Those of you with pools

[Snuff 10]

Just bought a house that came with an above ground pool. Never had one. How easy/difficult is it to maintain one? What needs to be done? Give me a rough schedule. There are no trees around it. Current owners are leaving all supplies.

TIA

[brinett9 0]

First you need a bubbling diver guy.

[Force of Two 0]

Get a pool boy for the wife....

 

My wife says she loves that feature....I dont know why

[brinett9 0]

All you need is about fifteen teenage girls in bikinis and a webcam.

 

TIA

[SigEp316 0]

I assume an above ground is the same as in ground with upkeep. Our little robot sucker works like a charm, we also have a guy that keeps the chemicals maintained and vacuums it as well. I'm no help here.

[GutterBoy 2,537]

It's not too bad. Keep your chemicals in check. Buy a auto vacuum or do it yourself. I can help you with specific questions.

[hoytdwow 202]

Pour green food coloring into the water and tell everyone it's a therapeutic bath.

[Snuff 10]

It's not too bad. Keep your chemicals in check. Buy a auto vacuum or do it yourself. I can help you with specific questions.

 

Thanks gutter. How much are the chemicals? What chemicals? How often do you need to add them? How do you know when to add them? Is that all there is-chemicals and vacuuming? What about when you open the pool for the summer and close it down for the winter? What needs done?

Much thanks.

[D_House 0]

just go to your local pool supply store for a kit to check chemical levels (pH, chlorine). keep these at the recommended levels (it'll be easier to do this if you keep the pool covered in the summer when not in use - that cuts down on evaporation, and keeps the water warm for the wimen folk.)

 

vaccuum as needed, skim every day you swim if there's crap floating in the water. also remember to clean out the pool's skimmer every once in a while.

 

i think winterizing is the toughest part of pool maintenance, but i'm not much help there.

[surferskin 30]

dig a huge hole and place the above ground pool in the ground.

[Snuff 10]

dig a huge hole and place the above ground pool in the ground.

 

Why would I want to do that?

[Force of Two 0]

dig a huge hole and place the above ground pool in the ground.

 

This may raise the property values and youll have to get a permit

[surferskin 30]

Why would I want to do that?

 

cuz above ground pools reek of white trash...

[Force of Two 0]

cuz above ground pools reek of white trash...

[Snuff 10]

cuz above ground pools reek of white trash...

 

Ah, I see. Well my family and I couldn't give a rats ass what others think.

[BiPolarBear 476]

Boy, it looks like NewbieJr has finally built that kinder, gentler board he talks about in his sig. Come on people; we are talking about an above ground pool here. Where are the trailer jokes? Could somebody please ask if the previous owner left any dogs under the porch?

 

Somebody?

[D_House 0]

Thanks gutter. How much are the chemicals? What chemicals? How often do you need to add them? How do you know when to add them?

chlorine to keep away bacteria and algae

algaecide if you get an outbreak

my Dad used this zinc stuff, i think also to keep away algae

pH up and pH down

 

also useful is a brush attachment for your skimmer/vaccuum pole. algae tends to stick to the walls and floor of the pool, a lot of times you can kill it just by brushing and let the pool's filter suck em up.

[Franknbeans 46]

Just bought a house that came with an above ground pool. Never had one. What needs to be done?

Pick axe

[p.man 7]

Is this a pool that has a filter system with a pump?

 

If so, than you'll need to know if it's a sand or DE filter. If it's a DE filter than you'll need to buy a bag of the DE powder to regenerate the filter after each backwash. You pour a pound at a time right into the skimmer with the filter off. How many pounds is determined by what your pool filter say's. Read the paper on the filter. You'll only need to backwash once in a while.

But you should know what the psi is of the filter so that you'll know when to backwash. (If the psi goes up thats when you'll need to backwash because your filter is working harder/slower. Backwashing cleans the little finger pads that are inside the filter.

You should have a little glass on the side to show you how dirty the water is. You than go back and forth between backwash and filter a few times. When the little glass shows the water as being clean that's when you can put your lever back in the filter position. Your psi will return to it's normal operating pressure.

Always! turn your filter off when switching the lever back and forth.

 

If you need to raise the PH just buy some soda ash.

If you're not sure what chemicals to use just bring a bottle of you pool water to your local pool store and have them check it. That's when you'll be hit with a big bill. Good Luck!

 

Edit.

Put your filter on a timer. You'll only need to run it 8-12 hours a day.

I run my filter for 10 hours during the day. 9am to 7pm.

You don't need to run it all day and night. You can only filter your water so much.

Plus you'll up your electric bill big time.

[GutterBoy 2,537]

Thanks gutter. How much are the chemicals? What chemicals? How often do you need to add them? How do you know when to add them? Is that all there is-chemicals and vacuuming? What about when you open the pool for the summer and close it down for the winter? What needs done?

Much thanks.

 

The main two things are chlorine and PH. Add Chlorine tablets to keep your chlorine level constant. After heavy use or every couple of weeks, you want to shock it. Shocking a pool means you overdose it on chlorine. First let's understand chlorine. When the chlorine tablet disolves in the pool, it attaches itself to bacteria, which kills the bacteria, and creates "inactive" chlorine, or chloramine. Over time, this builds up and can burn eyes, smell, so you add lots and lots of free chlorine to burn off all the chloromine. They make dip sticks to tell you when you need to add chlorine or when you need to shock it.

 

PH should be around 7.0. Also tested on a dip stick. they make raise and lower powders.

 

You can add algecide if you want or if you develop some algae. I generally don't.

 

What kind of filter do you have? Sand or DE? You need to backwash your filter regularly.

 

You should probably buy a small book, they sell pamphlets at the pool store, or they will give you one.

[Restricted 0]

You said they left some stuff. Take a look at what chemicals they used. Some are not interchangable.

 

Get yourself some sort of test kit or take a watersample to the local pool store and let them test it for you.

 

1) Balance the alkalinity. Baking Soda will increase it but you gotta use pounds of it and they only normally sell it in those little boxes. Muratic Acid will lower it, it's sold at hardware stores and is also used to clean concrete.

 

2) Balance the pH. pH +/- will do the trick.

 

3) Disenfectant - What they used or something compatable. As said above, chlorine is the easiest. Sold in tablet form, drop a couple in the skimmer basket - the thing attached to the square cut out in the wall.

 

Run your filter at least 8 hours a day. Can be more, up to all the time if you want. There's a pressure gauge on it, and when it gets to 20 or over, it means water is having probs flowing. This should also be able to be verified by looking at the water shooting back into the pool as it won't be as strong, if at all. Check the skimmer basket and the basket at the front of the pump for debris first, and then clean the filter. If it's a sand filter, you need to do a backwash for a couple of minutes. You'll see the dirty water shooting out of the valve. Turn it back when the water turns clear. If it's a cartridge filter, take out the cart. and hose it off. There is also a thing called a DE filter, and you'll have to do what's called a bump, which shakes the powder or just change the powder out.

 

Disenfectants kill the stuff in the pool, you need to "shock" the thing at least once every two weeks if not more frequent to get the dead stuff out. If you're using chlor, use 1lb bag per 10,000 gal of water. Either pour in skimmer or mix in a bucket of water before putting it in the pool.

[Snuff 10]

 

Wow, lotsa info. Much thanks guys. I don't know the particulars of the pool yet. They guy I am buying the house off of says he will show me how to maintain it. But I don't even know the guy so who knows?

Thanks again.

[Jeff Garcia 8]

The fact that the owners are leaving the pool and all the supplies should send off a red light right there.

[Snuff 10]

The fact that the owners are leaving the pool and all the supplies should send off a red light right there.

 

They won over 200,000 on the lottery and are building a new house in the area. They're leaving lots of stuff for us. Good, quality stuff.

[p.man 7]

 

Wow, lotsa info. Much thanks guys. I don't know the particulars of the pool yet. They guy I am buying the house off of says he will show me how to maintain it. But I don't even know the guy so who knows?

Thanks again.

 

You're Welcome!

 

I recently bought a home with an inground pool that was being heated by propane.

And I have since changed all of that. I had a company come in and install solar panels on top of the cabana.

Something like this.

http://www.warmwater.com/ecosun_solar.htm

[SigEp316 0]

You're Welcome!

 

I recently bought a home with an inground pool that was being heated by propane.

And I have since changed all of that. I had a company come in and install solar panels on top of the cabana.

Something like this.

http://www.warmwater.com/ecosun_solar.htm

 

 

I have these on my pool...the water temp is 85 right now

[Snuff 10]

I do know this guy ran a gas line to the pool so it can be heated, but his unit burned out. So I'd have to get another one if I wanted to. I may just go with the solar cover. :shrug:

 

How much do these chemicals cost? How much roughly to maintain it the whole summer?

[Spergon Wynn 0]

I do know this guy ran a gas line to the pool so it can be heated, but his unit burned out. So I'd have to get another one if I wanted to. I may just go with the solar cover. :shrug:

 

How much do these chemicals cost? How much roughly to maintain it the whole summer?

 

Very little if you use standard laundry bleach, borax, and baking soda. That's what I do, seriously. I take care of everything myself and it's much easier than a lot of people posting here think. It's a tip

[ellisonb11 0]

cuz above ground pools reek of white trash...

 

 

does seem like a bit of white trash, but who cares u have a pool now

[Ravens 03 0]

I had an inground.

 

Can't help you here.

[BlackClouds 24]

Snuff's pool

 

I'd just keep dumping the water out and refill with each use.

[Snuff 10]

Snuff's pool

 

I'd just keep dumping the water out and refill with each use.

 

If the lady came with it, I'd take it!

[Brown Eyed Girl 1]

Just got ours last year. As long as you keep up on the maintenance, it's okay... but actually ours has been a real pain in the butt.

 

My husband is also very anal about how clean it is kept, though.

I don't clean it.. he does all that. We have an automatic vacuum thingy that moves along the bottom of the pool suctioning up any dirt on the bottom and sides. Other than that, he has to do these PH tests to check the chemical levels and you have to know how much of each to pour in to give you the right balance, I guess.

 

The biggest problem is the vinyl liner. You have to take good care of it so it lasts. The sun will fade it and wear it thin eventually I've been told and of course you want to make sure no holes or tears occur in it.

 

That's all i got.

[BlackClouds 24]

anal I don't clean it.

[Brown Eyed Girl 1]

 

Of all people... i didn't expect this from you.

 

I want to leave Nevada! I've had enough!

 

Haven't had a chance to check my lotus notes mail, so I have no idea what you wanted me to read.

 

alsobossisonvacationtillTuesday!

[jmonfrey 0]

Had an above ground. I lived around the New Orleans area where it rains alot. F@ck that. Kept up with it, and the B!tch would still turn green. 1 good rain and you are screwed. Take the pool out and fill the hole with grass.

[Snuff 10]

Had an above ground. I lived around the New Orleans area where it rains alot. F@ck that. Kept up with it, and the B!tch would still turn green. 1 good rain and you are screwed. Take the pool out and fill the hole with grass.

 

We don't get many hurricane type storms in Pittsburgh. Plus I plan on having it covered when not in use.

[Ellen Degeneres 0]

Get rid of it!!

 

What a pain in the ass

[hoytdwow 202]

Can I come over and go swimming?

[Snuff 10]

Can I come over and go swimming?

 

Only if you're a hot chick.