Yes, you definitely need to fill from the bottom up. The moment they are done plastering, the hose should go in. And, as the previous poster has stated, the plaster crew should do this for you - they should be very used to it. The end of the hose should be wrapped in a white towel or white socks -- something that will help to diffuse the water, as well as protect the plaster from dings caused by a metal end. One of the most important things about filling a plastered pool is that once you start the fill process, you should NOT stop the water flow until the pool water has reached the appropriate level (which is halfway up the opening to the skimmer). If you stop the water flow you will end up with what will look like a bathtub ring around the interior perimeter of your pool, and you will never be able to get rid of it. If you get to the point that you are concerned that the water will reach the fill level while you are asleep or gone from the house, you can turn the waterflow down, just do not turn it off. Start out with one hose only. This should be gently placed in the deep end. Do not allow the hose to touch the sides of the pool -- that is, don't let the hose rest against the plaster. Then, when the water level reaches about 3' depth, you can add a second hose, also to the deep end, also making sure that the end is covered and that the hose doesn't touch the plaster. If you have a spa, do not allow the water from the spa to overflow into the pool until the pool is finished filling. Any water that would flow down the plaster would, again, leave permanent marks.

Hi Racket - I think it's unfortunate because having a SWG and swimming in a salt pool are wonderful! I think it's a great benefit to have chlorine being generated steadily and being able to maintain a steady chlorine level. Moreoever, at least for me, I have never had any combined chlorine which means I have never needed to shock. On the other hand, I do hate dealing with acid and having to dump some into my water over 5-6 days or so. I think it's unfortunate that some pool builders are starting to move away from SWG because it keeps potential pool owners from being able to experience this way of chlorinating a pool. With all due respect, I think it's much too simplistic to say that because one notices a certain type of corrosion or damage only on salt pools that the salt itself is to blame. How can one say that it is NOT because the pool owner was running their pump too long, or setting their chlorinator at too high a level which caused their chlorine level to rise much too high becoming a much more active corrosive agent? (I personally know of people that run their pumps 24 hours a day, for example.) Here's a personal story. I have my SWG set at 35% which allows me to keep my chlorine level at 5-6ppm. I was away on a trip for about a week. When I came back, I was shocked to find out when I checked my water that my chlorine level was up to 11ppm! Well, up until a couple weeks ago, we had about 3 straight weeks of rainy weather here in the Dallas-area. I concluded that it was the lack of sun exposure that caused my chlorine to creep up that much (not as much chlorine burn off from the sun.) I happen to check my water very regularly. Can you imagine the typical pool owner that doesn't, or just takes their water to Leslie's once a month? Or how about pool owners that allow their stabilizer levels to get so low that they aren't able to hold a good chlorine residual and they think the solution is to increase their chlorinator setting to compensate, not realizing that the chlorine they're generating has now become 30x more corrosive because of the low CYA level? I have read stories of salt pools being blamed for corrosion on structures made out of 316L Marine-grade stainless steel. If these stories are true, then salt pools with salt content at 3000ppm is somehow more corrosive than ocean water with salt content 35000ppm? Perhaps. But chlorine at high levels is easily corrosive enough to eat through 316L stainless steel. I'm not ready to blame salt quite yet. Mind you, I'm watching my pool very closely to see if I start to see any ill-effects, but so far, nothing yet. Having said all of this, I do think that SWG manufacturers need to be more upfront with the true care and maintenance aspects of owning a salt pool. It isn't as "care and maintenance free" as they would like the consumers to think!

50x14 pool. That is a commercial sized pool. Your price is fine. Blame the high cost of cement, not the "cheap plastics you mention". Why slam the guy for his bid and use of product when you know nothing about it? The drains, return fittings have no beraing on your job. They are either destroyed in demolition or required by law to upgrade. When you find your price that you like, and I too advise getting some other bids, that guy will be using the same "cheap plastics" you have mentioned but maybe they'll improve in quality if the bid is 4k less. I would use caution at anybody who says you get a 15 year warranty. Plaster companies offer what the law says they do. And, as most homeowners pool techs will do their fair share of damage to a plaster job in 5-7 years, I can't see any 15 year warranty having anything substantial in it to warrant additional cost. You need warranty on plaster for one thing. Delamination and rust through. Rust through will happen right away if their is a workmanship issue.

"not enough hours" I understand. It is tiring. My back is killing me today for working on the yard. Trying to weed and pull a trumpet vine whose roots refuse to die and have reached all the way to the Planet Jupiter. 25 years trying to kill it!!! Oh, my back, ouch! I need a warm pool with an automatic wine dispenser!!! Hee, hee, hee.