Hello,
My husband and I bought a house in White Settlemen, TX (just west of Fort Worth) right at the end of July last year. The pool was beautiful when we moved in and other than a few issues with falling leaves, pollen pods, etc this spring and pH being a booger to balance (until I discovered baking soda...about 5lbs brings it up in about a day) we have been able to maintain the pool on our own. I try not to get suckered into the pool store's recommendations too often. I did have some cloudiness and no chlorine reading on my test strips last week, so I took a sample and was told to shock and that my phosfates were high. Without checking elsewhere first, I did buy the recommended phosfree and shock. Pool cleared up almost immediately and chlorine levels are back to normal. So it wasn't a waste per se, but after some research, I think the shock is all that was needed.
Anyway, we are learning so much about pool care. Thankfully it is not as hard as the few weeks this spring made it seem. Our neighbor has a pin oak tree that hangs over the pool a bit and drops it's leaves in the spring rather than the fall. Within an hour, there are enough leaves to prevent water from flowing through the skimmer.
That lasts about 2 weeks, then there is a 2 week reprieve until the pollen pods (or whatever you call them) start dropping. Those are worse than the leaves. Thankfully that too only lasts about 2 weeks. We think a leaf net will be beneficial for that time period. Being in Texas, we decided to leave the pool "open" year round.
Anyway we have 2 "children." Our son moved out shortly after we bought the house. He'll be 21 next month. Our daughter is 18 and will live at home while attending the local community college. We love to entertain and the pool makes that even more fun to do. I am excited to learn more about proper pool maintenance.
My husband and I bought a house in White Settlemen, TX (just west of Fort Worth) right at the end of July last year. The pool was beautiful when we moved in and other than a few issues with falling leaves, pollen pods, etc this spring and pH being a booger to balance (until I discovered baking soda...about 5lbs brings it up in about a day) we have been able to maintain the pool on our own. I try not to get suckered into the pool store's recommendations too often. I did have some cloudiness and no chlorine reading on my test strips last week, so I took a sample and was told to shock and that my phosfates were high. Without checking elsewhere first, I did buy the recommended phosfree and shock. Pool cleared up almost immediately and chlorine levels are back to normal. So it wasn't a waste per se, but after some research, I think the shock is all that was needed.
Anyway, we are learning so much about pool care. Thankfully it is not as hard as the few weeks this spring made it seem. Our neighbor has a pin oak tree that hangs over the pool a bit and drops it's leaves in the spring rather than the fall. Within an hour, there are enough leaves to prevent water from flowing through the skimmer.
That lasts about 2 weeks, then there is a 2 week reprieve until the pollen pods (or whatever you call them) start dropping. Those are worse than the leaves. Thankfully that too only lasts about 2 weeks. We think a leaf net will be beneficial for that time period. Being in Texas, we decided to leave the pool "open" year round.Anyway we have 2 "children." Our son moved out shortly after we bought the house. He'll be 21 next month. Our daughter is 18 and will live at home while attending the local community college. We love to entertain and the pool makes that even more fun to do.
I am excited to learn more about proper pool maintenance.
Make sure to test your own water with a TF-100 (link below) or Taylor K-2006C. You'll be very glad you did. The TF-100 is a great buy.
