I Failed Pool Care 101

[punkska20]

I bought a house on foreclosure last year and one of the many problems with the house was its in ground kidney bean shaped pool was a disaster. The liner was torn and i wasn't even sure if the pump or the pools plumbing was working. The good news was that the pump worked as well as the drain at the bottom of the pool but the bad news was that the skimmer didn't. I guess maybe the PVC cracked somewhere between the skimmer and the pump. I had a new liner installed, filled the pool, added the chemicals and enjoyed the pool for the rest of the summer. Last winter i started to drain it (apparently a HUGE no-no) but only drained it half way. During the winter a 2 foot section of the liner pulled out of the top of the pool. So my questions are these: 1) Should i finish draining it, clean it and fill it? Or should i fill it, set it to filter and turn the pump on? Or perhaps something completely different. 2) Will the filter be able to filter out all the sediment in the pool or will that ruin the filter? 3) Can the liner be streched and put back the way it was?

Thanks in advance,

Rob

[DKN1997]

I bought a house on foreclosure last year and one of the many problems with the house was its in ground kidney bean shaped pool was a disaster. The liner was torn and i wasn't even sure if the pump or the pools plumbing was working. The good news was that the pump worked as well as the drain at the bottom of the pool but the bad news was that the skimmer didn't. I guess maybe the PVC cracked somewhere between the skimmer and the pump. I had a new liner installed, filled the pool, added the chemicals and enjoyed the pool for the rest of the summer. Last winter i started to drain it (apparently a HUGE no-no) but only drained it half way. During the winter a 2 foot section of the liner pulled out of the top of the pool. So my questions are these: 1) Should i finish draining it, clean it and fill it? Or should i fill it, set it to filter and turn the pump on? Or perhaps something completely different. 2) Will the filter be able to filter out all the sediment in the pool or will that ruin the filter? 3) Can the liner be streched and put back the way it was?

Thanks in advance,

Rob

usually not good to drain a vinyl pool. Best bet is to leafrake (net) the bottom till you think you got it all (I assume you cannot see the bottom at this point) then do it for anothe hour!!! then brush, add 8-10 gallons of liquid shock and backwash the filter once per day until it clears. you can stretch the liner back in. best bet is to do that while the water is low, won't pull it down so much. use very hot tap water poured over it to soften it up, you will be amazed at how much it will stretch. Don't go too nuts, you can rip it. If the liner is under 5 years old, you can probably stretch it pretty good. older than that...be carefull. and no torches or heat guns!!! makes it real easy to burn through, don't ask me how i know!!!

Don't even think about vacuuming until you got 80-90 % of the leaves with the net. It's real easy to clog up the plumbing with leaves. you can also buy a neat little leaf vacuum that operates with hose pressure and snaps onto the end of your vacuum telescopic pole.