Pool installer recomendations in South Jersey

[melissa]

Hi All,

I am looking to have an inground pool installed, I live in Gloucester County, NJ and would love suggestions! Not looking for a gunite or plaster pool - they are too expensive, we are thinking fiberglass. I had a liner pool at my old house and loved it - it was 18x44 - 30K gallons! What is a reasonable price for a "no frills" pool (no heater, no spa)...any help would be appreciated.

I worked for a pool service for 4 years, we did not install pools, just fixed them so I am hoping to help others out on this forum if I can:)

Thanks in advance!

[PoolDoc]

Welcome!

Regarding recommendations, please keep in mind that although the PoolForum has 1,000's of users, they are scattered all over the USA. Only a few will live in your area (many 'lurkers' do . . . but they can't post) and many of those have AG pools, or bought homes that already had pools. Bottom line? Getting local contractor recommendations here is hard.

Your best shot might be to call your local SCP -- if you know someone there, call them! -- and ask them for a list of active builders.

. . . Having someone else who can help answer equipment questions would be great.

One caution: PLEASE read through some of the pages on PoolSolutions, and especially the BBB and Best Guess pages linked in my signature BEFORE you post responses to chemical questions. If you have been trained in standard pool industry chemistry, you'll probably think you've landed in the land of OZ. But trust me, I have reasons for almost everything posted, and after 15 years and 10,000's of users, I'm way past wondering if the ideas that worked for me, back in 1996, work for other people too.

After you read them, if you have questions or want to argue, feel free, but please do so in a separate post in the China Shop.

Best wishes!

[waste]

Hey Melissa, welcome to the Forum!

Getting specific area PB info is a 'hit or miss' thing here. What we can help you with is the various proposals you get from different PBs - do the research and find a couple reliable PBs in your area, get quotes and post them here:)

I think its GREAT you 'you used to was' a 'pool dude'!!!!!! In 23 years I've only worked with 1 woman doing pool work. It's a very heavily male oriented business.

[melissa]

I will absolutely look over the forum for recomended chemical solutions. It is interesting when I go to the pool store to have my water tested to hear what they have to say in regards to chemicals - lol! I just want the test results from them not instructions but I do not want to be rude so I listen....all the wasteful chemicals they try to sell ppl is unbelievable. I never did that to my customers. I did not go out on the field to repair the pools but helped customers over the phone and in the store, measured for pool safety covers (loved that), and their billing. I attended water chemistry classes by the APSP. I currently have one of those metal framed Intex above ground pools - cute pool but want an inground plus the filter is a waste! I am embarassed to say that my pool is currently turning green - lol, my chems are right on so I am guessing it is time to buy a new filter or just take the thing down, I really like DE filters. Ok I have rambled on enough!

[Watermom]

If your pool is turning green, then your chems are not 'right on.' You might want to post a current set of water testing results and let us take a look at them and see if we can help you get the pool cleared up. Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[PoolDoc]

Hi Melissa;

You don't have to take your pool down, unless you prefer to do so.

Another way to state Watermom's point about your chemicals being "right on" is this: your chemical levels can all be within NSPI (defunct), NSPF, or APSP standards and still be wrong . . . because the standards are seriously in error.

When I started PoolSolutions over 15 years ago -- after I'd already been a CPO instructor for 5+ years -- I knew that the CPO (NSPI / NSPF) standards were incorrect at a number of points. I also knew that running pools differently always worked in my local area, enough so that I would have an optional 4 hour add-on to the CPO classes I taught, entitled "Correcting CPO methods so you can run your pool effectively". But, I wasn't sure that my methods would work everywhere. And I wasn't sure of the chemistry behind some of my methods.

But, now, 15 years and 100,000's of people later . . . I'm sure: they work everywhere. And, Chem_Geek (Richard Falk) has worked out the chemistry behind all of it.

Unfortunately, the NSPF and ASPS haven't moved very far from where they were 25 years ago: much of what they teach is simply wrong. That's not likely to change anytime soon. Publishing the BBB method as the standard of pool care would cut chemical sales so much it would bankrupt all the pool chemical companies and most chemical only pool stores.

The result is, your chems can be absolutely "right on" by the all the 'standard' standards . . . and still be wrong, as demonstrated by your green pool.

The immediate fix for your pool is to raise your chlorine levels, using the "Best Guess" page as a guideline. (We still call it that, but it's no longer my "Best Guess" -- Richard has seen to that!). A link to that page is my signature.

One caution though: the tiny filters that come with Intex pools do a very poor job of removing dead algae. If you want a CLEAR blue pool, instead of a cloudy blue one, you may want to order their add-on sand filter.

[melissa]

Thanks so much! I am going to look into a new filter, I do prefer DE but anything is better than what I have. I just added bleach to the pool a few hours ago and my chlorine, per my cheap test kit (4 way test strips), is over 10ppm more like 15ppm
Alk is 80
pH is 7.8
cya is low about 10-20, I think...man I feel like a newbie but at least I have this forum.

[PoolDoc]

Yeah, DE is better for absolute water clarity, but a properly sized sand filter is the easiest to use. Anyhow, I don't think a DE filter is available for those pools.