What Do I Need To Start My Above Ground Pool

Tip #32 Do Not Use Any Silicone Or Anything For The Skimmer

The skimmer has either a one-piece or two-piece gasket. It is not designed to need anything else to make a perfect and lasting seal.

Using silicone or plumbers putty or anything else will often result in a mess and a leak. Yeah, dont do that.

There are instances where silicone has to be used with a skimmer install, but not often. Some very poorly made skimmers may not line up well with the holes in the pool wall. Cheap skimmers can also come with very poor gaskets that wont fit right or lay correctly.

In these cases, an experienced guy like me may elect to use silicone, but I will usually try without and only use it if it leaks. This is how little I use it.

If you dont want to hear this and/or have your reasons and are going to use something, then fine and good luck. At least make sure its 100% silicone and the label says something like for baths and kitchens. Get the good stuff.

Start Filling The Pool

A As the bottom covers with water, pull the liner outward from the center Starting from the very center of the bottom, pull the liner outward to remove wrinkles. As the circle you pulled gets bigger, continue to pull out any wrinkles. Pull the liner all the way around to the wall. There will now be no wrinkles on the bottom of the pool.

Lay Down Bottom Track And Pin To Pool Specifications

It’s now time to start building the pool structure. You will have pieces called the bottom track where the wall will sit inside, and connectors that join the track and posts sit. Following the specifications of the pool make and model, bring the groove inside those connectors to EXACTLY the half measurement of the pool size.

This is critical to make sure when you unroll the wall, you don’t find yourself having to re-roll it. You will find out how heavy that wall can be soon enough.

Once the location of that connector is set, use a long nail or a pin to lock it in place. You do this for every single one. Measure twice if necessairy.

Pro Tip: We have steel rods we set with ankors to the wall. We put these rods in the middle of the bottom tracks, on the outside. These ankors will lock into the pool wall during the build to pervent it from falling . A kinked wall, is a useless wall.

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Tip #7 Get The Ground Level To Within 2 Inches

After the sod has been removed, your next stage is to level the earth. Before doing anything else, make your install site level to within at least two inches.

You want the pool site to be somewhat level before proceeding. This may seem obvious, but some will start setting the track before the ground is level. And that will make everything harder.

Balance The Water Starting With Total Alkalanity

Balancing your water properly is a necessity for safe and healthy swimming. You can control the pH and chlorine levels in your water by first adjusting the Total Alkalinity.

If TA is too high, you can use Leslies Dry Acid to lower the levels to the ideal range. To lower the TA by 10 ppm, add 1.5 pounds of Leslies Dry Acid for every 10,000 gallons of water.

If TA is too low, add Leslies Alkalinity Up to increase it. Adding 1.5 pounds of Alkalinity Up will increase the TA of 10,000 gallons of water by 10 ppm. Wait at least 4 hours after adding Alkalinity Up before retesting the water.

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Was The Skimmer Or Return Fitting Leaking

The most common place an above-ground pool leaks is where the skimmer and return fitting connects to the wall of the pool.

If your skimmer and/or return was/is leaking, you may want to consider replacing it with new. This may make the job slightly harder.

And even if you dont need to replace the skimmer box and/or return fitting, you want to make very sure that they dont leak with the new liner.

Guide To Startup Chemicals For Pools

After the patience and effort involved in designing and installing a swimming pool, the day finally comeswhen you fill it with water. Naturally, you want to jump right into the cool, refreshing water! But yourpool isnt ready for swimmers yet.

First, youll need to ready your pool with startup chemicals. Pool startup chemicals ensure that thewater is clean and safe for swimmers. Once you have water levels sanitized, youll continue testing andmaintaining optimal chemical levels. Then, you need to go through the startup chemical process againwhen you open your pool each season.

Learning the pool chemicals needed can seem intimidating, but pool chemical maintenance is simple once itbecomes part of your routine. Achieving the proper balance of new pool startup chemicals takes a littlemore work, but were here to give you a head start on that knowledge. Keep reading for more informationon pool and hot tub startup chemicals.

Well address these topics, helping you understanding the chemical needs of your pool:

• What chemicals do I need to open my pool?
• What chemicals do I need for a pool?

Whether you have an inground or above ground pool, youll need the same basic types of chemicals.However, you may need to take extra care to keep above ground pools from acidic water conditions thatcan damage vinyl. Keeping either an above ground or inground pool clean and sanitized is simple withsome basic pool chemical knowledge.

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Do Weekly Shock Treatments

Laurie Wilkins, founder of , recommends giving your pool a weekly shock treatment like HTH Super Shock. A shock treatment involves using a powdered form of chlorine to kill algae, bacteria and other contaminants. A shock treatment once a week will oxidize the contaminants, freeing up the chlorine and letting it do its work in cleaning up the water, he says.

How To Install An Above Ground Pool In 10 Steps

03/ 22/ 2015

We have installed over 5,000 above ground pools over the years and we usually hear a few clients ask if they could do it themselves. The short answer to that is yes.

But, you do need the right equipement and the right instructions.

The manufacturers of the above grounds like Aqualeader and Zodiac do a great job at manufacturing them. But it would be a stretch to say that every model comes with instructions on how to assemble .

Our goal here is to give you a 10-step overview on how to install an above ground pool yourself.

Now before you get started on reading the steps, know that this is one of the ways to instal. Every builder adds their own style.

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How To Know When Its Time To Change The Liner

Pool owners change their liners for different reasons, but the absolute most common reason is that the pool is losing water and they cant find the leak.

Some will find and patch a leak in the liner, and then get another leak right after that. After finding a couple of leaks and repairing them, they realize the liner needs replacing.

When a liner ages, it starts getting brittle. The more brittle it becomes, the more leaks it will start getting. Replacing it is the only option at some point.

If you are wondering if its time to change your liner, read this article.

Get Your Pump Running

After youve got everything ready, let your pool pump run for at least 24 hours. Vacuum out any debris that appears. Retest your pool water, and if the results are where you want them to be, grab your swimsuit and jump in!

Understanding how to open an above ground pool makes jumpstarting your pool season a lot easier. As youre going through the opening steps, take a little time to create a pool maintenance schedule to keep things running smoothly all season.

Just be sure to make some time to enjoy all your hard work. Or whats a pool for?

Happy Swimming!

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Ph Adjusting Chemicals For Pool Start Up

Your pH level is really important for keeping your pool in good working order. If this is off, then your chlorine wont be working properly which can lead to unsafe water and too much chlorine.

Your pH level should be the second thing that you address when adding chemicals. The ideal range is between 7.2 and 7.6. This is perfect for your chlorine and for keeping your water safe for use.

If your pH level is too high, you can use the same pH decreaser that you would use for adjusting alkalinity. Be sure to check that level again afterwards.

Why You Need To Know How To Open An Above Ground Pool

Your pools been covered all winter. As convenient as it would be to just pull the cover off and dive right in, think for a minutethat waters been sitting there, stagnant, all winter long. Do you really want to submerge yourself in that? Didnt think so.

Knowing the above ground pool opening process will ensure that when you do finally get back into the pool, its in clean, clear, non-swampy water.

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Tip #10 Try To Get The Bottom Track Measurement Right

The bottom track of a metal-walled above-ground pool is super adjustable. At each bottom connector plate, an adjustment is made by how much of a gap there is between each piece of bottom track.

If you dont get the measurement of the bottom track at least close to what the length of the wall of the pool is, then it will be a major pain to get the wall to come together later on.

Note:Every pool model is a slightly different size.

As an example of what I mean here is that every 24 above-ground pool is not exactly 24 around. Some will be 23, 11 while others will be 24, 1. The actual dimensions of the pool are determined by the length of the wall. And you wont know what that is until the roll the wall out into the bottom track and then see how long it is.

What I do when Im not familiar with the model is just get the bottom track as close to the pool size as I can.

Using the same 24 round example, I will make the bottom track close to perfectly round and close to 24 in diameter. This should put me at least close to the length of the wall and easier to bolt together when the time comes.

Cleaning The Filter And The Filtering Agent

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Remove Winter Pool Plugs

Now, its time to remove all of the various pool plugs and other winterizing equipment you use to protect your pool during the cold months. Even seasoned pool opening veterans can overlook a pool plug or ice compensator when opening their above-ground pools sometimes, so be as thorough as you can with this process.

Fill With Water And Find Your Bravest Friend

You cannow go ahead and fill the pool. You will need to give it a chlorine shock as it most likely be very green. Make sure the pump is running so that it circulates the water.

But first, you need to find your bravest friend. That could be you or even maybe your kids. But that person can claim the title of being the bravest by jumping into the pool as the first ever! If you took your water from a quarry, that water will be freezing cold. So claim that title and let that be the first of many swims.

Note: Don’t worry, you will see the temperature climb fast in the summer. You can always add a heater.

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Build Stone Dust Base

Once you have a clean surface that is mostly level, you can start to bring in stone dust.

Lay down at least 2 inches of the stone around where the pool wall will sit. Be sure to read the specification of your pool make and model, since every manufacturer has slight differences.

Pro Tip: If you wanted to build up your pool, you can increase the thinkness of the stone dust in the lower areas. But don’t go over 8 inches.

The Circle should be at least 1 foot wide, with the exact circomference of the pool being in the center.

Your first round of leveling should be within 1/4 inch . We have this tool we use on the crew at Campbell Pools which allows us to set it down on the base and with the transit, we look at the measurements on the tool. You can do the same with a ruler, but it will be pretty low.

Using a rake, make sure your level everything around the base, ensuring that the area where the wall will sit is the most accurate.

When you are within 1/4 inch all around, bring in the compacter. Do use a garden hose to lightly spray the stone dust to prevent dust and to improve the effects of compacting.

But it doesn’t stop there, that was round one.

Now that everything is compacted, you need to measure again. Go around the pool and this time, bring everything within 1/8 inch . and you measure absolutely every area where the wall will sit. This will ensure your pool will be level and stable.

When Was A New Liner Last Installed Or Is This The First Time Changing The Liner

If the liner was changed out just a couple of years ago, this is good as everything was apart not that long ago.

Some liners will last ten years or more. Its a lot harder to disassemble a pool that hasnt been apart for years. The likelihood of rusted-out screws that wont come apart and need cutting is much greater.

Also, any resin parts may be harder to get apart and are more prone to cracking or breaking.

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If You Have A Lot Of Calcium In The Water Use A Water Softener

Water becomes hard when there are too many free-floating calcium ions. These can leave scale on the walls of your pipes. Thus, creating maintenance problems. To soften your water, use a water softener.

We hope our guide and tips going over what chemicals you need for your above ground pool and also how to put chemicals in your swimming pool for the first time have been helpful to you.

Whenever you are about to add a new chemical to your swimming pool, we always recommend reading the chemicals instructions carefully and making exact measurements.

How To Open Your Above Ground Pool Like A Pro

If this is your first season opening your above ground pool by yourself, then youve come to the right place.

Its time to think twice about hiring a service because weve got a comprehensive, easy to follow guide that will have you ready for summer pool parties in no time. You have the pool already, you may as way learn your way around it.

If youve got an above ground pool we have 12 or 13 steps for you, depending on whether you consider a cannonball contest as part of the process. If you have an in-ground pool youll want to check out our other guide here.

If youre ready to open your above-ground pool, weve got your back.

1.Give your pool cover a spring cleaning

Use any soft broom to clean off any debris that may have found its way onto your pool cover. You want to do a good job at this since anything you miss is going to end up in your pool, haunting you later. Next you want to use a submersible pump to eliminate any still water sitting on the cover. Be patient and let the pump do the work.

2.Pull the Cover Off the Pool

Now would be a good time to recruit a friend or family member. Youll both start on one end of the pool to lift the cover and pull it back. Instead of pulling all the way to the end, fold it back onto itself to make it more manageable.

Pro Tip: Youre going to want to lay the cover out to dry, so start on the opposite side of where you want to end up.

3.Prepare your Pool Cover for Storage

4.Fill the Pool with Water

5.Skim the Surface

10.Clean Up Duty

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Cyanuric Adjusting Chemicals For Pool Start Up

This is the next step in getting the chemicals in your pool set up. This one addresses something that isnt often tested in pool water, the cyanuric acid.

Most pools should have very little of this in them at start up. This builds up over time because of the chlorine added. The stabilizers are in the chemicals that you add to your pool water. These accumulate in your pool and affect the water.

This does take a while to build up, but testing for and correcting any of it found is important for a fully successful start up.