Reviving neglected pool

[kariered]

Hi Everyone,

We are currently bidding on a house that was a foreclosure and has been vacant for a year. The house has a pool that has obviously been neglected for just as long.

Someone built a cover for it made of boards and wire mesh-like material. The water level is very low and very murky. There is a family of toads living in it (and most likely other things), probably about 20...and that is a guess.

The pool obviously needs to be cleaned, shocked (to the extreme), etc. Who would we need to call in order to have the frogs removed??

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

[Watermom]

Can you just get a pole and net and scoop them out? I don't know who you could call for something like that. I think most people probably just scoop them out themselves.

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[Poconos]

Welcome to the forum.
I too acquired a pool that had been neglected for longer than that. Frogs that were big enough for saddles. If all you want to know about is frog removal, I would guess an exterminator but I'd just try and net them and dump them elsewhere. If you don't like going in murky water with critters then lots of bleach should render them harmless and then go in with hip boots. As for the pool condition, need more details like is it a liner pool, equipment types, and some idea of the condition of the equipment. Being in Houston you probably don't have to worry about freeze damage as I don't think there was sustained below freezing temperatures this last winter. Look at the pipes that are above ground and look for splits from freezing, look at the gauge and see if it reads zero, anything else would be freeze damage but they're cheap. Look at the pump and filter for any obvious freeze damage problems. Breaks, splits and so forth. Look at the condition of the pool walls if it isn't a liner pool. This should be a start.
Al

[PoolDoc]

Frogs that were big enough for saddles.

Wow, Al.

I think you must be the author of the Pecos Bill tales.

I'll have tell Cameron about that one -- he loves 'Southernisms', so he'll be a bit disappointed that that came from Pennsylvania, but he'll probably hang on to it none the less.

[kariered]

Hi,
Thanks for all the suggestions! The pool is an inground and it is gunnite (I hope I got the spelling right). I actually have some pics of it and I will try to post. It's hard to see much with the "lattice" cover and you can't see the bottom because the water is so dirty.

We didn't see anything like freeze cracks as far as I can tell. Like you said (Al), we don't really have freezing weather here in Houston. We have had a few days during the past two winters where it dropped below freezing. Of course they shut down the entire city here. People freak out about the possibility of ice on the roads. I am sure those who live up North get quite a laugh over this.

We did get the bid on the house, as it is a good house that we really like. We have a 12 yr old boy who might be interested in fishing out some frogs with a little incentive.

[PoolDoc]

Send the pics to poolforum AT gmail DOT com.

Non-subscribers can't use the forum picture thingie -- and it's really cumbersome to use at best. But if you send them to me, I'll post them.

Ben