Should You Start A Pool Cleaning Business
Starting a pool cleaning business isnt as simple as going door to door with a sweeping brush. It is going to require some work.
If youve assessed the pros and cons and decided that a pool cleaning business is for you, you have to decide if youre going to be just cleaning or doing maintenance as well.
One is quite a bit more complicated, but it will make it easier for you to find clients. In either case, you need to do quite a bit of research if you want to succeed.
Pool cleaning and maintenance businesses really know their stuff when it comes to pools. Unless youre willing to undertake the training needed to understand all of it, then starting a pool cleaning business might not be for you.
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Clean Up Debris And Check For Wear And Tear
Before you open your pool, take some time to survey the area around your pool. Trim overgrown trees and hedges. Sweep away nearby leaves. Check your for damage, wear, and tear and address any issues before you open your pool for the season. Be sure to clean and repair any deck furniture so that it is safe for use. You should also check pool equipment like safety rails, slides, rescue equipment, ladders, and diving boards.
Testing Your Freshly Filled Pool Water
To find out the water balance of your source water, just use a pool test kit or test strips. Be sure that your kit or strips are fresh, last years supply may produce inaccurate results.
To produce the full battery of water tests , you will need a complete test kit like the Taylor Deluxe K-2005. If you prefer test strips, AquaChek Select 7-Way, and LaMotte Insta Test 6 are both complete test strips.
Taking a water sample to the pool store may not be the best option, as their system is designed to sell you chemicals, after which you will need to test the water again, and test all summer – so you may as well buy the K-2005 , or buy some fresh 6-way or 7-way test strips, which aren’t as accurate, but may be close enough.
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New Pool Startup Chemicals
Pool Team
If you have just built a new pool or drained and refilled your old pool with fresh water, then you need to know about the startup chemicals that you must use. The new pool startup chemicals depend on the water balance of your source water. Sometimes tap water can be an excellent source of pool water while some need special adjustment to balance the water that will work well with the chlorine and will not stain, corrode or fade the pool surface.
Hot Tub Start Up Chemicals: How To Open For The Season
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Download our free Pool Maintenance Starter Kit and learn how to manage your pool affordably and efficiently.
Download our free Pool Maintenance Starter Kit and learn how to manage your pool affordably and efficiently.
Hot tubs are an excellent way to sit back, relax your muscles, and destress. However, while hot tubs are known for their relaxing nature, hot tub maintenance can be a scary process to tackle. Learning and knowing what chemicals to use, how to open for the season, and how to properly maintain a hot tub may seem daunting.
Thankfully, hot tub care experts are here to help you every step of the way. We will walk you through everything you need to know regarding hot tub start up chemicals for a successful hot tub season, from understanding why chemicals are essential to an outlined hot tub setup process.
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A Beginners Guide To Pool Maintenance
Your swimming pool needs regular upkeep. Thats why it pays to develop a strong basic understanding of pool maintenance essentials.
When you know how your pool works, the best ways to care for it, and how to plan for it, youll be ready to solve just about any potential pool problem that floats your way.
What Products Does Baquacil Make
As we mentioned, Baquacil is just a name brand for some pool and spa products. The thing that sets this brand apart is its use of chlorine-free components. Essentially if you want your pool water to stay clean, but you need a break from chlorine, this is the way to do it.
When you are using these unique products, the pool chemistry is likely to change a bit. You can forget what you know about what your pool needs and doesnt need and familiarize yourself with the Baquacil system. Here are some of the most important products offered by this company.
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A Pool Cleaning Schedule
If it has proper circulation, youve already made cleaning your pool much easier. But youll still need to apply some good old-fashioned elbow grease. The basic tools youll need are:
Both Mother Nature and the folks using your pool bring all sorts of wild and wacky things into your pool, from leaves, mold, and the odd duck or frog to residues from shampoos, perfumes, and hair products. Add in the risks of bacterial contamination, and cleaning your pool becomes an absolutely essential part of safe swimming.
Skim, brush, and vacuum your pool weekly, at a minimum. This will keep debris out of your water, and your walls sparkling clean. Baking soda paste works particularly well as a basic scouring cleaner that wont damage delicate tile or a vinyl liner when you brush.
An automatic pool cleaner can significantly cut your pool cleaning time. It wont eliminate the need for regular skimming and brushing, but itll make both tasks easier, freeing you up to spend time enjoying your pool instead of cleaning it.
You can also make your cleaning life easier with a few unorthodox additions to your pool. Toss a few tennis balls into your skimmer basket, or even right into the pool, and theyll absorb surface oils left behind by suntan lotion, cosmetics, etc. You can also wrap your skimmer baskets with pantyhose to create an extra-fine filter thatll catch more contaminants than a skimmer alone.
Alkalinity Adjusting Chemicals For Pool Start Up
If your pools initial test shows an incorrect amount of alkalinity, then you need to add some chemicals to fix it. It doesnt matter if it was too high or too low, chemicals are going to be needed.
This should be the first chemical that you add to your pool during start-up. This one can really affect the pH level of your pool. Sorting this out first prevents you from ruining your hard work on your pools pH level by doing it afterward.
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Why You Need To Know How To Open An Above Ground Pool
Your pools been covered all winter. As convenient as it would be to just pull the cover off and dive right in, think for a minutethat waters been sitting there, stagnant, all winter long. Do you really want to submerge yourself in that? Didnt think so.
Knowing the above ground pool opening process will ensure that when you do finally get back into the pool, its in clean, clear, non-swampy water.
Testing The Pool Water
Once you have filled your pool with fresh new water, you have to test it. This is important to find the water balance of the source water. You can use a pool test kit or the test strips for testing the right water balance. You have to make sure that the test strip is fresh and not used before. Also, if it is a year old then it can produce you with an incorrect result. You need a complete test kit for getting the full water test including calcium hardness, chlorine content, pH level, Cyanuric acid and alkalinity.
The best way to get the right chemicals for your pool is to take a water sample to the pool store. Some of the pool stores are designed in such a way that it can provide you with the chemicals that are needed for your water. This can be the most accurate and correct ways to know the exact chemicals that you will need for your pool water.
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Stabilizers And Balancing Chemicals
Other important swimming pool chemicals include Water Balancing Pool Chemicals. Chemical levels in your pool water are affected by many factors, including sunlight, rain, evaporation and the presence of oils. This means that the waters chemical levels are always changing, which affects the waters pH levels and total alkalinity.
Balancing chemicals such as pH Increaser and pH Reducer allow you to keep pH and alkalinity levels in the right range and help maintain healthy and clean water. Water balancing pool chemicals also help enhance the performance of your sanitizer, reducing maintenance time and chemical use.
While bromine cannot be stabilized, or protected from the sun, chlorines life can be extended by using stabilizer, aka conditioner. Stabilizing pool chemicals provide protection for chlorine molecules, preventing them from becoming quickly destroyed by UV radiation from the sun. This allows your chlorine-based chemicals to last longer, which saves money and prevents rapid depletion on warm summer days.
Should Pool Chemicals Be Stored Together
If you consider yourself a control freak, then you may want to store your pool chemicals in the same cabinet, which can make them easier to find.
However, pool chemicals should always be stored separately to prevent the risk of contamination. This is because the chemicals can react when mixed together.
In most cases, it is recommended to group your pool chemicals with other like-chemicals, especially when it comes to long term storage. This means keeping your algaecides in one container and your pool shock or chlorine in another.
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What Chemicals Do I Need To Maintain My Pool
Many of the chemicals used to open your pool will also be useful for keeping your pool sparkling cleanall season long. For routine pool maintenance, add these chemicals weekly:
- Chlorine in granular or tab form
- Bromine as an alternate to chlorine or as one of the important startup chemicals for hot tubs
- Soda ash, baking soda, or muriatic acid to balance total alkalinity and pH
- Shock after a heavy rainfall or group swim
In addition to these standard chemicals, you may need other specialized pool chemicals at times. If youhave trouble with algae or metal staining, try one of these solutions:
- Algaecide. This chemical prevents and kills algae growth. Keep your pool from goinggreen even in sunny environments by adding algaecide after a shock treatment.
- Metal Remover. During the off season and when filling with high-metal water, metalscan build up in pool water and stain your pool. To remove these stains, add metal remover to yourpool water.
To make sure that chemical levels are balanced throughout the swim season, test your pool water once ormore weekly with a home testing kit or take a water sample to your local pool company for professionaltesting.
Handle Pool Chemicals Safely
Good Pool Maintenance Begins With Knowing Your Pool
Before you can properly enjoy or care for your pool, you might need to brush up on all the parts of your pool. You dont need to take an annex course or go for your doctorate in swimology from Harvard. But knowing the basic parts of your pool, and their functions, helps you keep everything running smoothlyand makes it easier to resolve issues when they occur.
Looking for even more pool maintenance tips? Weve got just the thing. Check out The Pool Care Handbook and Video Course and become a pool care master.
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Inventory Your Pool Chemicals
Youll want to have all of your chemicals ready to go before you start opening your pool. Check the expiration dates on all of your pool chemicals, and replace any that are past their prime. . You should also replace any chemicals that werent properly sealed before they were stored.
Chemicals Checklist: Everything You Need to Open Your Pool
Need to do a pre-opening pool chemical supply run? Heres what youll need to get the job done right:
- A good test kit or test strips for checking your pools pH, calcium hardness, total alkalinity,and chlorine levels
- Chlorine granules or tablets
- Stain treatment
Does Baquacil Have Good Reviews
When you read reviews for Baquacil, you will notice that people are often more upset with the price than with the products functionality. Most do not have an issue with how the products take care of their pool however, it can get quite expensive to use this form of sanitizer in your pool.
In general, it is difficult to compare what people have to say about the product because the pools and the people differ from each other. However, overall there is no questioning that Baquacil works it just costs quite a bit.
Sometimes it is also hard to keep the pool water from getting cloudy while using Baquacil, yet most pool owners will eventually figure out the proper chemical balance. If you follow the plan accordingly and continually check sanitizer levels, the cloudy pool issue shouldnt be too bad.
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Additional Things You Might Need
Here is a list of some of the equipment you might need to open the pool for the first time:
- A pool cover pump
- A soft broom or skimmer net
- A cover cleaner
- A friend to help you out
- Chemical testing kit
Now that you have an idea of the chemicals you will need, lets take a look at the steps you need to take to open your above ground pool.
Step 1 Clear off the water, debris and anything else from the pool cover
First off, use a pool cover pump to remove water that might have accumulated on the pool cover surface. You can even use a regular sump pump, which you must have at home. Once all the moisture has been removed, use a soft broom or a skimmer to clear out debris from the pool cover surface.
Step 2 Remove the pool cover
Once the pool cover has cleared and dried out completely, it is time to remove the pool cover. You need to be very careful while removing the pool cover. Make sure that you do not let any of the debris or accumulated water enter the pool.
With the pool cover removed, get the help of a friend and wash the pool cover using a pool cover cleaner. Cleaning the pool cover will save you from a lot of trouble when you need to put the cover back on. It also helps extend the lifespan of the pool cover.
Store the pool cover in a safe place to protect it from damage caused by critters. Use an airtight container to give it the best protection.
Step 3 Pull the winter plugs and accessories out
Step 4 Top up the water in your pool
Step 5 Reinstall the pool ladder
Pool Chemicals Guide For Opening Your Pool
At the end of a long winter you never know what you are going to find when you remove your pool cover. During all of those months of sitting dormant, chances are your pool water has gone out of balance and built up some contaminants. To open your swimming pool the right way, there are several different chemicals you need.
After you have removed your pool cover, replaced your winterizing plugs, cleaned the skimmer baskets and main drain, thoroughly checked and reconnected your pool equipment, and started up your pool pump, its time for the chemicals. This handy guide will walk you through exactly which pool chemicals you need to start off on the right foot and get your pool ready for swim season. For complete instructions on how to open your pool, check out our comprehensive pool opening checklist.
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Chemicals Youll Need To Start Up Your Swimming Pool
Starting a pool up, either for the first time or for the season, is a big task. Between the cleaning and chemicals for a pool start-up, it is hard work for any pool owner.
Pools are seasonal in most areas of the world. Weather and climate sadly necessitate most being closed for certain periods of the year. This is bound to make start up difficult.
If you consider how much work goes into weekly pool maintenance and maintaining your pools chemical balance, it isnt surprising that a dormant pool requires quite a bit of work to be safe for use again.
Using the right chemicals when staring a pool up will get your water off to the right start. The rest of the season can go well, with only need maintenance work needed to keep your water in good health. However, if you get things wrong the entire start-up could drag out as you attempt to fix your pools water.
What chemicals you need for a pool start up is actually going to vary on a few things, like what water youre filling your pool with. However, testing your water should give you all the information to get things done right.
How To Safely Store Swimming Pool Chemicals
As we previously mentioned, the best way to store your pool chemicals is in a sealed container, which can be placed in a childproof area with little sunlight or moisture.
The best thing about these cabinets is that they can be put inside or outside, although their final location will depend on the weather in your area.
For safe storage, pool chemicals should always be kept in a locked container that is inaccessible to children.
In fact, this is something that every pool owner should keep in mind to ensure everyones safety.
To do this, we recommend purchasing a lockable storage container that is made from industrial materials and capable of holding 100 gallons as this will give you enough space to store your chemicals in a safe and controlled manner.
While the cabinet you choose is your decision to make, we have also recommended two amazing products in the section below:
- Rubbermaid Outdoor Storage Shed
- Keter Borneo 110 Gallon Storage Container
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