Old pool in a house that has been vacant for a couple of yea

[Trishalinn]

Hi,

My husband and I live in Michigan and purchased a house last fall that has an in ground gunite pool. It was covered with a loop loc cover and the pump was running when we purchased the home, but when we looked in the water it was black and there the walls are black too. We had the pool company in town come and close it up for us, so we could watch them and do it ourselves next fall.

Now it is spring, and a nice warm spring for Michigan too! What we need to know is what do we do with the pool now? The pool company said that they could salvage the water and clean it up within a couple of weeks. So, when do we start? Should we take the water into them to have it analyzed and buy chemicals from them? Or is there a better and cheaper way to do things?

ANY input would be very helpful because though my husband and I are excited about having a pool, we're quite worried about cleaning it up and the maintenance. Neither of us has any experience with pools, other than swimming in them

Thanks in advance,
Trisha

[Guest]

You'll need to get your water tested first so we know what to add and how much. Use the template in this post to give us your results.

[Xclusive]

Hi Trisha,

I've seen many a pool in the condition you described at the time of opening. There are two ways to go about it and neither is one is more cost effective than the other when it comes down to it. Any pool water, even the darkest, can be cleared with the right chemicals and through filtration, and if you want to go that route I would recommend getting a pool service company to install an external pump and deck filter. You do not want to have your own filter and pump do the job, it's very taxing on your equipment and you're probably going to have to clean it out several times during the process. In addition you will need to shock HEAVILY and balance the water. It won't be cheap. After doing all that it's not assured that you can remove all the black stains from the walls, even if the water has cleared up nicely. You still may wind up with some very faded stains depending on the condition of your plaster, even after repeated brushing.

Your second option is to drain and clean. It entails removing the water from your pool and giving the walls and floor a light acid wash in order to remove all the stains. You would refill after that which would give you a "fresh start". You will still need to use a fair amount of shock and chemicals since its new water and its basically a start up. But at least you will be assured that you will have no staining around the walls and floor.

Hope this helps

Joe