Tips for renting house with a brand new pool

[SpringSingh]

Hi friends,

Finally my pool construction is completed but at the same time my company have asked me to go for an expat assignment. I got a lot of useful tips from this forum during the planning and construction phase and now need a few more tips. I am planning on renting out the house while I am away. The pool is about 25k salt water pool with Heyward 2.7 HP variable speed pump. I have not yet purchased a pool cleaner. I was planning on purchasing a robot but now with the move I am wondering should I buy the old school Polaris (280/360 etc) to be used by the renter? Or still buy a robot? Also, I was planning on managing my pool myself but now I will hire a pool cleaning company. Do people renting out the house ask renters to keep a pool cleaning company or hire one themselves and include the charges in the rent? Any other tips/pointers for me to consider when renting the house with a pool? Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Sartaj

 

[bradgray]

Hi Sartaj,

Do you have a suction or pressure port for your cleaner? Suction ports are more common and the Polaris 280 is a pressure cleaner.

I would suggest you insist on hiring the pool service team yourself with direct billing to you, and sticking with a reputable crew doing at least weekly maintenance/twice weekly may be better. Renters are notorious for making simple mistakes that result in damage if left unseen for too long.

Also there are software options for pool service teams that would even provide you (not the management team) with images of each visit. Try and find someone who has invested in this.

Simple signage can also help encourage better behavior and create accountability.

Good luck!

 

[SpringSingh]

Hi Sartaj,

Do you have a suction or pressure port for your cleaner? Suction ports are more common and the Polaris 280 is a pressure cleaner.

I would suggest you insist on hiring the pool service team yourself with direct billing to you, and sticking with a reputable crew doing at least weekly maintenance/twice weekly may be better. Renters are notorious for making simple mistakes that result in damage if left unseen for too long.

Also there are software options for pool service teams that would even provide you (not the management team) with images of each visit. Try and find someone who has invested in this.

Simple signage can also help encourage better behavior and create accountability.

Good luck!

Hi Brad, to be honest I am not sure if I have suction or pressure port. There is one port for a cleaner. I need to confirm during the pool school on what kind of port is it. Good suggestion on hiring the pool maintenance myself and checking if they send pictures.

Regards,
Sartaj

 

[Mdragger88]

@Jimrahbe has some Texas rentals with pools that also have swg’s & robots. Perhaps he can lend some advice.

 

[bradgray]

Hi Brad, to be honest I am not sure if I have suction or pressure port. There is one port for a cleaner. I need to confirm during the pool school on what kind of port is it. Good suggestion on hiring the pool maintenance myself and checking if they send pictures.

Regards,
Sartaj

If you'd like to shortcut the wait, some pictures of your equipment could help us give you a reasonably assured answer to that question.

Primarily the plumbing rise in front of your pump.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Sartaj,

I have two rent house pools that I take care of myself. Since they are both saltwater pools with relatively new equipment, it makes this pretty easy to do.

If I had to live elsewhere, I would NOT allow my renters to take care of the pools. I would hire a pool maintenance company to do this for me. That said, I would not have bought rent houses with pools if I was not able to maintain them myself.

You are kind of between a rock and a hard place and your only real option is to hire a company to maintain the pool. I would pass the cost on to the tenants. I would advertise that the rental price includes the cost of pool maintenance.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[SpringSingh]

Sartaj,

I have two rent house pools that I take care of myself. Since they are both saltwater pools with relatively new equipment, it makes this pretty easy to do.

If I had to live elsewhere, I would NOT allow my renters to take care of the pools. I would hire a pool maintenance company to do this for me. That said, I would not have bought rent houses with pools if I was not able to maintain them myself.

You are kind of between a rock and a hard place and your only real option is to hire a company to maintain the pool. I would pass the cost on to the tenants. I would advertise that the rental price includes the cost of pool maintenance.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Hi Jim,

The plan was to live in the house and maintain the pool myself but things turned out differently. I will be back in 2-3 years to enjoy the pool. In the mean time looks like the consensus is to hire a good pool maintenance company and include the cost in the rent. Thanks a lot for your advise.

 

[SpringSingh]

Hi Sartaj,

Do you have a suction or pressure port for your cleaner? Suction ports are more common and the Polaris 280 is a pressure cleaner.

I would suggest you insist on hiring the pool service team yourself with direct billing to you, and sticking with a reputable crew doing at least weekly maintenance/twice weekly may be better. Renters are notorious for making simple mistakes that result in damage if left unseen for too long.

Also there are software options for pool service teams that would even provide you (not the management team) with images of each visit. Try and find someone who has invested in this.

Simple signage can also help encourage better behavior and create accountability.

Good luck!

Hi Brad,

I had pool school today. I confirmed that I have suction port for the pool cleaner. The pool builder was offering Hayward Aquanaut cleaner but I declined at that time. Do you recommend a suction type or robotic cleaner to buy for the renter to use? I have a couple of trees near the pool and I am expecting a good number of leaves in the pool in fall/winter. Thanks.

 

[bradgray]

Hi Brad,

I had pool school today. I confirmed that I have suction port for the pool cleaner. The pool builder was offering Hayward Aquanaut cleaner but I declined at that time. Do you recommend a suction type or robotic cleaner to buy for the renter to use? I have a couple of trees near the pool and I am expecting a good number of leaves in the pool in fall/winter. Thanks.

The Aquanaut is among my favorites.

Also recommend the "The Pool Cleaner" by Poolvergnuegen, as it is the same as the Aquanaut (Hayward acquired it).

The Pentair Rebel is also basically the same.

The wheeled cleaners are the most effective at locomotion, especially if your pool has steep floors or stairs.

If you want a cleaner that's a little more bulletproof when it comes to indelicate handling, the Dorado by Pentair is another well reviewed cleaner that we have in many of our pools. But I do like the wheeled cleaners more.

Robotic cleaners are popular here are at TFP, but I would admittedly be among the divergent crowd as I do prefer system-based cleaners. We've chased early failures under/out of warranty and motor repairs on many very costly machines over the years in behalf of owners and it's formed my opinion on them. There's just something about submerging an electric machine that seems to always end badly.

 

[SpringSingh]

The Aquanaut is among my favorites.

Also recommend the "The Pool Cleaner" by Poolvergnuegen, as it is the same as the Aquanaut (Hayward acquired it).

The Pentair Rebel is also basically the same.

The wheeled cleaners are the most effective at locomotion, especially if your pool has steep floors or stairs.

If you want a cleaner that's a little more bulletproof when it comes to indelicate handling, the Dorado by Pentair is another well reviewed cleaner that we have in many of our pools. But I do like the wheeled cleaners more.

Robotic cleaners are popular here are at TFP, but I would admittedly be among the divergent crowd as I do prefer system-based cleaners. We've chased early failures under/out of warranty and motor repairs on many very costly machines over the years in behalf of owners and it's formed my opinion on them. There's just something about submerging an electric machine that seems to always end badly.

Thanks a lot Brad. I think I will buy Aquanaut 400 cleaner.

 

[SpringSingh]

The Aquanaut is among my favorites.

Also recommend the "The Pool Cleaner" by Poolvergnuegen, as it is the same as the Aquanaut (Hayward acquired it).

The Pentair Rebel is also basically the same.

The wheeled cleaners are the most effective at locomotion, especially if your pool has steep floors or stairs.

If you want a cleaner that's a little more bulletproof when it comes to indelicate handling, the Dorado by Pentair is another well reviewed cleaner that we have in many of our pools. But I do like the wheeled cleaners more.

Robotic cleaners are popular here are at TFP, but I would admittedly be among the divergent crowd as I do prefer system-based cleaners. We've chased early failures under/out of warranty and motor repairs on many very costly machines over the years in behalf of owners and it's formed my opinion on them. There's just something about submerging an electric machine that seems to always end badly.

Hi Brad,

I ordered Aquanaut 400. No looking at the plumbing looks like I have 4 manual valves, 2 from skimmers, one from pool bottom, and one from the suction cleaner line. Seems like I have to manually open the suction line and close the line at the bottom of the pool everytime I want to run the cleaner? Is my understanding correct? Is there a better way? Sorry for the novice questions. Thanks.

 

[bradgray]

Hi Brad,

I ordered Aquanaut 400. No looking at the plumbing looks like I have 4 manual valves, 2 from skimmers, one from pool bottom, and one from the suction cleaner line. Seems like I have to manually open the suction line and close the line at the bottom of the pool everytime I want to run the cleaner? Is my understanding correct? Is there a better way? Sorry for the novice questions. Thanks.

Short answer is yes, but also no (don't choke your main [bottom] drain - I'll explain)

Your pump will generate a finite amount of suction. This is spread across all intake sources, and those valves are designed for just this purpose: to balance how much is drawn from where. If they're all wide open equally, you'll get a poor result even without the vac. It's always a ratio game.

Ideally you would have the main partially open with your skimmers wide open and pulling hard to skim the surface. If you add a cleaner, then you have to dial those back to give the cleaner enough juice to run. Best case, you reduce them in tandem but keep them open, even if you have to play with higher RPM settings (assuming you have a variable speed pump?) to get it to perform for periods of the day.

If this is not possible, and you have to severely reduce a source, we do sometimes choke down the main drains in favor of the cleaner if we're forced to make that compromise. And leave the skimmers open. But only in residential accounts.

I would generally advise against this with a rental. Here's why - you want to idiot and accident-proof your pool: if you ran your cleaner and the skimmers only, but the cleaner was blocked by debris or removed by the tenant and the skimmers took on a grocery bag or too many leaves etc simultaneously, you've now starved your pump of water. As unlikely as this may be, it's still possible.

Meanwhile, the main drain is more or less "uncloggable". Try to keep this valve open enough that if everything else was shut, the pump could survive on that until someone corrected it in a reasonable time frame. If you have to close something, close one of the 2 skimmers 100% and dial the other skimmer way back until the cleaner moves well. This may result in less skimming, but it protects your pump from oopsies.

This is an example of why twice weekly is helpful for rentals. The chemicals are benefited by the extra visit, but it's as much or more about the equipment since there are variables you can't control and damage is abrupt with operational issues more often than the cumulative damage seen with poor chemistry over time.

 

[SpringSingh]

Short answer is yes, but also no (don't choke your main [bottom] drain - I'll explain)

Your pump will generate a finite amount of suction. This is spread across all intake sources, and those valves are designed for just this purpose: to balance how much is drawn from where. If they're all wide open equally, you'll get a poor result even without the vac. It's always a ratio game.

Ideally you would have the main partially open with your skimmers wide open and pulling hard to skim the surface. If you add a cleaner, then you have to dial those back to give the cleaner enough juice to run. Best case, you reduce them in tandem but keep them open, even if you have to play with higher RPM settings (assuming you have a variable speed pump?) to get it to perform for periods of the day.

If this is not possible, and you have to severely reduce a source, we do sometimes choke down the main drains in favor of the cleaner if we're forced to make that compromise. And leave the skimmers open. But only in residential accounts.

I would generally advise against this with a rental. Here's why - you want to idiot and accident-proof your pool: if you ran your cleaner and the skimmers only, but the cleaner was blocked by debris or removed by the tenant and the skimmers took on a grocery bag or too many leaves etc simultaneously, you've now starved your pump of water. As unlikely as this may be, it's still possible.

Meanwhile, the main drain is more or less "uncloggable". Try to keep this valve open enough that if everything else was shut, the pump could survive on that until someone corrected it in a reasonable time frame. If you have to close something, close one of the 2 skimmers 100% and dial the other skimmer way back until the cleaner moves well. This may result in less skimming, but it protects your pump from oopsies.

This is an example of why twice weekly is helpful for rentals. The chemicals are benefited by the extra visit, but it's as much or more about the equipment since there are variables you can't control and damage is abrupt with operational issues more often than the cumulative damage seen with poor chemistry over time.

Thanks a lot for your suggestions.

 

[phonedave]

Hi Jim,

The plan was to live in the house and maintain the pool myself but things turned out differently. I will be back in 2-3 years to enjoy the pool. In the mean time looks like the consensus is to hire a good pool maintenance company and include the cost in the rent. Thanks a lot for your advise.

We just sold the rental unit we owned for 10 years or so. It did not have a pool. But it has been my experience that even good renters are oblivious most of the time. Case in point: during the time my last tenants (who were excellent tenants otherwise - paid on time, were considerate, did not do things like put holes in the walls or track road tar across the carpets, been there, done that) were in the rental, the valve under the kitchen sink developed a drip. They never called me about it, never said anything. Well, when they moved out, and I inspected the unit, I not only had to change out the valve, but had to cut out the entire bottom of the sink cabinet, test and remediate the mold underneath, and then fabricate a replacement cabinet bottom.

A pool service company can alert you to small problems that could later become big problems, as opposed to a tenant not noticing them until they become large dollar fixes.

 

[SpringSingh]

We just sold the rental unit we owned for 10 years or so. It did not have a pool. But it has been my experience that even good renters are oblivious most of the time. Case in point: during the time my last tenants (who were excellent tenants otherwise - paid on time, were considerate, did not do things like put holes in the walls or track road tar across the carpets, been there, done that) were in the rental, the valve under the kitchen sink developed a drip. They never called me about it, never said anything. Well, when they moved out, and I inspected the unit, I not only had to change out the valve, but had to cut out the entire bottom of the sink cabinet, test and remediate the mold underneath, and then fabricate a replacement cabinet bottom.

A pool service company can alert you to small problems that could later become big problems, as opposed to a tenant not noticing them until they become large dollar fixes.

Hi PhoneDave, thanks a lot. I will certainly get a pool maintenance company. I meeting with two over the next few days. Thanks.

 

[thefloatqueen]

Hi friends,

Finally my pool construction is completed but at the same time my company have asked me to go for an expat assignment. I got a lot of useful tips from this forum during the planning and construction phase and now need a few more tips. I am planning on renting out the house while I am away. The pool is about 25k salt water pool with Heyward 2.7 HP variable speed pump. I have not yet purchased a pool cleaner. I was planning on purchasing a robot but now with the move I am wondering should I buy the old school Polaris (280/360 etc) to be used by the renter? Or still buy a robot? Also, I was planning on managing my pool myself but now I will hire a pool cleaning company. Do people renting out the house ask renters to keep a pool cleaning company or hire one themselves and include the charges in the rent? Any other tips/pointers for me to consider when renting the house with a pool? Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Sartaj

As a landlord/real estate investor myself, any maintenance (grass cutting/landscaping, pressure washing, etc.) is done by independent contractors that I hire myself. I’m the actual “owner”, so it’s my responsibility. I do factor these costs into the rent, however. I definitely would not want any of my tenants doing maintenance to my pool, so hiring the job out is the right call. Just be sure to inquire with the pool company about which chemicals they use. You definitely don’t want them putting metals in there or going overboard with trichlor pucks. Good luck!!