re: OT Pool Owners- Questions

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how often do you use the spa? i really want one

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Not too often during the summer but at least once or twice a weekend during the non summer months.

Nothing better than finishing your day in the spa and then jumping in the rack for a good night's sleep.

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By running my pool pump at night and popping 2 of these on my returns, I dropped my pool temperature 5-7 degrees in a couple of day

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I can attest to this....I had a couple aerators installed with my pool and when I don't run them I'm looking at 95 degrees in the summer.....however when I run them at night I'm pretty steady around 90/91. This may still sound hot but it's a HUGE difference.

We built a free-form gunite last year with quartzscape finish. Seven feet deep, and about 14X41 feet. We installed a Paramount in-floor cleaning system. It was definitely more expensive than the robot vacuums -- but it turns itself on/off and we never have a vacuum or hose in the pool. Which means we never have to take it out or put it in either. Looking at the reviews for the paramount in-floor, you'll find a lot of people love it and just as many hate it. We love it -- works great, even when the Texas Oaks in our yard shed twice a year -- we haven't had to vacuum or skim the pool.

We couldn't be happier with how easy it is to maintain. We went with an Eclipse 10 Ozonator, IntelliFlo 2 VST Variable speed pumps, in-line chemical feeder (so you don't have to have the clorine tabs floating around the pool in a basket or big duckie) and the EasyTouch system with the waterproof remote to control everything.

From an Aestetic stand-point, check out LightStreamGlassTile for some beautiful accent tiles. They really stand-out under water to highlight your steps and bench areas. (My Advice, by directly from them, save yourself the 100% mark-up your builder will try to stick you with).

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We have a copper ion system. My husband says its fool proof and he spends very very little time taking care of it. He says that if he were to die I could learn to do what I'd need to do with it.

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Copper is not a sanitizer. It is a very good algaecide. Beware of marketing that advertises these systems are not needing chlorine. Less chlorine? Yes. No chlorine? No. Still need to maintain all other water balancers? Yes.

Copper also must be kept in solution otherwise it will stain the pool.

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Like a previous poster said, your plaster lasts a shorter amount of time with salt.

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Source?

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The only thing time consuming is cleaning leaves out after a storm.

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Buy a leaf eater. Thank me later.

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If you get impatient and add too much salt, the system shuts off. It really sucks to have to drain and add fresh water.

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If you get an AutoPilot Pool Pilot system they don't have a high salt shut off. The Hayward AquaRite systems are very problematic when it comes to salt levels.

i agree, would love to see pics and if anyones willing to share, cost.

I posted these earlier this year in another thread. We had a 6 foot elevation change in the back yard from the back door, so we built the pool up level with the house. Took a lot of extra concrete, stone work, and we put in a 12' tall fireplace.

He's good about checking that ... bar gets replaced once a year when it dwindles down. He adds "something" (I pay no attention) and it's always crystal clear and no staining issues. We've been here 2 years -- don't remember how old the pool is though; was here already.