teedoff

Ok what I would like to know are my options. Pool was installed 3 years ago and have had nothing but problems. The lastest, as I posted in a recent post, is that the liner has lost suction (its floating) and lost water as well. To me that seems to be quite a coincidence. A pool contractor came out and I assume knows there is a drainage problem and suggested I turn it in to my homeowners. My problem is the company that originally installed the pool (henceforth known as crooks) didnt bother to get building permits or any permits for that matter. I asked them about it the first day they started digging and they said dont worry about it. My question is what happens if I do turn the claim in on my homeowners? Will they fuss about the lack of building permits? or would they really get me in a lot of trouble? Also what about the crooks that installede the pool? Is there any recourse against them if I do get in some trouble with no permits? Is there a way I could even make the pool contractors responsible for their shotty work?? Thanks for any ideas!

Well dont I still have to drain the water down below the return openings to make sure no water remains in the lines and cause possible freezing? I mean like I said..thats where the water level was as of a couple weeks ago...now its very low.

I had a post last year about the liner coming away from the sides of the pool. The liner was patched and refilled and had no trouble all year long. Closed the pool last sept. Drained teh water down below the returns, emtied the sand filter tank, removed the drain plugs and covered the pool with the basic cover and water bags. I checked the liner about two weeks ago and it was fine. This morning when I got up, I looked out and saw the cover had fallen down on one side of the pool and I could see the liner around the return had wrinkles in it. I ran out and sure enough the liner is wrinkled and the water, which was initially drained to just below the return, had drained even more so that now its like 2 feet below the return, which just barely coveres the floor of the shalow end. We had a storm last night with probably 30 mph gusts and some heavy rain. Thats the only factor I can think of that would have changed the liner situation in just two weeks. So it looks like another $400 or so dollars once again to "open" the pool this year. Not counting chemicals! I wish I knew what exactly was causing this. I know one of the anwers I got for the post last year suggested that maybe the pool didnt have enough drainage around it. I do know they did put gravel around the circumferance of the pool...how much was or should have been used I couldnt tell you. Please anyone have this problem before? or had liner wrinkles on multiple occasions with some resolution to the problem short of filling the pool in?

Can anyone please explain the algae trouble many pool owners seem to be having this year here in the mid-atlantic area? I have spend countless dollars on algae killer products. Just last thursday I put yet another bottle in the pool, couple pounds of shock, and the whole nine yards the bottle suggested I do, only to have the algae to return two days later. I battle this problem weekly. Every three days or so I have to super chlorinate the pool and backwash and vacuum just to be able to swim in it. Like I said, two or three days later its back. The pool is a 16x36 inground sand filter hayward system. The pool was installed only 3 years ago, but I'm now thinking the sand must be bad and need changing. I wanted some conformation here to see if my suspicions are right. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If you need any other information let me know.

I can't tell anything from your pics. I do know that you can always carefully take a hair dryer and shrink wrinkles or puffy spots out of the liner provided its above water. Vinyl shrinks with a little heat, so if your really not happy with the wrinkle or its unsightly, just heat them and rub as you heat and they will usually disappear. But I would wait and see what the sun will do over a couple hot days. That may actually take care of it for you.

no solar and the pools is 3 years old and when I backwash I usually backwash for about 2 to 3 minutes then rinse a minute or two.

you thinking about leaving them in there? lol sorry had to ask. I wouldnt think they could damage the liner, I mean they're not the size of lobster right? Im suprised they would want to get in the pool however. And I would be suprised if they live in there more than a day with chlorine in the water. I get tons of frogs, at least 4 every morning in my skimmer I have to get out. Get moles every now and then too. So its not like small animals dont get in pools....just normal I think.

I have noticed the pressure valve on the filter(sand) is up around 25 pounds. Is this normal? If not what may be the cause? I think, and 'm not 100% sure, that the pressure should be around 11 to 15 pounds. Also I've noticed that when I vacuum, I can never get the vacuum line to styay sealed and have to rely on someone to hold the hose down in the skimmer so I can completely vacuum the pool. Maybe that has somehting to do with the pressure being high. Also to clear up, the pressure reads that AFTER I have just backwashed.

guess I should maybe specify a couple more things. When I set up my vacuum, I hold the end that goes into my skimmer basket on top of the return so as to fill the vacuum line up with water. SO thats not an issue, Just to clarify that before someone says Im not priming my vacuum line properly..lol thanks again!

ok quick question. I have tried to vacuum 4 times today and each time I cant get the vacuum line to seal. It will vacuum for about a minute then lose vacuum. Not sure if this is the problem, but what is the pressure on my gauge supposed to read? it stays around 22 pnds right now. I might be wrong but I thought it shouls be around 12 or so. I have backwashed several times as well before I tried to vacuum. Thanks for the help!

ok update on thhe problem. I had the company that installed the pool to come out. They draind all the water out because there was alot of water behind the liner. left the liner open or away from the wall on one complete side to let the fermiculite(sp) to "dry" out they said. they came back the next day and replaced the liner, filled the pool back up with the 6500 gals of water I ordered for $225 and left before I got home. When I did get home there were still wrinkles in the bottom! I waited a few days and called them. They said the liner would flatten out when I filled the water back up to max. I was'nt convinced of that so I called a friend of mine that installed pools. He came out and said he though i had a hole near the trim around the steps. He came out the next morning after I of course draind it down again and patched the hole and had more watrer brought out and the liner is fine!. I think though the problem, which I discovered during this time, was the fact that my septic tank which is about 30 feet from the pool, was full and so I paid someone to come out and pump my septic tank. The ground was damp around the concrete dseck around the pool, so I think thats where the water was coming from! now I have clear clean water and NO wrinkles! Thanks for the help!

Hey pathfinder. thanks for the reply. Actually it was put in around october of 2006 and we left it running through to closing next year. We had a big snow here a month ago (well big for here...around 7 inches) and about 3 days of rain last weekend. Not sure of the amount but it was probably a few inches total rain I'd say. I'm trying to remember when they installed it I dont think there was ever a discussion about a drainage system around the pool, but it does slope considerably away from the pool on the far side and the pool kinda sits above that level of ground about 3 feet. meaning the level of the concrete pool deck is about 3 feet above the lower part of the yard. Thats about all I can say. I just hope the liner is ok when I open it up in a couple weeks. Or I may elect to open it this week and get a head start just in case there are problems with it. Thanks again!

I have had an inground pool for 3 years now. Well this is the second summer coming up so only the second time I have opened a pool. It is a 16x36 inground vinyl liner pool. Today I just happened to lift the corner of the cover up and noticed the liner is floating. This didnt happen last year and I wanted to know what may be the cause or some causes for this happening. When I open it in the next couple weeks, what are some things I can do to get the liner back into place...or worse case... will I need a new liner? Thanks for any help and if you need more info let me know.

btw the new values for CYA are 151 the tds is 700 forgot to mention that in the first reply

Richard Thanks for the reply. What I was maning was that as far as keeping a balanced water it takes a little more than chlor tabs and shock is that not right? I think it may be worse if you refill with well water which is what we have here. After I opened the pool a few months ago I probably put a third more BACK into the pool with our well water. I know i tested the water as soon as I got it lclear after opening and thats when it was suggested I use some other balance chemicals to get the water just right. In fact I have those values still.... tds=350 CYA=40 TC=0 FC=0 PH= <6.2 TA=34 ADJ TA=22 T HARD=127 At the time I was having some green algae and thught I took care of that, but seemed to recure every few days up until a few weeks ago when I used a better algae killer instead of preventer I was using. I was thinking the recurring algae may have been due to the ph being low or maybe the TA being low as well. now the readings are tc=1.3 fc=1.3 ph=8.1 ta=209 adj ta=164 t hard=72 My normal weekly routine is...one chlor tab twice a week and 2...1Lb bags of shock each week...thats all I have been doing..I backwash when the pressure changes which usually shows up by the returns not showing as much water ripples in the water. Stupid way I know but one thing that discourages me is the pool guy put the pump and sand tank UNDER a deck...the deck wasnt there until after the pool installation, but he knew there would be a deck and put the pump there anyway. So I put a trap door in the deck surface to allow access to the pump lever. Also I put a shut off for the pump up on the deck railing to turn off when backwashing and such. No big deal really but I'm hoping when it comes time to replace the sand it isnt such close quarters that will make it aggravating. ANyway it seems the flov has cleared some of the water. I can actually see about 2 feet down and see some settling on the steps so I will vacuum. I take it it well take more floc vac over the next day or so? or should I let the floc already in there work more? Thanks again for your help. I've had much trouble getting any help from the ppl who put the pool in..they seem to not know you when the bill is paid. Tony

Ok I've found this site and am going to take advantage of it and learn as mucha s possible..lol The pool was installed winter of 06 and last end of summer I noticed in the deep end around the corner where the slopes meet the floor, a wrinkle. It is more like a rolling looking wrinkle not a wrinkle like you would see if the liner was stretching or slipping. The material, and I'm not sure what its called, they used was like fine pieces of cement but very like almost spongy feeling. They troweled it like cement when it was put in. The wrinkle seems to me to be some of that material "running" for lack of a better description. I've also noticed a few places that have "settled" but not huge spots, I mean places about the size of a silver dollar. Almost a hole underneath the liner. I told the pool company that installed the pool about the wrinkle but said it was ok. Now its been a year and a half and it worries me that it might pose a problem later on if its not dealt with. Not sure how long the intallation warranty lasts, but I'm sure its not much more than a year, maybe two at best.Any help would be greatly appreciated. Tony

Richard, thanks for the response. As I'm sure you can tell I am new at this. This is actually my mother's pool, and since I live next door I'm relegated to the maintainance duties. lol The pool was just put in last year, so I'm learning more every day. I forgot to mention the particulars of the pool, which is..its a 22,500 gal pool printed vinyl liner 8' deep end. BTW..yes it WAS 40 pounds of soda ash..they were out of their consumer brand of soda ash so she sold me a 50 pound bag they use for commercial pools. Not sure about the cumps you are speaking about, since I cant see below about 20 inches, but I dont think there would be many clumps. I made sure I brushed the bottom thoroughly after adding any chemicals. I went to my local pool pros shop yesterday and they pretty much told me what you just said. She recommended 2 gals of muriatic acid to start..one gal in with pump off for 2 hours, then the other gal in and pump on for 2 hours. Then she wanted to test the water agai, which I did. The first readings were very high as you suggested. The TA was 322 and the Ph was 8.8. After the acid doses and about 3 hours later the TA came down to 164 and the PH down to 7.8. She gave me another 5 pounds acid to administer and some floc vac, which I have started using this morning. The acid did nothing for the milky cloudy water, but she said the floc should clear it up. Not sure it will be clear by tomorrow though. If you have any other suggestions I would greatly appreciate it! Again this is a new pool and I'm actually trying to get my mother to understand the importance of a balanced pool. Other ppl with pools she knows tells her "oh well all I DO is add shock and chlorine and thats it". Ive researched enough myself to realize that thats NOT all there is to it. ANyway thanks again! Tony

someone help...anyone??..lol

I bought what i thought was the right thing(had ater tested and they said add 40lbs of something) was going on memory and bought soda ash instead of TA increaser. Needless to say i added 40 lbs of soda ash and now my water is completely milky looking. What can I do to neutralize this disaster before friday!...Im now in the process of backwashing and adding new water ..back and forth..this may be all thats needed or not? Any help would be appreciated. btw Im getting a high reading of chlorine..but i did shock it this morning in hopes this would help clear the water.