Yes: Pools are worth it....

[GlenFromTheMailRoom 1,603]

12 minutes ago, Quagmire said:

Sweet humble brag

 

[Poolflood 845]

1 hour ago, GlenFromTheMailRoom said:

Mother effin' this.  Except our pool inspector failed to mention our catch basin for the infinity edge being too small for the pool.  Looks like we'll be installing rainwater collection to avoid massive water bills.

 

Very nice.  Was it a separate inspection for the pool, or a home inspector, that did the pool as well.  Hydraulics on those are tricky

[GlenFromTheMailRoom 1,603]

4 minutes ago, Poolflood said:

Very nice.  Was it a separate inspection for the pool, or a home inspector, that did the pool as well.  Hydraulics on those are tricky

They were done separate from each other.  Both inspectors missed it.  Not sure how, but neither of them saw the issue.  I figured out something was wrong because the edge pumps were flooding the backyard below the pool.   Fortunately, the home is still under warranty and it covers the pool since it was the builder that put it in with the house.  They put up a bit of a fuss at first but a demand letter changed his tune on installing the rainwater collection.

Edited April 2, 2018 by GlenFromTheMailRoom

[GlenFromTheMailRoom 1,603]

Here's the whole thing at night for those interested.

[gsoda3 3,245]

you don't work in the mail room do you.

[bschoolprof 6,251]

Is that the pool for the guest house?

[Poolflood 845]

15 minutes ago, GlenFromTheMailRoom said:

Here's the whole thing at night for those interested.

Spot on sir.  Glad it's getting taken care of

[GlenFromTheMailRoom 1,603]

10 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

you don't work in the mail room do you.

I drink to much for that kind of responsibility.

[BillyGoatHill 4,312]

16 hours ago, Dutchrudder said:

Grew up with a fresh water pool in texas, don't have one now, but am considering it for the next house. Is it better to buy a house with the pool installed or build it after you purchase?

 

6 hours ago, Quagmire said:

 

Price wise already there is cheaper , you never get your money back spent on pool when you sell the house , it adds some value but not much.

Of course build it yourself and you get what you want , but have to deal with your backyard being a mess for months .

 

Agree with Quag. Did our own and built like we wanted, but much like building a house, you have to be around to make sure it is done as you wanted and right.

Determine what us covered in your contract and MORE IMPORTANTLY, what is not. Most pool builders and their attorneys don't consider the skimmers part of the structure and where do most leaks occur? That's right, around the skimmers. Builders skimp on rebar around the skimmers and they slowly pull away from the structure and the weight cracks the skimmer boxes or the plumbing around them which is also not included in the warranty. Yes, I have had to deal with these exact issues. Even with the hassle of having to learn this first hand, still love the pool and being able to swim/cool off without the hassle of going somewhere else besides my back yard.

Edited April 2, 2018 by BillyGoatHill

[BottleRocket 644]

Can I be your friend Glen?

On another note.  I use a Polaris 360 pressure side automatic cleaner that's about 15 years old and I've Frankensteined the crap out of over the last 5 years.  It works okay for the most part but eventually ties itself in a knot.   I named it Castro.  The pump for the Polaris was replaced about 3 years ago.  The last pool pro that came over to work on something (it's always something) told me that there is a lot better equipment available today.... robotic stuff.  Less kinky.  What are ya'll using?

[GlenFromTheMailRoom 1,603]

2 hours ago, BottleRocket said:

Can I be your friend Glen?

On another note.  I use a Polaris 360 pressure side automatic cleaner that's about 15 years old and I've Frankensteined the crap out of over the last 5 years.  It works okay for the most part but eventually ties itself in a knot.   I named it Castro.  The pump for the Polaris was replaced about 3 years ago.  The last pool pro that came over to work on something (it's always something) told me that there is a lot better equipment available today.... robotic stuff.  Less kinky.  What are ya'll using?

I strongly encourage people to come float around and get drunk in the pool.  It's why we bought the damn thing.

[Damor 1,236]

Careful, Glen just wants to squirt you with his sprinkler!

We had one of those Polaris units at an old shitty pool we had at another house, and I had the same issue with it constantly tangling, no matter what we tried.  I hated that wee sucky bastard.

We just built a place with a new, non-shitty pool and got one of the robotic cleaners.  It's a Dolphin S300i.  I call  it "Angry."  We've only been using it a couple months, but thus far I have been much more happy with it.  It doesn't tangle around the cord, and it's nice not to have an auxiliary pump to worry about.  I very much like that it crawls up the sides and brushes the waterline.  We don't have a lot of leaves in the pool, but the basket can go a 2 or 3 cleanings for us without getting over-full, and it's easy to clean. 

The only negatives so far are that we're having to have an outlet moved to allow it to stretch out to the farthest corner of the pool, and that for whatever reason it doesn't want to crawl up onto the tanning ledge, or whatever you call that shallower area.  The "i" feature is pretty overrated as well, as it's just a bluetooth connection, so it's not like you can turn it on from very far away from the control box, and the app is crashy on Android.  They are also expensive, but  IMO easily worth double the price of our craptastic Polaris experience.

Roll cheesy promo video:

 

Edited April 6, 2018 by Damor
muledick

[GlenFromTheMailRoom 1,603]

49 minutes ago, Damor said:

Careful, Glen just wants to squirt you with his sprinkler!

We had one of those Polaris units at an old shitty pool we had at another house, and I had the same issue with it constantly tangling, no matter what we tried.  I hated that wee sucky bastard.

We just built a place with a new, non-shitty pool and got one of the robotic cleaners.  It's a Dolphin S300i.  I call  it "Angry."  We've only been using it a couple months, but thus far I have been much more happy with it.  It doesn't tangle around the cord, and it's nice not to have an auxiliary pump to worry about.  I very much like that it crawls up the sides and brushes the waterline.  We don't have a lot of leaves in the pool, but the basket can go a 2 or 3 cleanings for us without getting over-full, and it's easy to clean. 

The only negatives so far are that we're having to have an outlet moved to allow it to stretch out to the farthest corner of the pool, and that for whatever reason it doesn't want to crawl up onto the tanning ledge, or whatever you call that shallower area.  The "i" feature is pretty overrated as well, as it's just a bluetooth connection, so it's not like you can turn it on from very far away from the control box, and the app is crashy on Android.  They are also expensive, but  IMO easily worth double the price of our craptastic Polaris experience.

Roll cheesy promo video:

 

What he’s trying to say is that I want to pee on you.  That said he’s not far off.  Let’s roll the dice and see where the day takes us.

[Poolflood 845]

I'll second the robotic cleaner with one caveat.   Polaris has been around forever, parts are everywhere (and knock-off parts made by CMP generally work well and can be found online). When your robotic dies, unless its under warranty,  it is a lot more expensive to repair.

[Hate 20,106]

I have the old Polaris 360 Or whatever and it does just fine. It’s damn near 10 years old and still cleans the pool nicely.

[Hefeweizen 5,310]

Checking in here. I used to have salt water and they are way easier to maintain chemically. Acid and salt were all I needed. Now acid is out but have to watch alkalinity, pH, chlorine, and especially Cc. It's very easy to get a problem with higher CYA as it appears to feed algae as well as stabilize chlorine levels.

I will post some pics but no way I can do salt as I have a large area of limestone.

[markstanco 12,570]

At the lake by myself (surly 1%) and just finished breakfast. 46 degrees and bored so bloody Mary time in the HT until buddies show up and the real day drinking starts.

[Poolflood 845]

6 hours ago, Hefeweizen said:

Checking in here. I used to have salt water and they are way easier to maintain chemically. Acid and salt were all I needed. Now acid is out but have to watch alkalinity, pH, chlorine, and especially Cc. It's very easy to get a problem with higher CYA as it appears to feed algae as well as stabilize chlorine levels.

I will post some pics but no way I can do salt as I have a large area of limestone.

The CYA stabilizes the chlorine so it isn't as affected by the sun and burn off.  Typically is salt pools you want to keep CYA levels higher as your not adding more in with each dose of tabs.  

Tab pools you want lower, i try to keep my pool closer to 30 ppm.  A high cya level can lead to chlorine lock, which is no bueno.  

[GlenFromTheMailRoom 1,603]

4 hours ago, markstanco said:

At the lake by myself (surly 1%) and just finished breakfast. 46 degrees and bored so bloody Mary time in the HT until buddies show up and the real day drinking starts.

aren't you freezing your ass off?

[Paco 1,934]

Pool was 70° and rising last week. Today it's 65°. Fuck

[Quagmire 2,147]

I have a Pentair easy touch panel , really want the WiFi kit but it’s about 400 bucks, for 100 worth of a part.

wonder if there are 3rd party options that would work, would be nice to control stuff from the phone .

[SMUlawUTgrad 81]

seems like it would be totally worth it. 

We need to upgrade all of that stuff. Need a new heater, new control pane, new actuators and what not. Just not ready to drop that kind of coin. 

[Poolflood 845]

10 hours ago, Quagmire said:

I have a Pentair easy touch panel , really want the WiFi kit but it’s about 400 bucks, for 100 worth of a part.

wonder if there are 3rd party options that would work, would be nice to control stuff from the phone .

Nothing third party.  Or nothing that i would trust to interface with the automation you have.

[rage-a-holic 4,373]

On 4/8/2018 at 11:57 AM, Paco said:

Pool was 70° and rising last week. Today it's 65°. Fuck

If the weather was warm enough to keep your pool at 80 right now, we would be fucked this summer. Just keep enjoying the cool weather and plan on swimming at the end of May like most people.

[troph 24,781]

If the weather was warm enough to keep your pool at 80 right now, we would be fucked this summer. Just keep enjoying the cool weather and plan on swimming at the end of May like most people.

 

Seriously

 

And this weather is perfect for the hot tub.

[NoRagrets 1,125]

On 4/6/2018 at 10:06 AM, BottleRocket said:

Can I be your friend Glen?

On another note.  I use a Polaris 360 pressure side automatic cleaner that's about 15 years old and I've Frankensteined the crap out of over the last 5 years.  It works okay for the most part but eventually ties itself in a knot.   I named it Castro.  The pump for the Polaris was replaced about 3 years ago.  The last pool pro that came over to work on something (it's always something) told me that there is a lot better equipment available today.... robotic stuff.  Less kinky.  What are ya'll using?

Robot from pool zoom. Absolutely amazing. 

[NoRagrets 1,125]

On 4/7/2018 at 6:10 AM, Hefeweizen said:

Checking in here. I used to have salt water and they are way easier to maintain chemically. Acid and salt were all I needed. Now acid is out but have to watch alkalinity, pH, chlorine, and especially Cc. It's very easy to get a problem with higher CYA as it appears to feed algae as well as stabilize chlorine levels.

I will post some pics but no way I can do salt as I have a large area of limestone.

Get borate. Trust me.

also liquid chlorine should be your shock.

[NoRagrets 1,125]

Has anyone added a pool heater to an existing pool without one?

i really want to extend my season from Jun-Sep to May-Oct. also would be fun to crank up the heat one day during Christmas for the kids.

if you have, how much $$ to expect and was it worth it?

Edited April 17, 2018 by NoRagrets

[Quagmire 2,147]

I would consider a heat pump over gas. We have an ultra temp 120, it doesn’t heat as fast as gas , but it’s about 1/5 the cost in electricity .

Few weekends ago pool was around 65, turned it in Thursday night and by Friday evening it was around 90.

Specs show it uses 5kwh, so for about 48 hours of use costs me 20 bucks, I don’t really notice much difference in my electric bill. For gas it would probably be 5x as much .

Only thing I wish I had was the model that can cool the water as well.

[Catpfish 618]

I have the reversible one, but I haven't noticed that it heats particularly well.  Of course, when I was trying it, the temp dropped back to the high 40s/low 50s and there is no way an electric heater will be able to keep up with that change.  Maybe I'll give it a go when we reach a point without rain and the chilly mornings in the forecast.

[Poolflood 845]

2 hours ago, Quagmire said:

I would consider a heat pump over gas. We have an ultra temp 120, it doesn’t heat as fast as gas , but it’s about 1/5 the cost in electricity .

Few weekends ago pool was around 65, turned it in Thursday night and by Friday evening it was around 90.

Specs show it uses 5kwh, so for about 48 hours of use costs me 20 bucks, I don’t really notice much difference in my electric bill. For gas it would probably be 5x as much .

Only thing I wish I had was the model that can cool the water as well.

Gas heaters will cost you about $100 to heat for a weekend.

Heat pumps are significantly less to operate but cost more up front, figure 40+%.  Kick in another 15% for a heat/cool model.  If you want to heat for christmas and it's really cold the heat pump wont work effectively below ~40 degrees.  

In Texas just make sure you use hayward, pentair, jandy or aquacal.  There are other manufacturers but they don't have the support in the market if something goes wrong.

[Brew 3,049]

It shouldn’t cost any more to add a heater on now than when new. Ours is around the corner from all the other equipment on it’s own pad with a water line to and from it. We went with gas for the ability to warm it when the air temp is low. However, if I could do it again we would get an electric heat pump unit. It costs about $100 to heat it up and no one wants to swim when the air temp is low anyways. If it’s not in the 60’s/70’s we have zero people interested in getting in the pool. The best use for a heater is to extend the season when the night time temps are getting cool but it’s still nice during the day. For that electric is the way to go because it will maintain the temp for a lot lower cost. 

You also have to take into account the cost of getting gas to the location which we didn’t think about when pricing it. Gas was about $1,000 cheaper than electric here but then it cost me almost $2k to get the gas lines run. We also had to have a new larger meter put in because the one on the house wouldn’t accommodate the gas flow needed. Then the utility company had to run larger gas lines from the street to the meter and dig up part of the street to put in a larger valve at the street connection. Every time you started the heater it would pull all the gas out of the line and the emergency shut off at the street would kick in. It was a complete pain in the ass.

[Quagmire 2,147]

Yep same here, no desire to swim when it’s below 60 , hot tub sure but not s pool , so the limit on a heat pump doesn’t bother me

[beer 3,220]

On 4/6/2018 at 10:06 AM, BottleRocket said:

Can I be your friend Glen?

On another note.  I use a Polaris 360 pressure side automatic cleaner that's about 15 years old and I've Frankensteined the crap out of over the last 5 years.  It works okay for the most part but eventually ties itself in a knot.   I named it Castro.  The pump for the Polaris was replaced about 3 years ago.  The last pool pro that came over to work on something (it's always something) told me that there is a lot better equipment available today.... robotic stuff.  Less kinky.  What are ya'll using?

God Frankensteined is a great word.  We had tie wraps, the wrong brand bag and one short wheel but it worked...kinda. 

Switched to robot - so happy. Fucking nearly the same price or cheaper too. Cant tell which is best, people scream that theirs is the best because that is the one they bought. I bought a dolphin and you have to get the little floats on the handle set right or else it cleans one strip near the steps over and over again.  I dont know what to do with the pump pressure port in the pool now...I assume it might come in handy some day to have an extra conduit all the way back to the pumps. 

Edited April 20, 2018 by beer

[Tailgate 3,021]

Really having a tough time deciding if I want to go 4.5 feet in the entire pool or 3.5 to 6 and have a ‘deep’ end. Places I’ve stayed with 4.5 feet all the way around you could use and walk the whole pool and deep enough to swim well. Kids are in college so no one will be jumping too much.

I have also see 4,5,4 pools with a slight slope into the middle.

Anyone have an all same depth pool and regret it?

[millhouse 2,603]

Alright, I'm diving in. Anybody got a rec for the PHX area? We have looked at Shasta and Presidential, any other suggestions? Thinking non-salt 3x5x3 play pool, no spa, and a bigger pump then probably needed (is that still the consensus?) Coach me up on what I need to ask for.

Sell.Me.A.Pool.

[GlenFromTheMailRoom 1,603]

On 4/23/2018 at 9:48 AM, Tailgate said:

Really having a tough time deciding if I want to go 4.5 feet in the entire pool or 3.5 to 6 and have a ‘deep’ end. Places I’ve stayed with 4.5 feet all the way around you could use and walk the whole pool and deep enough to swim well. Kids are in college so no one will be jumping too much.

I have also see 4,5,4 pools with a slight slope into the middle.

Anyone have an all same depth pool and regret it?

Mine is 4.5 all the way around.  I don't see the point of having anything deeper than 5 feet.  Mitigates risk and liability while providing a great place to float around in the sun while enjoying a rye manhattan.

[Quagmire 2,147]

Always get a spa with a pool, great for preventing pregnancy

[pacman 7,355]

Does a diving board add to House insurance costs?

[rage-a-holic 4,373]

5 hours ago, GlenFromTheMailRoom said:

Mine is 4.5 all the way around.  I don't see the point of having anything deeper than 5 feet.  Mitigates risk and liability while providing a great place to float around in the sun while enjoying a rye manhattan.

I can't imagine owning one of those pool types. I had 4 companies in Austin try to sell me on that "sport pool" bullshit before I found a place that would build what I wanted. I've never owned a pool less than 7 feet deep. Grew up with a 9 foot, current pool is 8.5. Everyone, and I mean everyone who swims here, from a 3 year old to a 65 year grandpa is constantly jumping off the diving board, swimming as deep as they can, sitting on the bottom, etc. Not once have I ever heard anyone say "It sure would be nice if you had one of those shallow everywhere pools".

[Brew 3,049]

4 hours ago, pacman said:

Does a diving board add to House insurance costs?

It didn’t affect mine. I’m with rage, I don’t see a point in having a pool if the kids can’t jump in the deep end. We have seated floats that anyone who wants to sit just floats around in. I would go for a complete 8 foot over a complete 4 foot.

[Hate 20,106]

Mine is 6ft at its deepest point and I wish it was deeper.

[ernest_t_bass 1,196]

My summer "pool"

 

Edited April 25, 2018 by ernest_t_bass

[SMUlawUTgrad 81]

Ours is 8.5 at the deepest. I really like knowing they as the boy gets older he will be able to jump and dive safely.

[Poolflood 845]

36 minutes ago, SMUlawUTgrad said:

Ours is 8.5 at the deepest. I really like knowing they as the boy gets older he will be able to jump and dive safely.

This is what I did.  It's a "swimming" pool as a lot of it is too deep to stand.  

It's not a design for everyone.

[beer 3,220]

On 4/24/2018 at 11:31 AM, GlenFromTheMailRoom said:

Mine is 4.5 all the way around.  I don't see the point of having anything deeper than 5 feet.  Mitigates risk and liability while providing a great place to float around in the sun while enjoying a rye manhattan.

Think about temperature profile in the summer - and when can you start swimming in the spring (asumbing you arent fucking rich or own your own natural gas supply for heating).  We cant usually swim without paying to heat it until mid May, and it gets too warm (without cooling intervention) by late July.  We have a 6.5 foot deep end.  Also, how do you drain a pool that is all the same depth?   Real deep end pools will take longer to warm up in spring - probably resist overheating though.

I added "sprinklers" to my returns and we are sure to run them all night (or even during the day) and tolerate evaporation for a cooler pool.  

 

[SHOOTER12 8,800]

On 4/6/2018 at 10:14 PM, Hate said:

I have the old Polaris 360 Or whatever and it does just fine. It’s damn near 10 years old and still cleans the pool nicely.

We've got the Polaris 280 that we replaced last year.  The first one lasted 14 years.  Well worth the money.

[SHOOTER12 8,800]

On 4/25/2018 at 12:27 PM, beer said:

Think about temperature profile in the summer - and when can you start swimming in the spring (asumbing you arent fucking rich or own your own natural gas supply for heating).  We cant usually swim without paying to heat it until mid May, and it gets too warm (without cooling intervention) by late July.  We have a 6.5 foot deep end.  Also, how do you drain a pool that is all the same depth?   Real deep end pools will take longer to warm up in spring - probably resist overheating though.

I added "sprinklers" to my returns and we are sure to run them all night (or even during the day) and tolerate evaporation for a cooler pool.  

Truth, did the same thing and it makes a hell of a difference.

On 4/25/2018 at 12:27 PM, beer said:

 

 

[BillyGoatHill 4,312]

3.5 to 6.5 deep. Sometimes wish I had done 4-7 ft but it  works well and stays pretty cool despite full sun. Going to have to try that sprinkler idea though. Mine is mainly for lap swimming and it sometimes can get a bit warm for that.

 

Still need to get some more cactus/plants for the back side...

Edited April 26, 2018 by BillyGoatHill

[troph 24,781]

3.5 - 5.5 wish it was at least 7 deep.