Aggregate Pool Finish
Startup
$279
Aggregate pool finish (upgraded Surface)
Congratulations, you have chosen a great finish for your pool. All of these finishes, outlast, and look better with a lot less risk of issues with the start up. The laborious job of brushing 3 times a day is not a key factor on theses surfaces is avoided as they are all acid washed, or polished in order to expose the surface to be mostly pebble or hardened using a patented polishing process.
We at All Clear have been starting up new plaster/Pebble-Tec pools for over 28 years. We have done a minimum of 500 different new plaster/Pebble-Tec start ups. This level of experience is rare. We have seen many start ups that were not done right and many start ups where the customer unfortunately did not understand the long term effect of hiring a service company that did not understand the risks of trying to rush the process or not understand the difference in these surfaces.
Up to 35,000 gallons ($79 more per 10,000 in additional gallons) Pool must be filled to middle of time by time of scheduling.
We can provide this service within 5 miles of any of my store locations, with no additional charge. this particular start up, can be done in 2 trips, because the surface is mostly cured upon arrival, it will still need start up chemicals added and of course pH balancing however it is a faster process so it would not be fair to charge the same as a standard plaster. This surface we will start up within 5 days of filling, although we really prefer within 48 hours, however I have started them up a week later and with the correct procedure I did not see any negative effects.
Service Includes:
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2 trips to jobsite within the first week.
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1 month of Chemical only service. So we are there up to 7 times in the first month. To ensure that the pool is balanced at the most important time.
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First Trip:
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Completely Testing of Chlorine level, pH, Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness and Cyanuric Acid (conditioner).
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Adding 1 qt. of sequestering agent.
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Adding Cyanuric acid (conditioner) through skimmer to bring to 30-40 ppm
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Adding Calcium Chloride in order to raise calcium hardness to 150-200 ppm
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Balancing of pH, it is essential to only add acid in the amount needed by the test. Some companies whom think they are the same as plaster have added to much acid, which weakens the bond and loosens the pebbles that were already exposed so you see more plaster and less pebble.
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Priming of pump, looking over system, and setting all flow to main drain. (If pressure side sweep) This is important so we can filter out iron and heavy materials, also the alkaloids that are in between the pebbles are heavy so it will make the surface more clean and have less grit.
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Adding Cellulose fiber #138(wood pulp) to filter, this will help filter to pull out more iron out of the fill water.
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setting system to run 24 hours a day, till we come back so that we can have it filter out all contaminants.
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Install sweep. Yes, on the first day, as it helps to remove any of the small amount of plaster that may still be loose enough to come off and filter it out.
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Leave customer FREE corner brush so that client can brush inside edges of corners, around lights, or any other small areas a normal pool brush cannot reach.
Second Trip:
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Test Ph and Alkalinity, Add acid to pool to once again balance pH and lower alkalinity
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Check conditioner level and calcium Hardness to make sure it is correct.
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Add Liquid Chlorine 1/2 gallon per 10,000 gallons. Also we will put tablets in a floater to last till next service day.
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Look over filter system to make sure the filter does not need cleaning, we clean them on a 5 pound pressure rise above starting pressure. We are assuming filter cartridge is clean and has a new or very good cartridge filter. One filter clean is included in the process if pressure rises 5 pounds, if it does not rise it is best to wait to see it rise to allow the filter to filter the finest material.
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Customer can swim 24 hours after this visit, Please realize until chlorine is added the water is not sanitary and is not safe to swim, it will not harm the pool, however sanitation is important.
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​Begin free Weekly pool service
Chemical only service included, however service can be upgraded by paying the difference in the price.
Things to know on aggregate surfaces: We strongly recommend purchasing a much stiffer pool brush this surface needs a brush that will be strong enough to clean between the pebbles; we carry a great brush for this which is also resistant to sunlight so it lasts much longer.
Please come on in to my closest retail store and pick one up, or ask us on our next visit to bring you one and put it on your bill
What's not included:
Repairs to equipment, new filter cartridges separate trips in order to repair something that prevents pool from operating properly. For example we show up first day and the equipment needs a new filter cartridge, or needs a Pump o-ring we do not have on our truck, in these cases, All Clear will make every effort to repair the problem quickly. However the separate trip has a charge of between $39 to $65. Depending on what it needs. If it needs major repair, we will have to quote the repair and there may be an emergency service charge if we have to rearrange our repair schedule to accommodate the need to put this repair in front of repairs already scheduled. This can be as much as twice our published rates which is why we strongly encourage to have us do an equipment Tune up, at least a week before pool will be re-plastered. See
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Extreme Iron and Manganese in fill water that can stain the pool prior to us arriving on the jobsite. We recommend looking in the back of your toilet where the fresh water tank is. Look at the color of the porcelain where the water is, if it brown it is critical that you purchase a pre-filter to put on the end of the hose prior to filling of the pool. We carry this product it is #17396 and is approximately $30. Anytime that the pool has extreme Iron in the fill water we may add extra qts. of Sequestering agent and will leave the extra bottles that were added to verify that the pool needed them. You will know as the water will have a brown tint upon filling. We then will add 2 extra qts. of sequestering agent and will add cellulose fiber #138 to the filter system to allow it to absorb the minerals which will to help prevent staining, and help the cartridges form staining also. You are only charged for the extra materials only.
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Salt for Chlorine generators: We charge $11.00 for each 50 lbs a pool needs of Salt and that covers the labor to bring it out add it all to the pool and brush down the pool. An average of 250-350 pounds of salt are needed. Be aware do not just use any salt, the salt we sell for has been kiln dried and has stain inhibiters to lessen the chance of staining..it is also finer in grains allowing it to dissolve. Staining can occur if the wrong salt is added, or it is not brushed down completely. I must warn people not to use a Chlorine generator on Black or very dark Pebble-Tec surfaces, it is too easy to form very visible scale on the surface of the rock. I have seen this happen on almost every Black pebble that has had a chlorine generator.
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Diatomaceous earth filters or Sand filters: All Clear will not start up pools with either of these types of filters. In this region we have Iron in our water and we have had bad issues arise when we have accepted to do start ups with either of these types of filter systems. The sand filters will not filter fine enough and the D.E filters may have holes in the grids and Diatomaceous earth will not absorb Iron.
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Adding Water:
All Clear does not add water on start ups, we are not on-site for any length of time to allow for this to be done also the pool industry insurance has always stated that it is never worth their liability to add water to any pool.