New Pool and Need Help Please

We just bought a Chois 14x22 by 52" pool.
The pool is 9,000 gallons.
Can you guys tell me the easiest and best tester kit for me to buy?
Also what do you recommend for chemicals?
If I go with the BBB chemicals what is the amount I will need?
I was told Prestine Blue but am seeing BBB.
So far I bought a large bucket of 3 in 1 at Sams.
I was told to put this in 1st and wait 2 weeks and then do again and wait 2 weeks and then test my water.
I added the dry chemicals through the skimmer.
Was that correct?
We are also going to build a deck around it.
Anyone have any experience building a deck around this type of pool?
What are the best type of steps to put in the pool coming off of a deck?
We were sent a 220 pump instead of the 120.
I ended up just having an electrician come out and wire in the 220 pump.
But I did not know to ask him to put a switch near it. (I thought they had an on/off switch on them). So will have to get that fixed.
Anyone with this type of pool have an enclosure around the pump and sand filter to hide it? Just wondering if that is a good idea.
I am totally dumb to all of this so would appreciate all info.
I am afraid to set foot in a pool store as will end up buying things I don't need.
The ladder that is in the pool now says to weight down with sandbags.
I am reading sandbags create algae.
Can we drill holes in the ladder to make it stay weighted down?
They have straps for the ladder but we have the ladder in a different spot than where the straps are located.
Thanks in advance.

Hi and welcome to the forum. BTW -- new members aren't allowed to post links unless Ben approves them. He was not online at the time your post came in, so I deleted your link so I could mod it in.

Yes to using BBB rather than pool store chemicals. Will save you a ton of money and do a better job for you. Read a lot of the stickied threads at the top of many of the forums (especially the chemistry forums) and also go to our sister site www.poolsolutions.com and read there. Lots of good information to help you get started.

The kit we recommend you buy is the Taylor K-2006. If you order it through Amazon at the following link, Pool Forum makes a little money which helps us stay online.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=10006

I'm going to see if I can find a picture of my steps to show you. I would not advise drilling holes in them because if you ever get algae, you'll get algae in the steps as well and that will be a pain in the rearend. EDIT -- I found a link that shows a similar type of ladder to what I have in my AG pool.

http://www.intheswim.com/Pool-Access...d-Pool-Ladder/

I have a 3-sided resin lattice fence that is around my pump to kind of hide it a bit.

Hope this helps.

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

I would like to try and address some of your questions, see below in bold.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jodeepups

We just bought a Chois 14x22 by 52" pool.
We are also going to build a deck around it.
Anyone have any experience building a deck around this type of pool?
.
We built a deck around three sides of our above-ground pool. We have steps and a gate on one side and a ramp and a gate on the other side. There are some photos here
.
What are the best type of steps to put in the pool coming off of a deck?
.
We put in the wedding cake steps with the handrails attached to the deck. We weigh them down with PVC tubes filled with QuickCrete which were then capped and sealed. To assist with water circulation inside the hollow of the steps we drilled 2" holes all around the bottom about 6" up. Whenever I brush the pool I push some water against the holes which causes a nice swirl of sanitized water. By giving a little extra attention to getting the water moving under and behind the steps we've never had any algae grow there, nor do we have leaves or other debris collect there. Whenever we have to refill the pool we put the hose with a jet nozzle behind the steps and that, too, aids in flushing the area.
.

We were sent a 220 pump instead of the 120.
I ended up just having an electrician come out and wire in the 220 pump.
But I did not know to ask him to put a switch near it. (I thought they had an on/off switch on them). So will have to get that fixed.
.
Your pump doesn't have an on/off switch? I thought they all did. Since you're having the electrician come back anyway you might want to give some thought to having an additional on/off switch mounted on the deck near the skimmer. There will be times when you'll want to turn the pump on or off without having to walk off the deck and over to the equipment pad, such as when you're vacuuming or hooking up an automatic cleaner. The extra switch is really very convenient.
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Anyone with this type of pool have an enclosure around the pump and sand filter to hide it? Just wondering if that is a good idea.
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We don't but it is something we may eventually get around to building, I haven't decided yet (after 5 years :) ) We have a lot of groundhogs and rabbits on our land and I'm not sure I want to give them yet another safe spot where to build their nests and tunnels, nor do I really want to offer a cozy place for spiders and wasps. I'm a real wuss about such things.
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The ladder that is in the pool now says to weight down with sandbags.
I am reading sandbags create algae.
Can we drill holes in the ladder to make it stay weighted down?
.
Sandbags don't create algae. Lack of water circulation does. If you take a look at the photo link I gave above you'll see what we did to both weigh the steps down and avoid the algae problem.

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Again, welcome to the Pool Forum and enjoy your new pool!

Anna,
I had forgotten about the way you did your solar cover. I think I had seen pictures of it years ago because I remember the balls on top. Very good idea and nice page you created.

Thanks Lisa, that's a nice compliment.

Yes, those balls on top . . . they look sort of like garlic bulbs, don't they? It turned out they're entirely unnecessary. The solar cover sections stick very nicely to the water surface and can be pushed across the pool with the skimmer net or even just the pole without any attachments. We're still using that same solar cover, 5 seasons old now!