Above ground pool install pics

Ron-P

Well, today we used a BobCat to remove the majority of my lawn and then I hand cleared the remainder. I ran a few string lines to get my level and tomorrow I will rob my neighbors sand pile, finish leveling, lay the sand and tarp it. The pool (12' x 30") is due to arrive on Friday. Most likely won't get to setting it up until early next week though.

Here's the first pic of the nearly leveled area.

Systems

I suddenly want a Margarita!:biggrin:

Ron-P

Oh, I do plan to wrap the pool in that reed stuff you get in roll at Home Depot. It'll hide that ugly blue color and help it blend in with the theme of the yard.

mantis

And a shot of Tequila followed by a Corona to finish up the mexican Trifecta.

gdb

Are there banana plants there on the left of the pic? Tarantulas love banana plants!:eek::biggrin: Looks good so far! Look for some chlorine stabilizer, it really keeps chlorine from "burning off" in the strong sunlight.

disneyjoe7

I can only think so fun with that rope above the pool! :eek:

stuwee

Now I understand what you were saying about your backyard from the other thread. Ron that's just beautiful to this desert rat's eyes . What a great place to hang out!!

gelinas

wow, thats a lush beautiful backyard.
We definately don't grow plants like that in Maryland.

tonyb

Looks nice Ron, expecting Gilligan, and the Skipper too, to come walking out of the background.
Thats a nice flat area for the pool, I think you have the right idea to go with a smaller pool and keep it off the patio.

steveinaz

Ron-P wrote: »

Oh, I do plan to wrap the pool in that reed stuff you get in roll at Home Depot. It'll hide that ugly blue color and help it blend in with the theme of the yard.

Cool idea!

Just be careful about using fertilizers that contain iron near the pool. Nice sanctuary Ron. Also, using your test kit, get baseline numbers for pH, TA and CH from your "fill" water. This will let you know what you may be up against to get your water balanced.

Ron-P

tonyb wrote: »

Thats a nice flat area for the pool, I think you have the right idea to go with a smaller pool and keep it off the patio.

It will be on the patio a bit, about 18" or so, just no way around it unless I went with the 10' but that one was $50 more than the 12'.

steveinaz wrote: »

Cool idea!

Just be careful about using fertilizers that contain iron near the pool. Nice sanctuary Ron. Also, using your test kit, get baseline numbers for pH, TA and CH from your "fill" water. This will let you know what you may be up against to get your water balanced.

Steve, that is all a foreign language to me. I never had to deal with pool chems before and have no idea what to do, how to do it and what it all means. Hopefully, the dvd that comes with will explain it.

steveinaz

Ron, first order the taylor complete FAS-DPD test kit, (K2006):

http://www.poolcenter.com/taylor_test_kits.htm

Then, read the booklet attached. Also join this forum: www.poolforum.com
A pool professional runs this site, and teaches you how to avoid getting screwed on unnecessary pool chemicals.

Here's some basics:

2 things are rountinely checked/corrected; sanitizer (chlorine), and balance (pH). Your levels should be:

FC (Free Chlorine): 2-5ppm (this can vary depending on CYA levels, as CYA, while protecting chlorine from sunlight, also binds some of it--making it ineffective). More on that later.

pH: Range of 7.2-7.8, with 7.5 being ideal. Lower pH is an "acidic" condition, higher pH is an alkali condition. Low pH (7.2 and less) means that the acidity can potentially harm your pool equipment (or plaster where applicable); High pH can cause scum lines/unclear water.

TA or Total Alkalinity, is a measure of your overall acidity or alkali. Usually a range of 70-100ppm is ideal, though 80-120ppm is acceptable. Lower TA numbers also help to reduce pH flucuations. TA is essentially a pH "buffer."

CH or Calcium Hardness (sometimes called "CA") is a measure of the hardness (calcium level) of your water. It's more of a concern with concrete or plaster surfaces. Generally you don't want it any higher than about 250ppm.

CYA (Cyranuric Acid; aka: Conditioner/Stabilizer) Stabilizes the chlorine from the sun. Sunlight "kills off" FC quickly, CYA helps protect it. You generally want a range of 55-80ppm. NOTE: If you use chlorinating "pucks" the CYA is already in them. This is both good and bad. The bad side, it's hard to control CYA level when you are always adding it via pucks---and the only way to lower CYA is by partial draining. That's why I recommend you use clorox bleach (PLAIN) and add the CYA yourself. Clorox adds no CYA by itself. It's also far cheaper than Powerdered Chlorine. Keep in mind however, bleach has a very, very short shelf life---so don't "stock-up" any more than you will use in a month.

Summary:

every other day, until you get to know your pools chemistry "pattern" check chlorine and pH levels. You decrease pH by using Muriatic acid, gemerally a cup of Muriatic will drop 10,000 gallons from 7.8 to 7.6. But I"m spit-balling that figure.

I have a pool calculator on a spreadsheet I can email you, send me an email and I"ll get it to you tonight.

The other "stuff" TA, CH, CYA levels should only need to be checked once a month once you've got the levels correct.

QUICK MYTH BUSTING: SHOCKING THE POOL. My pool is 6 years old, it's never been "shocked." Here's the straight skinny on shocking (ultra high levels of chlorine). You ONLY shock your pool when CC (combined chlorine) is .5ppm or higher. This means that your chlorine is fighting "something" algae, germs, urine, sweat...who knows...A well maintained pool will rarely show any CC. I've never had any CC in my pool from day 1.

I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH how important a GOOD test kit is. Without it, you'll always be "guessing" at what is wrong, instead of diagnosing the problem. GET THE TAYLOR.

When all done your numbers should look like this:

FC...2-5ppm
CC...0ppm (shock at .5ppm)
pH...7.5
TA...70-90ppm
CH...0-400ppm (you have vinyl)
CYA...55-80ppm

maximillian

Ron-P wrote: »

Steve, that is all a foreign language to me. I never had to deal with pool chems before and have no idea what to do, how to do it and what it all means. Hopefully, the dvd that comes with will explain it.

Definitely watch the DVD and follow it. For my pool after I had it filled and let it settle for a few hours I took a sample of the water to a local pool supply store. They tested it for free and told me what I needed. Of course they will do this because they want to sell you the chemicals. This is probably the easiest way to get setup since they will give you instructions on how much and in which step to add the chemicals.

Either way you choose make sure to buy litmus paper strips or other test kit to test the water. Most will test for the basic items beyond PH as well. Then you can buy the chemicals anywhere. Test once a week to make sure your pool stays balanced.

Jstas

Ron-P wrote: »

Oh, I do plan to wrap the pool in that reed stuff you get in roll at Home Depot. It'll hide that ugly blue color and help it blend in with the theme of the yard.

I was gonna say, you should do something to hide the big blue blob so it doesn't clash with your decor!

Just, when you put the reed stuff together, you might want to use a soft liner or something like closed cell foam between the reeds and the pool. It would suck to have a reed puncture the liner.

I say closed cell foam too because it won't hold water and grow mildew and other fun stuff. It'll also make the reed wall that hides the pool opaque so none of the garish blue will show through.

Since you can't get around having the pool on the concrete, make sure you do some edge relief. The dirt is going to compact and sink under the weight of the pool. The concrete won't. You'll end up with a pretty nasty 18" shelf there. Not only will it eat toes, it'll be like hanging an 1800 pound beanbag over the edge of the patio. It'll push down on the concrete and also drag it. Doing some edge relief will help keep the pool bottom propped up so it doesn't put too much stress on the edge of that concrete.

I'm not sure what you could do there though. I'm thinking something like plywood sheathing under the sand along that edge. The sand will keep it from being yet another toe stubber and the plywood will distribute the weight more evenly. Then the stretch and pull edge ends up being on the plywood and not the concrete. The plywood is cheap and expendable and you can just pull it up and replace it then re-level the sand when it either goes bad or you take it down.

Ron-P

I like your ideas. I was thinking of cutting a small trench at the edge and laying in a 2x4 with nice soft rounded edges. But, I think your idea with a thin sheet of plywood is a better. I have a tamper to compact the dirt before I set the pool to help with compaction.

As for the reed around the pool. I was thinking of just putting in some stakes about 2" away from the edge and then attaching it to the stakes that way it does not come into contact with the pool.

I like idea Max, I have a pool shop just two blocks away.

steveinaz

Addendum on using bleach to sanitize: Make sure it is NOT scented, thickened, etc, etc. Plain clorox bleach.

It's the best kept secret in pool care, if you don't have a SWCG.

steveinaz

FWIW, my "pool store" analyzed water numbers were so far off, it was laughable. GET A TAYLOR. The pool store computer simply reads color strips.

Jstas

Ron-P wrote: »

As for the reed around the pool. I was thinking of just putting in some stakes about 2" away from the edge and then attaching it to the stakes that way it does not come into contact with the pool.

That'll work. Just make sure you brace it somehow so if it gets windy or something, it doesn't get blown in to the pool or a rogue ball or something doesn't knock it in to the pool either.

steveinaz

More info on CYA:

When CYA gets too high, you can have a condition called "chlorine lock." This is another downfall of chlorinating tablets/pucks. The high CYA will bind up so much of your free chlorine, that their won't be any available chlorine to fight germs. Then comes the algae out break. Problem is, your test kit will tell you that your chlorine levels are fine. However, if you have a TAYLOR, you'd know that your CYA levels are off the chart, and be able to figure out quite quickly that you have chlorine lock. Show me a test strip that does that. Test trips are to pools, what Kraco is to hi-fi. Am I harping enough yet?

Ever hear other pool owners draining their pool often? This is why. I've only done a partial drain once in 6 years, and that was to lower my calcium level. I had to do about a 50% drain as my CH was 780ppm! It's a common problem with our hard water down here. My "fill" water is already 280ppm!

steveinaz

Pool Calculator, free--fill-in the blanks:

http://poolcalculator.com/

Jstas

steveinaz wrote: »

Addendum on using bleach to sanitize: Make sure it is NOT scented, thickened, etc, etc. Plain clorox bleach.

It's the best kept secret in pool care, if you don't have a SWCG.

I dunno dude. I've agreed with everything you've posted so far except this.

Chlorine bleach isn't just chlorine. It's usually a solution of approximately 3?6% sodium hypochlorite, or NaClO, lye, oxygen bleach (which contains either hydrogen peroxide or a peroxide-releasing compound), and bleaching powder (calcium hypochlorite).

The peroxide-releasing compounds are usually sodium perborate, sodium percarbonate, sodium persulfate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, or urea peroxide together with catalysts and activators like tetraacetylethylenediamine or sodium nonanoyloxybenzenesulfonate.

That's not stuff you really want in your pool. Besides all that, many Clorox products, including the bleach, contain sodium lauryl sulfate. It's a surfactant that makes things slimy feeling and is used as a degreaser. In fact, in most automotive degreasers, it's listed as one of the primary active ingredients. It's a known skin irritant as well.

If you're going to use bleach, better research it 'cause it can come with stuff that you don't want in there. Especially stuff intended for cleaning and not pool chemicals.

You can get non-stabilized chlorine tablets that are just straight up sodium hypochlorite. Cal-Hypo tabs are around but usually they are found at commercial pool places, not residential stuff. But you can get certain kinds of HTH tabs that are the same thing. Ace has a house brand and I've seen the HTH tabs at Wal-Mart and Lowes. Just make sure they aren't di or bi tabs.

If you're going to use the Bleach, Boric Acid and Baking Soda method though, you literally have to keep on top of it daily. Sun destroys chlorine and as it breaks down, your acidity level fluctuates. Using baking soda and boric acid can bring it back in to line but every time you add chlorine, you're going to skew it one way or the other.

steveinaz

Sure it is. Sodium Hypochlorite is sodium hypochlorite.

Plain clorox has 3 ingredients: water, saline, sodium hypochlorite. The saline is actually beneficial as it softens the water to a very slight degree.

Using the BBB method, CYA has to be added "manually" which is actually a benefit, IMO, as it can be controlled far better.

Unless you have an automated system or a SWCG, you have to stay on top chlorine regardless of method of delivery.

I didn't know anyone made a non-stabilized puck---that's definitely a good thing.

steveinaz

As to the "pain in the butt factor" of pools, for a period of about 45 days (while my plaster cured) I used clorox to maintain FC in my pool until my SWCG could be fired up, and salt added. My pool is about 13,000 gallons, and it required putting about 3 cups of bleach/every other day to maintain the level I wanted; so while not nearly as convenient as the SWCG, it wasn't too much of a PITA.

Currently, with the SWCG, I spend about 20 minutes each Saturday on the pool, about 20 more minutes if I need to vacuum. We have drifting pH here, so I'm constantly battling high pH, even with a TA of 80ppm. It's the high TA of the fill water (220ppm) and the SWCG that contributes to this---even with that, about 2 3/4 cups of muriatic acid a week keeps my pH perfect.

Ron-P

All this chemical take is really overwhelming. The pool arrives tomorrow and I'm not setting it up until Wednesday so that gives me plenty of time to watch the DVD and read up on how to treat the water.

gdb

Wally world has inexpensive chlorine for smaller pools + test kits.

pearsall001

My pool is going on 9yrs old & the only chemicals I use are liquid chlorine (straight hypochlorite) available from any pool store in 1, 2.5 & 5 gallon jugs & Arm & Hammer baking soda. Once in a blue moon I had to use an algicide but other than that it isn't a big deal to maintain.

Keep it simple or you'll be pulling your hair out worring about every little thing. Simple test strips is all I ever use to test the water.

maximillian

Ron-P wrote: »

All this chemical take is really overwhelming. The pool arrives tomorrow and I'm not setting it up until Wednesday so that gives me plenty of time to watch the DVD and read up on how to treat the water.

You'll get used to it. It's really not that complex. I would trust steveinaz on this since he seems quite experienced.

My local pool supply store's recommendations and test report did not seem out of the ordinary compared to what I had already understood was needed. It seems like a good starting point for me. We'll see in the coming weeks. I grabbed the Taylor test kit that steveinaz recommended. I also have the litmus test strips to compare the two readings. It will be an interesting comparison.

steveinaz

You'll love the Taylor because it tells you actual levels in ppm, rather than "good" or "bad." It's important to know the exact numbers when diagnosing a problem.

steveinaz

Ron-P wrote: »

All this chemical take is really overwhelming. The pool arrives tomorrow and I'm not setting it up until Wednesday so that gives me plenty of time to watch the DVD and read up on how to treat the water.

In a nutshell Ron, your day to day stuff is simply adding chlorine and keeping pH correct. The other test are done far less often (I do mine at opening, and at closing each year), but are still important numbers to know--as you see in my CYA "chlorine lock" example. If you had no way to measure CYA, you'd never know why your chlorine had lost it's effectiveness.

Also, once you learn your pools particular "habits" you can back off on testing all the time. I can tell you for a fact, that by Thursday of each week my pH is at about 7.7--because I know it's habits and how pH drifts up in my pool. You'll gain the same insight after a season or two.

steveinaz

To get you started Ron, upon filling of your pool, add: (for apprx 1700 gallons)

16oz of bleach (Result will be: FC=4ppm)
adjust your pH if necessary: (7.2-7.8 range) to raise pH: use soda ash or borax; to lower pH use Muriatic acid. Use the pool calc link I sent you for specific amounts. Make sure your water is circulating for about 30-45 minutes after adding acid---it's heavier than water and will sink right down to your vinyl--not good.

After you decide if you're going to use pucks w/CYA or go bleach and add your own CYA, I'll help you figure that out. NOTE: when adding CYA, wait at least 5 days before measuring again--it takes it awhile to settle in. Be conservativ on adding CYA, remember, the only way to lower it if you over shoot is by draining.

MAIN FOCUS for the first few days: Keep the water sanatized, maintain correct pH.

Jstas

Yeah, something that seems obvious but isn't. The filter output. Number one, don't point it straight out. Point it off to one side and away from the inlet for the filter. This helps keep the water moving around so it doesn't stay stagnant. It's harder to manage stagnant water and moving water doesn't let too much stuff that can grow take hold real good anywhere. We ran our filter 12 hours a day, every day. Especially during the times that people were using it. It also helps push the crud towards the filter inlet and circulate your chemicals. When you're dumping your chemicals in, have the filter running and pour your chemicals into the outflow stream to help them mix better.

One thing my dad always did, especially with dry chemicals like baking soda or other stuff was fill a bucket with warm water and dissolve the chemical into that warm water. Then he would dump that bucket of stuff in to the outflow of the filter. It tended to mix in and disperse better than just dumping it in.

Do not pour chemicals in to the filter. The only time chemicals should be anywhere near the filter is if you have an automatic chlorinator. That's typically on the outflow side anyway.