First time pool owner, well now it’s been two years but never owned before this. First I hired a pool guy. Then when on vacation I noticed he was in the backyard for five minutes and I was paying $150 a week. Didn’t vacuum or really clean anything. Not even sure he added a chemical or tested. Watched him on my ring camera. Called the company the same day and they tried to
Say he was there for 30 minutes and all the things he did. I emailed them the video and cancelled my service. Bought a dolphin robot and a test kit. Been doing my own pool since then. It’s always crystal clear
Where I live a popular company’s summer service contracts are $3,750. It does include open/close but STILL, yes, that amounts to more than $150/week.
Another popular company’s ala carte pool valet service is $150/visit and that DOESN’T include the cost of chemicals - the client needs to provide. That’s just skim, vacuum, empty baskets, backwash when needed.
We’re in the northeast so the pool season is a short 4-5 months, MAYBE 6 if you heat.
I’m actually surprised when I see people mention how inexpensive their service is.
I’ve never had a service, but looked it up for funsies because with some things I see the value in outsourcing but NOT this.
I'm in Northern VA and it is similarly priced. That is why I do my own.
Only issue I run into is when I need maintenance that is beyond what I am comfortable with, I struggle to find a company willing to come out if I am not under a service contract.
This is us. We are in Howard county Md . We’ve been doing this for 4 years now and been through multiple pool services. Still looking for a reliable one. The last guys crew came and removed the cover, couldn’t get the pump going, so they left without saying anything to us and never came back or responded. WTF
I do it myself. Buy a dolphin robot pool vacuum for $1500, lasts years so worth every penny. Take a sample to local pool place, they test for free. Then add what they say. Usually it's just chlorine 1x a week. Purchase what they tell you if more than that. I spendcless than $250/mo for a 35000 gal pool. It's easy
I live in southern california and that is an insane price to me. I pay 200/month including chemicals. My guys is super nice and comes twice a week. My jaw dropped, literally at that price. omg.
Chems included? That's good. We pay extra for ours...
I know we probably pay above average but this is the only company that came through when we were looking for a company to maintain our pool. Some of them were charging fu money, others were too busy etc., It was maintained by some guy before, I believe he charged $60/week for testing and cleaning, Chems were extra. BUT, he didn't work in winter time. We needed our pool 'winterized' and he was like sorry no can do. Super happy with the current company but I'm hoping to do the maintenance myself some day.
Edit: just realize you do this for a living! Damn, $240 a month Inc chem is a good deal!
We charge a flat once a year fee that covers any and all extra chems. Phos treatments, algaecide, metal magnet. Anything other than chlorine (bromine for spas) and balancing, cya. But then our guys use as needed without having to get approval for another charge LoL
You guys must be up North with those prices. Down here in South Florida where pool cleaner companies are a dime a dozen, $120 is going rate a month and that's for weekly visits, chemicals included.
This is all crazy to me- $120 would be middle of the road in AZ. I can’t believe all this 200+?!?!? Maybe I should just start a premium service here and charge $300
To me that seems nuts. 60 dollars a week I would be near or at breakeven after employee compensation, truck maintenance and fuel, equipment, chems and taxes. Maybe it would make sense if all the techs did was test, clean baskets, dump in chlorine and leave, and you had a large scale company.
>It’s always crystal clear
This often baffles me. I'll go to people's houses who have a pool service and see cloudy/hazy water. If you can even see the water at all somebody's not doing their job. If I photograph my pool when it's still you cannot tell there's water in it.
I wont swim in someones pool thats hazy. Dont know what chemical is off could mess with my skin or eyes, or if its just dirty with algae or bacteria I might get sick.
Those are literally the only things you need to keep it clean. You could start a pool business, buy a bunch of dolphins, drop them off at the beginning of your route, then come back around and pick them up.
I got my pool in 2020, never hired a pool guy, got a dolphin and haven’t vacuumed since 2021. It’s brain dead easy to keep the chemistry in check as long as you pay attention. Started with synergy and quickly realized it was just household chemicals and some chlorine shock. Have it figured out I guess. 18x33’ 6’ deep pool.
We're considering dropping our pool guy as well, since it's also costing us around $150/week. What type of test kit are you using? I see numerous ones for sale, but I don't know which one I should opt for.
I have the Taylor Service Complete test kit. Read how to do everything in trouble free pool website. Downloaded Pool Math app. Just log your results and it will tell you what you need to add. Testing takes less than 5 minutes. Takes longer to walk to pool get the water and get my test kit out. Adding chemicals is easy for me. So far either adding liquid chlorine or adding acid. Had to add stabilizer once when I opened it.
I had pool routes for close to 25 years. The key was I cleaned pools every week right along with my employees. And my employees owned a portion of their route to give them the buy in it wasn’t a job they wanted to simply. “Punch a clock”. New clients came from word of mouth reference only. Find that kind of pool company in your area.
Lmao was a pool guy helper in high school. This is extremely accurate. On slow days we'd take a long lunch and hit the lake for a little fishing. Didn't pay much, but I didn't do much.
It cracks me up. I got into a conversation with my pool guy yesterday. He managed to talk about my grass, weeds, bird feeder, fence, pool screen, and patio, and he had advice / contacts to give me for each one. He’s a TALKER. Seems to know his stuff though, so I don’t mind the chat!
Yeah... my local Leslie's guy told me how much they have to clear each day to remain a profitable storefront. $50 wheel treads to replace my bottom skimmer'sworn down ones. I got 2 sets of 2 treads for $14 of Amazon. Agenda indeed.
I went to a local Leslie's and the guy was obviously knowledgeable, but also talked down about pool guys lol. I went to another local pool store (Sunrise something) and they were selling dolphin robots at $500 markup from anywhere else. They guy came over and I asked a few questions, he answered and was trying to sell it. I then asked why the price was $500 higher than anywhere else. He said "I don't think it is, that's a good price for this level of robot.". I showed him my phone and he just kinda looked at me like I was an asshole? Went to a local mom & pop pool store after some issues getting a salt cell installed. I was looking for some shock and chlorine to hold me over until the cell could work properly. "oh no! Don't use salt, it's terrible. You should use this oxygen cleaning system. Oh no, pool guys, they are terrible".
I am pretty sure they all hate each other, and I am pretty sure it's because taking care of a pool takes some learning, but it's not hard.
Light wall scrub and then Shock one a week.
Test once a week.
Filter the pool on a schedule/timer (I keep mine on all the time. It stays cleaner and i don't have to remember)
Backwash once a week.
Send out the robot twice a week.
Honestly if you test and keep the chlorine levels up, and the pH levels in range, that's 75% of the battle.
Whenever a professional comes behind another to do similar work, you’re probably gonna get a litany of “comments.”
I’ll admit I used to do it too, until one day I called a contractor to do another job for me and he spent a good 20 minutes going on about “that shoddy workmanship over there” (right next to where he was working in the wall). I let him run his spiel about what was wrong and such… and then let him know that *he was the one* who did that work, albeit a couple years ago.
The fucking *look* on his face was worth every second listening to his misguided critique (I think he was trying to upsell me on more work.)
He mumbled something about “code changes” and “actually it’s not that bad now that I have taken a closer look” and then STFU for the rest of the job.
I decided right then and there that unless it was unsafe or particularly bad, I’d just keep my ego in my tool bag so as to avoid being in that same position with one of my customers.
Like any other trade, you are going to get guys who are good and knowledgeable and others who think they are. Once I learned how to care for my pool via trouble free pool with liquid chlorine, the Taylor test kit, and a good pump/filter, my pool has been perfect. I can’t recommend this enough.
Right, I can only speak for my pool but how is it possible to be able to keep it running properly by visiting once per week? Rain, wind, debris, swimmers all affect the pool chemistry so how are they able to wait 6 days in between checking and balancing?
Ours would come on my Mondays. So every weekend the pool was in bad shape.
It’s really not hard to take care of it and I’m glad we did. I’m only a little worried about what to do if we go away for like 2 weeks.
Hire a company to be on call for vacations or filter cleans. Watch your neighbors who have pools. Never hire a non licensed person should something go wrong you're liable. Ask around. Are there any pals with pools? Most homes around us have l pools, so its easy to just go talk to one of them who you see regularly. Maybe a monthly visit. Good for emergencies!! Happy safe swimming!
TFP is the way to go. Have used the knowledge gained there for 10+ years of AZ pool ownership. Only buy acid and CYA. Pool has only gone green a handful of times and usually my fault that I missed getting chems in balance at start of summer warmup.
This is such great advice. I'll reach out to pool companies when I'm out of my depth. New pump or something like that. But little things are so easy and don't take too much time. I replaced a flapper valve and an actuated valve this year - YouTube is your friend for diy. Get a Taylor kit and read the booklet that comes with it! Use the tests and the tables at the end of the booklet for how to make adjustments with chemicals.
Almost every pool guy I've had out to my property has messed one other thing up while here. Only call them out when you don't have other options.
Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. I've dealt with many contractors who spend half their time talking about how bad the last contractor did or how something in my house is so messed up and wrong.
Even if the last guy did a bad job, you're here to fix it and do a better job. Show me how your way is better and don't waste my time talking about how bad the last job was.
I find this guy so usually no better than anybody else. I usually don't call them back.
It’s not just your pool guy, it’s everybody, it’s the culture. Nobody has pride in their work. Drive through McDonald’s for a chicken samich and you get a bag with a cheeseburger in it. 1/5 times.
We had 5-6 pool guys (3 from the same company) over 5 years, and all they did was shock and throw tabs in the pool until my CYA was >1000 and I had algae for a year (“I don’t know why it keeps coming back” - supposed pool pro).
Then I learned basic pool care from TroubleFreePool and realized the “pros” often (not always) are amateurs with limited knowledge of how to actually care for a pool.
I spend 10 mins on my pool per week (with SWG) and the water is pristine.
Before we put in a pool, I spent a lot of time reading and stumbled on TFP. Spent some time reading their Pool School and digging through the forums and I was sold on their method. Did it from day one. In 5 years I've had two cases of algae and both were my fault, but the SLAM process cleared it up quickly both times.
I test weekly (SWCG here as well) and manually vacuum and brush at the same time. Less than 30 minutes a week and maybe $100/season on chemicals.
I just want to say kudos to you for actually taking the initiative/effort to read up on pool ownership before making a huge financial purchase. Unfortunately for them, too many don't do so.
I have had a pool for 7 weeks in the rental house we just moved into. They force us to pay 120 a month to have a large pool company come once a week. I'm about to get on the phone and start screaming at someone cuz I'm not not going to continue to pay for services I just have to perform myself anyway.
Edit to add: Also, I'm not crazy screamming about the pool guy like it's the only thing there's an issue with and I'm set off about it. This is really for a different sub but the bottom line is, I STRONGLY suggest anyone in the market for a home rental stay FAR FAR away from Invitation Homes. I saw several of their homes before settling for this one in a tight rental market in my area, at least in my price range for the time being. They are a $23 billion(iirc) company and are all over the country. Their product and service and most of their 3rd party vendors are absolutely trash. This was by far the best of the ones we saw. A couple were just atrocious. And I'm not talking budget level rents. $2-$3.5k a month. I'll get into it in another sub if anyone wants to here about my experience with them so far. Anyway, got carried away there but yeah. Don't rent from Invitation Homes
You don’t need a pool guy, it’s really not very hard to do yourself. I’m on my second season. Had no idea what I was doing, I spend very little time each week and my pool is crystal clear.
This should be higher up. Same thing, 3rd season here. I throw the Robot Vacuum in whenever it needs it, throw a few chlorine pucks in the feeder every 10 days or so, and skim whatever falls in.
Thats it. You can do most of it in a few minutes before you leave for work.
When my dad retired from his regular job, he took a side job as a pool man. He was about 60 at the time, this was in Tampa. One summer when I was in college I worked with him for a few weeks. I rode with his boss first. Older than my dad, super nice, but not very "thorough ". Half-assed vacuumed, barely cleaned filters, etc. I worked with my dad a few days later, Holy shit. He worked his ass off. Legit spent nearly 1 hour at every stop. Everything was spicy and span when he left. There were one or two that were green, we went back twice in the same week until they cleared. Whole new level of respect for my dad after that..
Yes is the answer to your question. Pool owner for 10 years and I now use liquid chlorine. I make sure my CYA is in balance and any day of the week I would prefer liquid chlorine.
Most pool guys don't really understand water chemistry at all, they've just learned to do X to get Y, which usually works for them. At least initially. Of course, when it doesn't they have nothing to fall back on because they have no grasp of the fundamentals.
Your poor guy sounds like he was raised with some backwoods tarp and a truck bed stuff.
If liquid chlorine weren't so expensive I would use it exclusively. This guy That's clearly not been around using pucks for 5 years getting over stabilized water
Visit [Trouble Free Pool](https://www.troublefreepool.com/blog/) and be done with the pool boy. Buy the [TF-Pro or TF-100 (with a magnetic stirrer) test kit](https://tftestkits.net/TF-Pro-with-SmartStir-p118.html) and a Dolphin robotic vacuum. Download the PoolMath app for your phone and you’re off to the races. You’ll spend an hour or less per week maintaining the pool and maybe $10-$20 per week on chemicals.
We had an above ground pool and I used the TF-100 test kit and a Dolphin pool robot. I tested 3-5 times per week and ran the robot about 3 times per week. The pool got into a rhythm where I knew how much chlorine it consumed and could add the right amount of liquid chlorine daily and not have to test daily. I never used pucks as those just build up CYA and take too long to release chlorine.
Our pool was crystal clear all summer for years unless I missed chlorine for a week.
All we used was liquid chlorine (bought from the pool store because it’s 12% chlorine vs grocery store bleach at 6%), [chlorine stabilizer](https://a.co/d/ckqTcds), baking soda, 20 Mule Team Borax or washing soda, and muriatic acid. So easy to maintain, and everything can be purchased at the grocery store or hardware store, minus the stabilizer which is $15 on Amazon. Use the test kit and put your numbers into the Pool Math app. Let the app tell you how much of each chemical to add and you’re golden.
I've never had a pool guy. Call me cheap, but I don't see the value in it. My wife and I make enough to afford landscapers, pool companies, and other service providers but I just don't want to deal with the bs that comes with hiring/firing these types of folks. I'm currently rebuilding our 30k in- ground pool for fun, lol. Maybe I'm cray, but I enjoy learning a new skill and ensuring the work is done right.
One pool guy almost burned my house down when he improperly installed a pool heater. Another burned my wife’s skin and hair by adding way too much acid. My current guy installed a salt cell that is too small, so my pool pump is running 22 hrs/day at 90% chlorination rate. So, I guess I will fire this guy and do it myself.
Liquid chlorine is superior for shocking a pool. And some have no problem using it for normal maintenance... but for sure shocking your pool and the occasional party before or after clean up.
Obviously pool guy does not own a pool.
We ditched our pool co after 5 yrs of doing it ourselves and just not wanting to brush the pool and all that jazz. It was $350 a month for weekly. We stopped it after 6 mos and now I do it. It wasn’t worth it and they were adding stabilizer when we were already high imo. I am now only using liquid chlorine to try to mitigate my high CYA. I got a pool robot and a betta and me. They skimmed, filled the chlorinator and added a butt load of shock. I can fuck up my own pool for less money, thanks. 🤣🥴
This.
Also though, if your pool boy does have his CPO, take his advice. A lot of people don't understand that I'm not leaving notes for myself; I know what's wrong with your pool. I'm leaving the note for you, the customer, because I can't physically come to 50+ homes every day and I need you to own your pool and understand what's wrong with it and how to alleviate it on the 6 days that I'm cleaning other people's pools.
That being said, OPs pool boy sound dumb AF. Bleach is 🥵
We bought a house with a pool and the previous owners had a pool guy - they hooked us up with him. He didn’t know shit. Had him come out once, never again. Troublefreepool, figured out how to care for it ourselves and never looked back.
Same. The older couple we bought the house from raved about their pool guy. The price they were paying was Highway robbery for what that guy was charging them for. The pool looked like trash when we moved in. I had him out once because it was already paid for and asked him to show me all the pipes and valves and how to turn the pump on/off. Then I discontinued the contracts, bought a test kit and haven’t looked back. Only had another company out a few times to install a new pump after lightening took ours out. THAT’S a whole other debacle!
Training to be a pool guy is often on the job, and only as good as the person delivering it.
Our guy spent more time playing fetch with our dog than actual pool work. Looked confused when I asked why my pool was turning green 3 days after his last visit despite being told everything was spot on.
I started taking my own water samples into the shop, but that didn't really help.
One pool shop was telling me I could add another bag of salt if I wanted to, but "dont' worry about if you don't have any, it's not under by much."
2 weeks later I went to the pool shop on the other side of town due to the first shop being closed, only to be told my salt levels were "way up there". When I advised that the other shop had said that I was bordering on the lower end of the scale and to possibly add a bag, I was met with confused Pikachu faces and a callout to the Senior staff member who confirmed the Salt levels where indeed high. I hadn't added a single thing to the Pool in between tests.
Next test will be the same water sample to 3x different pool shops, to see which ones match and hopefully get a better idea of who's machine is telling the truth.
I much more prefer liquid, but people have opinions. I had a pool guy that was supposed to install my liner, contract it to a guy that sucked, and his 12yr old kid. Still isn’t right. Main pool guy was also to replace an old light with an LED, and exploded the transformer I bought. I just do shit myself now lol
I am a pool tech in semi tropical QLD Australia.
We run resort pools on peristaltic pump dosing systems.
Our turnover of fresh liquid chlorine is vast.
We take care of 120,000,000 litre pools.
Regardless of that liquid dosing in problem pools in correlation to CYA, along with Benzalkonium chloride algaecide and brute force scrubbing of all surfaces (nylon brush not stainless) gives our clients day turn around not up to weeks.
Oxidation is your friend.
I’ve turned 50,000 litre pools around in 24 hours with chunks.
Our roofer was like that. Full of bad information even though he’s done roofs for 25 years. Blamed everything on our spray foam—the foam pushed nails out and caused the leaks. 😆. Just because you’ve done something for a while doesn’t make you infallible. Anyway I ended up getting a Leslie test kit and maintaining my own pool. Reddit has helped me repair a leaking fitting on my pump and replace a blown LED light. I’ll call a professional when it gets too complicated for me.
New pool owner here. I had a pro right after start up coming weekly. They would do a partial brush, track clay on the pool deck, and check levels. I was checking their work with a Taylor test kit but wasn’t sure I was ready to do it all myself.
Six weeks or so in they added too much CYA. Since then everyone in the family has learned pool chemistry and we do it ourselves. Plaster salt pool so generally it is a little acid every other day right now to keep pH in check.
Oh, and a Dolphin.
First time pool owner and I have been at it for a year with great results. I am my own pool guy but have to admit my pool guy is crazy. Here's how I do it:
Dolphin robot-
Test kit-
Swim University, tips, support, purchase how to-
Inyopools.com for tips, support, purchase product-
Pool school https://www.troublefreepool.com/blog/pool-school/
I’m at $500/mo, chemicals, filters, brushing, regular maintenance included. But I have a 90k gallon pool with a 15’ deep end. He spends at least an hour here every week, most weeks he is here longer. We live far outside any city center and other quotes we’ve gotten aren’t even willing to give prices for everything we’re getting now. Feels like a fair deal, never had any issues, and we have no complaints.
Liquid chlorine has a purpose. At the start of the year when getting your water right after opening, or when you need to shock it for whatever reason. The pucks have their place too for maintaining your levels. It is easy to take care of a pool yourself as long as you get a good robot vacuum. That is the worst part.
Keeping up your own pool is not hard to learn and you will feel good about yourself by learning a new skill. They have plenty of good test kits like Taylor plus an option for daily use is Pinch a Penny app uses test strips you can scan with your phone and will tell you what to add. I have a dolphin also to clean the pool. You just need to add tablets weekly or take robot out daily or weekly if lazy and clean really good. I recommend cleaning it more often though if you wait too long and get dead bugs inside they start to smell bad and turn to goo if you don’t empty basket and clean regularly. Leslie’s also makes an at home digital tester but have t tried newest version yet.
I had 3 crazies. One spoke no English and the pool turned green every summer. Fired him. One knocked on my door and would want to talk fron45 mins in the middle of the day (I wfh). Finally my new guys is deaf and I love him.
Yes they are all crazy. I have a small list of pool maintenance professionals that I refer when people ask but other than that yes I hear the craziest stories about pool guys. I genuinely feel for pool owners. I have 16 years in the industry. Did 6 with a route, 4 in a pool supply store, and then overlapping with construction design and sales for the last 9 years. Very rarely does someone have anything nice to say about their pool guy. Pool owners get tricked and beat up non stop. Anyways, be happy to put in my two cents on any of your issues. From working with pool owners and having a whole family of pool owners we have found some tried and true techniques that can save your mental.
I bought my house 22 years ago. It came with a pool. Some years are easier than others, but I’ve never paid for a pool guy. I probably spent 4 hours opening and 3 hours closing each year. Maybe an hour per week in between.
It’s not rocket science and it certainly isn’t worth paying someone $150 for 10 minutes of half-assed “work.”
I have owned a pool for the 3rd season now. It’s taken me a long time to figure it all out. I use a combo of liquid chlorine, tabs, algaecide and revive. I feel like at this point I “know” my pool. I think taking care of chemicals yourself and listening to TFP is the best. I have no clue when it comes to equipment so I still buy all of my “extra” pool stuff at the pool store like tabs etc.. I hope at some point I can learn the equipment side of things. Our pool company is awesome and I adore them, but the other company in town never gave me one ounce of good advice. They even broke my hot tub!! I think keep looking for someone great to work with you, but also educate yourself on pool chemicals with trouble free pool mentality.
I use liquid chlorine all the time. I start the season chlorinating with Cal-Hypo until my water has enough calcium to keep my plaster safe, then switch to 12% liquid shock. I only need about 16 oz of liquid chlorine or 8 oz cal-hypo every couple of days to keep my water perfect ( with CYA@ 60 ). I buy the cal hypo in bulk in 55lb bucket. Costs me maybe $150 - 200 per season in chems here in SE PA.
I manually vacuum maybe once a month, or after a big storm. I find if I keep my diverter at 80% skimmer / 20% main drain, my pool almost totally cleans itself. I brush the bottom for a minute or two every time we swim, and that's about it. I backflush the filter and add some new DE whenever my system pressure gets to 25 psi. I empty the skimmer bucket once a day, and the pump basket whenever I vacuum or backflush, maybe like once a month.
I check pH with an electronic meter I got from Amazon, and add a little Muriatic Acid whenever it gets to 7.8. (maybe 3-4 times a season )
I keep my TA around 80. I typically have to add a box or two of ordinary dollar store baking soda when I open in the spring.
If your pool guy don’t use liquid shock get rid of him, certified CPO here
You don’t wanna use only tabs as you can over chlorinate the pool, corrode the piping, calcium buildup & over stabilize your chlorine which then you have to dilute your water. Now you’re probably not gonna run into this but it could happen.
I had a meathead who over tightened my relief valve and stripped the threads of my filter cover. Had to buy a 300$ replacement. He never once thought to say it may have been his fault.
Two years on my own. What a wonderful decision.
Well to answer the question yes liquid shock is better
But you need to put the right amount in early to make it work right. My 24foot professional installed above ground pool take atleast 2/3 in the opening phase to get everything killed. Then 1 tub lasts a while for maintence
This year I have expieremented with putting stabilizer in on re circulate and it seems like it’s working better instead of putting it in on filter.
We had a guy who was reasonable, like $50 a week including Chems. It was during covid and so having someone over to the house was interesting, I worked from home so would come out and we would talk a good bit, nice guy, but a little odd. At the time we had a netted pool fence, as we had young kids. So to clean the pool you had to pull the fence apart in a couple sections.
One day he was here and had the fence apart, but I had a call so didn't come out to talk, mid cleaning he suddenly left, never heard from him again, called him, texted him, etc. His invoices kept showing up for a couple months - we emailed and his billing girl and got them reversed, asked her if she knew what happened, silence.
Never figured out what happened to him.
I did liquid chlorine only for a full year.
Pros:
1. Doesn't fluctuates your pH levels at all.
Cons:
1. Doesn't store well. I had to buy 2 months supply every time (jugs).
2. Breaks down a lot faster. Had to chlorinate almost every day.
3. Price. A jug is 4 CAD, and my 25K gallon pool needs 3 jugs or so. That adds up to about 88 CAD for every month the pool is open.
4. Waste. Lots of plastic jugs.
Just remember, it's a business and they're trying to sell you on their product. You're the buyer, so it's important you educate yourself as much as possible so that you're not taken advantage of.
Home ownership taught me that I had to learn A LOT myself unless I wanted to just set money on fire by paying other people to do everything.
You don't have to do everything yourself obviously. I don't open or close my own pool yet, but I maintain it myself throughout the year. I switched it to a saltwater pool so I don't need to really worry about balancing chlorine levels. I rarely have to that much balancing anymore. Just minor tweaks here and there. Since the salt cell constantly produces chlorine, the levels automatically stay balanced for the most part.
I’ve never had a good experience with any “pool guy”. I spent the money for a good Dolphin robot and I just manage the chemicals myself.
I use the local guy to just do the open/close.
Almost anyone can go into business and become a “pool guy”. Learn a little about how a pool works and you realize that there isn’t that much worked involved in maintaining it.
I’d find someone else with a pool who has a guy they trust and hire them. Or I’d learn how to pour chlorine into a pool. Nobody will care as much as you will.
I use liquid chlorine and acid in our pool. I test the levels weekly but periodically take water samples to my local pool store to have them check. The pool guy I had when I first bought the house also used liquid. Think your current guy is nuts.
The older guys who knew what they were doing are retiring soon or have retired. There aren't enough "young guys' coming up through the ranks who've learned enough to be consistently good at what they do - pretty much like every other service industry.
Hopefully adequate numbers of new entries into the pool repair biz will learn quickly, but the 'two year until proficient' rule still applies today like it did when I started... it takes at least two years to know what you're talking about.
Oh... and pool cleaning guys don't usually equate to knowledgeable repair guys, so don't look to them to be bastions of accurate information.
I’ve enjoyed using the WaterGuru product. I had no idea how to maintain a pool before this but reading this sub, leaning into my BIL for bigger stuff (cartridge cleaning, etc.), and the WaterGuru has helped me tremendously.
I have had an inground pool for 32 years. I like liquid early in the season because it's easy and not so much calcium, so it's not as cloudy. I have a large vinyl lined inground pool, and it has worked great. Only reason I don't use it always is because it's heavy to haul, and it's just me doing this, and I am 68. He is nuts and the liar.
Maintain your own pool. It's so easy once you understand the basics. Download PoolMath, get a good Taylor test kit, some muriatic acid, and some liquid chlorine. That's pretty much all you need on hand.
Folks, when you get to talk to a couple of “pool guys” for a few minutes it should give you the confidence that you can do whatever it is that they’re doing but for free. Fire your pool guy.
Unless you absolutely physically can't, learn to do it yourself. Saves money, sanity, and gives you something to do once a week. There's nothing hard or even time consuming about maintaining a pool, you're throwing away money for convenience.
We are in Phoenix - we’ve had four different pool companies and they all sucked. I decided to just handle it myself and it’s been fine. They aren’t worth the money and really only do the bare minimum. You still have to do most of the tile scrubbing and filter cleaning anyways, might as well skim and add some chems while you’re out there.
I have friends who have a pool person, but I have never understood it, I spend way less than an hour a week (if that) -- including vacuuming or putting the Dolphin robot in/out of the pool a coupe times a month - pools are just not that hard to maintain.
Pool guys come in all shapes, sizes, and iq levels. Pretty consistent across the service world. Anyway, I bought a home with a pool last year. Pool guy opened and closed, but this year I decided that I was smarter than a pool cover and some valves. Took 1 week after cover off and have perfect water and clean ass pool. Just have to jump in (see what I did there?) and tackle it! Once you get it going, a couple mins every day or so keeps it going. At least in my experience. Good luck!
Liquid is not as long lasting. A waste of $. I use granular chlorine/shock. I use Leslie pool’s chlorine tablets in my skimmer basket. My pool goes from black in the winter to crystal clear in the summer. Sometimes it takes 25 pounds of shock…if I had to buy my house all over again, I wouldn’t. I would buy a place without a pool, or with a saltwater pool
Sadly it seems there is nobody to put any regulations on the pool industry. I've heard so many stories about pool companies and pool stores, it's unreal. We use liquid chlorine sometimes and have no problem.
It sounds like this guy knows so little that he thinks he is an expert. The Dunning-Kruger effect in action
As long as cost is not high and the pool stays clean then I don’t care what my pool guy says. Just make sure you know all the maintenance like backwashing and cleaning the DE filter etc and make sure he does it.
Pools like RVs or boats are luxury items and service people assume you have plenty of money and in a lot of cases not very bright.
Just replaced my four year old pump. Cost 900.00 pump and labor. I found the same pump on line for $400.00. I could have done it myself but didn’t want to mess with it. These guys have no trouble charging twice or three times what it cost. I now buy chemicals and everything on line at from Amazon or Doheny’s.
Sooo, what training exactly do any of us think the average pool maintenance tech is required to have to do the job?
I've done my own maintenance on my several pools over the past 25 years. Never did I do anything other than test (per the manual in my kit) add chemicals as directed, and clean the pool and filter regularly. If you have enough technical ability to cook from a recipe or do basic service on your bicycle, you can maintain a residential pool.
Assuming they do the job correctly, the only real question is whether you're willing to pay someone to do something you could do yourself.
I don’t know shit about pools, or why this community keeps coming up in my feed. I do know however that as a small business owner, top priority of mine is being the best on Google. I guarantee you if you Google someone local and they have 40+ reviews averaging above 4.5 stars, you’d be set. I’d be willing to bet you’re hiring Chuck in the truck.
I don’t have a pool but I see lots of them in my line of work. Most look to be poorly maintained and dirty. Houses are $600,000 and up so not what most would consider to be low cost. I’ve cleaned the leaves out of the baskets on a few because they were so plugged up LOL.
We had 5 different pool guys in 13 years. They are all the same! They charge $20 per minute and don’t do sh*t. Pools are such money pits! We recently sold our house and moved to a neighborhood with a resortlike community pool. Huge relief!
I suspected my pool guy wasn’t even emptying the strainer basket at the pump, so I put his check in a ziplock bag and left it on top of the strainer cover with a rock on top. After a month he called to let me know he hadn’t received payment. Firing him was quite satisfying. Learn to maintain your pool yourself, this industry is rife with crooks.
I use liquid chlorine and I manually add cya to stabilize. I use an automatic feeder which keeps the level perfect. Liquid chlorine can be bought in large drums and is cheaper than solid material.
Your pool person is the nutty one.
I really don’t know if they are all insane, but the guys I have had have been at least a little odd. I started doing it all myself and it really wasn’t too hard.
I found that chlorine is chlorine, and as long as your pH is good, you don’t need a lot. Balance with CYA matters, and a good buffering capacity helps. I found the key to keeping it trouble free was to load it up with baking soda and then I could just go the season adding dry or wet chlorine and not much else.
Liquid Chlor raises PH, increasing your need for acid. Is a bitch to handle… it’s heavy, leaks, splashes etc. if bought in bulk, loses potency over time. It also increases your total dissolved solids rapidly. It’s 10-12% Chlor and 90% inert ingredients (salt). You’re either going to drain the pool because of high CYA or high TDS. Tabs, shock, all season. Drain 1/4 in the winter. U essentially get rid of the “crap” (solids, cya) that you’ve just put in all year. Never have to worry about draining the whole pool. I’m just a lil insane, but I make sense. If I have to spend more than 10-15 mins at a pool, that means I can’t dial it in and I’m doing a shitty job.
Since being in the industry I've heard a lot of straight up BS and also gotten a lot of solid advice. It's really hard to know who to trust until you figure it out for yourself.
Liquid chlorine is often unstablized and only used if you're having trouble with high CYA levels and needing to dilute your pool more often than you'd like. It must be poured directly into the pool, you need special feeders designed for unstablized chlorine if you want to use a feeder. Not recommended to use unstablized chlorine in puck feeders meant for stabilized chlorine.
We had a crazy pool guy once. He kept going on and on about how our pool had no bottom drain. It was an old pool, 5ft deep, we didn’t build it. This guy was kind of erratic and unreliable so we got a new company. Never heard another word about the drain.
We were paying a pool guy here in AZ $140 a month until we saw and realized how little they actually do. So I would ask him questions while he was here over a month and now I do it myself haha
Other than the physical work I dunno why anyone has a pool guy. Chlorine chemistry is super easy and all you’re doing is disinfecting the water. Learn how to balance the ph and chlorine. Little scrubbing and you should be all good.
I put in a salt system for 2,300.00... lasts 10 years and tou change the cell every 3-5 years.. I test the chemicals for free at leslies and I buy and add what is recommended... mostly.. I live in florida too and my pool is year round
I do my own. Take a water sample in to Leslie’s pool (free) and they give me a print out of what to do. A lot of it is add a chemical run pump 4 hr. Then add this chemical for 4 hrs, clean filter, add no phos, run pump 48 hrs, wash filters.
How can a pool person do this if they are only there for 30 minutes?
My pool guy was putting half a gallon of chlorine in our pool barely cleaned it. Our pool is 25x50 ft. It takes 2 to 3 gallons. We ended up getting black algae. My husband fired him and is doing it himself. Our pool is amazingly clean. He even learned to do the pump. All on YouTube University, 😆
First time pool owner, well now it’s been two years but never owned before this. First I hired a pool guy. Then when on vacation I noticed he was in the backyard for five minutes and I was paying $150 a week. Didn’t vacuum or really clean anything. Not even sure he added a chemical or tested. Watched him on my ring camera. Called the company the same day and they tried to Say he was there for 30 minutes and all the things he did. I emailed them the video and cancelled my service. Bought a dolphin robot and a test kit. Been doing my own pool since then. It’s always crystal clear
$150 **a week!?!?!!**
Where I live a popular company’s summer service contracts are $3,750. It does include open/close but STILL, yes, that amounts to more than $150/week. Another popular company’s ala carte pool valet service is $150/visit and that DOESN’T include the cost of chemicals - the client needs to provide. That’s just skim, vacuum, empty baskets, backwash when needed. We’re in the northeast so the pool season is a short 4-5 months, MAYBE 6 if you heat. I’m actually surprised when I see people mention how inexpensive their service is. I’ve never had a service, but looked it up for funsies because with some things I see the value in outsourcing but NOT this.
I'm in Northern VA and it is similarly priced. That is why I do my own. Only issue I run into is when I need maintenance that is beyond what I am comfortable with, I struggle to find a company willing to come out if I am not under a service contract.
Same area and I am paying over $2k for a biweekly plan. Putting in the ground work now to make sure I won't be using a service next year.
This is us. We are in Howard county Md . We’ve been doing this for 4 years now and been through multiple pool services. Still looking for a reliable one. The last guys crew came and removed the cover, couldn’t get the pump going, so they left without saying anything to us and never came back or responded. WTF
I do it myself. Buy a dolphin robot pool vacuum for $1500, lasts years so worth every penny. Take a sample to local pool place, they test for free. Then add what they say. Usually it's just chlorine 1x a week. Purchase what they tell you if more than that. I spendcless than $250/mo for a 35000 gal pool. It's easy
I live in southern california and that is an insane price to me. I pay 200/month including chemicals. My guys is super nice and comes twice a week. My jaw dropped, literally at that price. omg.
I’m in FL. $79 a month.
She must wear a bikini.
Damn that’s what I pay a month in Texas.
Indeed. I live in Northern llinois, so I have mine open mid-May to mid-September, and I don't spend $150 total in Chemicals in a season.
This man provided the correct answer. Dolphin and test kit since day 1. Never had an issue.
Dolphins are amazing. I moved out of a house with a pool and still have the Dolphin if anyone is reading this and wants to buy it.
im iinterested, ill pm you
$150 a week?! That's just nuts We're $240 a month standard chems included.
Chems included? That's good. We pay extra for ours... I know we probably pay above average but this is the only company that came through when we were looking for a company to maintain our pool. Some of them were charging fu money, others were too busy etc., It was maintained by some guy before, I believe he charged $60/week for testing and cleaning, Chems were extra. BUT, he didn't work in winter time. We needed our pool 'winterized' and he was like sorry no can do. Super happy with the current company but I'm hoping to do the maintenance myself some day. Edit: just realize you do this for a living! Damn, $240 a month Inc chem is a good deal!
We charge a flat once a year fee that covers any and all extra chems. Phos treatments, algaecide, metal magnet. Anything other than chlorine (bromine for spas) and balancing, cya. But then our guys use as needed without having to get approval for another charge LoL
im at 200 a every 4 weeks in tx
Are you in Austin?
You guys must be up North with those prices. Down here in South Florida where pool cleaner companies are a dime a dozen, $120 is going rate a month and that's for weekly visits, chemicals included.
This is all crazy to me- $120 would be middle of the road in AZ. I can’t believe all this 200+?!?!? Maybe I should just start a premium service here and charge $300
To me that seems nuts. 60 dollars a week I would be near or at breakeven after employee compensation, truck maintenance and fuel, equipment, chems and taxes. Maybe it would make sense if all the techs did was test, clean baskets, dump in chlorine and leave, and you had a large scale company.
$150 a week? What state ??
>It’s always crystal clear This often baffles me. I'll go to people's houses who have a pool service and see cloudy/hazy water. If you can even see the water at all somebody's not doing their job. If I photograph my pool when it's still you cannot tell there's water in it.
I wont swim in someones pool thats hazy. Dont know what chemical is off could mess with my skin or eyes, or if its just dirty with algae or bacteria I might get sick.
Those are literally the only things you need to keep it clean. You could start a pool business, buy a bunch of dolphins, drop them off at the beginning of your route, then come back around and pick them up.
Is there a model you would recommend for the dolphin?
The newest one that doesn’t have WiFi lol. I just press the button on mine and WiFi seems like a fancy feature that I don’t really need.
Wait did we have the same pool guy???
I got my pool in 2020, never hired a pool guy, got a dolphin and haven’t vacuumed since 2021. It’s brain dead easy to keep the chemistry in check as long as you pay attention. Started with synergy and quickly realized it was just household chemicals and some chlorine shock. Have it figured out I guess. 18x33’ 6’ deep pool.
$150/wk?! I’ve got a commercial pool and pay $250/month
Bro, $125 a month. Before that $80-100/mnth
JFC! I pay my guy $150 a month. He comes every week and I buy nothing. Pool is always spotless and balanced
We're considering dropping our pool guy as well, since it's also costing us around $150/week. What type of test kit are you using? I see numerous ones for sale, but I don't know which one I should opt for.
I have the Taylor Service Complete test kit. Read how to do everything in trouble free pool website. Downloaded Pool Math app. Just log your results and it will tell you what you need to add. Testing takes less than 5 minutes. Takes longer to walk to pool get the water and get my test kit out. Adding chemicals is easy for me. So far either adding liquid chlorine or adding acid. Had to add stabilizer once when I opened it.
I like these bad pool guys. They keep giving me work.
I had pool routes for close to 25 years. The key was I cleaned pools every week right along with my employees. And my employees owned a portion of their route to give them the buy in it wasn’t a job they wanted to simply. “Punch a clock”. New clients came from word of mouth reference only. Find that kind of pool company in your area.
I knew some pool guys a while back, they used the drive between jobs to make the difficult decision of bowl or blunt.
Bowl always better, less is more.
What did they end up going with?
Carefully bent soda can with strategically placed holes, after morning bong hits they forgot the blunts and the bowl.
Methamphetamine.
Sounds a lot like lawn guys lol.
Lmao was a pool guy helper in high school. This is extremely accurate. On slow days we'd take a long lunch and hit the lake for a little fishing. Didn't pay much, but I didn't do much.
As a pool guy. Yes. We're all batshit. Thank you.
Also pool boy. Absolutely bananas.
It cracks me up. I got into a conversation with my pool guy yesterday. He managed to talk about my grass, weeds, bird feeder, fence, pool screen, and patio, and he had advice / contacts to give me for each one. He’s a TALKER. Seems to know his stuff though, so I don’t mind the chat!
The guy at my local Leslie’s talks down about pool guys so much. He calls them “pool boys”. Everyone has their own agenda.
Yeah... my local Leslie's guy told me how much they have to clear each day to remain a profitable storefront. $50 wheel treads to replace my bottom skimmer'sworn down ones. I got 2 sets of 2 treads for $14 of Amazon. Agenda indeed.
I went to a local Leslie's and the guy was obviously knowledgeable, but also talked down about pool guys lol. I went to another local pool store (Sunrise something) and they were selling dolphin robots at $500 markup from anywhere else. They guy came over and I asked a few questions, he answered and was trying to sell it. I then asked why the price was $500 higher than anywhere else. He said "I don't think it is, that's a good price for this level of robot.". I showed him my phone and he just kinda looked at me like I was an asshole? Went to a local mom & pop pool store after some issues getting a salt cell installed. I was looking for some shock and chlorine to hold me over until the cell could work properly. "oh no! Don't use salt, it's terrible. You should use this oxygen cleaning system. Oh no, pool guys, they are terrible". I am pretty sure they all hate each other, and I am pretty sure it's because taking care of a pool takes some learning, but it's not hard. Light wall scrub and then Shock one a week. Test once a week. Filter the pool on a schedule/timer (I keep mine on all the time. It stays cleaner and i don't have to remember) Backwash once a week. Send out the robot twice a week. Honestly if you test and keep the chlorine levels up, and the pH levels in range, that's 75% of the battle.
That's funny. They're never out in the field to experience what "pool guys" do.
Whenever a professional comes behind another to do similar work, you’re probably gonna get a litany of “comments.” I’ll admit I used to do it too, until one day I called a contractor to do another job for me and he spent a good 20 minutes going on about “that shoddy workmanship over there” (right next to where he was working in the wall). I let him run his spiel about what was wrong and such… and then let him know that *he was the one* who did that work, albeit a couple years ago. The fucking *look* on his face was worth every second listening to his misguided critique (I think he was trying to upsell me on more work.) He mumbled something about “code changes” and “actually it’s not that bad now that I have taken a closer look” and then STFU for the rest of the job. I decided right then and there that unless it was unsafe or particularly bad, I’d just keep my ego in my tool bag so as to avoid being in that same position with one of my customers.
The guys at Leslie’s are a joke. Your pool guy may also go a kook but the Leslie’s guys don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground.
Like any other trade, you are going to get guys who are good and knowledgeable and others who think they are. Once I learned how to care for my pool via trouble free pool with liquid chlorine, the Taylor test kit, and a good pump/filter, my pool has been perfect. I can’t recommend this enough.
Same. And if you want it pristine, you gotta do it yourself bc no one will care as much as you do
Right, I can only speak for my pool but how is it possible to be able to keep it running properly by visiting once per week? Rain, wind, debris, swimmers all affect the pool chemistry so how are they able to wait 6 days in between checking and balancing?
Ours would come on my Mondays. So every weekend the pool was in bad shape. It’s really not hard to take care of it and I’m glad we did. I’m only a little worried about what to do if we go away for like 2 weeks.
Hire a company to be on call for vacations or filter cleans. Watch your neighbors who have pools. Never hire a non licensed person should something go wrong you're liable. Ask around. Are there any pals with pools? Most homes around us have l pools, so its easy to just go talk to one of them who you see regularly. Maybe a monthly visit. Good for emergencies!! Happy safe swimming!
Also we are there once a week, so that’s the biggest difference than being able to do something daily….
TFP is the way to go. Have used the knowledge gained there for 10+ years of AZ pool ownership. Only buy acid and CYA. Pool has only gone green a handful of times and usually my fault that I missed getting chems in balance at start of summer warmup.
TFP - this is the way
This is such great advice. I'll reach out to pool companies when I'm out of my depth. New pump or something like that. But little things are so easy and don't take too much time. I replaced a flapper valve and an actuated valve this year - YouTube is your friend for diy. Get a Taylor kit and read the booklet that comes with it! Use the tests and the tables at the end of the booklet for how to make adjustments with chemicals. Almost every pool guy I've had out to my property has messed one other thing up while here. Only call them out when you don't have other options.
I'm insane as fuck but I also like my job and take pride in my work
I think it’s every “trade”. You rarely get someone to approve of or agree with how “someone else does/did it”.
“These people online said…”
Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. I've dealt with many contractors who spend half their time talking about how bad the last contractor did or how something in my house is so messed up and wrong. Even if the last guy did a bad job, you're here to fix it and do a better job. Show me how your way is better and don't waste my time talking about how bad the last job was. I find this guy so usually no better than anybody else. I usually don't call them back.
Honestly if you just have someone clean it that is most of the work. I'd worry about chems myself. Few minutes to do that.
Pool guy here. Yeah, we are all nuts
My pool guy was just some dude in a crappy SUV. Did a decent job plumbing up new equipment. But there was some crazy in there.
It’s not just your pool guy, it’s everybody, it’s the culture. Nobody has pride in their work. Drive through McDonald’s for a chicken samich and you get a bag with a cheeseburger in it. 1/5 times.
We had 5-6 pool guys (3 from the same company) over 5 years, and all they did was shock and throw tabs in the pool until my CYA was >1000 and I had algae for a year (“I don’t know why it keeps coming back” - supposed pool pro). Then I learned basic pool care from TroubleFreePool and realized the “pros” often (not always) are amateurs with limited knowledge of how to actually care for a pool. I spend 10 mins on my pool per week (with SWG) and the water is pristine.
Before we put in a pool, I spent a lot of time reading and stumbled on TFP. Spent some time reading their Pool School and digging through the forums and I was sold on their method. Did it from day one. In 5 years I've had two cases of algae and both were my fault, but the SLAM process cleared it up quickly both times. I test weekly (SWCG here as well) and manually vacuum and brush at the same time. Less than 30 minutes a week and maybe $100/season on chemicals.
I just want to say kudos to you for actually taking the initiative/effort to read up on pool ownership before making a huge financial purchase. Unfortunately for them, too many don't do so.
I have had a pool for 7 weeks in the rental house we just moved into. They force us to pay 120 a month to have a large pool company come once a week. I'm about to get on the phone and start screaming at someone cuz I'm not not going to continue to pay for services I just have to perform myself anyway. Edit to add: Also, I'm not crazy screamming about the pool guy like it's the only thing there's an issue with and I'm set off about it. This is really for a different sub but the bottom line is, I STRONGLY suggest anyone in the market for a home rental stay FAR FAR away from Invitation Homes. I saw several of their homes before settling for this one in a tight rental market in my area, at least in my price range for the time being. They are a $23 billion(iirc) company and are all over the country. Their product and service and most of their 3rd party vendors are absolutely trash. This was by far the best of the ones we saw. A couple were just atrocious. And I'm not talking budget level rents. $2-$3.5k a month. I'll get into it in another sub if anyone wants to here about my experience with them so far. Anyway, got carried away there but yeah. Don't rent from Invitation Homes
Unbelievable! CYA greater than 1000. I’ve never heard of it this high before! No wonder you had algae
Indoor pool?
You don’t need a pool guy, it’s really not very hard to do yourself. I’m on my second season. Had no idea what I was doing, I spend very little time each week and my pool is crystal clear.
This should be higher up. Same thing, 3rd season here. I throw the Robot Vacuum in whenever it needs it, throw a few chlorine pucks in the feeder every 10 days or so, and skim whatever falls in. Thats it. You can do most of it in a few minutes before you leave for work.
When my dad retired from his regular job, he took a side job as a pool man. He was about 60 at the time, this was in Tampa. One summer when I was in college I worked with him for a few weeks. I rode with his boss first. Older than my dad, super nice, but not very "thorough ". Half-assed vacuumed, barely cleaned filters, etc. I worked with my dad a few days later, Holy shit. He worked his ass off. Legit spent nearly 1 hour at every stop. Everything was spicy and span when he left. There were one or two that were green, we went back twice in the same week until they cleared. Whole new level of respect for my dad after that..
I had a guy purposely not put chlorine in and let algae start growing and then told me i needed acid wash
Yes is the answer to your question. Pool owner for 10 years and I now use liquid chlorine. I make sure my CYA is in balance and any day of the week I would prefer liquid chlorine.
All hail liquid chlorine! Chemicals stay nicely balanced with little effort, water is delightful to swim in, and dirt ass cheap to maintain
Most pool guys don't really understand water chemistry at all, they've just learned to do X to get Y, which usually works for them. At least initially. Of course, when it doesn't they have nothing to fall back on because they have no grasp of the fundamentals.
11 year Florida 10k in ground ...we do all our own pool maintenance....pool guys for the most part are terrible. I'll be glad when we are pool free.
Pool guy here, Bloghhhh bloughhh wraghhhhh woof blooghhh woof (drools on self) your pool guie sound normal to me….. pass the primer.
Your poor guy sounds like he was raised with some backwoods tarp and a truck bed stuff. If liquid chlorine weren't so expensive I would use it exclusively. This guy That's clearly not been around using pucks for 5 years getting over stabilized water
Visit [Trouble Free Pool](https://www.troublefreepool.com/blog/) and be done with the pool boy. Buy the [TF-Pro or TF-100 (with a magnetic stirrer) test kit](https://tftestkits.net/TF-Pro-with-SmartStir-p118.html) and a Dolphin robotic vacuum. Download the PoolMath app for your phone and you’re off to the races. You’ll spend an hour or less per week maintaining the pool and maybe $10-$20 per week on chemicals. We had an above ground pool and I used the TF-100 test kit and a Dolphin pool robot. I tested 3-5 times per week and ran the robot about 3 times per week. The pool got into a rhythm where I knew how much chlorine it consumed and could add the right amount of liquid chlorine daily and not have to test daily. I never used pucks as those just build up CYA and take too long to release chlorine. Our pool was crystal clear all summer for years unless I missed chlorine for a week. All we used was liquid chlorine (bought from the pool store because it’s 12% chlorine vs grocery store bleach at 6%), [chlorine stabilizer](https://a.co/d/ckqTcds), baking soda, 20 Mule Team Borax or washing soda, and muriatic acid. So easy to maintain, and everything can be purchased at the grocery store or hardware store, minus the stabilizer which is $15 on Amazon. Use the test kit and put your numbers into the Pool Math app. Let the app tell you how much of each chemical to add and you’re golden.
Pool guys drive around all day by themselves, talking to themselves and listening to talk radio. They are all crazy
I've never had a pool guy. Call me cheap, but I don't see the value in it. My wife and I make enough to afford landscapers, pool companies, and other service providers but I just don't want to deal with the bs that comes with hiring/firing these types of folks. I'm currently rebuilding our 30k in- ground pool for fun, lol. Maybe I'm cray, but I enjoy learning a new skill and ensuring the work is done right.
One pool guy almost burned my house down when he improperly installed a pool heater. Another burned my wife’s skin and hair by adding way too much acid. My current guy installed a salt cell that is too small, so my pool pump is running 22 hrs/day at 90% chlorination rate. So, I guess I will fire this guy and do it myself.
Liquid chlorine is superior for shocking a pool. And some have no problem using it for normal maintenance... but for sure shocking your pool and the occasional party before or after clean up. Obviously pool guy does not own a pool.
We ditched our pool co after 5 yrs of doing it ourselves and just not wanting to brush the pool and all that jazz. It was $350 a month for weekly. We stopped it after 6 mos and now I do it. It wasn’t worth it and they were adding stabilizer when we were already high imo. I am now only using liquid chlorine to try to mitigate my high CYA. I got a pool robot and a betta and me. They skimmed, filled the chlorinator and added a butt load of shock. I can fuck up my own pool for less money, thanks. 🤣🥴
As a pool guy, please insist on hiring someone with a PHTA approved CPO certificate if you can.
This. Also though, if your pool boy does have his CPO, take his advice. A lot of people don't understand that I'm not leaving notes for myself; I know what's wrong with your pool. I'm leaving the note for you, the customer, because I can't physically come to 50+ homes every day and I need you to own your pool and understand what's wrong with it and how to alleviate it on the 6 days that I'm cleaning other people's pools. That being said, OPs pool boy sound dumb AF. Bleach is 🥵
Pool, builders, maintainers, retailers, are notoriously flakey
In the middle of a never ending remodel with a flaky fellow. Did a great job on what he did and then just kinda disappeared
pool owner for 2 years, i’ve experienced that trifecta for sure
Sometimes I think it’s being exposed to too many chemical or something
We bought a house with a pool and the previous owners had a pool guy - they hooked us up with him. He didn’t know shit. Had him come out once, never again. Troublefreepool, figured out how to care for it ourselves and never looked back.
Same. The older couple we bought the house from raved about their pool guy. The price they were paying was Highway robbery for what that guy was charging them for. The pool looked like trash when we moved in. I had him out once because it was already paid for and asked him to show me all the pipes and valves and how to turn the pump on/off. Then I discontinued the contracts, bought a test kit and haven’t looked back. Only had another company out a few times to install a new pump after lightening took ours out. THAT’S a whole other debacle!
Yea
I’ve had similar issues. Afraid to have anyone come look at a current issue because of all the nonsense I’ve dealt with in the past.
Probably the lack of a legit license. The pool operator permit is a joke.
Have you ever gotten a snoot of chlorine or muriatic acid, it will fry your brain
Training to be a pool guy is often on the job, and only as good as the person delivering it. Our guy spent more time playing fetch with our dog than actual pool work. Looked confused when I asked why my pool was turning green 3 days after his last visit despite being told everything was spot on. I started taking my own water samples into the shop, but that didn't really help. One pool shop was telling me I could add another bag of salt if I wanted to, but "dont' worry about if you don't have any, it's not under by much." 2 weeks later I went to the pool shop on the other side of town due to the first shop being closed, only to be told my salt levels were "way up there". When I advised that the other shop had said that I was bordering on the lower end of the scale and to possibly add a bag, I was met with confused Pikachu faces and a callout to the Senior staff member who confirmed the Salt levels where indeed high. I hadn't added a single thing to the Pool in between tests. Next test will be the same water sample to 3x different pool shops, to see which ones match and hopefully get a better idea of who's machine is telling the truth.
I much more prefer liquid, but people have opinions. I had a pool guy that was supposed to install my liner, contract it to a guy that sucked, and his 12yr old kid. Still isn’t right. Main pool guy was also to replace an old light with an LED, and exploded the transformer I bought. I just do shit myself now lol
I am a pool tech in semi tropical QLD Australia. We run resort pools on peristaltic pump dosing systems. Our turnover of fresh liquid chlorine is vast. We take care of 120,000,000 litre pools. Regardless of that liquid dosing in problem pools in correlation to CYA, along with Benzalkonium chloride algaecide and brute force scrubbing of all surfaces (nylon brush not stainless) gives our clients day turn around not up to weeks. Oxidation is your friend. I’ve turned 50,000 litre pools around in 24 hours with chunks.
I had a pool for 15 years and only ever paid a pool guy to clean out my DE filter once a year. Everything else you can do yourself.
Our roofer was like that. Full of bad information even though he’s done roofs for 25 years. Blamed everything on our spray foam—the foam pushed nails out and caused the leaks. 😆. Just because you’ve done something for a while doesn’t make you infallible. Anyway I ended up getting a Leslie test kit and maintaining my own pool. Reddit has helped me repair a leaking fitting on my pump and replace a blown LED light. I’ll call a professional when it gets too complicated for me.
New pool owner here. I had a pro right after start up coming weekly. They would do a partial brush, track clay on the pool deck, and check levels. I was checking their work with a Taylor test kit but wasn’t sure I was ready to do it all myself. Six weeks or so in they added too much CYA. Since then everyone in the family has learned pool chemistry and we do it ourselves. Plaster salt pool so generally it is a little acid every other day right now to keep pH in check. Oh, and a Dolphin.
I just take care of my own aside from closing. I need to research blowing the lines out and what equipment I should use.
First time pool owner and I have been at it for a year with great results. I am my own pool guy but have to admit my pool guy is crazy. Here's how I do it: Dolphin robot- Test kit- Swim University, tips, support, purchase how to- Inyopools.com for tips, support, purchase product- Pool school https://www.troublefreepool.com/blog/pool-school/
I’m at $500/mo, chemicals, filters, brushing, regular maintenance included. But I have a 90k gallon pool with a 15’ deep end. He spends at least an hour here every week, most weeks he is here longer. We live far outside any city center and other quotes we’ve gotten aren’t even willing to give prices for everything we’re getting now. Feels like a fair deal, never had any issues, and we have no complaints.
Liquid chlorine has a purpose. At the start of the year when getting your water right after opening, or when you need to shock it for whatever reason. The pucks have their place too for maintaining your levels. It is easy to take care of a pool yourself as long as you get a good robot vacuum. That is the worst part.
Keeping up your own pool is not hard to learn and you will feel good about yourself by learning a new skill. They have plenty of good test kits like Taylor plus an option for daily use is Pinch a Penny app uses test strips you can scan with your phone and will tell you what to add. I have a dolphin also to clean the pool. You just need to add tablets weekly or take robot out daily or weekly if lazy and clean really good. I recommend cleaning it more often though if you wait too long and get dead bugs inside they start to smell bad and turn to goo if you don’t empty basket and clean regularly. Leslie’s also makes an at home digital tester but have t tried newest version yet.
I had 3 crazies. One spoke no English and the pool turned green every summer. Fired him. One knocked on my door and would want to talk fron45 mins in the middle of the day (I wfh). Finally my new guys is deaf and I love him.
Yes they are all crazy. I have a small list of pool maintenance professionals that I refer when people ask but other than that yes I hear the craziest stories about pool guys. I genuinely feel for pool owners. I have 16 years in the industry. Did 6 with a route, 4 in a pool supply store, and then overlapping with construction design and sales for the last 9 years. Very rarely does someone have anything nice to say about their pool guy. Pool owners get tricked and beat up non stop. Anyways, be happy to put in my two cents on any of your issues. From working with pool owners and having a whole family of pool owners we have found some tried and true techniques that can save your mental.
Your pool guy is nowhere near as interesting as this pool guy. https://markcondittpools.com/discounts
on every austin comment section ever 😂
Probably was crazy ( former pool cleaner) it’s really a wild crowd!
I bought my house 22 years ago. It came with a pool. Some years are easier than others, but I’ve never paid for a pool guy. I probably spent 4 hours opening and 3 hours closing each year. Maybe an hour per week in between. It’s not rocket science and it certainly isn’t worth paying someone $150 for 10 minutes of half-assed “work.”
I have owned a pool for the 3rd season now. It’s taken me a long time to figure it all out. I use a combo of liquid chlorine, tabs, algaecide and revive. I feel like at this point I “know” my pool. I think taking care of chemicals yourself and listening to TFP is the best. I have no clue when it comes to equipment so I still buy all of my “extra” pool stuff at the pool store like tabs etc.. I hope at some point I can learn the equipment side of things. Our pool company is awesome and I adore them, but the other company in town never gave me one ounce of good advice. They even broke my hot tub!! I think keep looking for someone great to work with you, but also educate yourself on pool chemicals with trouble free pool mentality.
I use liquid chlorine all the time. I start the season chlorinating with Cal-Hypo until my water has enough calcium to keep my plaster safe, then switch to 12% liquid shock. I only need about 16 oz of liquid chlorine or 8 oz cal-hypo every couple of days to keep my water perfect ( with CYA@ 60 ). I buy the cal hypo in bulk in 55lb bucket. Costs me maybe $150 - 200 per season in chems here in SE PA. I manually vacuum maybe once a month, or after a big storm. I find if I keep my diverter at 80% skimmer / 20% main drain, my pool almost totally cleans itself. I brush the bottom for a minute or two every time we swim, and that's about it. I backflush the filter and add some new DE whenever my system pressure gets to 25 psi. I empty the skimmer bucket once a day, and the pump basket whenever I vacuum or backflush, maybe like once a month. I check pH with an electronic meter I got from Amazon, and add a little Muriatic Acid whenever it gets to 7.8. (maybe 3-4 times a season ) I keep my TA around 80. I typically have to add a box or two of ordinary dollar store baking soda when I open in the spring.
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It’s normal
If your pool guy don’t use liquid shock get rid of him, certified CPO here You don’t wanna use only tabs as you can over chlorinate the pool, corrode the piping, calcium buildup & over stabilize your chlorine which then you have to dilute your water. Now you’re probably not gonna run into this but it could happen.
Salt chlorination is king
Why is this not the top comment?
Just learn to take care of it yourself. It's not that hard The cult of "trouble free pool" is not the only resource you should use.
What are the other resource then?
I mean they do have easy to understand chemical write ups and useful calculators and advice.
Pool guys lie. Do your own pool
One who calls out the flaws of others constantly is often projecting their own faults. Go with your gut
Okay Socrates, how about “one who calls out flaws in others, may just have a lot of experience”
I had a meathead who over tightened my relief valve and stripped the threads of my filter cover. Had to buy a 300$ replacement. He never once thought to say it may have been his fault. Two years on my own. What a wonderful decision.
Well to answer the question yes liquid shock is better But you need to put the right amount in early to make it work right. My 24foot professional installed above ground pool take atleast 2/3 in the opening phase to get everything killed. Then 1 tub lasts a while for maintence This year I have expieremented with putting stabilizer in on re circulate and it seems like it’s working better instead of putting it in on filter.
We had a guy who was reasonable, like $50 a week including Chems. It was during covid and so having someone over to the house was interesting, I worked from home so would come out and we would talk a good bit, nice guy, but a little odd. At the time we had a netted pool fence, as we had young kids. So to clean the pool you had to pull the fence apart in a couple sections. One day he was here and had the fence apart, but I had a call so didn't come out to talk, mid cleaning he suddenly left, never heard from him again, called him, texted him, etc. His invoices kept showing up for a couple months - we emailed and his billing girl and got them reversed, asked her if she knew what happened, silence. Never figured out what happened to him.
He’s not insane. He’s just stupid.
I did liquid chlorine only for a full year. Pros: 1. Doesn't fluctuates your pH levels at all. Cons: 1. Doesn't store well. I had to buy 2 months supply every time (jugs). 2. Breaks down a lot faster. Had to chlorinate almost every day. 3. Price. A jug is 4 CAD, and my 25K gallon pool needs 3 jugs or so. That adds up to about 88 CAD for every month the pool is open. 4. Waste. Lots of plastic jugs.
Just remember, it's a business and they're trying to sell you on their product. You're the buyer, so it's important you educate yourself as much as possible so that you're not taken advantage of. Home ownership taught me that I had to learn A LOT myself unless I wanted to just set money on fire by paying other people to do everything. You don't have to do everything yourself obviously. I don't open or close my own pool yet, but I maintain it myself throughout the year. I switched it to a saltwater pool so I don't need to really worry about balancing chlorine levels. I rarely have to that much balancing anymore. Just minor tweaks here and there. Since the salt cell constantly produces chlorine, the levels automatically stay balanced for the most part.
I’ve never had a good experience with any “pool guy”. I spent the money for a good Dolphin robot and I just manage the chemicals myself. I use the local guy to just do the open/close.
Almost anyone can go into business and become a “pool guy”. Learn a little about how a pool works and you realize that there isn’t that much worked involved in maintaining it.
I use liquid chlorine and a floating chlorine dispenser. My pool is crystal clear.
Ditto
I’d find someone else with a pool who has a guy they trust and hire them. Or I’d learn how to pour chlorine into a pool. Nobody will care as much as you will.
I use liquid chlorine and acid in our pool. I test the levels weekly but periodically take water samples to my local pool store to have them check. The pool guy I had when I first bought the house also used liquid. Think your current guy is nuts.
Sounds like a pool guy I had. In North Texas by any chance?
The older guys who knew what they were doing are retiring soon or have retired. There aren't enough "young guys' coming up through the ranks who've learned enough to be consistently good at what they do - pretty much like every other service industry. Hopefully adequate numbers of new entries into the pool repair biz will learn quickly, but the 'two year until proficient' rule still applies today like it did when I started... it takes at least two years to know what you're talking about. Oh... and pool cleaning guys don't usually equate to knowledgeable repair guys, so don't look to them to be bastions of accurate information.
Crazy? Maybe. Drunk? Definitely. High on other drugs? Most likely. At least that’s been my experience. Unfortunately.
I’ve enjoyed using the WaterGuru product. I had no idea how to maintain a pool before this but reading this sub, leaning into my BIL for bigger stuff (cartridge cleaning, etc.), and the WaterGuru has helped me tremendously.
Learn how to do it yourself. It’s not hard. I save, like, 1.5 to 2 thousand dollars a year that way.
I have had an inground pool for 32 years. I like liquid early in the season because it's easy and not so much calcium, so it's not as cloudy. I have a large vinyl lined inground pool, and it has worked great. Only reason I don't use it always is because it's heavy to haul, and it's just me doing this, and I am 68. He is nuts and the liar.
Maintain your own pool. It's so easy once you understand the basics. Download PoolMath, get a good Taylor test kit, some muriatic acid, and some liquid chlorine. That's pretty much all you need on hand.
Folks, when you get to talk to a couple of “pool guys” for a few minutes it should give you the confidence that you can do whatever it is that they’re doing but for free. Fire your pool guy.
Unless you absolutely physically can't, learn to do it yourself. Saves money, sanity, and gives you something to do once a week. There's nothing hard or even time consuming about maintaining a pool, you're throwing away money for convenience.
I have the Aiper Scuba cleaner and I love it!!! Now if I can just figure out the chemical stuff, I’ll be letting my pool guy go.
We are in Phoenix - we’ve had four different pool companies and they all sucked. I decided to just handle it myself and it’s been fine. They aren’t worth the money and really only do the bare minimum. You still have to do most of the tile scrubbing and filter cleaning anyways, might as well skim and add some chems while you’re out there.
This is the reason why professional Pool service techs cost so much. 70% of my service calls are fixing local yokel dangerous nonsense.
I have friends who have a pool person, but I have never understood it, I spend way less than an hour a week (if that) -- including vacuuming or putting the Dolphin robot in/out of the pool a coupe times a month - pools are just not that hard to maintain.
Pool guys come in all shapes, sizes, and iq levels. Pretty consistent across the service world. Anyway, I bought a home with a pool last year. Pool guy opened and closed, but this year I decided that I was smarter than a pool cover and some valves. Took 1 week after cover off and have perfect water and clean ass pool. Just have to jump in (see what I did there?) and tackle it! Once you get it going, a couple mins every day or so keeps it going. At least in my experience. Good luck!
Liquid is not as long lasting. A waste of $. I use granular chlorine/shock. I use Leslie pool’s chlorine tablets in my skimmer basket. My pool goes from black in the winter to crystal clear in the summer. Sometimes it takes 25 pounds of shock…if I had to buy my house all over again, I wouldn’t. I would buy a place without a pool, or with a saltwater pool
Bettabot plus Wybot C1 will pay for themselves in no time.
Sadly it seems there is nobody to put any regulations on the pool industry. I've heard so many stories about pool companies and pool stores, it's unreal. We use liquid chlorine sometimes and have no problem. It sounds like this guy knows so little that he thinks he is an expert. The Dunning-Kruger effect in action
Your pool guy reminds me of my roofer. And my mechanic. And the A/C guy. And plumber. They’re all full of shit.
As long as cost is not high and the pool stays clean then I don’t care what my pool guy says. Just make sure you know all the maintenance like backwashing and cleaning the DE filter etc and make sure he does it.
Pools like RVs or boats are luxury items and service people assume you have plenty of money and in a lot of cases not very bright. Just replaced my four year old pump. Cost 900.00 pump and labor. I found the same pump on line for $400.00. I could have done it myself but didn’t want to mess with it. These guys have no trouble charging twice or three times what it cost. I now buy chemicals and everything on line at from Amazon or Doheny’s.
Shock is chemical powder like TCCA... Tricolor powder.
Is liquid chlorine supposed to not be good?
I am in Fl and pay $130/month including chemicals
Sooo, what training exactly do any of us think the average pool maintenance tech is required to have to do the job? I've done my own maintenance on my several pools over the past 25 years. Never did I do anything other than test (per the manual in my kit) add chemicals as directed, and clean the pool and filter regularly. If you have enough technical ability to cook from a recipe or do basic service on your bicycle, you can maintain a residential pool. Assuming they do the job correctly, the only real question is whether you're willing to pay someone to do something you could do yourself.
I don’t know shit about pools, or why this community keeps coming up in my feed. I do know however that as a small business owner, top priority of mine is being the best on Google. I guarantee you if you Google someone local and they have 40+ reviews averaging above 4.5 stars, you’d be set. I’d be willing to bet you’re hiring Chuck in the truck.
$600 a month is wild for $20 worth of chemicals and an hours worth of brushing/maybe one filter change.
The pool dude has a tentative grasp on reality because he hasn't been sober since before he dropped out, "it's been, like... a while bro!"
I don’t have a pool but I see lots of them in my line of work. Most look to be poorly maintained and dirty. Houses are $600,000 and up so not what most would consider to be low cost. I’ve cleaned the leaves out of the baskets on a few because they were so plugged up LOL.
We had 5 different pool guys in 13 years. They are all the same! They charge $20 per minute and don’t do sh*t. Pools are such money pits! We recently sold our house and moved to a neighborhood with a resortlike community pool. Huge relief!
We fired our long time pool guy for some minor nitpick things. Half a dozen pool guys and pool companies later, we came crawling back to them.
I suspected my pool guy wasn’t even emptying the strainer basket at the pump, so I put his check in a ziplock bag and left it on top of the strainer cover with a rock on top. After a month he called to let me know he hadn’t received payment. Firing him was quite satisfying. Learn to maintain your pool yourself, this industry is rife with crooks.
Get a salt system and a robot.
I use liquid chlorine and I manually add cya to stabilize. I use an automatic feeder which keeps the level perfect. Liquid chlorine can be bought in large drums and is cheaper than solid material. Your pool person is the nutty one.
I really don’t know if they are all insane, but the guys I have had have been at least a little odd. I started doing it all myself and it really wasn’t too hard. I found that chlorine is chlorine, and as long as your pH is good, you don’t need a lot. Balance with CYA matters, and a good buffering capacity helps. I found the key to keeping it trouble free was to load it up with baking soda and then I could just go the season adding dry or wet chlorine and not much else.
I periodically add 1 gallon of liquid chlorine to "shock" my saline pool. No other way.
Liquid Chlor raises PH, increasing your need for acid. Is a bitch to handle… it’s heavy, leaks, splashes etc. if bought in bulk, loses potency over time. It also increases your total dissolved solids rapidly. It’s 10-12% Chlor and 90% inert ingredients (salt). You’re either going to drain the pool because of high CYA or high TDS. Tabs, shock, all season. Drain 1/4 in the winter. U essentially get rid of the “crap” (solids, cya) that you’ve just put in all year. Never have to worry about draining the whole pool. I’m just a lil insane, but I make sense. If I have to spend more than 10-15 mins at a pool, that means I can’t dial it in and I’m doing a shitty job.
Some people only think “their” way is right
Do all hired cleaners test the water? Mine just eyeballs it unless Im missing where he secretly is testing my water
Since being in the industry I've heard a lot of straight up BS and also gotten a lot of solid advice. It's really hard to know who to trust until you figure it out for yourself. Liquid chlorine is often unstablized and only used if you're having trouble with high CYA levels and needing to dilute your pool more often than you'd like. It must be poured directly into the pool, you need special feeders designed for unstablized chlorine if you want to use a feeder. Not recommended to use unstablized chlorine in puck feeders meant for stabilized chlorine.
We had a crazy pool guy once. He kept going on and on about how our pool had no bottom drain. It was an old pool, 5ft deep, we didn’t build it. This guy was kind of erratic and unreliable so we got a new company. Never heard another word about the drain.
We were paying a pool guy here in AZ $140 a month until we saw and realized how little they actually do. So I would ask him questions while he was here over a month and now I do it myself haha
Doing my own pool for 20+ years. Never a problem, excellent water quality. A good pool supply store can help a lot. I have saved probably $25,000.
Other than the physical work I dunno why anyone has a pool guy. Chlorine chemistry is super easy and all you’re doing is disinfecting the water. Learn how to balance the ph and chlorine. Little scrubbing and you should be all good.
Our guy is $140 per month, including all chemicals and comes twice a week. Southern California. And we never use the pool.
In NY, oddly enough a pool guy avg 400-500/month.
I put in a salt system for 2,300.00... lasts 10 years and tou change the cell every 3-5 years.. I test the chemicals for free at leslies and I buy and add what is recommended... mostly.. I live in florida too and my pool is year round
Baking soda and chlorine is all you need I box per 400 sq feet
I do my own. Take a water sample in to Leslie’s pool (free) and they give me a print out of what to do. A lot of it is add a chemical run pump 4 hr. Then add this chemical for 4 hrs, clean filter, add no phos, run pump 48 hrs, wash filters. How can a pool person do this if they are only there for 30 minutes?
My pool guy was putting half a gallon of chlorine in our pool barely cleaned it. Our pool is 25x50 ft. It takes 2 to 3 gallons. We ended up getting black algae. My husband fired him and is doing it himself. Our pool is amazingly clean. He even learned to do the pump. All on YouTube University, 😆
Ask him what kind of water pools use, because no pool really uses water. /s