Pool Opening

[horseradish1]

The company that closed my pool appears to have gone out of business. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good, affordable pool service that services my area?
Thanks in advance!

 

[PSW]

I live in CA, so I don't know about pool service companies in your area...BUT I highly recommend getting a good test kit and managing your own pool. It will be a little learning curve, but soon you will have clear water you can be proud of creating! Not to mention you save yourself a monthly bill!

Once you learn the basics, get your equipment running, and water balanced, it really doesn't take longer than a few minutes per day!

PS welcome to TFP!

 

[horseradish1]

Thank you for the information! What is the going rate for opening a pool? Also, what does it include (scrubbing liner, chemical test, etc)?

 

[PSW]

The amount of work it takes to open your pool will be dictated by the condition of the pool itself. Does your pool look like a green swamp? Also, the amount of money you have to spend on chemicals will depend on your current levels.

Pictures are welcome!

The best place to start is get a TF-100 test kit from TFTestKits.net (for $68). This should last you the entire pool season...and will save you time/money in the long run. Once you get accurate test results, we can better explain what you should do.

 

[faby3003]

I think around $150 is a reasonable rate. I believe they will install ladder, railings, return eyeballs, and drain plugs. Start your pump, and dump in some chemicals that you may or may not need. I don't think they do any scrubbing of the pool or test your water.

Opening the pool is something that most people can do themselves. If you do pay someone to do it this year, I would closely watch what they are doing so that you can do it yourself next year. Or, with some help of people on the forum you can probably do it yourself this year.

 

[Fooled]

I researched someone opening my pool for a few weeks before taking the plunge myself. The reason behind it was cost: 150/hr. 2 hour minimum in almost all cases, plus the cost of the chemicals you will need to buy yourself.

Some extra detail from my experience:
My pool is extra special, over 2 years without being opened. It was Dark Green, and Brownish in color and I filled about 5 standard garbage bins with leaves from the deep end. It was also missing all of the drain plugs for my pump, filter, and heater. That was 7 plugs at 5 bucks each. I still cannot see the bottom of my pool, but it's now a light green color and I can see down a couple of feet.

I also bought the tf-100 test kit. (BTW I was making no progress until I bought this and started doing it the right way.)
To date, even with the errant throwing away money by tossing in chemicals, I still have only spent about 275 dollars and that includes about 85 bucks after taxes for a cover pump, and the 70 for the test kit, as well as another 15 for a decent brush, and 30 for a leaf grabber. I am confident I am almost to my lovely clear pool, and I have spent less than the pool company would have charged just to hook up my equipment, let alone add all the extra just on the chemicals.

Combine that with all the knowledge from this site, helping to educate myself, it will cost me very little next year. Going into this I knew nothing about pools, water chemistry, the pump, the filter, etc. With this site, and its membership, you too can save yourself a lot of extra dollars, and gain the know-how to take care of it yourself.

Just my 2 cents though, best decision I ever made was taking a week out of my life to read as much information as I could from these forums, followed closely by buying the tf-100 of course

 

[Alias]

Just my 2c. Since this is a new house and pool to you, and not knowing anything about it. In my mind it may be a good idea just to hire the opening just so they can check out the equipment and ensure the equipment is in good operating order.

I was in the same situation, brand new house this year which had a pool. And have never had to deal with a pool before. I went ahead and ordered the opening and closing or a professional service. Mostly so i can just watch what they were doing and take notes for next year. Plus they gave us an entire supply of chemicals for the summer.

But i'm a little impatient so i went ahead and opened it before they came out, after watching countless youtube videos. So when they came out they just shocked the pool and inspected the equipment. which was good since they pointed out holes on all 8 of the DE filter blades. and refunded a good amount of the money since they could not clean it without a properly working filter..

Since then I've just been scouring over this forum taking in as much information as i can to understand the water chemistry. In which I've gained huge amounts of understanding reading over the pool school 5-6 times and reading the booklet that comes with the Taylor test kit 3-4 times.