It’s not an exaggeration to say great pools demand a lot from their finishes. Pumps and plumbing have to work well but don’t have to look good. Aesthetic amenities have to look good — and not much else. Features like glass tiles and acrylic panels, on the other hand, are asked to endure the intense…
Matt Trissel was a designer for Georgetown, Texas-based Cody Pools for eight years, and saw firsthand the issues calcium causes on pools and spas. In 2013, he left Cody, and along with friend Dusty Renfro, started an oilfield service company called Four Six Services. While there, he discovered a technology being used in the oilfield…
Not everyone provides service quotes to customers in the same way. Some go through a checklist with the customer over the phone, while others send a technician to do a visual inspection. No matter the method, there’s no denying that some sort of assessment ahead of time is crucial. No customer likes to find unforeseen…
If you go into your search engine and type “pool accident chlorine gas” in the news tab, you will see nearly 3,000 results within seconds — headlines such as “At least 35 people at San Jose swimming pool exposed to dangerous chemical mix.” Chlorine gas is just that: A gas cloud of chlorine that can…
By Zach Morris of Clear Comfort As a pool professional, you know the importance of clean, sanitized water. However, few people understand the pool chemical process, known as oxidation, that actually disinfects the water. What is pool oxidation? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Model Aquatic Health Code, oxidation is “the process…
Finding good employees can feel like swimming in endless, expensive circles. For maximum return on investment, several approaches are working for pool industry companies that seek to reach a new applicant base. Mason Guarino, vice president of South Shore Gunite Pools & Spa in North Billerica, Massachusetts, says they have good luck with Facebook ads…
Steve Kenny says you can only achieve and maintain luxury water if you treat every pool as an individual. “I’m working on a pool right now in Montauk,” Kenny says of the famous shore town on the easternmost tip of Long Island, N.Y., where his company, SRK Pools, is located. “The customer’s desired water temperature…
Deborah Martin, owner of The Pool Medic in central California, tried PoolRx as a last resort. She had struggled to keep a pool algae-free in summer 2015. It was a brand new, 45,000-gallon, full sun, black bottom Pebble Tec pool. “I get it stabilized, running the thing for like 18 hours a day and it’s…
If a backyard renovation is on the agenda, homeowners will look for pictures of completed projects to start brainstorming for their own. And with more than 40 million unique users a month, Houzz has become a highly popular platform for design and renovation photos. “People invest in pools for [a certain] lifestyle, and nothing communicates…
In some companies, training programs haven’t been revamped in years, or possibly ever. Stephanie Hammerwold, a human resources expert known as The HR Hammer in Irvine, California, works with employers to make workspaces a more enjoyable place to be. Her advice is to start by assessing the current instruction procedure for employees. “Take the time…
Aquatic activity in healthy water is increasingly on the public’s radar. Today, most health departments require commercial pool technicians to have the Certified Pool Operator Certification from the National Swimming Pool Foundation. Michelle Kavanaugh, mission development director for the NSPF, says the CPO Certification is the most widely recognized certification in the pool and spa…
Employee pay and tax insight from our panelists Brian DiglioCPO, AST, CSP, presidentBlue Wave Pool Service and Supplies, Inc.Hamden, Connecticut Facebook: @BlueWavePoolSpaTwitter: @MarvTheDolphinYouTube: Blue Wave Pool Service & Suppliesbluewavepoolspa.com In the Northeast, typically the pools are too far apart to do a pay-per-pool compensation. Also, because of the seasonal aspect of the business, it sometimes…