D.I.Y. by Example

Over time, your pool’s main filter is going to age to the point were it needs to be replaced. Weather, UV light from the sun, physical damage and technology are all conspiring to ensure that you will have to replace your pool filter at some time (if not many times) during the life of the pool itself. Many people opt for replacement by a professional which is perfectly fine but if you can cut and glue PVC pipe (or want to learn how), you could save hundreds of dollars doing it yourself.

Removing the Old Pool Filter

Old filter to be replaced

The first thing you should do is turn off your pool system. Turn off the circuit breakers for your pool equipment and if you have an automated system, set it to service mode. You don’t want anything to turn on while you are replacing the filter.

Next examine the old filter to see not only how to remove it but how it is installed. Pay close attention to where the water flows in and out of the filter and mark the PVC pipes at their source (put masking/painters tape around the pipe and label one “IN” for the input side and “OUT” for the output side). Installing the filter with these two pipes reversed will damage the new filter.

To remove the pool filter, you will need to drain it of as much water as possible. To do this, remove the drain plug from the pool filter and open the pressure relief valve. Pay close attention to your pool during this step! Some pools sit higher than the pool equipment. If you see the level of the pool decreasing, you may need to shut a valve to stop the flow of water from the pool or you may have a defective backflow valve. If this happens, close the pressure valve and replace the drain plug until you can fix the issue.

Filter being drained with cartridges removed

Now you should be able to safely remove the lid from your pool filter and set it aside. Remove the cartridge filters, sand or D.E. material from the filter to help lighten the filter. Finally, you are free to cut the PVC pipes connecting the old pool filter but use caution. In the above picture, you can see power lines, control lines and other PVC pipe. Cutting one of these accidentally could mean more work for you or an expensive bill from a pool professional. As always, think before you cut. Also, be careful not to be too rough while cutting the PVC pipe, it is connected to filters and other things that might leak if you vibrate the PVC pipe too much.

Filter removed and area cleaned

Tutorial: Cutting/Priming/Gluing PVC Pipe

A cut piece of PVC pipe before it has been cleaned up

The first thing to remember about cutting and fitting PVC pipe is that you don’t have to be perfect to do a good job. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Keep your cuts as straight and perpendicular as possible
• Clean up the cuts (both inside and out) to produce a smooth beveled edge
• Prime/clean all surfaces that will be exposed to PVC glue

Elbow primed and ready to glue

• Glue only one of the two pieces you are joining
• Join the two pieces together QUICKLY, you have VERY limited time
• If possible, twist the two pieces a quarter of a turn to distribute the glue but make sure to have the two pieces in their final alignment before you stop twisting
• Plan the entire path for your finished pipe before you glue it
• Measure each cut and be methodical
• If you don’t feel comfortable cutting and gluing PVC pipe, always remember PVC is cheap. Practice, practice, practice!
• To produce a clean looking joint, glue the coupler/elbow and not the pipe

Pipe glued (not the elbow)

Coupler glued (not the pipe)

Both the PVC primer and glue usually come with an applicator in the lid. Brush off the excess primer/glue and apply with a continuous, circular motion going around the outside or inside of the PVC pipe/connector as needed. With a little practice, you will be able to apply PVC glue or primer very quickly (this is helpful when you start gluing). Also, by using Purple Primer to clean and prep your PVC pipe and connectors, you will be able to see where you need to apply more since the entire surface will be evenly purple in color when done properly.

Applying too much primer is not a big deal but usually you don’t need to go any further than 1 inch from the end of the PVC pipe/connector. However, too much glue might cause you some problems since the thicker the application of glue, the longer it takes to properly cure. A couple passes around the surface to be glued with a properly coated applicator is usually enough and should only take a couple of seconds to apply.

When you have glued the PVC connector and are putting the two pieces together, move quickly, pressing firmly, and twist the two pieces into proper alignment before stopping. Remember, you only have a few seconds to do this. If you make a mistake, cut it out and redo it. Trying to pry the pieces apart or twist them will only crack the PVC causing a real nightmare (the entire section of cracked PVC pipe needs to be replaced not just the area effected as the crack weakens the whole piece). If you do manage to get two pieces of PVC apart before the glue completely hardens, the two pieces are ruined and can not be used again (PVC glue causes PVC to actually melt and deform).

I know some of this is scary but don’t let it put you off. Anyone with a little practice and patience can glue PVC like a professional. In this case, practice does make perfect!

Installing the New Filter

New filter in place and ready to install

Take the new filter and place it were you think it should go. Be very careful not to damage any of the the existing plumbing or pool equipment. If it takes two people, get someone to help you. Dropping the new filter could damage it and the remaining pool equipment.

Examine how the filter sits in relation to the “IN” plumbing and the “OUT” plumbing. Does the filter need to be turned or adjusted? Now is the time to do it. Also get an idea of how you want the PVC pipe to connect everything together. If you have a hard time visualizing it in your head, it sometimes helps to draw it on a piece of paper.

Now, add up all the elbows and couplers you will need. Take that number and add at least two or three extra of each kind (you might make a mistake or want to practice some). Finally, make a rough estimate of how much pipe you need. You can measure if you like but always add another stick of PVC pipe to your list just in case (PVC pipe is typically sold in 10foot long sticks).

Note: Did you remember to check the diameter of the PVC pipe that you are currently using for your pool equipment as well as the diameter of the PVC pipe needed for the new filter? Hopefully they are the same (usually 2 inches in diameter) but if they aren’t, you will have to get adapters to make the two fit together.

After you return with your supplies from your local hardware/home improvement store, double check to make sure you have everything you need. Now is the time to buy missing supplies instead of stopping in the middle of your project.

As you begin assembling the PVC pipes, couplers and elbows which will make up the plumbing for the new filter, take your time, measure every cut and think every step through (this will help keep mistakes to a minimum). The only time you need to hurry is when you apply glue and you only have seconds then. Remember, mistakes happen but a lot of mistakes can be easily corrected or worked around with PVC. If you have to cut out a section and replace it, give yourself enough pipe to glue a coupler or elbow onto it.

Conclusions

Completed installation of the new pool filter

Replacing your old pool filter with a new one is not something that a professional has to do. With a little patience and forethought, you can do a great job yourself in less than a day. Just remember to be patient and methodical but when you apply the PVC glue, work quickly and decisively.

Tools required:

• Tape measure
• Painter’s tape (it removes easier and cleaner than masking tape)
• Saw to cut PVC pipe (hack saw, reciprocating saw, etc.)
• Box opener or file to smooth edges on cut PVC pipe
• PVC glue (I prefer Rain-R-Shine PVC Glue)
• PVC primer (I prefer Purple Primer)

Lessons Learned:

• Take your time and think through the project (How will everything fit together?)
• Buy more PVC pipe and fittings than you need (you can always take it back later)
• Practice cutting/priming/gluing the PVC BEFORE you start assembling the finished product!

Links:

• Best Buy Pool Supply (no they aren’t paying me, I just like them)
• Oatey – Purple Primer and Rain-R-Shine PVC Glue

Many people think that you can plug in as many outdoor christmas lights into one outlet as you want since they are small. Well, that isn’t quite true.

Christmas lights, just like all lights, pull power from the outlet in a measurement called amps (or amperes, abbreviated as A). Most outdoor outlets can only provide a maximum of 15amps but since many are also providing power to the inside of your house as well (lamps, other outlets, etc.), many outdoor outlets provide MUCH less than 15amps.

Helpful Hint: Even though the outlet is rated for 15amps, never try to pull the full 15amps from it. You risk tripping a breaker or GFCI if you get too close to the maximum output. A good rule of thumb is the only pull about 80% of the maximum or in this case, 12amps.

Speaking of GFCI protected outlets, these are outlets that are designed to trip when they sense a short circuit. Most bathroom and kitchen outlets are protected by GFCI breakers or outlets. Also, most outdoor outlets are GFCI protected as well. This means that water (from rain or dew) could cause your lights to go out especially if you are trying to pull too much power from the outlet.

And now the math

OK, you know that you have a limit to the amount of power that you can pull from an outlet but how much power does a string of christmas lights pull?

• 100 light string of mini-lights = 1/3amp or .33amps

Well, with 12amps to play with, that means you can have 36 strands of 100 mini-lights. That seems like quite a lot! But you have to count everything. Here are some other items to consider:

• 60watt light bulb in a blow mold figure = .5amps
• 15feet of rope light = .75amps
• 150watt flood light = 1.25amps
• 300 light strand of icicle mini-lights = 1amp
• Inflatables = .5 to 1amp

It adds up quickly!

We need more power Captain!

If you find you are running out of power, find another outlet, on a different circuit, to power part of your lights. Or better yet, make the investment in LED lights!

• 60-70 light string of LED lights = .03amps

Yep, 300 lights of mini-lights pull 1amp but 300 lights of LEDs pull only .15amps! The LED lights might cost a little more but they are safer (don’t get as hot), pull MUCH less power and last longer.

Putting everything together

When you assemble your christmas light display, be sure to use only products rated for outdoor use. Yes, they cost more but they are designed to be out in the weather. Rain and dew can be rough on indoor products causing the products to rust and possibly short out causing a shock or fire hazard!

Helpful Hint: When you connect strands of lights together, always use the rule of threes. Don’t connect more than three strands of lights together. The lights aren’t designed for more than that and if you add more, the fuse in the strands might blow.

Many people follow the above rules but forget about their extension cords. Extension cords are measured by their length in feet and the size of wire used in gauge (the larger the number the smaller the wire). The longer the extension cord and/or the smaller the wire, the less power can flow through it. Having the wrong extension cord can dim lights, cause inflatables not to work properly and cause a fire hazard.

Ext. cord length	Amperage Required
	0-2 amps	2-5 amps	5-7 amps	7-10 amps	10-12 amps	12-15 amps
25 ft.	16 ga.	16 ga.	16 ga.	16 ga.	14 ga.	14 ga.
50 ft.	16 ga.	16 ga.	16 ga.	14 ga.	14 ga.	12 ga.
100 ft.	16 ga.	16 ga.	14 ga.	12 ga.	12 ga.	10 ga.
150 ft.	16 ga.	14 ga.	12 ga.	12 ga.	10 ga.	-
200 ft.	14 ga.	14 ga.	12 ga.	10 ga.	-	-

Table courtesy of Planet Christmas

Think of it as a hose. The bigger the hose, the more water will flow. If you need a 50ft extension cord to provide a total of 6.5amps, you need to use a 16gauge or larger extension cord. Extension cords are expensive, matching the right extension cord for your needs could save you quite a bit of money!

Helpful Hint: If you have open outlets on your extension cords (using only two outlets on a three outlet extension cord), be sure to protect them from rain and snow. If water gets into the extension cord, it could cause a short which will trip your breaker or GFCI protected outlet.

Conclusion

Using the above as a guideline, you can have a beautiful, safe christmas light display. Now, go make your neighbor’s jealous!

Having seen many homes with iron balusters on the their stairways, we decided that our original wooden balusters needed an upgrade. We didn’t know how to do it, so we priced around. To have someone do this project for us was going to cost $10,000. We liked the look of iron balusters but $10,000 was much more than we wanted to pay for replacing 150 balusters. Thank God for the internet!

(A completed section of iron balusters)

We priced around and found that iron baluster were readily available and not that intimidating to install. As an added bonus, I got to buy some new tools

Before you get started

The first thing we did was pick a design! Many sites have a design tool which allows you to see the balusters you want assembled in different patterns. We played around with many different patterns until we found two or three that we liked and then ordered enough balusters to make two of each pattern. In other words, if you like a repeating pattern of two single twist balusters and a large scroll and another repeating pattern of two double twist balusters and a small scroll, then buy enough balusters to make the two patterns twice (4 single twists, 2 large scrolls, 4 double twists and 2 small scrolls – 12 pieces).

Note: Keep in mind when ordering balusters, they are heavy and tend to get knocked around during shipping.

When the balusters arrive, we used pieces of wire to twist tie them to some of our existing balusters to see how the patterns looked. We left them there for a few days to see which pattern looked the best. Please use caution here! Iron balusters can be heavy and dropping one on your floor or your foot will leave a dent!

Grab a piece of paper and a pencil (not a pen)!

Once we selected your pattern, it was time to calculate how many pieces of this and that was needed. But it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. We had to plan each section of railing to see how the new balusters would look when they are installed. We didn’t want to start one section with two double twists but end with a small scroll next to a wall or post. So we had to consider how all of the sections were going to be laid out and individually count the balusters needed.

But don’t forget the shoes! Shoes are the top and bottom pieces that cover the holes in the railing that the balusters fit into. We had a fun time with this because there are flat shoes for level surfaces and angled shoes for the stairs themselves. Here again, we had to count the shoes needed for each baluster individually.

Note: When calculating the number of balusters you will need, don’t include the ones that you ordered previously. You will need these for practice cuts.

Placing the order

The first rule to remember when ordering balusters has to be “Order Extra!!“. The second rule is “Have it shipped on a pallet!“. We found out about both rules the hard way and we hope to spare you the inconvenience of waiting 3 months for parts to be shipped from China by boat (Yes, America ships the steel to China for them to turn it into balusters and then be shipped back to America…crazy).

The two rules kinda go together. If you don’t ship the balusters on a pallet, they will beat against each other in shipping and the paint will chip. When they arrive, you will have balusters that look like they have been chewed by a pet. And if you didn’t order extra, you will when you order more to replace the chipped ones.

The third rule is “Buy everything in one big order!“. Dealers change vendors and/or styles change even between production runs from the same manufacturer. Buying everything at one time lessens the chance of you getting balusters that are slightly different in color or shape.

Next, find a good dealer and work with them, they can make recommendations to help you out and take care of you when goods arrive damaged (and trust me they will…did I say they were heavy?). Matt Natoli from Lighted Landings was great to work with and even helped us out on special orders.

When you place the order, you are going to need following:

• iron balusters (get about 10% more than you think you need)
• shoes for the top and bottom of each baluster (add about 10% more)
• glue/epoxy 50ml cartridges (we could glue about 12 balusters on one cartridge)
• glue gun (get one that is made for the epoxy cartridges)

Note: We found that there are two sizes of flat shoes for 1/2″ balusters, 1-1/4″ square and 1-1/2″ square. Our railings were 1-1/2″ wide on the bottom, so we chose to go with the 1-1/4″ shoes. If we were off a little, we didn’t want the shoe sticking out beyond the railing. The only angled shoes we found were 1-1/4″ wide.

Christmas comes early

When the order arrives, it will come on an 18 wheeler or large flat bed truck so have someone there to help you unload it! Next, do an inventory! Check to make sure everything arrived and that it is in good condition. If something is missing or damaged, you can continue to work while the replacements are being shipped to you.

(Here are a couple views of the railings during the process. By doing a section or so at a time, we were able to spend as little or as much time as we wanted over a weekend without the place being destroyed.)

 

Let the carnage begin

Now the fun begins! You need to get the old balusters out. We used a jigsaw with a course wood blade to cut the balusters in half but you could use a hand saw. Just remember, there will be a lot of saw dust…put down tarps and have a vacuum cleaner handy.

Once cut in half, the old balusters can be removed by twisting and pulling them free of the railings. Be sure to remove all the old nails and/or glue used to hold them in place, the new balusters will need the room.

Most documentation recommends that you cut 5/8″ diameter holes for 1/2″ iron balusters with a minimum depth of 1-1/4″ for the railing and a maximum depth of 5/8″ in the flooring. Our railings had 5/8″ diameter, 1-1/8″ deep holes in them and the flooring had 7/8″ diameter holes but were anywhere from 3/4″ to 1-1/4″ deep (way too deep).

(A bottom hole from the previous wooden balusters. Note the lack of stain and the paint from the previous baluster. You can sand and restain this area but before doing that, check to see if the shoe will cover it for you.)

 

Time to Slice and Dice

Here is were those spare balusters came in handy. We measured the distance from the bottom of the railing to the top of flooring and added 1-3/8″ like all the documentation we found told us to do. Unfortunately, we couldn’t even begin to get the baluster started. Next, we shortened the cut but when we got the baluster in the railing and lowered it into the flooring, it fell out of the railing. The solution we were given by others was to make the holes in the railings bigger. This really didn’t make us happy, we wanted to use the existing holes in the railing to avoid splitting or ripping the wood (we did not want to risk replacing a railing!). Time for more cutting.

(A small scroll clamped and ready to measure and cut. Note the rubber padded clamps and several layers of painter’s tape wrapped around the sawhorses to help reduce damage to the baluster’s finish during cutting.)

 

(A portable band saw cutting a baluster. Note the painter’s tape used to mark the cut. Always place the tape on the inside of the cut.)

 

After several attempts and a few destroyed balusters. we came upon the right combination. We trimmed 1/4″ off the top (rounded end) and only added 1″ to the overall length of the baluster. This allowed them to be inserted just fine but we still had an issue with them going too deep into the hole in the flooring.

(The top of an iron baluster has a rounded end. Here one is trimmed to aid in insertion.)
As we mentioned above, the holes in our flooring varied quite a bit. What we needed to do was make the holes all the same depth. This issue was solved by using the old wood balusters and cutting little plugs from the narrow, rounded part of them (or you could go buy new wooden dowels and cut them up). We measured the depth of the holes and then used a saw to cut pieces off of the wooden balusters. Next, we dropping them into the holes in the flooring to bring the hole depth between 3/8″ and 1/2″ (Note: if you drop a plug into the hole and it turns sideways or you need to get it out, press the sticky side of a piece of painter’s tape into the hole and pull the plug out).

Let’s make a sticky mess

After cutting the balusters, inserting them one by one into the section we were working on and verifying that all looked right, we removed them again to add the shoes. One at a time, we removed the balusters to put the top and bottom shoes on them. The top shoe doesn’t really require any attention but you need to suspend the bottom shoe above the hole so that the glue will not stick to it. Here we used more painter’s tape.

Note: Each shoe has a set screw to hold it in place. Be sure to decide which side of the baluster you want the set screw to be on before putting the shoe on the baluster.

Note: Before putting the shoes on the balusters, use a hex wrench to turn the set screws in and out again. We found that several of the shoes came with set screws that were either very hard to turn or couldn’t be turned at all. Better to find out now than after they are in place!!!

(Shoes at the bottom of the balusters being held in place with painter’s tape while the epoxy dries.)

 

 

 

To glue the balusters, we first applied epoxy in the hole in the railing and inserted the baluster. Next we applied epoxy to the hole in the flooring and lowered the baluster into the hole. The epoxy sets in about 3-4 hours. By sure all your balusters are properly aligned before the epoxy sets or you will have a BIG problem.

Note: Not all balusters are square! In other words, when the top of the baluster is perfectly square with the railing, the bottom of the baluster may be off slightly. You need to either decide which one to keep square or settle for some place in between the two.

(Epoxy drying at the bottom of a baluster.)

 

(Epoxy drying at the top of a baluster.)

Almost done!

After checking to see if the epoxy had dried properly, we removed the painter’s tape, held the shoes in place and tightened their set screws to secure them. Once you have done a section or two, the rest will go quickly!

This was a fun and VERY rewarding project. We hope yours will be as well.

(Final inspection!)

Tools required:

• Tape measure
• Painter’s tape (it removes easier and cleaner than masking tape)
• Saw to remove the balusters
• Saw to cut the iron balusters (portable band saw if your budget will allow…you will be much happier with the results)
• Drill and drill bits (if you have to drill holes for the balusters)
• Soft jaw clamps to hold balusters when cutting
• Hex wrench to hit shoes
• Glue (use epoxy for a stronger hold)
• Glue gun (buy one made for the epoxy cartridges you are using)
• Vise Grip pliers to remove any nails from the railing and flooring when removing the old balusters

Lessons Learned:

• See article for notes and highlights

Links:

• Lighted Landings – iron balusters and accessories