for those that have or know...THANKS!

where do you buy your chlorine in bulk for cheap?


anyone have a pool alarm? brand? recommend?

I go thru 6 large tablets a week and usually buy a 50 gallon container at Leslie's for $100-120. I buy it online and get free shipping so that I d'ont have to lug it around. It lasts the whole season and then some. Basically that and one 20 gallon can of acid to lower the PH at opening is all I need. I knock my PH to the low side of normal right after I opens it and then it comes up to normal 2 weeks later and stays there all season. High PH is very bad for a pool heater so anyone with a concrete pool has to watch that closly Usually PH in a concrete pool only runs high in the year or two after it's built and then every season after the winter (unless you have a solid cover) because of accumulated rains. It's even higher for me because leaves get in under the cover. If I spend $150 a season on chemicals I spend a lot and I've got a 62' pool that is generally 20' wide at the deep end and 20-30' wide at the shallow end. Usuially I put 4 tablets in the chlorinator and 1 in each skimmer. The latter keeps the frogs and toads out.

What is a pool alarm?

It would sound if someone, expecialy a child jumps or falls in the pool

sounds like a good plan, thx,
& what lab said about the alarm. my wife wants to get the removable fence around the pool, but i don't want to drill extra holes in the concrete when its done. i was hopeing to use a pool alarm.

digging begins next week...perfect time for fall

Good luck! But just think what spring will be like......

thanks!...yea i sure i may want to rush this winter. i may have to join team terry this winter

be prepared for your yard to be a disaster

already is...i let the crabgrass take over this year, a hole, pile of dirt and dozer tracks will be much better to look at.

But by summer it can look like this.....................

My pool temp has dropped about 15 degrees with this damp dreary weather. Now down to 72 degrees.

Lab,

Why aren't you in the picture?? Metfan would rather have them bundled up in overcoats. I tell you I'm getting worried about him.

The best advice I'll give you is get a heater and a solar cover. My pool is 74 degrees now but it'll be 87 by Sunday. I can't have a solar cover because of the pools size and shape. But a heater means you control your temperature and get early and late use of the pool. A solar cover means you d'ont have to run the heater all that often as it preserves temps in cooldowns and warms the water in warmer times. The cost of both are a small fraction of the cost of the pool.

thanx....heater not in budget, hell the pool isn't in the budget..but got do it! will get a solar cover for sure, we are getting a sports pool, 3 1/2 foot on each end going to 5 1/2 in the middle so hopefully it won't take long to get warm and we will have full sun to about 7 pm daily. growing up we had a 28'X42' pool with jacuzzi. i remember we had a blow out party one year and we were running the jacuzzi. well someone left the heater on, but turned the valves back to the pool! needless to say pops wasn't happy the next day with a 96*F pool that was green and a huge gas bill!! good times..

heater isnt a ton of extra money and is a must if you want to use the pool early and late in the year. We were in mine may 1st this year. Solar cover is great to and very easy if you get the solar reel to easily roll it up. Unfortunatly even the solar cover couldnt save my 85 degree water this time. 4 days of cold weather and 4.25 inches of rain knocked it down to 75. Thankfully august/sept give me the most hrs of daytime hrs of sunlight with the changing sun angle so that should help warm my pool back up. If not heater will be on tomorrow

im gonna build something, still wrkin out ideas/plans

Late in the season some pool builders throw in the heater for free or half price as business slows. But after the big heat this summer it could well be there's a lot of demand for pools. As long as you d'ont have a long run of gas pipe from the house to the filter the heater isn't expensive and with a pool that shallow it will heat the water very quickly. Think twice about it. I had heaters in both pools I owned so I needed no convincing. But the guy who built my concrete pool in my old home said going without the heater is like getting a great meal with a lousy dessert.

i hear ya... and can't disagree too much there....just not in the cards right now. but there are other options that work quite well, like i said still workin some plans out
i don't have a jacuzzi so the plus is i don't need the instant intense heat. they are down in business for sure, we are saving about 8 grand.

outline is painted in lawn....dig starts today!

we have an above ground pool, but we love it.....it really makes a difference in the summer. It's a lot of work, but sooo worth it when it's 95 and you just finished mowing the lawn....heaven!

Enjoy!! :D

for sure, i don't mind the bit of work tough as like you said the reward is great.
funny about the lawn thing, i mowed it yesterday and i was sweating my arse of looking at a hole in the ground with some sides of a pool waiting to be put together...that was more torture!!

If you maintain the pool chemistry right you'll have minimal work to take care of your pool. That and making sure the filter gets backwashed when the pressure build-up gets too high are the key things. A polaris or similar product will also reduce maintenance. Thanks to the polaris I've never vacuumed a pool yet. The key things to a pool are sufficient chlorine and proper PH. The latter will vary with the type of pool that you put in. Generally a liner pool is low PH and you'll always be trying to raise it. A concrete pool is the exact opposite and you'll need acid (PH minus) to lower it. I have a mesh cover on a concrete pool so the pool always opens with high PH from leaves that get under the cover and the winter precip that flows thru it. So I add about 10-15lbs of acid as soon as I open it and the pools PH is on the low side of perfect within one filter cycle. Controlling PH is very key to all your pool piping, filter and heater. High PH is a killer of heaters. One other thing that is key is run your filter 2 straight days uninterrupted after opening it. You may be able to cut this back if you have a solid cover but basicaly you want that pool water clear as possible ASAP and only the filter with a ton of early chlorine can do that. Once the water is clear check the pressure build-up of the filter as it may need a backwash. And if you have DE based filter make sure you feed DE back into one of the skimmers when you go back to normal filtering (you have to do this immediately after backwashing) as a backwash takes out the old DE. After the first year I had the pool the only time I backwash each summer is about 7-10 days after I open the pool and that has continuously amazed me as I am in a wooded area. But the trees d'ont bother my pool at all. Also once I get that PH under control within the first 24 hours of opening the pool it stays perfect the whole season. Other than taking surface leaves out that may fall in during dry heat or breezy days/T-storms the only work I do on my pool is check the chlorine and PH weekly (this takes about a minute) and add chlorine tabs to my chlorinator (another 1-2 minute job). But if you run your chlorine too low or let the PH get out of control than you'll have a lot more work on your hands. Also d'ont open your pool too late. Many folks who do get algae problems as the immediate top layer of surface water under the cover gets quite warm (over 100 degrees) in late May and early June and with no chlorine circulating thru the filter you can easily develop algae. Almost everyone I know that opened a pool too late had an algae issue. I only filter 6 hours a day and the pool stays pristinely clear. I used to filter 12 hours a day but one night I had dinner with the guy who built my pool and he said all I was doing was wasting electricity. 6-8 hours a day will do it but you should run the filter during sunny periods, not at night. I also always run the filter if I'm in the pool as the pressure from the filter keeps leaves or debris in the skimmers from getting out. One other trick I learned is putting a chlotrine tablet in the skimmers each week keeps frogs and toads to a minimum. They may still jump in your pool but they w'ont hideout in the skimmers.

You may want to bookmark one of these re PH.

http://www.havuz.org/pool_pool/pool_mainte..._testing/ph.htm

http://www.ptpoolcare.com/swimming_pool_ph_levels.html

I agree with Ice. Pools are not very difficult to maintain and less time consuming than many believe. Start-up is typically when you have water quality isses and time required for cleaning. After that, it's not so bad, unless a problem develops (leak, equipment issue, etc.), in which case it's important to have a reliable service that's quick to respond. I went through a few until I found one that's local and very fast in turn-around time. Nothing worse than a service that takes a week or more to visit when you have a problem.

good sound advise fellas thanks! many people say how much work it can be, but i don't mind it one bit. i've worked in my life and caring for pools is not considered work in my world.
floor going in and liner ordered today, backfill tomorrow, and electric this week...maybe i'll be in for the nice cool weekend

It's really minimal work. You'll grow to hate gusty T-storms though. The liner means you have to guard against low PH and make sure you never throw liquid chlorine in the pool as it will soil the liner.

With the help of a 8 hours of heating my pool water is back to 90.

ill disagree,ive used bleach these last 2 years and nothing as faded my liner except the polaris. It got stuck under the ladder and wheels hept spinning and i had a burn mark(pure white streak about .5 wide and 1.5 long. You cant see it unless you use goggles and look under the ladder

The old liner pools were a no-no. Maybe the new liners have compensated for that given that throwing liquid bleach right in is a great shocker.

yea i think the new liners have fade protection from sone and chlorine now....gotta love progress