Fixing Up the Swimming Pool – It’s Hot Outside!

When we moved here 20 months ago it was October and way too cold to go swimming.  The previous owners had thoughtfully winterized the pool for us and we were excited to use it last summer.  We never had a pool before aside from the little wading pools for the kids – which we used ourselves in really hot weather – and weren’t sure what to expect.

We have an above ground oval shaped pool that is about 30 feet long, a nice length that you can swim (short) laps in or splash around on a float.  The pool was heaven during last summer’s endless heat.

Pool Bubbling Right After 2013 First Dose of Chemicals, June 25, 2013

We had a great time last summer.  I swam laps – 10 yards each, 30 or so a day – which helped with the endless bulge problem, and we floated around in the blessedly cool water every evening.  When our daughter, son-in-law and their daughter came last July we all had a blast and Juliet thought it was perfect.  She especially liked to dunk Dave and me!

We used it 6 to 7 times a week all June, July and August and a week or so in September.  September nights get cold in Michigan and the water cooled down fast.  By mid-September the pool was down to 65 and cooled steadily from there.

The liner must have simply worn out as it developed several large holes in the fall after Dave had winterized it and put a new cover on top.  All the water gushed out, leaving the liner sagging into this ugly hole in the wooden deck that surrounds it.

It looked nasty all winter, like a big dirty hole.

Dave researched new liners and found a local couple who installs them, plus a company that delivers a big tank truck of water.  It was going to be expensive, around $2000 total.  We could have left it as is (yuck), decked over it, or fixed it.  The choice was easy – fix it and enjoy.

It turned hot this past week and I was looking forward to floating in our lovely cool water.  The couple fit us in this weekend.  She came out on Thursday and took out the old liner, a messy, sweaty job, and inspected the sides and sand base.  He came out Saturday and repaired the base where sand washed away when the water gushed out last fall, replaced the skimmer, then they both came on Sunday and installed the liner.  It was so hot that he had to come back in the evening to get rid of the rest of the wrinkles when the vinyl had cooled off.

Yesterday the water truck came and today Dave got the water tested, then added the chemicals so we can swim this weekend.  I can’t wait!

Pool Right After 2013 First Dose of Chemicals, June 25, 2013