am comfortable that the pool is now functioning properly and not loosing a single drop of water.
Over a period of about 6 weeks I have to admit to checking my water only twice. I honestly wanted nothing to do with it during all of this. All I needed add was a small amount of CYA. It looked fabulous throughout this. It looks after itself so well with the SWCG and auto acid dosing. TFP water really is so easy to maintain. Back into it now and won’t be so neglectful now we know we’re not digging it out.
The final electrical work to complete this resolution happened the morning that hubby returned from 8 months in Iraq (and the day before everything here shuts down for several weeks). In honestly think they were scrambling to get it done by the time hubby returned, as he had sent a couple of not so nice emails. Turns out, they respond well to that. Probably shouldn’t have been so civil throughout this nightmare.
Anyway, this is my youngest enjoying his third swim for the day on Christmas Day. I guess this is what it’s all about!
Looking forward to catching up on what I’ve missed here over the past several weeks.
It’s been a bit of a saga since I last posted. The pavers did go down, although we are still waiting on the replacement pavers to be sealed and the 40cm of mastic to be done between the drain and path.
About 6 weeks ago I had a sneaking suspicion that the pool was still leaking. Originally there has been water evident at both ends of the pool. One end dried up immediately and never came back after the ‘fix’. The other end (which is river rock) still seemed damp underneath. We had had large amounts of rain off and on those and it can remain damp underneath, so I couldn’t be certain. It was just a feeling. We weren’t loosing a noticeable amount of water.
Pb humoured me and gave the okay to engage my own independent leak detection company. They found a leak in the solar line. The same line that was ‘fixed’ last time. From what we can gather, both the upper elbow and lower elbow must have been leaking originally. The initial fix replaced the top elbow, hence water no longer being seen at the other end of the pool. The leak detection company were certain the remaining leak was in the lower elbow, which they deemed completely inaccessible after looking at my photos of the plumbing rough in. Their solution was to either go without heat or core drill a new solar line. Obviously neither option were viable. Pb would, under no circumstances, consider core drilling the shell. He would dig out the whole pool before doing that.
Pb remained calm and suggested we replumb at the equipment pad and run the heat pump through the main vs pump. We have never been happy with the boost pump, so were secretly happy to be rid of it. It was loud and sucked power. The proviso we had though was that the heat pump needed to be able to call for the vs outside of its set run times and to also isolate the chlorinator at these times. There is no standard piece of electrical equipment that can do this. The electrician needed to rewire our original dontek box (that originally called for the boost pump to come on) to do this job. It hadn’t been done before that they know of and the electrician wasn’t sure it was doable. I had faith that if anyone could do it, it was him. He has been our favourite tradie and very professional. I didn’t tell him that if he wasn’t successful that it would be a whole pool rip out. It was a success as far as I can tell and overall we are happy with the solution. Obviously it’s not ideal to loose our solar line permanently. Being realistic though, we did not want to have to pursue a dig out and redo. Goodness knows how long that would take and the dramas that would unfold next time. The solar lines are permanently bunged with full nylon bungs. It looks fabulous and is able to heat to temp when it needs to. I am comfortable that the pool is now functioning properly and not loosing a single drop of water.
Over a period of about 6 weeks I have to admit to checking my water only twice. I honestly wanted nothing to do with it during all of this. All I needed add was a small amount of CYA. It looked fabulous throughout this. It looks after itself so well with the SWCG and auto acid dosing. TFP water really is so easy to maintain. Back into it now and won’t be so neglectful now we know we’re not digging it out.
The final electrical work to complete this resolution happened the morning that hubby returned from 8 months in Iraq (and the day before everything here shuts down for several weeks). In honestly think they were scrambling to get it done by the time hubby returned, as he had sent a couple of not so nice emails. Turns out, they respond well to that. Probably shouldn’t have been so civil throughout this nightmare.
Anyway, this is my youngest enjoying his third swim for the day on Christmas Day. I guess this is what it’s all about!
Looking forward to catching up on what I’ve missed here over the past several weeks.
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,288
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
Merry Christmas, Liz, and it's great to know you got it resolved and the pool is working well. Simply the best to see the kids thrashing around and cooling off, that's for sure! It's also good to hear that your sparky found a way to sort out the controls. All the best for 2019!
How cute is that!!! That IS what it is all about!!
Gurrrrr on the leak ......really??? Pvc glue is cheap so usr it!!!!
Glad Sparky was able to work through the new to him stuff. Keep his number handy and pass it out whrn asked for a good one!
Kim
Gurrrrr on the leak ......really??? Pvc glue is cheap so usr it!!!!
Glad Sparky was able to work through the new to him stuff. Keep his number handy and pass it out whrn asked for a good one!
Kim
It is a relief to have it sorted and to be able to enjoy the pool without the feeling that something isn’t right. All the best for 2019 and thank you for all your advice along our pool building journey [emoji4]
How cute is that!!! That IS what it is all about!!
Gurrrrr on the leak ......really??? Pvc glue is cheap so usr it!!!!
Glad Sparky was able to work through the new to him stuff. Keep his number handy and pass it out whrn asked for a good one!
Kim
It is pretty cute! He lives in the pool. Our older son isn’t quite as keen, but once he’s in he won’t get out.
The frustrating thing is that the pvc glue is obvious in the photos at every single elbow. No one knows what has happened, but possibly that line was the last to be done and used as a footing to exit the pool. Plumbing rough in was done by an external company who also did the rebar. Should have been picked up though by the pbs plumber during pressure testing both before and after concrete. It didn’t show up though. Not sure if it wasn’t pressure tested to a high enough pressure. It showed at 100 psi for the leak detection company.
Anyway, it is what it is and Pb was responsive enough to have it fixed for us before they shut for Christmas when it’s their busiest time of the year. The sparky was already on leave but came back for our job. Unfortunately he is based on the other side of the city and I would feel bad calling him here for odd jobs etc. He was the one who also did our down lights, what feels like a life time ago. Will definitely recommend and use him for any big jobs that are worth his while.
wow, I was shocked to see that you are even still posting to your thread, so I knew it must not be good. So so sorry that you've had such a nightmare!
I think this bit of advice would have served me as well. Live and learn I guess.
The good news for you is that aesthetically your pool is gorgeous! You just have to get the stuff nobody can see taken care of. I know how stressful that is. Hang in there it will be over one day and you'll never look back.
I think this bit of advice would have served me as well. Live and learn I guess.
The good news for you is that aesthetically your pool is gorgeous! You just have to get the stuff nobody can see taken care of. I know how stressful that is. Hang in there it will be over one day and you'll never look back.