What does it take to get rid of the pool guy...

[mmardini]

Hi everyone. We have owned our home with a pool for about a year and a half now. Up until about 2 months ago we had someone caring for the pool that we trusted because he is family and he has been in the pool business for about 30 years. Always went above and beyond for us. Unfortunately he moved to Michigan in June so we had to hire someone else. It seemed like he was doing a good job but last week we had our pool replastered and tiled and I gave him specific instructions for start up from the pebble company. I asked if he could follow these instructions to keep the warranty intact and he said he would. Well...he hasn’t. He is under the impression that with pebble it’s just a quick one day start up and brush and vacuum and that’s it. I kept telling him that’s not what the instructions said. I’m
Now at my wits ends because he added chloride a day early and hasn’t added any cya, so in our weather it was eaten up in a couple hours. He came by Monday and said he would add some stabilizer Friday! So we just went and bought it ourselves because it’s 105 degrees all week. My main issue now is when I test the water it is not balanced so I don’t know what I’m paying this guy for. What I would like to know is what I would need to take over the pool 100% ourselves. Do we need one of those vacuums that stay in the pool? How do you keep track of cleaning filters, etc? I’m super frustrated with this pool guy and just need advice on taking over 100%!

 

[mmardini]

Hi everyone. We have owned our home with a pool for about a year and a half now. Up until about 2 months ago we had someone caring for the pool that we trusted because he is family and he has been in the pool business for about 30 years. Always went above and beyond for us. Unfortunately he moved to Michigan in June so we had to hire someone else. It seemed like he was doing a good job but last week we had our pool replastered and tiled and I gave him specific instructions for start up from the pebble company. I asked if he could follow these instructions to keep the warranty intact and he said he would. Well...he hasn’t. He is under the impression that with pebble it’s just a quick one day start up and brush and vacuum and that’s it. I kept telling him that’s not what the instructions said. I’m
Now at my wits ends because he added chloride a day early and hasn’t added any cya, so in our weather it was eaten up in a couple hours. He came by Monday and said he would add some stabilizer Friday! So we just went and bought it ourselves because it’s 105 degrees all week. My main issue now is when I test the water it is not balanced so I don’t know what I’m paying this guy for. What I would like to know is what I would need to take over the pool 100% ourselves. Do we need one of those vacuums that stay in the pool? How do you keep track of cleaning filters, etc? I’m super frustrated with this pool guy and just need advice on taking over 100%!

Btw we do not have a SWG so we use only liquid chlorine and the occasional tablet if needed

 

[ajw22]

Here are things to consider for Phasing out the Pool Guy - Further Reading

 

[Newdude]

Hey Mm and Welcome to the hands down best place for everything pool related. And some occasional other topics as well. All you ‘had to do’ was find your way here, which you did.

you need a reliable test kit to avoid the pool guy and just as expensive pool store. Pick yourself up a tf-100 from tftestkits.net if you haven’t already. You will need a manual vacuum setup or a robot for cleaning. The Dolphin S200 robot and all its clones are about $700 and is widely agreed upon the best bang for the buck.

ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry is what you need to know about the chemistry part and it’s simple stuff. We can guide you until it clicks, and it clicks a lot faster when you are doing it as opposed to in the past when you would occasionally read about it.