poolnerd

Let’s say you and your family have decided you want an inground pool built in your yard. And let’s say, too, that you’re like most people– you have nowhere near the skills or knowledge to build it yourself. So, you start looking for a contractor.

In the yellow pages, you find a bunch of pool builders listed. A few advertise that their firm is the “oldest,” or the “best,” or the “largest.”

Sounds good, but like most consumers nowadays, you’re skeptical. Feeling a little overwhelmed, you wonder, “How do I know which contractor to choose?”

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The strength and durability of your pool’s structure is one of the most important things to consider when you’re building your pool. Believe me, you don’t want a pool with a structural crack– that kind of thing can take a tall pile of money to fix. Sure, you need to consider things like the steel schedule, make sure the gunite/shotcrete is mixed and applied properly. Yeah, but all that stuff is kind of technical, and, well… boring. Not many people are interested in the gory details.

But what if I told you that there was a way to make your pool much, much stronger? And that it was easy to do, and it wouldn’t cost any additional money.

Interested?

Continue reading . . .

Have you ever been in a pool that made your eyes so bloodshot that you looked like a refugee from a Cheech & Chong movie? Or took a dip in a spa that overwhelmed you with a chlorine odor? A lot of pool owners want to cut down on chlorine usage to avoid some of these issues.

In both of the above examples, though, excess chlorine is not the problem. Let’s take those two common assumptions about chlorine and toss them aside. “Just the facts, ma’am,” as Joe Friday would say.

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If you’re thinking of tackling the job of building your own pool and/or spa, you need as much good, accurate info as you can get: if you know what you’re doing, you can save a lot of money, but if you don’t it can cost you big time later. I’ll cover a few of the highlights of pool design, and, hopefully you’ll uncover some valuable ideas along the way.

The design basics I’ll lay out here will come with some explanation. I’ll try not to just assert my own views as fact. For example, I’ll tell you not to locate your pool light in the shallow end of the pool, and I’ll follow that with an explanation of why it’s not a good idea. Hopefully, you’ll see the sense in what I’m saying. My views usually come from years of experience: I’ve put a light or two in the shallow end, so you can gain from my mistakes.

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There are two basic kinds of pools: above-ground and inground. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, but they all have a few things in common:

• A pool is just a vessel that holds water for folks to swim and frolic in. It doesn’t much matter if that vessel is made of concrete, fiberglass or vinyl. From a frolicking standpoint, its all the same.
• The water in that vessel must be kept clean and sanitary, so those same frolicking folks don’t get nasty ailments from water-borne creatures like bacteria and viruses. That’s where filtration and sanitation come in to the picture.
• While the pool is busy holding water, it must — above all — be safe. Pool safety is a whole series of articles in itself. But besides the obvious issues like supervision, fencing, knowing how to swim and perform CPR, there other issues not talked about much that need to be covered: electricity in and around the water, hair or bathing suits being sucked in at drains, appropriate types of (non-slip) decking, and so on.

But let’s get back to sorting out pool basics.

Continue reading . . .

If you’re pool shopping, you’ve probably already learned that it’s extremely difficult to find good information. One salesperson will tell you their filter is the best, the next one will claim theirs as the greatest. So, who really has the better filter? I’ll explain filters– and other pool arcana– from top to bottom, and try not to put you to sleep in the process.

And, hey, every ad in the yellow pages says, “Quality Construction.” What the heck does that mean? I’ll endeavor to explain construction basics and how to assess whether a pool is a piece of, uh, junk or not.

So, who do you put your trust in? That sleazy salesman or me?

Me!

Free Advice? What’s the Catch?

I’m offering my views, free of charge. What do I get out of it? A good feeling inside, and hopefully some good-karma points or something. Maybe I’ll even make enough off those Google Adsense advertisements to pay my web hosting costs.

About Me

I own a pool and spa design and construction corporation based in Southern California. It’s licensed, bonded, insured… a for-real business.

I’ve got over twenty-five years experience in just about all areas of things pool related. Construction, mainly. But I’ve cleaned pools for a few years, and I’ve done repairs of all sorts, from fixing leaky pumps, to trouble-shooting balky heaters, even repairing structural problems in pool shells (normal people call that kind of thing a “crack”). I’ve even worked in sales and repair of above-ground (Doughboy-type) pools and portable spas.

If you’re interested, here’s some more about me.

So, if you’re pool shopping, or even starting out in the pool business, and have questions, shoot ‘em on over. If you find any of the posts worth something, please let me know. Everyone likes to get encouragement now and then.

Like I said, I’m not trying to sell you anything. Just offering my knowledge and experience. Free of charge. Nothing to gain– so why would I tell you anything but the honest truth?