fullspectrum

I really do appreciate all the information you guys passed on to me. I learned a lot from everyone I spoke to here and in the pool supply stores near my place. What I learned is that each type of tube has it's strengths and weaknesses. When I found the Poly tubing that was used on my pool in the ground for about 20 years and it still appeared in good shape I just felt that I would use that stuff and try and eliminate the amount of joints used by running full lengths of tube. All joints have access just in case. Once again I appreciate everyone that chimed in to help me here. It wasn't a waste of time to me. I hope this thread can help someone else in the future as well...

Yeah totally classic thread...thanks...I just figured that with the poly I would have less joints to make and have potentially leak. The ones that I have will be accessible if there is a problem. I ran full lengths of tube for each return and skimmer. The poly I have already in the ground has performed well and the hose clamps that were in the ground for 15 years had no rust at all on them. They looked new so I used new ones of the same brand. I just thought that I go with the poly. Plus it's easier to put into the ground and if there is a rock pressing on the tube it will give a little and being above the frost line won't be a problem. So if it's ok to bury PVC above the frost line why is it code here in TOronto to have it buried BELOW the frost line? I'm not here to waste anyone's time I got a lot of info from many different people and after weighing the options I just though I would feel most comfortable with the Poly.

I ended up going with the black poly.... I just made sure that I ran a full length of pipe for each line and made access to all the hose clamps just in case I need to get to them. I used PVC from the returns down a bit and just out from under the concrete pool decking so if I need to get to the joint where the pvc meets the poly I can get to it. I think I have faith in the poly because if the ground moves the poly will give and I already had it in the ground in some spots for 15-20 years and when I dug it up it still looked ok and it was still working. I'll snap a few pics and post them up soon.

OK!!! OK!!! OK!!! I'll use rigid PVC!! But the trench isn't all that flat. Do I need to pour some sand or crushed limestone screening to make a nice base or just get it in there and dump the dirt over top???

I don't know why this is such are difficult decision for me??? PVC? FLEX SPA PIPE?? or Black POLY??? If I use black POLY on a suction line/skimmer line will it collapse from suction over time? Is this a possibility?? I would rather run the Black Poly because it's easier and it won't crack. All I need to worry about is making sure the barbed fittings it's connected to are done right. Any comments on this??? ALSO IF I GO PVC.... When laying Rigid PVC down should I pour a base of sand or crushed limestone screening into the trench to make it smoother and flatter. The ground I'm putting the pipe into is clay and there are a lot of little rocks. I thought it might be better to pour some kind of bed into the trench for the pipe to sit on....Any thoughts??? I NEED SOME HELP WITH THIS. I'm pretty much ready to start laying the pipe down. Thanks in advance...

I also had a couple of cracks in my fiberglass stairs which I patched with epoxy. Holding for now. How bad are the cracks??? If they haven't got any worse just repair them again. Drain the water and lightly sand the cracked area and epoxy again. I wonder if new fiberglass would be better over the cracked area. One thing I found with my pool...the cheap bastards that constructed the pool never put any supports under the stairs at all so they flex as you walk on them!!!! I'm currently going to build a support underneath. You may need something under yous stairs to support them as well if they are salvageable. You will need to dig under to take a look.

Funny you ask I just took some pictures this morning....LOG IN TO SEE THE PICTURES OR CUT AND PASTE THE LINK INTO YOUR BROWSER..Here they are.... The Patient The Skimmer pipe One of the Return Pipes...You can see the metal support for the concrete deck just to the left of the pipe. The Trench...It must have been hell digging those trenches during Word War I... A Shot of where the deck I'm going to build is going once the pool is fixed. My Summer was over before it began.... The Pump Area....just as much of a butcher job as the rest of the pool. I will redo this also....eventually....

Did some major trench digging today and I'm sunburned and really tired... So from what you guys are saying it's ok to run Rigid PVC 1-2 feet below the surface in a region where the ground freezes and it won't crack from the ground heaving during winter. Just as an option, what are the guidelines for buring black POLY underground? I noticed that it seems to collapse a bit under the weight of the ground? How deep can you bury this stuff? ALSO WILL IT COLLAPSE when used for a complete run from the suction/skimmer intake to the pump? I mean if I use it exclusively from the skimmer to the pump/filter area?

I live in Toronto Canada. I'm just worried because I see fence posts here lifted up from freezing ground so I thought if the pipe is not below frost line it could lift it and it may crack the fittings. I'm a noob ....I need to ask....tell me if I'm wrong and I'll head over to Lowes and get the Rigid....

Ok so I should use Schedule 40 rigid PVC pipe....just to be super clear here...is it ok to run it only a few feet below the surface in an area where the ground freezes??? It sounds like you are saying it won't break or crack from ground freezing buried at any depth...am I right??? I just want to be sure because I'm only burying it a few feet underground. Thanks.

I'm not concerned about water in the pipes freezing...what I'm worrying about is if the RIGID PVC is not buried below the frost line will the ground moving during winter freezing cause stress on the pipe and joints and crack it. I'm not talking about the water in the pipes I'm talking about the frozen ground the pipe is sitting in cracking it.... So if I bury it in ground that freezes will it cause it to crack from the frozen ground heaving up and down with freezing/thawing cycles????? This would not affect FLEX PVC...but will it affect RIGID PVC????

So nobody really said anything about me running rigid PVC only 1 or 2 feet below the surface....If I do this will the rigid PVC crack or develop leaks because of the winter freezing the ground and shifting causing stress on the joints etc....or am I ok to run rigid PVC in shallow ground???? ANYONE???? I need to do this pretty soon.....

I was in the same boat some years ago, just have someone check everything out condition wise because repairs are not cheap. Check the liner, pump etc. I'm trying to redo all my pool lines now because they were repaired and butchered many times. My liner will be next on the list and the concrete pool deck is developing some cracks. If I could do it again I wouldn't have bought this house. If everything is sound with the pool condition wise chemicals are not to expensive but you need to pay attention to the pool occasionally cleaning it and then there is the opening of the pool and the closing. I suppose in Louisiana it could stay open all year round which is one less this to worry about. Think of it like a new family member that you can't neglect for too long or they will fall ill...

Isn't flex more expensive? Why would you pay more for pipe that isn't as durable as rigid? Well I may be wrong with this assumption but if I run rigid PVC pipe only 1-2 feet down and the ground shifts during winter freezing/thawing won't rigid PVC be susceptible to the pipe breaking or developing cracks at the joints. Let me know if I'm wrong..then I will just dig a 2 foot deep trench along the pool and run the rigid PVC with glued fittings which I would rather have anyways.

Yeah the black tube is "black poly" and I will just take it out of the system. I'm not overly worried about using barbed fittings because they will be under the concrete pool deck but I will still be able to dig down to get to them if they leak. There is only one that will be under some interlocking stone. We changed our plan and are only going to have the deck run half the width of the house and interlock the rest so in the worst case I will have to rip up some interlock. I don't really like the idea of cutting into the good PVC pipe at the skimmer and the returns. Like I said before though one return already has a barbed fitting with flex pipe at the pool side so I'm not sure why it is all rigid PVC except this one return with the flex??? Maybe had a leak before perhaps.. I figure if I put all new flex pipe at least I know it's all new and I will know where everything is in the event of a leak...