Have you been caring for your swimming pool on your own? Are you a new swimming pool owner who is overwhelmed at the idea of caring for a pool that is as expensive as the one you’ve just had built? Have your family circumstances changed and where before you didn’t mind cleaning and maintaining and vacuuming the pool, but now you’d rather spend time with friends or your growing family? Is it time to hire a pool service contractor? It is a question pool owners ask themselves.
Pool ownership is a tightrope of chemical balancing and equipment maintenance. It can be a task fraught with the potential for mistakes. While none of these mistakes are likely to damage your pool or its equipment beyond repair, if you have questions, consult the experts — not a YouTube video, but the swimming pool service contractors from the Best Pool Service provider in Menifee, CA — A Clear Choice Pool service.
Is it time to hire a pool service contractor?
If you find yourself in any of these following situations, it may be time to call on the services of a professional pool service contractor.
- You don’t test the water often enough. Even if you bought a water test kit, do you use it often enough? Do you understand the readings well enough to know which chemicals need to be added to keep the water chemistry where it belongs? Neglecting to test the water and balance the chemicals will make for a pool prone to algae and bacteria growth.
- When did you last run the pool pump? Can you remember? Did you turn it on and forget to turn it off? Run the pool pump at night when the draw on the power grid is less and the cost of electricity is lower. You should plan to run the pool pump at least eight hours per day. If you’re worried you will forget, ask a pool contractor to equip the pool pump with a timer. Even though you have a timer, pay attention to it because if it stops working correctly your water will pay the price.
- You have to shock the pool so you just dump the shock right into the pool. Stop right there! Doing that can damage the pool liner and this is even more true if the shock granules settle to the bottom of the pool. This shock chemical can also lead to a vinyl liner becoming brittle and cracking or tearing. Always dissolve the shock in a bucket of warm water before adding to the pool. Wear eye and hand protection when using shock.
- Do you know how to, and when to, backwash?. Backwashing the pool isn’t something that’s done frequently, but it does need to be done and it uses a LOT of water. Backwashing is a major task and must be done when the pressure gauge on the pool pump shows a change in pressure. Many pool owners have a pool contractor do the backwashing when it’s necessary.
- Running an automatic or robotic pool cleaner when the pool is full of algae. This is a rookie mistake but an understandable one. You want to get the algae out of the pool and you think the easiest and best way to do that is to run the vacuum to suck it up. Bad idea! The automatic vacuum does more harm than good and stirs up algae making it harder to remove. If you see algae, you may want to pick up the phone and give us a call.
Pool maintenance is not for the faint of heart nor is it for someone who has limited free time — wouldn’t you rather swim than clean?