Pool maintenance - What do you pay then pool guy?

My old guy charged 30 to come out plus chemicals he used. Ended up being anywhere from 75-150 weekly. They would brush and do basic cleaning.

I let them go after two months. Once I learned the chemicals and how easy it was I couldn't justify it. Good luck.

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Once I learned the chemicals and how easy it was I couldn't justify it.

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I would just bring a water sample to pool store and they would give me a printout of exactly what chemicals and how much to use.

You can make more money if you supply and charge for the chemicals. Pool guy told me that straight up that a lot of his money comes from that.

I do all my own upkeep and maintenance but I moved to new house and was unfamiliar with the equipment. He agreed to come walk me through it and diagnose a separate broken switch issue I was having.

Usually 1-4 beers depending on the weather.

Man I don't miss a fricking pool. That's what the Y is for.

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Except you don't need most of that shite.

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baking soda and chlorine was all I ever used. I know if the ph starts going the other direction you might need muriatic acid or borax but other than those common, proven, simple chemicals you don't need anything else.

You start with florochloroalgecideboogaloo and that's when you get into trouble.

Go peep them baws on troublefreepool. Old man strength on that site and they will tell you to gfy with the quickness.

Seriously. Just listen to the grouchy old men with 1,000 hours of experience between them and a Corvette in their garage with 17 layers of wax and a diaper in the glovebox to wipe it down.

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baking soda and chlorine was all I ever used

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That was me until this year. Now my hands and feet are too dry and I need to keep CYA levels closer to 70 than 30 so they don’t crack on me when I spend 15 hr per week in there.

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baking soda and chlorine was all I ever used.

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In the past 12 months this is what I've used on my pool...

55 gallons of liquid Chlorine
1 gallon of muriatic acid.
50lbs of calcium hardness
maybe 20 tablets to raise CYA. In 4 years I've only bought 2 buckets of this so I don't really keep count.

Roughly $500 total.

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Go peep them baws on troublefreepool. Old man strength on that site and they will tell you to gfy with the quickness.

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These guys have saved me so much time and money. I spend less than 15 minutes a week on my pool. My pool water is crystal clear. Every time I go to someone else's pool, I become silently judgemental of their water clarity.

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These guys have saved me so much time and money. I spend less than 15 minutes a week on my pool. My pool water is crystal clear. Every time I go to someone else's pool, I become silently judgemental of their water clarity.

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Trouble Free Pool is the objectively correct and easiest way to manage your water. You only need to monitor 5 things:

Free chlorine (bleach and the occasional trichlor tablet if I'm out of town or need to raise stabilizer level)
pH (muriatic acid)
Total Alkalinity (baking soda)
CYA/stabilizer (trichlor tablets for me, but you can use pure CYA)
Calcium hardness (50lb bucket of calcium carbonate)

You don't need to measure anything else unless there is a problem (total chlorine, phospates,etc.), and there never is a problem if you just follow the procedure. The entire pool service industry is based on making you think it is way more complicated than it actually is. The pool stores don't even test your water for all the appropriate parameters and they do test for all kinds of nonsense to sell you things (phosphate remover). The kids that work there and perform the water tests don't have any idea what it even means. Ask them to explain total alkalinity to you.

In the 5 years I have owned my pool, I have shocked it ONCE after Hurricane Ida. My pure white pebble plaster is pristine with zero stains. My water is always crystal clear 365 days per year.

Just buy the Taylor 2006 test kit and stop paying for shitty expensive management and green water.

Another Trouble Free Pool user. Super simple to figure out and way cheaper than alternatives.

I only add bleach and muriatic acid. CYA is a bit high due to getting lazy using the 3” tabs. pH always drifts up from aeration caused by spa spillway. Easy enough to pour a little in 2-3 times a week.

Get the test kit (not strips!). After a short while you’ll learn what your pool needs and won’t have to test it very often. TFP even has an app so you can log test results and track what chemicals you’re adding. TFP forums are always available as a resource if something is acting up. In 8 years i’ve never had to shock it.

$130 a month. He comes weekly and that includes chemicals.