Choosing a pool maintenance contractor

[New2water]

I’m getting up there in age and having difficulty brushing my pool. I have a Pentair Warrior SE robotic cleaner but it is not a substitute for manual brushing. I think I need to hire someone to maintain my pool. FYI, our pool is now rarely used.
It’s a challenge to find a knowledgeable pool maintenance person. The few I have interviewed have demonstrated they don’t use the TFP methodology for the job.
Please help me with a way for finding and choosing the right person. Thank you.

 

[HermanTX]

My suggest is as follows
Determine if you want weekly service or less often
Ask if they will vacuum weekly (if you choose weekly)
Ask if they test the water using a proper test kit such as a Taylor K-2006
Ask them if they will supply liquid chlorine - if not, ask if they will discount their service if you supply the LC
Tell them you want a (for example) weekly test, weekly vacuum and brushing, weekly chemical additions (MA, LC, etc)
Ask them for a report or at least leave you the test results and what was added.

Now you still may need to add LC during the week because it will burn off. You could consider switching to a SWCG and still use weekly pool service. This will solve the multiple additions of LC.

As you probably have gathered that pool service just like to use pucks,, fill up the dispenser, clean the pool and walk away till next visit. Good ones are out there, it just may take some searching. Hang out at a pool store and watch which trucks pull in with a pickup full of chemicals in the back.

 

[New2water]

Thank you for your valuable advice. It gives a good set of service parameters to ask.

None of them offered to vacuum the pool. Probably they assumed the robotic vacuum would do the job.

The robotic vacuum is good at collecting debris on the floor of the pool but is not a replacement for manual brushing of pool surfaces. Moreover, its rotation is poorly designed in that it twists the cable which has to be untangled after every use. Even my old Kreepy Kailey did a whole lot better job at cleaning pool surfaces.

Brushing is the primary reason I’m seeking a service provider otherwise I have been managing my pool using the pool math app and the generous guidance offered in the forums here.

 

[HermanTX]

None of them offered to vacuum the pool. Probably they assumed the robotic vacuum would do the job

Oh wow!!! That is a common service where I live in Houston area. Just about every pool service I see in the neighborhood has a Hammerhead vacuum in the truck. That is a main service because as you say, robots and either suction type or pressure type cleaners do a relatively good job, a proper vacuum with a fine mesh net removes all the grit and fine debris.

Brushing is the primary reason I’m seeking a service provider otherwise I have been managing my pool using the pool math app and the generous guidance offered in the forums here.

Hope you are successful and thanks for being a long term member.

 

[newdude]

Upgrade to a SWG. Most comparisons I do have the SWG producing the equivalent FC of 1000 jugs of chlorine. Would you like to *not* lug and dose 1000 jugs ?

I cannot overstate the convienence, no matter how hard I try.

Then hire a local teenager to brush for you. There has to be one within walking / biking distance. If you have local family, it's a wim-win for a nephew / grandkid (etc) to come visit once a week and make a few bucks. Or put ads on FB marketplace, Craigslist or any other local groups you have access to.

 

[New2water]

I understand that SWG raises ph and requires lugging Muriatic Acid jugs. Does this match your experience?

 

[newdude]

I understand that SWG raises ph and requires lugging Muriatic Acid jugs.

I added acid once last summer, because I felt I needed to appease the pool gods. I also run 24/7 and that's alot of aeration which is a big contributer to PH rise. So no. Not at all.

Tab folks giving it up find they need to add acid when they didn't previously (it was in the tabs). The rest of us have what we have with or without a swg.

 

[mknauss]

I understand that SWG raises ph and requires lugging Muriatic Acid jugs. Does this match your experience?

Depends on your fill water. You have significant evaporation. If your fill water has high TA, you will have to add acid. But if you have been using liquid chlorine, you have had to add it now. If using trichlor -- that is acidic. But you had to drain the pool often or have it green (or at least cloudy) in the fall if using trichlor as primary sanitation.

 

[HermanTX]

I understand that SWG raises ph and requires lugging Muriatic Acid jugs. Does this match your experience?

A SWCG does not raise or lower pH. LC does not raise or lower pH. The use of chlorine pucks includes CYA which is an acid that helps control pH rise. When using LC or a SWCG, there is no acid with those chlorine methods. Thus the need to add acid when using LC or a SWCG.
My additions of MA are about 8oz every week or so. Sometimes more if it rains a lot. I keep my TA in the 60-80 range to slow the rise of pH