DKN1997

go with the sub panel. Especialy if your pool is far from the house. it saves you from having to run lots of wires, just the feeds for the subpanel. also, go large. this way you have room to add more things than just the pool. (garage, cabana, outdoor lighting, etc...)

anyway. 112,000 btu heater is a gas fired heater. the heat pump is electric. it operates like a central air condtioning compressor in reverse. makes heat instead of cool. depends on climate and your needs. if you need to heat up quick, gas is the way to go. if you want to get it warm and keep it that way most of the time, the heat pump is a good idea. 112,btu sound real small to me. I tend to oversize gas heaters on pools. around here, we get high wind and cold weather during the beginning and end of the season. aquaswitch is kind of antiquated. would move right up to the Jandy Aqualink. it gives you in house controller and an optional spa side remote. The newest version has a handheld pda (pool digital assistant) that allows you to operate everything from a simple handheld remote. also, if you get all jandy products for the equipment (pump, filter, heater) you qualify for the proedge warranty. it extends the warranty on all the jandy equipment to 3 years.

where are the wrinkles. if they are concentrated around the skimmer throats, main drain cover, or near the returns, then it could be waaaaaayyyyyy tooooo much chlorine. I have also seen where people have covered a vinyl pool with a solid winter cover and left a floating chlorine dispenser loaded with 3" stabilized tabs. that will do it too. if the wrinkles are very hard and brittle, then that could be it. by the way, no liner company will warranty any issue if they can help it. The only thing I have ever seen them warranty is a split seam. even then, the builder won't want to change it because the liner manufacturers totally short change them on the warranty labor.

always resurface marbledust (plaster) with marbledust. paint or epoxy will not hold up as well.

agreed, if that guy won't come back after 5 months, then he does not deserve to get anyone's money for anything. if you see the wetness, then it's an easy find. if you shut the pool and it did not leak as much, then look for a leak in the return line going back to the pool. once you dig it up, call this guy back or another professional to fix it. don't use plumbers fittings from the home depot, they are not mean for this kind of pressure.

search for anderson manufacturing in minnesota. they have a website. if you want to tackle this by yourself, buy a dye test syringe from them with a container of dye (they sell them prefilled) pretty cheap. then get your mask and dye test. shoot it slow and be still, it will get sucked in anywhere water is going out. since you had your ph so dangerously low for so long, I would check the light first. unscrew the set screw, pull it out of the niche and peek in and dye test where the conduit comes in the back. you can also look for holes in the liner. they will suck dye too. try plugging all inlet fittings in the pool, returns, skimmers, etc.. leave system off for 2 days. mark the liner with tape at water level. if it loses, then you have a leak in the liner or light niche. if not, leak is in filter system or underground plumbing. if it's the plumbing, get our your 500 and pay for a pressure test. do you have a dryatron or some other dehumidification system? most of them take the evaporated water and put it back into the pool. if that's malfunctioning, then you could be losing as much as you always did but now it's not going back into the pool.

they actually use halogen bulbs, so they do a very good job at illuminating the pool. better to install 2 of the smaller ones than one big one. spreads out the light. they can be synchronized easily so they are both the same color.

sounds like you have concrete walls behind the liner. I agree with the previous poster is wondering why anyone would cut steel walls for a plumbing repair. if your liner is not more than a few (3 or less) years old, peel it back, waterplug around the cruddy holes, and put some foam padding in, that will stop it from "snotting" up you could also powerwash, patch, and seal the walls at the next line change.

apples to apples sounds great on paper, but in this business, you really need to shop reputable company 1st price 2nd. Trust me when I say that you truly get what you pay for. Recommendations from friends and family are the best for choosing a pool builder. most of the good ones around here don't advertise at all, it's all referrals. beware of the guy who is blowing out "great deals" in the sunday paper. ask about the warranty as well. not for the equipment, as most manufacturers have basically the same warranties, but on the shell (gunite) walls (vinyl) etc... on gunite, insist on 1/2" steel rebar on vinyl, insist on a concrete collar around steel or fiberglass walls, no individual footings. been doing this a long time and have seen all of the shady jobs, some real nightmares. also, run far away from any builder who will not take you to the home of an existing pool he built. Most customers have no problem doing the builder a favor by showing off their pool if they were happy with the construction process/results.