What did you do to your pool today?

[Dirk]

How do you add an overflow after the fact?

You pretty much gotta drill. It can be through the edge tile, or in the skimmer. And then you gotta get from that point to beyond the deck. That can be done by digging out under the deck. If done carefully, all can be restored "like new," without messing with the tile or the skimmer or the deck. But it's a pretty intensive job, and not without some amount of risk. The wider the deck, the worse the job.

@Mdragger88 has an above ground pool, so her retrofit will be considerably easier.

 

[Newdude]

But it's a pretty intensive job, and not without some amount of risk.

And *then* installing wifi cameras.

 

[Mdragger88]

How do you add an overflow after the fact?

I have an above ground pool so I just need a drill.

 

[Homebrewale]

You pretty much gotta drill. It can be through the edge tile, or in the skimmer. And then you gotta get from that point to beyond the deck. That can be done by digging out under the deck. If done carefully, all can be restored "like new," without messing with the tile or the skimmer or the deck. But it's a pretty intensive job, and not without some amount of risk. The wider the deck, the worse the job.

@Mdragger88 has an above ground pool, so her retrofit will be considerably easier.

I think I'll stick with manually draining the pool. On my last pool, it was just a horizontal pipe at just the right position where it kept the water on the proper height on the skimmer. I have 5 feet of concrete deck plus another 4 feet of river rock. One good thing is that the land slopes away from the pool. A pipe could be run where the overflow water would just run into the woods. Nobody lives behind me and never will.

 

[Dirk]

I think I'll stick with manually draining the pool. On my last pool, it was just a horizontal pipe at just the right position where it kept the water on the proper height on the skimmer. I have 5 feet of concrete deck plus another 4 feet of river rock. One good thing is that the land slopes away from the pool. A pipe could be run where the overflow water would just run into the woods. Nobody lives behind me and never will.

If I didn't have an auto-leveling system, and ever had to deal with an overflowing pool in the middle of the night while it was raining, the next day I would install a motorized valve on a pipe running out of my pad plumbing. You often see hose bib valves installed just above the main pump. This valve is used to remove water from the pool. I would replace that valve with a motorized valve (or add one if there was no valve). Then I could just flip a switch to drain my pool, from the comfort of my smart phone. It's not automatic, but it beats dealing with an overflowing pool during a storm. And with a trusty pool cam (you all know I had to throw this in!), I could drain my pool from afar.

 

[dereksanders]

I need to add an auto fill. Unreeling and feeling a hose isn’t the end of the world, but what the heck. I have a healthy to-do-list for next season.

 

[Dirk]

I need to add an auto fill. Unreeling and feeling a hose isn’t the end of the world, but what the heck. I have a healthy to-do-list for next season.

Look into auto-leveling systems, instead of just auto-fill. They maintain the level: adding or draining water as needed. I never have to do either, and I can't imagine having a pool without one.

 

[dereksanders]

Look into auto-leveling systems, instead of just auto-fill. They maintain the level: adding or draining water as needed. I never have to do either, and I can't imagine having a pool without one.

Is your trademarked pooler available?

 

[Dirk]

Is your trademarked pooler available?

Dirk's ghost writer here. He wants, like, $25 for one. Don't fall for it. Check it out:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091YCGSD6

He picked that one because the numbers aren't printed on, they are actually see-through. There is only white with the numbers knocked out, so it can't fade. So far the white has been holding up to chlorine and sun.

On the off chance that you seriously want one, please don't report getting one back here on the forum. If Dirk finds out that someone liked his idea enough to try it, he will be insufferable.

 

[phonedave]

I have an above ground pool so I just need a drill.

I added one to my old ABG. Drilled into the skimmer at the appropriate level. Some threaded to barbed fittings and a length of pex later, and I had an overflow that run under my pool deck and down one of the legs to the ground. What an awesome idea I had.

Then all the grass around the deck died, because, well, I have a SWCG and the overflow is salt.

I guess i could have created yet again an other decorative rock area for the water to drain into, but my pool only gets really full if there is some sort of storm, and if that is the case my ground is saturated anyway. At that point I would rather throw in the sump pump and pump it off property.

I have a really technical and highly complicated way of ensuring that I don't leave the pump running and pump the pool down to much - I sit it on the top stair of my steps, which is right at the perfect water level.

 

[Mdragger88]

I only have a small strip of grass before the gravel area in which I would love for the grass to die lol a fairly short hose will get me there.
The area that I backwash/waste to is also unfortunately still quite lush and requires “liquid lawnmower” on a regular basis.
Maybe my weeds & Bermuda are salt resistant.
I never made it to the hardware store but its on the agenda for tomorrow…..
the grand plan is to have a drain pipe buried in the ground that stubs up at the pad and I can route the backwash/waste line & overflow into so I don’t have to deal with dragging out all the hoses & temporary pipes each time which tend to get run over and look unsightly if left out.
That project will likely coincide with the ethernet to the shop project sometime before our next load of gravel goes down. It’ll all come together someday!

 

[Katodude]

Well we had a big storm roll through yesterday. We have an umbrella down, an extra inch of water in the pool, and the pool is full of leaves.

I am going to need an extra cup of coffee this morning to watch and supervise the robots cleaning it all up.

 

[Mdragger88]

Did a little fc check this morning and it was 6.5
Not the worst thing ever but not where I want. I like it around 8ppm or a little higher with my cya of 80.
I had reduced the swcg run time a little due to the rainy overcast weather but apparently my aged hayward swcg had other plans - it had changed to 54% from 80%.
The potentiometer is going bad - it likes to jump around but never this far. Just glad I caught it! Not sure what route I will take with a fix - either a new display board $$ or sourcing a replacement potentiometer $ which is a little elusive.
I am hoping it’s just due to the monsoons we had and that things will dry out and improve some. Monitoring the situation…

 

[JamesW]

The potentiometer is going bad - it likes to jump around but never this far.

Try contact cleaner.

 

[Mdragger88]

Try contact cleaner.

Its on the list! I hope to bandaid this thing for the life of the pureline cell I bought 2 seasons ago

 

[Mdragger88]

Ok … the 2nd thing I did to my pool today is……
remove the handrail from the steps whilst inside the pool in preparation for deploying the cover.
All was going well until I dropped the screwdriver and even though it didn’t look like it fell tip down apparently it did
There’s now a lovely x shaped tear in my pool floor. I patched it post haste hopefully it holds. I’ll be taking another dip later with some food coloring to check it out.

 

[Newdude]

@Orion7319 made a patch hack

Vinyl liner repair patch (with turtles)

So I have always had this rock under the liner when it was replaced five years ago. I was hoping it would never poke though, but it did today. So I patched it with some left over vinyl from the instal. Only problem. The sun has faded the liner a good bit in the last five years. Didn’t realize...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Obecalp86]

Cleaned my cartridge filters. Pressure was still looking good but they hadn’t been cleaned in 6 months; they were dark gray from dirt and other stuff but almost brand new-looking after a quick rinse. All in all it took about 30 mins from start to finish - ironically, I used to spend about the same amount of time trying to get my former pool guy to clean the filters, followed by a $100 fee.

Feels good to be my own pool guy!

 

[Mdragger88]

@Orion7319 made a patch hack

Vinyl liner repair patch (with turtles)

So I have always had this rock under the liner when it was replaced five years ago. I was hoping it would never poke though, but it did today. So I patched it with some left over vinyl from the instal. Only problem. The sun has faded the liner a good bit in the last five years. Didn’t realize...

www.troublefreepool.com

AHHMAZING!
Thankfully the patch is holding- you really can’t even see it since its clear. The robot didn’t eat it yet and no food coloring was sucked into it.

 

[Dirk]

Cleaned my cartridge filters. Pressure was still looking good but they hadn’t been cleaned in 6 months; they were dark gray from dirt and other stuff but almost brand new-looking after a quick rinse. All in all it took about 30 mins from start to finish - ironically, I used to spend about the same amount of time trying to get my former pool guy to clean the filters, followed by a $100 fee.

Feels good to be my own pool guy!

My "professionals" used to clip me $150 a pop, four times a year. I do it myself now, too, once a year. And I've skipped a year a couple times, too. All goes into the "This-Is-What-I-Saved-Since-I-Found-TFP" fund. AKA "Beer-Money."