The Home Improvements Thread (2)

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greg_SA said:
My understanding for pools is:
- Always first get the Total Alkalinity (TA) correct.
- Then the Ph says stable.
- I don't use floaters (because I have a solid cover, and don't loose much water). Floaters can add too much stabilizer.
- I only add plain HTH chlorine after the pool has been used.
- I highly recommend a cover for the pool - less debris in the pool, and the sun doesn't destroy the free chlorine.
- I only backwash when I notice the kreepy is running slowly

Ps. A pool that is very acidic normally looks great, but is very harsh on the skin and plastics. Maybe pool installers just dump in acid to get the pool clear.
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I am going to be getting a cover for my pool; the sun just takes too much out of it.

I don't do any of the other stuff though; for the last year I have just chucked a new floater in there every 4 weeks or so and its been fine.

I just need to get rid of the stupid sand in the pool;' once I solve that issue I will be happy.
 
Priapus said:
I am going to be getting a cover for my pool; the sun just takes too much out of it.

I don't do any of the other stuff though; for the last year I have just chucked a new floater in there every 4 weeks or so and its been fine.

I just need to get rid of the stupid sand in the pool;' once I solve that issue I will be happy.
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If y ou get a solid cover, be careful of floaters. They keep adding stabilizer as they assume you regularly top up the pool with fresh water (diluting it). With a cover, you top up less, so the stabilizer starts to build up... to the point that you get chlorine lock, and the chlorine can no longer work. Then you have to drain a significant amount of water and fill to solve the issue.
 
Priapus said:
I am going to be getting a cover for my pool; the sun just takes too much out of it.

I don't do any of the other stuff though; for the last year I have just chucked a new floater in there every 4 weeks or so and its been fine.

I just need to get rid of the stupid sand in the pool;' once I solve that issue I will be happy.
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If you dont have, test the water or get it tested, not from a R150 random person but an actual pool place or use those strips. Look at the stabilizer levels. As posted above, some floaters have stabilizer and after a while the water locks, preventing chlorine to do its work.
 
The_Mowgs said:
Ah yes, my previous place had the same, its kak.
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Plus we had a solid pool cover made, but because of the shape the pool cover is like 6 x 5m which takes up so much space and can't be opened by one person. So now this R8k cover is just lying there covered in leaves.
 
SAguy said:
It's like a 5 x 3 kidney shaped pool - you can't really swim in it. Stupid shape
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Yup, I also have a retarded pool. At best its a splash pool, so its good for jumping in to cool off and thats about it.

Thankfully its small so doesn't require crazy levels of maintenance,chemicals or power to keep clean.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Yup, I also have a retarded pool. At best its a splash pool, so its good for jumping in to cool off and thats about it.

Thankfully its small so doesn't require crazy levels of maintenance,chemicals or power to keep clean.
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I was considering removing the kidney and even putting in a small 2 x 3m pool to cool off, with lekker decking and built in kind of beer cooler or something. Honestly would be a better use of space.
 
SAguy said:
I was considering removing the kidney and even putting in a small 2 x 3m pool to cool off, with lekker decking and built in kind of beer cooler or something. Honestly would be a better use of space.
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Just the cost of doing it is crazy for the little benefit it brings to the table honestly.

My next house will either have a big pool that I can actually swim in properly, or no pool at all. Splash pools, for me at least, are just a complete fscking waste.
 
I actually want to fit a salt chlorinator to my pool - just busy getting rid of all the Blu52 buildup everywhere and stabilizing the pool measurements.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Just the cost of doing it is crazy for the little benefit it brings to the table honestly.

My next house will either have a big pool that I can actually swim in properly, or no pool at all. Splash pools, for me at least, are just a complete fscking waste.
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Definitely this... I honestly either want a lap pool or nothing.
Like a 10 x 2m lap pool
 
Priapus said:
Had to backwash mine a few times. I think I need to change the sand though; because I keep getting sand in the pool on the steps, which is near the inlet.
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Me too. With all the extra free water - what I have been doing this week is to just vacuum direct to waste , to send that sand (mines looked more like dead algae at start of week). It's made it much better as you see in the pic i posted earlier today
SAguy said:
Plus we had a solid pool cover made, but because of the shape the pool cover is like 6 x 5m which takes up so much space and can't be opened by one person. So now this R8k cover is just lying there covered in leaves.
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Been there done that, last year and replaced with leaf catcher net cover. Now I do the whole thing on my behemoth of a pool by myself. This year, took it off at the start of spring and it will stay off until March next year. Really need to use my pool more. Kids asking to jump in - I think we are there even if the temps have dropped to about 25 degrees now . Should recover back to 28-29 in in the next few weeks.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Just the cost of doing it is crazy for the little benefit it brings to the table honestly.

My next house will either have a big pool that I can actually swim in properly, or no pool at all. Splash pools, for me at least, are just a complete fscking waste.
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Why? a splash pool is nice to sit, cool off, and relax.
 
Smokey888 said:
Why? a splash pool is nice to sit, cool off, and relax.
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In theory yes, but for me I get bored of that very quickly and go find something else to do.

A big pool that I can actually swim laps in would be infinitely more useful to me and could still operate as a place to sit and cool off in if I wanted.
 
I.am.Sam said:
your pics broken or something

so got someone out to check and they said dont need that shock or alkiline stuff. charged me r150 which wasnt bad

she said just get the floater and add hth almost every day about 2-3 cups

and also some pool acid

and filter for few hours a day

the backwash and rinse is simple and should be done every week
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2-3 cups of hth chlorine a day?! That sounds more like what you need to do per week/month.

Once the ph, acid demand etc is in order, it's just a matter of checking everything and keeping it under control. In my experience, if your pool water gets really hot (above say 30 degrees) then it's especially important to monitor it as the algae loves the warm water. Also, get a backwash tank. Before I had one I was reluctant to backwash as you loose so much water at a time and as a result really struggled to keep the pool sparkling. Even running the pool 12 hours a day didn't help. Now I just chuck some chlorine into the backwash tank and once/twice a week in summer let the clean water run back into the pool and backwash again into the tank. And the pump can run much less as well as a result. Was really a game changer for me.
 
SAguy said:
Plus we had a solid pool cover made, but because of the shape the pool cover is like 6 x 5m which takes up so much space and can't be opened by one person. So now this R8k cover is just lying there covered in leaves.
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i have R2000 for that cover

should fit on mine which is a 6*3 but can do with the savings lol
 
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