I use pool store testing

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Saparrothead

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May 25, 2017
9
SAN ANTONIO
If you live near a pool supply store like Leslie's they will test your water for free, print out instructions on what you need and how and when to add it. You will need a bottle of your pool water and the number of gallons of water your pool holds. I just find this so much easier and more accurate.
 
Re: New Pool Owner Moving To Salt

Whoa - Saparrothead - both posts are entirely false! Please review this forum on both!
 
Re: New Pool Owner Moving To Salt

It is false that Pool Store testing is more accurate and that you should follow their instruction. You must not read this forum!

It is false that a Saltwater pool is excessively corrosive. Typically it is because the pH is not being managed and that is what is corrosive.

Non SW chlorine pools have salt in them too ---
 
Re: New Pool Owner Moving To Salt

Saparrothead said:
If you live near a pool supply store like Leslie's they will test your water for free, print out instructions on what you need and how and when to add it. You will need a bottle of your pool water and the number of gallons of water your pool holds. I just find this so much easier and more accurate.
Click to expand...

It's the "more accurate" part that Mknauss may be referring to.
 
What most people coming here looking for help have experienced with pool stores is abject failure. There are many hundreds if not thousands of examples all over the forum. People come here with unresolved problems, get some education, buy their own test kit, and magically, their pools become perfect and easy to care for. Why? Because they learn what they are doing through gaining knowledge and using accurate testing and balancing to resolve problems.

Pool stores have no incentive to educate their customers, because doing so teaches them they don't need their products or services. Services that largely leave them guessing and pouring money into the same old issues year, after year, after year. If you read much here, there are countless examples of this exact situation. Ten years worth of them actually, and here is one of my all time favorites.


14 years of pool stores and failure...
 
I see you are brand new to TFP, so you haven't seen what the rest of us have over the years. First, we are well aware that pool stores offer free testing. It is a pretty standard loss leader in the industry.

Second, and most importantly, what you haven't seen are the countless threads every year like this: Hard to believe Leslie's can be so far off -

On top of that, the little printout shopping list (how convenient that they provide you with a list of things you should purchase from them!) is not the same care we will suggest. Most importantly though, if you come here with problems and need advice we will not accept test results done quickly by a salesperson under fluorescent lighting. Nor a computer tester that prints out all the great Bioguard merchandise you can buy. Nor test strips. We need accurate reliable data and will not work without it. There is no budging on this, no matter how much someone vouches for their pool store.
 
I am a tried and true victim of this. I recently "bombed" my pool, causing my CYA to rise to 125; which is unrecoverable. The pool store wanted to sell me 215.00 worth of product to try and lower my CYA, which also included a 50% drop in waterline and refill. Then, based on readings prior to draining and refilling, the pool store wanted to hand me buckets and pouches of chemicals to "balance my pool" based on bad water. I refused, and paid the 10.00 fee for the water reading.

I then went online and found a Taylor 2006 test kit, refilled 60% of my pool with fresh water and took my readings. $7.50 in chlorine, $8.00 for 12lbs of baking soda and 3.00 in soda ash and I am almost ready to swim.

Thanks to all who contribute on this site, it makes simple people like me able to enjoy the finer things in life....on a budget!

:)
 

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TFP and the methods used are not what you will get from Leslie's! TFP will teach you how to maintain your own pool at a fraction of the cost. Your pool will be clean and sanitized. My pool was built last July and we are first time pool owners yet I have my pool completely under control thanks to TFP and the folks on this forum! I do go to Leslie's and get my water tested for free...not because I want them to test my water but because they will take $5 off any purchase...so that bag of salt is now half price :cool:
 
I spend around $ 350-375 a year on my pool.

This includes: bleach, baking soda, 20 mule team borax and cya granules.
AND the cost of gas heating & pump electricity.

Anyone who exclusively uses a pool store is paying WAY more than that.
 
NCNate74 said:
I am a tried and true victim of this. I recently "bombed" my pool, causing my CYA to rise to 125; which is unrecoverable. The pool store wanted to sell me 215.00 worth of product to try and lower my CYA, which also included a 50% drop in waterline and refill. Then, based on readings prior to draining and refilling, the pool store wanted to hand me buckets and pouches of chemicals to "balance my pool" based on bad water. I refused, and paid the 10.00 fee for the water reading.

I then went online and found a Taylor 2006 test kit, refilled 60% of my pool with fresh water and took my readings. $7.50 in chlorine, $8.00 for 12lbs of baking soda and 3.00 in soda ash and I am almost ready to swim.

Thanks to all who contribute on this site, it makes simple people like me able to enjoy the finer things in life....on a budget!

:)
Click to expand...

Nate!! This makes my heart smile!! THANKS!

Did you know you can help us keep the servers feed? Here is the link: CLICK HERE to Become a TroubleFreePool.com Supporter!! Either way we are here for you!

Kim:kim:
 
That’s funny. Powder coating rusting from 3500ppm salt water. Yes funny.
I like that one. More like cheaply painted steel that flakes off then rusts with ANY water.

Proper powder coating is extremely rugged until chipped. Then any kind of water will make the steel rust. My company manufactures outdoor equipment for car washes. I see this all the time. Any kind of water attacks exposes steel.
 
NCNate74 said:
I am a tried and true victim of this. I recently "bombed" my pool, causing my CYA to rise to 125; which is unrecoverable. The pool store wanted to sell me 215.00 worth of product to try and lower my CYA, which also included a 50% drop in waterline and refill. Then, based on readings prior to draining and refilling, the pool store wanted to hand me buckets and pouches of chemicals to "balance my pool" based on bad water. I refused, and paid the 10.00 fee for the water reading.

I then went online and found a Taylor 2006 test kit, refilled 60% of my pool with fresh water and took my readings. $7.50 in chlorine, $8.00 for 12lbs of baking soda and 3.00 in soda ash and I am almost ready to swim.

Thanks to all who contribute on this site, it makes simple people like me able to enjoy the finer things in life....on a budget!

:)
Click to expand...

The most ironic (or is that moronic) aspect of pool stores is that they literally bite the hand that feeds them. Pool stores contribute heavily to the perception that pools are too time consuming and expensive to take care of. Pool stores make sure that's true. I can only imagine the number of pool owners that have given up on their pools, or have finally gone in a different direction, after years of pool store frustration. The more they sell a customer, the closer they get to that customer never coming back. Interesting model.
 
Yeah, I think of how many times I've seen folks come here thinking about filling in their pool because they are so frustrated with water quality issues.
 
I am new here and a good portion of the information provided by "experts" is dangerous. I have been in the pool industry for 25+ years and I'm not a one pole'r working out of a Toyota pick up. What qualifications are needed to earn the label expert? The pool industry does not typically attract the best & the brightest. The people that worked for a year at a pool company, had very little training and potentially training by those that didn't know themselves and felt compelled to open a pool company are just as qualified as a homeowner with no experience. The information that you provide is only as good as the information that was supplied to you.
 
There is science to our method. Please refer to the Pool School page if you are unfamiliar with it. It hinges on the relationship between FC and CYA, which for some strange reason remains largely ignored by the "professional" pool industry, even though the science has been known for many years.

With a user community such as this, there is always the risk of someone purporting to be an "expert" giving bad advice. But there are enough old-timers keeping an eye on things that when a thread does go astray, it gets corrected pretty quickly.

Common sense would say that if the "professional" pool community was doing that great of a job, a forum such as this would wither and die pretty quickly. Likewise if our method was faulty. But what we see is quite the opposite. This forum grows by leaps and bounds every year, and we see literally hundreds of testimonies from people saying that their pools have never been clearer or less work, and usually at a fraction of the cost.

After reading Pool School, if you see something that you fundamentally disagree with or find dangerous, please post back here and let's discuss it. I think you'll find it pretty sound and for the most part, everyone here to be pretty conscientious in the advice that we give.

And please keep in mind, no one here makes a dime off of doing this. The only payback is the satisfaction of seeing others enjoy their pools the way they should be enjoyed.
 
Biscuits & Gravy said:
I am new here and a good portion of the information provided by "experts" is dangerous. I have been in the pool industry for 25+ years and I'm not a one pole'r working out of a Toyota pick up. What qualifications are needed to earn the label expert? The pool industry does not typically attract the best & the brightest. The people that worked for a year at a pool company, had very little training and potentially training by those that didn't know themselves and felt compelled to open a pool company are just as qualified as a homeowner with no experience. The information that you provide is only as good as the information that was supplied to you.
Click to expand...

jeffchap said:
There is science to our method. Please refer to the Pool School page if you are unfamiliar with it. It hinges on the relationship between FC and CYA, which for some strange reason remains largely ignored by the "professional" pool industry, even though the science has been known for many years.

With a user community such as this, there is always the risk of someone purporting to be an "expert" giving bad advice. But there are enough old-timers keeping an eye on things that when a thread does go astray, it gets corrected pretty quickly.

Common sense would say that if the "professional" pool community was doing that great of a job, a forum such as this would wither and die pretty quickly. Likewise if our method was faulty. But what we see is quite the opposite. This forum grows by leaps and bounds every year, and we see literally hundreds of testimonies from people saying that their pools have never been clearer or less work, and usually at a fraction of the cost.

After reading Pool School, if you see something that you fundamentally disagree with or find dangerous, please post back here and let's discuss it. I think you'll find it pretty sound and for the most part, everyone here to be pretty conscientious in the advice that we give.

And please keep in mind, no one here makes a dime off of doing this. The only payback is the satisfaction of seeing others enjoy their pools the way they should be enjoyed.
Click to expand...

Interesting thread. It's not clear if Biscuits & Gravy's comments were aimed at TFP experts, or other pool "professionals." I read it as an endorsement for TFP, not the other way around. It certainly is one, even if the author didn't intend it to be.

I'm more than half convinced that the OP's comments are flames, for fun, or maybe some sort of internal TFP QA test to see how many TFPers jump on this thread. Kudos to all of you who have, it is a testament to this community, to see how they react to someone that knows nothing about proper pool care, the current state of the pool maintenance industry, and doesn't seem to want to.

So if nothing else, it's a fun thread to read! Please continue! ;)
 

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