ftwpoolgirl, Sounds like you are building a bueatiful pool. And yes there are serveral ways to do the grotto and slide. Some builders use boulder creations which is total gunite build and then shape the gunite to look like boulders. And the there are the ones that perfer natural stone waterfalls. With the exception of the slide I perfer to use natural stone for my waterfalls and grottos. I think it looks better and requires less maintenence. The gunite boulders would need to be recolored every few years in order to retain the same look. IMO the the gunite waterfalls give the pool a Barney Ruble look. If Kelly (Huskrider) would post another pic of his waterfall/slide/groto combo I think this is the way a silde and groto should look. And also if you look closely at the slide I believe he has tile surface on the slide this is a the best way to surface a waterfall. It always stays smooth and very little maintenance I look forward to your updates and pictures. Good Luck, David

If the pump motor just hummed, you probably blew out your start capacitor. That is the classic telltale sign. Then when you left the pump sit there without running and unable to start, you probably blew the run capacitor or you may have thrown the circuit breaker. You can replace them if you know how to work with electricity and electric motors. These capacitors are usually in the piece that sticks out on the electric motor. You should have them checked first before wasting money on replacements. Most basic motor supply companies will probably check them for you for free. Check http://www.grainger.com for the parts on line. However, you also need to take the motor off the pump and make sure that the real, "initial" problem was/is not because the impeller was clogged/jammed. In fact, you should double check that first. It may just be jammed with a rock or something and thats why it won't run. You can troubleshoot the motor separately from the pump housing to see if its the problem. Consider this all to be a fair amount of work though besides just some basic checking to make sure the impeller is not clogged with something simple.

Well, now we are just waiting for the Archetictural Review Board to review our plans. The ARB is kind-of a joke because we only have 3 houses in our neighborhood. Anyway, we went with a 7.5' spa. I though 7' was too small and 8' was too big. I "borrowed" some of all of your suggestions and ideas and went with all stone surround added a step, all Pentair and 400,000 btu. Still trying to decide on 7', but the ARB does not care about that. Thank you for all of your help! I'll post more pictures once we get started.

quote" I'm.....uh........speechless! Does your PB have any clue what he is doing? "quote OMG!!! I've never seen a more miss spec'd equipment set in my life. quote" Looking briefly at both pictures, I see no rhyme or reason for the plumbing scheme. "quote I see the plumbers objective in his pipe fitting but he totally missed the KISS (keepitsimple) formula necessary for homeowners. As you plumb in to many bypasses you begin to outfox the buyers ability to follow your mindset of proper valve orientation, and will only be able to get a digital controller to do it by giving up precious relay space for remoted valve actuators. You've already experienced the first major problem here; quote" This is especially true when the filter pressure is high and the cartridge needs to get cleaned, which seems to be every few days since the pool is new "quote Your filter is to small. In order to utilize this filter your current bypass around the heat pump must be placed after the pump outlet and before the filter inlet then joining back up with the return line after the outlet of the heat pump. This fix will flow much more, but filter much less water. Your best bet is replacing your existing filter with either a DE 60sq/ft or a multi cartridge 400+sq/ft or larger. You can then leave your existing bypass in place around the heat pump. In the hydro-therapy action at the spa jet, you are unfortunately, as Geek stated "SOL" Both the piping and pump size are way under sized, you'll never be able to address this affordably after gunite. quote" My PB says we can add a 3 HP pump which would just operate the spa. Not sure if that is my best option or not... "quote Whatever you do DO NOT TAKE THIS AVENUE Your current piping and filter, even with bypasses, won't take anything over a 2hp full or a 2 1/2hp uprated pump. My suggestion is a smaller jet nozzle diameter, placing a valve actuator on a 3-way to bypass prior to the filter around both it and the heat pump. Your Aqua-logic will have the available space to control it remotely. Quite honestly, I'm shocked that your infloor zones are even popping up with the authority necessary to effectively operate the cleaning heads. See ya, Kelly