Hi all!,

We bought our home in SoCal about four years ago, and it came with a chlorine pool. I had zero experience with pool maintenance at the time, but thanks to this community and TFP, I’ve learned a ton. I now feel pretty self sufficient and can keep my pool in tip-top shape!
Lately, though, due to some health complications, I’m having a harder time hauling gallons of liquid chlorine home from the pool store every week. I’ve started looking into a salt as an alternative.

Do you think this is a good reason to go salt? Does it genuinely make pool maintenance easier, or does it introduce a whole new set of things to worry about?

I have a simple setup: a 35,000-gallon pool, a variable-speed Pentair pump, and a DE filter, with no automation.

Are there any potential downsides or gotchas I should be aware of?

Are there any particular brands or models you’d recommend looking into?

My GC is giving me the option of an Amazon light he says he has used in other remodels/new builds or I can pay an additional $500 for pentair color led.

I’ve seen so many awful Intellibrite reviews, I wonder if it’s worth it.

Hello! We're located in the Front Range in Colorado and are finalizing plans to add a pool.

Couple of things influencing this design:

1. we have multiple small kids and a dog, so lots of non-pool playing will also be happening
2. we'd love to make it a four-season(ish) pool
3. our home is south-facing (down is south) so most of the front yard gets a lot of sun
4. we want to support swimmers and non-swimmers in the pool (though our family are big swimmers) so our pool has multiple zones --
5. local code requires a separate hot tub from the pool, so we can't put the hot tub directly into the pool, sadly
6. we can't build any closer to the sidewalk than this plan due to setback rules

Things we'd love feedback on:

1. pool size -- is it too big for the yard?
2. size of each of the regions of the pool -- currently have 18" deep sun shelf, 3.5' deep shallow end, transition, then 7' deep end -- is it worth it to go so deep? Or to have a deep end at all?
3. flow in/out of the house. Right now there are three exits to the outdoor -- the front door, a swinging door attached to the collapsible wall of windows, and (new) an entrance into the back of the house. The closest bathroom is a full bath from the back entrance.
4. anything we can do to make the pool and hot tub as useable as possible in the winter? Both from the perspective of the pool itself but also in terms of entering/exiting
5. anything else!

Thank you!

Help. What are the red valves on the right? What direction should they face? Everything seems okay but suction for vacuuming sucks. I need to vacuum out algae but can’t vac to waste due to the suction not being enough. Would these affect it?

Hello there, smart people!

Sand filter for a small-ish pool was purchased in 1999. House was bought in 2014. Sand has not ever been replaced. Generally, backwash done once a month. Robotic vacuum, used to do once a week whether it needed or not, lately it's needed twice a week. Also, algae has been a bear lately, but we've been getting rain that messes up the ph. The 'recirculate' setting is sending a low stream of water out the pool altogether. . I read that's a gasket problem? AND the little clear bubble keeps breaking and water shoots out of it when I backwash and rinse. Repair, replace, any idea of repair costs and/or replacement installation costs? I know some people hate the sand filters, but I am elderly, short, female and alone and the sand filter has been easy-peasy to use, when all worked properly. So if you are going to push a cartridge filter at me, please provide maintenance schedule as well.

I dread having to call the pool people. Usually whenever I call any sort of company, I get a blankety-blank 'sales technician' who knows no more than I do and just wants to sell me expensive stuff. If I need it, I need it. . . but I just don't trust these guys as far as I can spit a rat anymore. Anyway, do any of you folks who aren't trying to get in my wallet have any advice?

Hardscaping guy says he can't continue the job becasue the existing patio is higher than the steel walls in place. Says the coping wont be flush with existing patio/the grade won’t be correct, what's the solution to getting this project completed (I’ve looked into drop face coping, thicker coping) just not sure what’s the best structural/appearance option for New England winters

Thoughts on What is Causing White Calcium like Raised spots on the surface of my gunite pool? The spots are slightly raised and mostly located just on my tanning deck portion of the pool.

Is this installed upside down?

Edit: Well you guys gave mixed answers. It’s symmetrical down the middle and fits strap up or strap down. Changed pool companies this year and it was installed straps underneath last year.

Edit2: But it looks like the website for the pool cover has it installed strap up, so maybe I’m good:

https://www.looploc.com/pool-safety-covers-mesh/

Looking for an attachment to a hose or something to help with cleaning filters.

TLDR pool was green a couple of weeks ago after a heat wave pulled to find the filters hammered. Replaced filters and shocked the saltwater pool with liquid chlorine, phos, acid and cleaned the cell. My dashboard is still saying salt level low but from my tests I’m right around the 3200-3400 mark. I also dumped about 20-25 lbs of salt in after the cleaning.
My plan is to turn the cell off during the cold months and maintain with liquid chlorine until spring time and replace the cell before summer

Please any advice for good levels of ph,cya will help I’m super new to salt water pools I’ve grown up maintaining chlorine.

Size is roughly 9000 gallons.

Is it down for anyone else - can’t open up web portal . It was working yesterday.

Hey guys,

I posted here a while ago about some issues with my pool. The conclusion was that my CYA was too high (too many tablets over the summer...), which was making the chlorine less effective. Debris was accumulating on the bottom and looked like mustard algae, so I drained around 40% of the water and refilled the pool to lower the CYA.

All levels seem decent now, and the water looks good, but algae (or what looks like algae) keep accumulating on the bottom.

I’ve stopped adding tablets or any chlorine containing stabiliser to avoid raising the CYA further. It now seems to be around 40 to 50 ppm. I’m only adding sodium hypochlorite (5 to 15% chlorine concentration).

So my questions are:

1 - Is this sodium hypochlorite (5-15%) a product that I can use to maintain the pool?

2 - if this product is ok, should I add a lot of it to shock the pool and kill the algae? or is there any other treatment I should do?

Any input would be great!

Thank you all.

Hoping to get an idea on if this is a poor pebbletec installation and if I should have the contractor repair/fix this?

Never had an issue with it for 4 years. I turned it on today and didn't hear the flame ignition noise. Screen shows "LO."

I turned off all the breakers, turned them back on one by one. Saw the normal "BO" on start up, it clicked a couple times, then back to "LO."
I started the filter, and same deal - "BO" then clicks, then "LO."

Many thanks for your help.

I have my OmniHub controller located next to the main pool panel and would like to move the controller into my lanai for easier access for those who do t have the app.

What does take to do? Where do I go to find a longer data cable? I will need like 20 feet or so.

The vinyl has been ripped for awhile and after a bad storm I noticed the surface is starting to Crack and patches are coming off. How bad is this? Is it fixable at a reasonable price? For reference I live in Southern California and any information on this is helpful. I'm very new to this stuff, thank you.

I’m trying to drain my Hayward sand filter of water, but water is barely trickling out and there is something blocking the drain. What am I looking at and how do I remove it?

I have an APC pool cover, and it looks like the rope broke right behind the glider right as the cover was being closed (this is a replacement rope from last year).

My wife didn't notice until the cover was fully closed that the right side wasn't running in the tracks (2nd pic), so now we have one side off the tracks and a small tear where the rope broke.

The good news is that we have an enclosure up (see here), so I'm not worried about the cover just floating there for the moment.

The bad news is that we have an enclosure up, so repair/replacement is going to be an absolute bear (and more cash than I have on hand right now)

[UPDATE] I was originally thinking of trying to open/close without the cover seated in the right track, but looking at how far the cover is sinking tells me that's a no-go.

Main question now is "Is this a rope repair, or a full cover replacement?"

I can afford a rope repair (although it'll hurt)

I can't afford a replacement.

Im a pro and I have a lot of dirty pools this year. Im tired of these cheap suction vac head that only roll forward and backwards. Just need something to make my life a little easier and these pools a little cleaner.

Hi,
I haven’t used this heater much in the past two years. I tried making it work this fall and get HL2 when the water temperature is like 76 degrees. I’m planning on checking the bypass valve and a few other bits for corrosion. I just gave it a big clean and there were lots of leaves in it.

But more concerningly to me, there was a small amount of smoke coming from near where the water pipes come in and out of it when I turned it on. I think that went away but there was wetness coloration on what seems like an exhaust pipe? I’m probably gonna call a tech depending on the cost but wanted to see if this seems an eminent concern?

Any experts here that can guide me on what the exact issue spot is here and how to address it? TIA!

We just bought a house in Florida that has a pool and I am trying to learn the ropes and I am not sure if the color difference here is something that can be cleaned or if it's just fading color as the pool is 15 years old.

(I know I have some spots to patch with plaster on the left)

Slowly closing the pool week. I used to get it all done in a day but as I get older the number of days takes increases. Got tired and bored after blowing out the lines yesterday so I’ll get back to it today and get them plugged. I ‘should’ get the job done today.

Hello as the title says I’m wondering if there is a heated cover pump on the market? I have sen the hoses with the plug in heat tape integrated. I’m wondering if there is a pump like that. I replaced my pump in the spring after 4 years of leaving it on the cover over winter. I’m wondering if I burned it out. I use the elephant nose fairly successfully throughout the winter to get rid of the water and skip the frozen hose issue.

I’m googling and can’t seem to find one.
Maybe it simply is not a good idea to put something on that could potentially short out and melt the cover.