How often do you brush your pool?

[Nikilyn]

I’m asking this because I just had an interesting conversation with a friend about it. She is building a fiberglass pool, which is rare here in AZ. Her reason is that they have had concrete pools for 15 years and she’s tired of brushing the pool for an hour everyday. It’s been awhile since we’ve had our pool and we only had it a couple of years but an hour everyday seems excessive. She said it’s the only way to keep your pool clean. I mentioned a robot and she said you still have to brush it that much with a robot. I’m guessing she doesn’t know what a robot is. I was also wondering how often you need to brush a fiberglass pool. I would think it would still need to be done but could be wrong.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

The sun and heat is going to destroy her fiberglass pool above the waterline. We do not have a good environment for either FG or vinyl.

My robot brushes my pool, I don’t.

My guess is she never properly cared for her pool and had lots of algae. Then she was told to brush the pool every day to scrub away algae.

 

[Nikilyn]

I was pretty sure that’s what the robot did but wanted to make sure. Also, thanks for letting me know why people don’t get fiberglass or vinyl here. I remember when I was little there was a fiberglass pool place off the I10 in Phoenix by the airport. I used to think it was strange to have pools displayed there . But that place is long gone. I’m curious where she even found a company to do one.

 

[markayash]

Before a robot not often as I should..After a robot never

 

[beegee226]

Before my robot, I'd do it about once a week with my weekly thorough pool cleaning (dump the skimmer and pump skimmer basket, skim the surface, brush the tile, brush the pool, and vacuum). Now I just toss the robot in for a couple days and and do a full cleaning a few times. I still have to brush the steps since he doesn't climb up those very well, but still the best investment I ever made for the pool.

 

[Dirk]

Would you like the number I would be willing to admit to on a pool forum, or the real one? The most I would ever have to brush my pool would be once a week, maybe 20 minutes. When I do, I don't see a "before and after" difference. TFP chemistry does make a difference, however. I let my FC slip out of range just once, got algae within a few days, and that required some brushing on one wall. When I keep my FC where it's supposed to be, the water and my pool finish are always very clean.

I suspect your friend is suffering from a common misconception we hear about here all the time. That regular, or even rare, outbreaks of algae are expected, and normal, and that dealing with algae, either chemically or by brushing, is just a regular part of pool care. It's not. Many here haven't seen algae in their pools for years. I had a multi-year streak going myself, but lapsed my TFP methods just a tad and that ruined my perfect record. But I haven't seen algae since. No algae is normal, not the other way around.

If she'd actually prefer a plaster pool, how much it would need to be brushed shouldn't deter her. She doesn't need to shape her pool type around brushing frequency, she just needs to adjust her water maintenance routine.

And if what Matt warns about is true, then she needs to stop and reevaluate her pool plans.

 

[8ightiesfan]

I have a concrete tiled pool and brush it once a week, I don't have a robot but in the future I would like one to lower the amount of manual cleaning needed. I listen to a weekly podcast that runs for around 18 minutes. I haven't been able to get my pool brushed and manually vacuumed before the podcast finishes, but I am getting close!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

All one has to do is buy a blow up vinyl pool float and leave it outside for a summer here to see what will happen to a vinyl pool. They start off shiny, clean, smooth, and pliable and by the end of the summer they are faded, cracked and stiff. People here have RVs and boats. Those that don’t have RV garages and have to leave them parked outside literally cover them top to bottom with specially designed covers as well as covers for the wheels. This is because the sun and heat will completely destroy anything on it that is a synthetic material (plastic and rubber parts). Anything other than a plaster in-ground pool is basically toast here after a few seasons.

Your friend is making a huge mistake. The only redeeming possibility is if the fiberglass is completely submerged and they plan to line the top surface with ceramic tiles at the waterline. In that case, the fiberglass could survive. Any fiberglass color other than white though is going to fade badly from the intense UV we get here.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Your friend also needs to know that Fiberglass pools need occasional brushing also.

 

[markayash]

Show your friend what a robot can do..Might want to mute it

Killer Cujo thinks the robot is a space ship

 

[Bigpaws]

I brush once a week. Takes me about 20 minutes. Unless I can get
one of my kids to do it. That's pretty rare.

-Bigpaws

 

[setsailsoon]

I'll just pile on here. I had a suction cleaner 5 years. Did TFP method and still had to brush weekly or more to keep the dirt off. Switched to salt two years ago and robot earlier this year and now pool is way cleaner than I ever imagined it could be and absolutely boring to care for. Every now and then I brush just because they are still hanging there in the holders. Each time I realize I don't need to. Finally switched to the net attachment for good just to retrieve the occasional dead frog. My brush is starting to remind me of the Maytag repairman commercial.

Get a robot.

Chris

 

[markayash]

I'll just pile on here. I had a suction cleaner 5 years. Did TFP method and still had to brush weekly or more to keep the dirt off. Switched to salt two years ago and robot earlier this year and now pool is way cleaner than I ever imagined it could be and absolutely boring to care for. Every now and then I brush just because they are still hanging there in the holders. Each time I realize I don't need to. Finally switched to the net attachment for good just to retrieve the occasional dead frog. My brush is starting to remind me of the Maytag repairman commercial.

Get a robot.

Chris

Get a frog log and it will cut way down on dead frogs. I have never seen a frog use mine but I probably went from finding 5 or 6 a year to one and he was still swimming and didn't want to get out