Any tips for a new pool owner?

RedJen wrote:

I suggest installing a mote filled with acid or alligators.

LilCodger wrote:

Shall we also electrify the fence and unleash some pit bulls

No, those would be public nuisances!

wordsmythe wrote:
RedJen wrote:

I suggest installing a mote filled with acid or alligators.

LilCodger wrote:

Shall we also electrify the fence and unleash some pit bulls

No, those would be public nuisances! :D

You hate nature and the environment don't you. The day we cant hug wild alligators and strange pitbulls, is the day we admit our allegiance to industrialism!

Acid is natural too... well certain kinds of it anyways....

Important update:

Although I'm doing the permanent electrical on Saturday, the pool filled enough that I could use a temporary cord to power up the filter and pump.

The pool is gleefully gurgling. I still have to build the ladder and do the initial shock and awe, or whatever it's called, treatments.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

*If you live someplace that gets cool overnight, invest in a solar cover for the pool. It looks like a giant sheet of bubble rap. Put it on every night after the sun goes down and it will retain the heat of the day.

Also, if you get a solar cover, make sure that your pool is secure from next door's dog who could run across it thinking it's a solid surface, then fall underneath and get trapped and drown.

For example.

Next, number 3 on the list of things you don't want to find in your pool...

Cut every tree and bush within a 1 mile radius, and don't forget that those same trucks that hauled away all that dirt can bring it back and fill that sucker in!

My parents have, in recent years, filled their pool up. It was nice for a while, but then they got to the point where they did not even remove the cover in the summer, then the swamp animals moved in. Now they have a nice grassy area surrounded by a concrete deck.

ApplepieChamploo wrote:
doubtingthomas396 wrote:

*If you live someplace that gets cool overnight, invest in a solar cover for the pool. It looks like a giant sheet of bubble rap. Put it on every night after the sun goes down and it will retain the heat of the day.

Also, if you get a solar cover, make sure that your pool is secure from next door's dog who could run across it thinking it's a solid surface, then fall underneath and get trapped and drown.

This is very true for really stupid dogs or dogs that just love water. None of our dogs were never interested in trying to walk across the pool. Always around, solar cover or not. The neighbor's utterly stupid springer spaniels though? Not so much. One in particular I fished out of our pool at least 10 times over the years, several times with the dog just staring at us from the center of the solar cover. It never did really learn and it would probably still be happening today except that we finally enclosed our pool.

Ok, first wave of chemicals prepping the pool are done. Balanced, stabilized, shocked... So many concepts to this new language of pool ownership.

The mineral filter cartridge starts it's life a bit later this morning when I can catch a few minutes. Over lunch I'll have to finish assembling a ladder, a final test of chemicals and.... hopefully my wife and kids can enjoy their pool for the first time this afternoon.

Rat Boy wrote:

Don't pee in it, no matter how much you're tempted to.

You need to get a big sign that says:

"Welcome to our ool. Notice there is no P in it. Let's keep it that way."

Hmm. Not to push this thread entirely into P&C, but do you realize the liability you are taking on by owning and operating your own pool? It is quite literally many times more dangerous than owning a gun.

Paleocon wrote:

Hmm. Not to push this thread entirely into P&C, but do you realize the liability you are taking on by owning and operating your own pool? It is quite literally many times more dangerous than owning a gun.

Whoa, skimming a 2 page thread?

nsmike wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

Hmm. Not to push this thread entirely into P&C, but do you realize the liability you are taking on by owning and operating your own pool? It is quite literally many times more dangerous than owning a gun.

Whoa, skimming a 2 page thread?

Skimming is an important part of proper pool maintenance!

Arise!

I was mentioning this in the This Old ____ House thread, but I figured something more specific would be better.

I've got a new house that came with a pool. It's above ground, 20'x35' oval. I know nothing about pools, and so far, it's been kind of frustrating. The former owners were do-it-yourselfers-on-the-cheap, so I'm not sure of the quality of any of the stuff I've inherited.

When we moved in, the pool water was clear, but there was a bunch of green algae on the bottom. I tried and failed to vacuum it, then brushed. The pool turned green. On Tuesday (a week and a half after move in), we had a pool guy come over to show me how to do stuff. Since the pool was green, he dumped in three lbs of powdered shock, and half a bottle of algaecide, plus added chlorine tablets to the chlorine thing (it was empty, and there was no chlorine). He showed me how to plug the vac hose into the skimmer pipe, but since it was green, that was all the vacuuming lesson I got.

As of yesterday, the water has cleared up nicely. The test strip says the chemicals are out of whack, but I'm going to take a sample to the pool store to get that fixed. There is a fair amount of green/gray stuff on the bottom that I'm assuming is dead algae. I tried vacuuming yesterday. It was frustrating.

I have one of those triangular vac heads, but it's old and down to three brushes. I'm also having trouble getting the hose to stay in the skimmer. I tried the adapter plate, but it tends to shift and lose suction. I also tried plugging the hose straight into the skimmer pipe, but it doesn't really fit. I'm not sure if there's an adapter I can use? As for the vac head, I'm pretty sure I need a new one. What's a good one for not a ton of money that won't rip my liner?

Any other vacuuming tips? Should I be vacuuming up the algae stuff on the bottom, or just brushing and letting the filter deal with it? Is it weird that I've only got one skimmer at one end of the pool? It seems like the main buildup on the floor is at the other end, which is sad. Any other advice for a newbie pool owner?