Regardless of where you live or how frequent it's used, if you own a pool, pool maintenance is an important factor in having a healthy pool. Maintenance can consist of anything from removing debris, balancing water chemistry, or maintaining the pool's equipment. Your pool requires attention!
And while you’ve already got a lot of things to do this weekend, the cleaning and maintenance for your swimming pool needs to be a priority. Chances are though, you’d rather do something else like swim, spend time with your family, or catch up on Netflix. The last thing you want to do is vacuum the pool, net leaves, clean out the skimmers, and treat the pool with the chemicals it needs.
The question is, should you take on this task by yourself, or enlist in the help of a professional cleaning services to clean your pool? Let's look at both options!
Professional Pool Maintenance: Paying Someone to Do What You Don't Want to
One of the easiest ways to get more free time (as a pool owner) is to hire a pool professional. A pool professional can access the pool's current needs, on a weekly basis and foresee any potential problems that could cost you time and money. In the long run, hiring a pool maintenance service gives you the freedom and peace of mind knowing your pool is in good hands.
Before hiring a professional pool service, do your homework. Research any company you are considering. Make sure they have a good track record with the BBB and check customer reviews for both good and bad remarks. Most companies will ask that you sign a weekly service contract before starting any swimming pool maintenance. You don't want to be locked into poor service. (Even though most have a 30-day cancellation notice.)
Here are a few things you can expect from a weekly visit,
- Vacuum as needed
- Net / skim leaves and debris from the pool's surface
- Brush the tile line, walls, and floor
- Empty automatic cleaner bag where applicable
- Check and balance water chemistry
- Empty pump basket at the equipment pad
- Backwash sand filter or check the pressure on other filter types for cleaning
- Record pool chemistry values for each visit to keep an extensive history of the pool
- Add or lower water level if necessary
Typically, being an existing weekly service customer will make you a priority when needing repairs or service work outside of your routine service.
But Hiring a Professional Maintenance Service is Too Expensive...
Okay, so you've done you're research and your local services are more than you were budgeting on. If you are considering doing some of the maintenance yourself, talk to a pool maintenance company about options for service every other week. This is normally acceptable, especially in early Spring (March-April) and for the homeowners that leave their pools open over the Winter. Pools do not require as much maintenance or chemicals during these times of the year and it's a great way to save money.
Keep in mind that Summer and Fall are not recommended seasons for every other week visits due to the Summer afternoon showers making the pool hard to maintain on an for the pool professional. In the Fall, leaves can clog the skimmers to the point they will need to be emptied more often until all of the leaves have fallen. This can take anywhere between 6 weeks to 2 months for all of the leaves to fall depending on where you live.
Or you could dive straight into the DIY approach. Time to learn! Luckily we have a wealth of information on cleaning supplies and maintenance tasks. You can find links to those articles at the end of this post. It really comes between how much money you want to save versus how much extra time you want to have. So make sure you take the time to really know what goes into keeping your pool safe and happy.
DIY Pool Maintenance Hacks to Consider
It’s important to have a professional assess and implement a maintenance plan. However, it’s just as important to take care of your pool as often as you can in between maintenance visits. Consider taking care of the smaller details below:
- Shocking the pool after a rain/ storm to prevent any algae growth until the next scheduled weekly visit. Rain can drop particles from the air, including pollen, into the pool causing algae growth very quickly.
- Emptying the skimmer basket if you notice it's full of leaves or debris as this can restrict the water flow to the pump and could cause damage.
- Remove any floats and/ or pool toys after spending time in the pool. These will eventually block the skimmers not allow leaves and debris in. Eventually, the debris will drop to the floor instead.
- Purchase in automatic cleaner. This will help keep the pool clean in-between visits. This will earn brownie points with the pool professional, and possibly result in a better weekly service fee.
The easiest way to ensure a long happy pool life is by enlisting the help of a professional and applying some DIY hacks in between professional cleanings!
However, check out some of our other maintenance related articles below if you want to learn more about the specifics of DIY Pool Maintenance.
- Finally! An Easy Solution to Pool Maintenance
- How to Clean and Maintain Your Own Swimming Pool
- How to clear a murky green pool fast with Revive
- Make keeping your pool clean and clear easy with E-Z Pool
- The perfect solution for your saltwater pool: Pepper!
- Pool opening supply buyer's guide
- How to identify and treat pool algae
- Saltwater Above Ground Pools: A Buyer’s Guide
- Money-Saving Pool Hack: Use Baking Soda to Raise Alkalinity Levels
