Three years from initial planning to this point. Included major detour to move septic field but totally worth it in the end.

20x40 vinyl w/ salt, full width steps, deep end bench step, jump rock
7x7 spillover spa
16x14 pavilion
new patio and pool deck
wood fire pit
all new landscaping w/ lighting
full perimeter fence + vinyl privacy panels

Can't believe this is my backyard now!

I’m in Houston, TX (USA), and the outdoor temp is 101F. Still mighty refreshing though. How’s everyone else’s pool? (folks with chillers need not to brag 😂😜)

I’m short on time so i was thinking maybe i’ll have a pool company do the cleaning. Well it’s $150. Why bother cleaning and not just pop in a new set from amazon every few months?

i think i’ll just buy a new set every few months and save time from cleaning.

swap filters: 3 minutes

clean filters: 30+ minutes

edit: wow i didn’t mean to poke the pool guys hornets nest. guys im not coming for your job, just asking what home owners like me are doing.

edit 2: doing myself is something im trying to do less of. now making over $300 an hour so im going to either pay $120 or $150 and save the time but i just dont understand why not buy new? am i missing something? toss in trash and swap is easy and i think my new system.

I‘m an idiot. I backwashed for 5 hours. I turned it to backwash when I was letting the dogs out this morning and forgot to switch setting before going to work. I didn’t remember doing it until after lunch. I just came home to the water being below the skimmer. I’ve turned off the pump and the pump and water inside the pump basket are both hot. What have I done? I’ve managed basic pool maintence myself since buying a house with a pool, but aside from cleaning and chemicals I leave it to the pros. Should I call my local pool company or wait and see what damage I’ve caused.

I have a Hayward sand filter and a Howard pump.

The concrete between the stones of my pools waterfall is deteriorating, I’m worried about catastrophic failure especially since my kids are always playing under it. Can I just knock out any loose concrete and fill it following basic concrete instructions or is this a professional job?

No matter how pristine my pool is, if I use this shock I will absolutely have this cloudy white stuff settled at the bottom of the pool the next morning.

I used to think it was dead algae that the shock had taken care of but I’m not convinced anymore.

Anyone know for sure? Is it just some component of the shock itself?

We have a pool that appears to be leaking. We are currently considering whether to monitor the water level in stages — skimmer box first, then pool wall lights, then lower jets/outlets to see where it stabilises.

Does anyone have experience with this approach, or would it be better to arrange formal leak detection now and not allow the pool level to continue dropping?

Thank you.

Hey everyone, I’ve got a small pool/hot tub in the back yard. I can not for the life of me keep pigeons away from the hot tub where it spills over to the pool. They just bird bath all day while I’m at work. Came home the other day to one dead in the skimmer. I have set all sorts of stuff to block them from bathing in the spillover from hot tub to pool but they just hang out around the hot tub now and they poop everywhere. I’ve got the spinning reflectors, I’ve got bird spikes along every edge of roof that borders the pool, I’ve got these stupid predator eye beach balls and an owl decoy.

All that together makes a minor difference but ya still get the pigeons that DO NOT GIVE A WHAT!

What is the real solution to keeping pigeons out as best as possible?

So, on Sunday I looked at the pool and it was turning green a little bit. Because of the CYA I did the trouble free pool calc and added 4 gallons of liquid shock and covered (Sunday's reading is the one with the 6.12 ppm).

Took the cover off yesterday morning and went to test water again this afternoon and all of that chlorine just evaporated. I am in the midwest and it is 100 degrees and sunny outside. The pool gets a solid 10 hours of direct sunlight a day.

What should I do? I am really at a loss here. Is it a filter issue? I will likely need new sand next summer. It has filtered just fine so far this year and this has only been an issue recently.

I really don't want to dump 9 more gallons in without having a game plan moving forward.

Pool right now is murky blue but I know it will turn green shortly.

Any advice is appreciated. I’ve cleaned most of the leaves out but not sure what to do, I have the pump running and may add algae removal liquid afterwards. It wasn’t this bad until the storm recently, what else can I do? 😭this is my first time experiencing this since we usually just clean the leaves and have the pump running.

Do I need to do anything with my TA? I keep hearing that 80-120 ppm is ideal so I am right in the middle. Since I need to raise pH by about 0.5 should I reduce my TA first? Planning to use Borax (sodium tetraborate) for the pH.

help!!!!! inground pool with cartridge filters (brand new filters and manifold) pump operating fine, have had pool professionals inspect all..and still this appears within hours of manually vacuuming!!!

We are in Tampa FL, putting in a freeform 12’ x 27’ swimming pool with a raised 7’6’x7’6’ spa with spillway. We are in a historic district so we can’t screen in the pool, but we are raising the edge of the pool 6” above ground level to guard against critters and swamping during heavy rains. The pool’s depth will go from 4’ to 5’ and there will be a curved 22’ bench along the far deep end of the pool. We’re putting in a 6’6 x 8’ sun shelf with four steps coming off of it and a LED bubbler with umbrella sleeve. The interior will be Stonescapes mini pebble finish in Tropic blue. The pool will have two Pentair 2 color LEDs in the pool and one 2 color LED in the spa. The pump will be a Pentair variable speed 200CL 3 hp pump with intiliflo, a Pentair clean and clear 200 square foot filter, a Pentair intellichlor salt generator, a Therm 125 heat/cool unit, and a Pentair Dorado robotic cleaner with leaf catcher; pump/spa will have Intilicenter automation.  We’re putting in 2”x2” tiles around the waterline and on the outside of the spa and raised edge of the pool on the exterior, and we’re putting in 1”x1” mosaic tiles on the spillway. Travertine coping and flagstone pavers around the exterior – we’re thinking of going semi-light since our sun is brutal, but are worried about staining. We’ve tried to think of all variables before getting to this point and we think we’re in pretty good shape, but wanted to get any other thoughts, feedback, or ideas on things we aren’t thinking about. Renderings are attached – we appreciate any feedback you may have!

Coming back to this group for some advice as you’ve been extremely helpful in the past. For the past five days I’ve been dealing with a scum line that just won’t lift.

Testing kit (home and in-store) shows PH, Hardness and Free Chlorine are where they should be, but yellow scum line appears and won’t seem to come off. Replaced the Scumbug, added Enzyme, and cleaned/scrubbed with liner cleaner, but still won’t lift.

Tried Vitamin C, but that didn’t work either.

Any thoughts ideas? I’m planning to try dish soap tonight and might go the baking soda paste route…

This is the second time this has happened this summer. Pool last night shows 15psi over clean with slowed returns. I shut it down overnight and go out to clean it today. Turn it on to back wash and it’s back down 15psi and running fine.

Last time I cleaned it anyway. Nothing came out of the backwash and when I opened it up the DE was really caked up and came off in chunks.

Any ideas?

Our travertine pool deck has a triangular cut piece that has cracked multiple times. The original builder has already replaced them, but the replacements also failed. Any tips?

I installed a small pool (300cm ⌀ x 120cm), but I can't get my pump - above water level - to pull water. Am I doing something against the laws of physics in my setup?

I’m in Louisiana, so this is worse time of year for pump to die. Easy Touch unit button made pump keypad flash red. I disconnected the easy touch, and tried to manually start pump, immediately starts flashing red again. With everything unplugged, I could manually turn propeller with fingers, so it’s not jammed. When I hooked the easy touch back up… now, the pump will turn on for about 2 seconds. As soon as it tries to kick into high rpm, it shuts off. I tried to order a replacement wet end (part 070118), but was told they are discontinued and no longer available.

1. Is this true, or did just this company not be able to get one?

2. If I can’t get a replacement wet end, and have to move to whole new system, my research says the IntelliPro3 VSF and WhisperFlow VST,
   Both by Pentair, should fit with existing plumbing. Is that accurate?

3. Are there any other options, other than the two above?

Thanks for any help. Manually adding liquid chlorine, using brush like a giant stir stick, and running the waterfalls all day, to help keep pool as proper as possible with no pump.

Hi all, I’m at my wit’s end. I have a rectangle shaped pool and it appears that I have some dead zones after repeatedly SLAMing the pool and scrubbing multiple times a day. Algae just keeps coming back in the same two spots. I am directing the three jets parallel to each other directly towards the opposite side of the pool. The jets are also pointed slightly downward. I’ve tried 10-45 degrees downward and it seems less of an angle is better. But I still can’t clear these dead zones. Is it just trial and error? I’ve tried keeping them parallel and pointing in different directions without any success. Thanks in advance!