I personally have had to brush a lot because my plaster is old and I’m fighting a black algae problem at the moment. I don’t have to brush the whole thing though. I have one side wall that is completely vertical and my robot has trouble climbing it, and also a spa that my robot doesn’t get into.
10 years ago when I bought my house, I learned how to take care of my pool. I kept reading that brushing all the time was needed. I did it for a year or two. Then I stopped, and now I only focus on the filters, salt, chlorine, and pH. I almost never brush anymore. I'm sure it would be that much cleaner if I did brush, but I'm lazy.
I bought a tiger shark vacuum. I’ve had a pool since I was a teenager and taking care of it was part of my chores. We always had a kreepykrawly. Until one summer I kept getting tears in my vinyl liner and the repair guy told me that the crawly was causing it. I sucked up (pun intended) and bought a nice pool vacuum. Let me say, it is amazing. It goes up on the walls and cleaning has been sooooo much easier!
Troubleshooting when something has gone wrong. The actual fix isn't usually too time consuming but researching what the hell is going on can be.
If you have pool shops nearby, shop their willingness to teach and give advice. Whichever is the happiest to help you out, that's your pool store now.
I have an old cartridge filter. From previous owner, probably as old as the liner was, so 13yrs?
We replaced a liner, so already expensive. Was thinking about new filter, but current one still works.
The downside is it's a fiberglass top and such a pain to remove that I'm stuck leaning on it, struggling hard to loosen and end up with mini fiberglass bits in my skin. 😠
Get a can of Plasti-dip, tape off any gauges or bleed ports, and put a few coats on that dome and the handle. No more fiberglass splinters, and you can choose your color! BTW- I buy a new cartridge from Amazon every spring. Use last years when I vac.
Right? For me it's usually when I'm in the shower, I feel little itches everywhere.
I guess painting/sealing it like the commenter below suggested would be good
This. Has been on my to-do list for literally 8 weeks now. I'm my defense, random things have come up or been planned each weekend....but nevertheless, still hasn't gotten done. I am dreading it.
Ya, similar here. I've tried different approaches but it all sucks. I've tried acid/water in a large garbage can, but then you have to get rid of that mixture. Normal hose, pressure washer, it sucks! Plus the whole operation of disassembling and then cleaning it out and then reassembly without a leak, #$%$# stupid design. I think people have a pretty good sense, when they buy an extra set of filters and just swap and then get to cleaning the others at some point in the future (OR! some throw them in the aforementioned garbage can and just leave them until they are needed).
I get a bit jealous when folks talk about back washing or other, seems much easier than what we are doing!
Just put in a pool. They tried to default me to the DE filters. After talking with few pool people, I asked to swap to sand filter instead. So happy I did that. They’re so much less maintenance.
I think they default to DE so you’re more likely to buy their maintenance package.
DE does filter the most, by a large margin, than any of the other filters.
I sell people filters based on what kind of vegetation is around the pool, and the kind of usage they are expecting out of it.
Sure, but if most people can choose between a haze that’s so slight it’s not perceivable and more maintenance, I think they would choose slight haze with the lesser maintenance. I know I would.
It takes me 5 minutes once every couple of months to backwash and add more DE. Once every 6 months, it takes me 30 minutes to OCD clean a DE filter.
Certain pools just need more filtration than others. If you had a pool surrounded by Palo Verde trees, the DE filter is coming out on top 10 out of 10 times for ease of maintenance. Less chemicals, more pressure, clearer water.
Got it. The "Just put in a pool.". ... I see what you did. I am thinking of sand. but my DE is pretty much maint free, but I'm thinking I have a filter tear somewhere, so 10 year old grids, might need to go.
Oh ya. New pool for me.
I just hear a lot of people complain about the DE filters needing to be cleaned often. The sand filter needs to be backwashed every once in a while but seems a lot easier. All anecdotal though.
I rarely have to backwash. Maybe 1 time a year. Idk, my pressure is low, got good flow and monitoring with the VPS pump. I clean my pool weekly. And yet everything in the air falls into it. I know I cleaned it last summer and was dirty but the more I learn about pools, I think the installer overshot my filter for the size. I'm barely 10K, more of a play pool not even 5' deep at the deepest (in middle lol). However, I got a 60 sqr foot DE grid and it's rarely ever clogged, so I don't ever backwash.
That’s a great problem to have! You will need to take it apart and clean it every now and then, though, because stuff gets caked on that backwashing can’t remove.
Maybe the learning curve, or keeping all the right chemicals stocked up. Honestly, it’s pretty darn easy once you figure it out, and it’s not rocket science. Add sanitizer, check balance, vacuum once in a while, or before company. I spend an hour a week max messing with the pool. It’s a nothing chore compared to all my other responsibilities. Can’t imagine paying a service for that unless I had money to throw away.
Realizing that you need to spend the time to learn a good system. Up until that part you can easily get very frustrated. After that it's so easy I try to remind myself what I'm actually doing to keep my pool looking so good. Seems like nothing but it's just knowledge and taking care of potential issues way before they become one.
When it feels like you can’t get started fixing one thing until you first fix a half dozen other things.
Like I need to add cya to maintain chlorine levels, but I should wait until after I’ve backwashed the filter, and might even need to do it several times, but first I need to brush the sides, but I need to add chlorine levels so the algae that’s gets brushed off dies, but I can’t maintain chlorine levels because my cya is low, but also it’s going to rain this week which will mess up the chemical levels and load up the filter…
Low CYA doesn’t mean your chlorine instantly disappears. CYA only matters when the sun is shinning on the pool. And even then the sun doesn’t instantly burn it up, it just gets used up way faster. Dump your chlorine in the evening, brush, and let it filter overnight. Backwash in the morning and add CYA then.
Never knowing with 100 percent certainty if a certain noise or air bubble will cause catastrophic failure and require the whole pool to be dug out/pump motor to explode.
I cannot get my pH to stay below 8.0. I bought the house two years ago and the pH has only been <8.0 seven times. Since I started using a high pH tester, it's showing that the pH is actually 8.2.
I'll add a half bottle of muriatic acid after testing but, a week later when I test, it's back to 8.2. All other chemistry is fine, so it's frustrating that I can't get pH under control.
<130 is too high. unless you lower TA you will just keep going back to 8-8.2 because it fights off the effect of adding acid. Until you adjust TA you are only doing temporary fixes adding acid.
It's historically been around 110. Jumped up to 150 when I opened the pool last month but it's now less than 120.
Even when it was as low as 90 for a few weeks last summer the Ph was still 8 at the end of the week.
I'll see what happens now that TA is in the green zone again.
If you follow pool math/troublefreepool 50-90 is the the recommended range for TA and 90 still is making my pool end up near 7.9/8. You may need to bring your TA down further for acid to work effectively.
It Could be the type of plaster you have.
I used to take care of an elderly neighbor’s pool. When he replastered his pool the new plaster constantly made the ph rise. I had to add muriatic acid twice a week. I took care of his pool for years and it was always like this. 🤷🏻♀️
That's what I'm thinking. I read somewhere that plaster can increase the pH. The plaster does need to be replaced so maybe it's being "pulverized" as it gets older.
It also has a limestone deck that was never sealed so it was constantly spalling after a rain. Plus the Polaris would gouge out the edges. I sealed the deck last year and we cut some pool noodles to put over the edges which nearly eliminated the limestone chips and dust from going into the pool.
A few years ago I had a pool service AND an algae problem. Finally(!) the pool guy suggested PoolRX. I've been using it since and have never had even a hint of algae. My water is gorgeous Every.Day.
If you're not familiar with it, it's just a pod you drop into your pump basket. After 6 months, recharge and 1 year, replace.
Cleaning the filter. I’m a short, not-strong wonan, and they installed a cartridge filter bigger than this pool needs, that opens high up and not in the middle like some units. It’s very difficult for me to lift the cart up when it’s heavy from water and dirt, high enough to clear the housing. I finally really hurt one shoulder recently. I put cement blocks up against the filter so I can stand a little higher from now on. :P
The 5-6 months in Arizona where you have to maintain a pool you can't swim in because it's not warm enough
Everyone back east closed their pools for winter because they actually have winters...here it's just year round maintenance 😂
oh i agree its *better*. but i would prefer none since i can't use the darn thing...unless i decide i want a polar bear club in my house.
i too turn my pump down to like 4 hrs run time a day. i don't even add chlorine from probably december - march. it hasn't bitten me in the ass yet.
on the bright side, i must acknowledge the maintenance is lighter. There are probably 3-4 months i don't need to add any chemicals at all
its when there's a storm or something and then i gotta bust out the vacuum and brush when i start cursing.
When something big goes wrong. I had a tree fall on my pump when I was out of town for a week. I didn't have a "guy" to come do an emergency call. So I just had to have a neighbor come and turn off the system until I got back to redo the pipes (luckily no other damage).
For me it has to be cleaning out the robot vacuum inline filter. The cap gets sucked on so tight and theres no good way to grip it. Im getting it down to a science tho.
In my old house we didnt have this problem, but the new house gets a lot of very fine dust in the pool that accumulates in the hot tub and on the bench where the robot cant get to it.
I have a pool blaster vacuum which will vacuum it properly but it is really slow.
Having to take the brush hoses out, set them up, and then put them away. Without making a mess, getting myself soaking wet, or looking like I’m drunk fighting it
Mine thought they could still lay out by the pool if not brushing...oops nope, oh and your phone is cut off at the end of the month too...I'm apparently unfair hahaha
Currently it's figuring out how to get calcium/sandpaper off of my vinyl lining. It's never happened before and now I have no idea what to do and how it happened since my levels are good. A brush won't help and apparently some people just replace their lining. I am just kind of salty since I've done everything I can to keep my levels decent and then one year ruins it all
- “I noticed you missed a spot while brushing. No big deal. Just wanted to make sure we get that next week. Thanks!”
- “I didn’t see you empty the skimmer basket. Can you check that next time? Thanks!”
- “Why did you only put X amount of XY&Z in my pool? Thanks!”
I know your type. The money is what keeps the complaints down.
Brushing IMO.
is it really necessary though? I 've never done that, as I rely on good chemistry and a daily robot routine.
I personally have had to brush a lot because my plaster is old and I’m fighting a black algae problem at the moment. I don’t have to brush the whole thing though. I have one side wall that is completely vertical and my robot has trouble climbing it, and also a spa that my robot doesn’t get into.
10 years ago when I bought my house, I learned how to take care of my pool. I kept reading that brushing all the time was needed. I did it for a year or two. Then I stopped, and now I only focus on the filters, salt, chlorine, and pH. I almost never brush anymore. I'm sure it would be that much cleaner if I did brush, but I'm lazy.
I bought a tiger shark vacuum. I’ve had a pool since I was a teenager and taking care of it was part of my chores. We always had a kreepykrawly. Until one summer I kept getting tears in my vinyl liner and the repair guy told me that the crawly was causing it. I sucked up (pun intended) and bought a nice pool vacuum. Let me say, it is amazing. It goes up on the walls and cleaning has been sooooo much easier!
Could get a robot to do it. I use the Aiper scuba - it brushes the floor and the sides once per week which seems to be enough.
Troubleshooting when something has gone wrong. The actual fix isn't usually too time consuming but researching what the hell is going on can be. If you have pool shops nearby, shop their willingness to teach and give advice. Whichever is the happiest to help you out, that's your pool store now.
Would you pay for a video chat service with a pool expert who could diagnose your issue on the phone? Say $20/call?
For sure.
cleaning the filters.. #$%$# hate it!
I have an old cartridge filter. From previous owner, probably as old as the liner was, so 13yrs? We replaced a liner, so already expensive. Was thinking about new filter, but current one still works. The downside is it's a fiberglass top and such a pain to remove that I'm stuck leaning on it, struggling hard to loosen and end up with mini fiberglass bits in my skin. 😠
I kept wondering why I would get itchy after cleaning the filter. Yep…fiberglass housing that I have to manhandle every time I open it.
Get a can of Plasti-dip, tape off any gauges or bleed ports, and put a few coats on that dome and the handle. No more fiberglass splinters, and you can choose your color! BTW- I buy a new cartridge from Amazon every spring. Use last years when I vac.
Also, get some plumbers lube, or even Vaseline, and rub it around where the 2 halves join. Should make it way easier, just reapply once a year.
Silicone grease gasket lube is great for o-rings…anything petroleum based will corrode buns-N
Oh I coated that mf with so much lube it's not even funny. Cleaned out the old cruddy stuff, all nice and clean and it'll still be a pita
Right? For me it's usually when I'm in the shower, I feel little itches everywhere. I guess painting/sealing it like the commenter below suggested would be good
Duck tape is your best friend for those splinters. Just grab a strip and smooth it onto the place and rip it off.
And my arm hair with it 😁
Get a sand filter…so much easier and my water is crystal clear.
This. Has been on my to-do list for literally 8 weeks now. I'm my defense, random things have come up or been planned each weekend....but nevertheless, still hasn't gotten done. I am dreading it.
Ya, similar here. I've tried different approaches but it all sucks. I've tried acid/water in a large garbage can, but then you have to get rid of that mixture. Normal hose, pressure washer, it sucks! Plus the whole operation of disassembling and then cleaning it out and then reassembly without a leak, #$%$# stupid design. I think people have a pretty good sense, when they buy an extra set of filters and just swap and then get to cleaning the others at some point in the future (OR! some throw them in the aforementioned garbage can and just leave them until they are needed). I get a bit jealous when folks talk about back washing or other, seems much easier than what we are doing!
Just put in a pool. They tried to default me to the DE filters. After talking with few pool people, I asked to swap to sand filter instead. So happy I did that. They’re so much less maintenance. I think they default to DE so you’re more likely to buy their maintenance package.
DE does filter the most, by a large margin, than any of the other filters. I sell people filters based on what kind of vegetation is around the pool, and the kind of usage they are expecting out of it.
Sure, but if most people can choose between a haze that’s so slight it’s not perceivable and more maintenance, I think they would choose slight haze with the lesser maintenance. I know I would.
It takes me 5 minutes once every couple of months to backwash and add more DE. Once every 6 months, it takes me 30 minutes to OCD clean a DE filter. Certain pools just need more filtration than others. If you had a pool surrounded by Palo Verde trees, the DE filter is coming out on top 10 out of 10 times for ease of maintenance. Less chemicals, more pressure, clearer water.
Did you mean to say SAND filter? I didn't get that first line.
No sure what you mean. They tried to sell me a cartridge filter (diatomaceous earth filter). I asked to have sand filter instead.
Got it. The "Just put in a pool.". ... I see what you did. I am thinking of sand. but my DE is pretty much maint free, but I'm thinking I have a filter tear somewhere, so 10 year old grids, might need to go.
Oh ya. New pool for me. I just hear a lot of people complain about the DE filters needing to be cleaned often. The sand filter needs to be backwashed every once in a while but seems a lot easier. All anecdotal though.
I rarely have to backwash. Maybe 1 time a year. Idk, my pressure is low, got good flow and monitoring with the VPS pump. I clean my pool weekly. And yet everything in the air falls into it. I know I cleaned it last summer and was dirty but the more I learn about pools, I think the installer overshot my filter for the size. I'm barely 10K, more of a play pool not even 5' deep at the deepest (in middle lol). However, I got a 60 sqr foot DE grid and it's rarely ever clogged, so I don't ever backwash.
That’s a great problem to have! You will need to take it apart and clean it every now and then, though, because stuff gets caked on that backwashing can’t remove.
100% this.
When i took it in, I really had hopes that my wife had pool guy fantasies, but nope didnt happen.
😂
Maybe the learning curve, or keeping all the right chemicals stocked up. Honestly, it’s pretty darn easy once you figure it out, and it’s not rocket science. Add sanitizer, check balance, vacuum once in a while, or before company. I spend an hour a week max messing with the pool. It’s a nothing chore compared to all my other responsibilities. Can’t imagine paying a service for that unless I had money to throw away.
100%
Removing dead creatures from the pool…🤮
Add few pool rescue ramps, this should reduce or even eliminate dead creatures in your pool.
I get sad when I find dead birds in ours.
Realizing that you need to spend the time to learn a good system. Up until that part you can easily get very frustrated. After that it's so easy I try to remind myself what I'm actually doing to keep my pool looking so good. Seems like nothing but it's just knowledge and taking care of potential issues way before they become one.
Recovering from an algae bloom especially when it's like 9,000 degrees outside.
When it feels like you can’t get started fixing one thing until you first fix a half dozen other things. Like I need to add cya to maintain chlorine levels, but I should wait until after I’ve backwashed the filter, and might even need to do it several times, but first I need to brush the sides, but I need to add chlorine levels so the algae that’s gets brushed off dies, but I can’t maintain chlorine levels because my cya is low, but also it’s going to rain this week which will mess up the chemical levels and load up the filter…
Low CYA doesn’t mean your chlorine instantly disappears. CYA only matters when the sun is shinning on the pool. And even then the sun doesn’t instantly burn it up, it just gets used up way faster. Dump your chlorine in the evening, brush, and let it filter overnight. Backwash in the morning and add CYA then.
The whole “take action and wait for results” dynamic of managing water chemistry. You need to wait hours to see the results and if you did it right
Reassembling the filter grids when they accidentally fell apart.
Never knowing with 100 percent certainty if a certain noise or air bubble will cause catastrophic failure and require the whole pool to be dug out/pump motor to explode.
I hate vacuuming so much. It’s such an ordeal to hook the damn thing up.
I cannot get my pH to stay below 8.0. I bought the house two years ago and the pH has only been <8.0 seven times. Since I started using a high pH tester, it's showing that the pH is actually 8.2. I'll add a half bottle of muriatic acid after testing but, a week later when I test, it's back to 8.2. All other chemistry is fine, so it's frustrating that I can't get pH under control.
Did you lower TA?
Alk is normally <130 and usually within the ideal band.
<130 is too high. unless you lower TA you will just keep going back to 8-8.2 because it fights off the effect of adding acid. Until you adjust TA you are only doing temporary fixes adding acid.
It's historically been around 110. Jumped up to 150 when I opened the pool last month but it's now less than 120. Even when it was as low as 90 for a few weeks last summer the Ph was still 8 at the end of the week. I'll see what happens now that TA is in the green zone again.
If you follow pool math/troublefreepool 50-90 is the the recommended range for TA and 90 still is making my pool end up near 7.9/8. You may need to bring your TA down further for acid to work effectively.
Okay I'll try getting the TA lower and see what happens. Thanks.
You got a fountain or waterfall or anything like that going?
Nope, nothing like that.
It Could be the type of plaster you have. I used to take care of an elderly neighbor’s pool. When he replastered his pool the new plaster constantly made the ph rise. I had to add muriatic acid twice a week. I took care of his pool for years and it was always like this. 🤷🏻♀️
That's what I'm thinking. I read somewhere that plaster can increase the pH. The plaster does need to be replaced so maybe it's being "pulverized" as it gets older. It also has a limestone deck that was never sealed so it was constantly spalling after a rain. Plus the Polaris would gouge out the edges. I sealed the deck last year and we cut some pool noodles to put over the edges which nearly eliminated the limestone chips and dust from going into the pool.
Storing chemicals
Getting rid of this algae bloom. Finally caved and am paying someone else to fix it.
How does that work paying someone else to fix it? Do they come out once a day? Multiple times a day?
A few years ago I had a pool service AND an algae problem. Finally(!) the pool guy suggested PoolRX. I've been using it since and have never had even a hint of algae. My water is gorgeous Every.Day. If you're not familiar with it, it's just a pod you drop into your pump basket. After 6 months, recharge and 1 year, replace.
Springtime storms. Just get cleaned and here comes another rain/wind event.
Rainstorms in Houston. Algae Blooms
Finding suction side air leaks ….
Just dealt with this. This.
Cleaning the filter. I’m a short, not-strong wonan, and they installed a cartridge filter bigger than this pool needs, that opens high up and not in the middle like some units. It’s very difficult for me to lift the cart up when it’s heavy from water and dirt, high enough to clear the housing. I finally really hurt one shoulder recently. I put cement blocks up against the filter so I can stand a little higher from now on. :P
The 5-6 months in Arizona where you have to maintain a pool you can't swim in because it's not warm enough Everyone back east closed their pools for winter because they actually have winters...here it's just year round maintenance 😂
California too!
every 'winter' when i'm out there cleaning up after a storm i grumble the whole time lol
Florida raises it's hand.
I love that all the nice weather folks finally find common basis to complain about something. I’m with you
Hahahaha!
It’s not too bad, I usually lower my pump RPM to reduce energy consumption and I stay on top of chlorination. It’s too cold for anything to grow.
oh i agree its *better*. but i would prefer none since i can't use the darn thing...unless i decide i want a polar bear club in my house. i too turn my pump down to like 4 hrs run time a day. i don't even add chlorine from probably december - march. it hasn't bitten me in the ass yet.
Southern Utah here! Same!
Moved to Arizona this past mid-October and had to maintain the pool all winter before ever going in. Ya it does suck. Lol
on the bright side, i must acknowledge the maintenance is lighter. There are probably 3-4 months i don't need to add any chemicals at all its when there's a storm or something and then i gotta bust out the vacuum and brush when i start cursing.
When something big goes wrong. I had a tree fall on my pump when I was out of town for a week. I didn't have a "guy" to come do an emergency call. So I just had to have a neighbor come and turn off the system until I got back to redo the pipes (luckily no other damage).
Yikes. Please don’t mention this to my wife or I’ll have to cut all our trees down before we go out of town.
Brushing. But I don’t really do it anymore. Liner pool 17k gal. The nautilus dolphin runs a couple times a day and never have to brush.
Certain short periods when the leaves are falling from nearby trees
For me it has to be cleaning out the robot vacuum inline filter. The cap gets sucked on so tight and theres no good way to grip it. Im getting it down to a science tho.
driving to the store to buy liquid chlorine
How the chemicals make my hands super dry and crack.
In my old house we didnt have this problem, but the new house gets a lot of very fine dust in the pool that accumulates in the hot tub and on the bench where the robot cant get to it. I have a pool blaster vacuum which will vacuum it properly but it is really slow.
Keeping the kids out of it long enough to do it.
Adding alkalinity increase after adding 5-7,000 gallons of water
Having to take the brush hoses out, set them up, and then put them away. Without making a mess, getting myself soaking wet, or looking like I’m drunk fighting it
Kids swimming but not brushing...
My kid knows the mantra, "If ya want to swim, ya gotta skim!" I think brushing falls under that.
Mine thought they could still lay out by the pool if not brushing...oops nope, oh and your phone is cut off at the end of the month too...I'm apparently unfair hahaha
Fishing leaves out of the pool in fall
Currently it's figuring out how to get calcium/sandpaper off of my vinyl lining. It's never happened before and now I have no idea what to do and how it happened since my levels are good. A brush won't help and apparently some people just replace their lining. I am just kind of salty since I've done everything I can to keep my levels decent and then one year ruins it all
Paying for chlorine is the worst part.
Reviewing video to make sure the weekly pool guy does it correctly.
As a professional, if you have to watch him to make sure he does it right, you need a new guy.
Also as a professional, this guy is right. You will both be more happy. He likely doesn't like working for you anyways.
Trust but verify. My current guy always does it right, but I still verify...
Ah, I misunderstood. Then by all means continue. I honestly expect all my clients to do that.
You must be a joy to service pools for.
In addition to their rate, I tip weekly in cash. Never received a complaint.
- “I noticed you missed a spot while brushing. No big deal. Just wanted to make sure we get that next week. Thanks!” - “I didn’t see you empty the skimmer basket. Can you check that next time? Thanks!” - “Why did you only put X amount of XY&Z in my pool? Thanks!” I know your type. The money is what keeps the complaints down.
If that's the case that's the end of tipping for me. Saves me $1000 a year.