Pool Guy Maintenance Question

They are all exactly like that. All they do is net leaves and add chlorine (which causes its own problems if not done correctly). Do your own water chemistry and your plaster will actually last longer than 5 years.

troublefreepool.com

I fired my guy years ago for that reason.

Step 1) Get a decent tester or do the app with the strips if you don’t want to deal with it.
Step 2) Balance PH before anything else
Step 3) shock pool using liquid bleach not pouches
Step 4) brush thoroughly, vacuum the pool to waste and backwash filter
Step 5) rinse and repeat until pool clears at which time allow chlorine levels to come back to normal levels
Step 6) maintain with a pool robot to vacuum and either an automated chlorinator system or a floater with pucks

Don’t start dumping all kinds of shock in there unless you know what’s in it because the other chemicals will bring separate problems longer term. All you need is to balance the PH, liquid bleach to shock it and pucks that are 93% HCL or higher to maintain clarity if you’re lazy and don’t want to add liquid weekly.

But again, if you don’t balance the PH the chlorine won’t work

Thank you my american friends! I will let this guy know his services are no longer needed.

We had one like that. I’d have to go re-check everything after he left. After we got rid of him, we used Russell Pools in BR for a long time and they were really good. When it came time to replace the filter, their prices were outrageous. My husband found someone else to replace it for less and we’ve been using him for weekly service and so far everything looks great.

Think about it for minute. What kind of loser ends up being a pool maintenance guy? Competent is not part of this equation.

Learn to do it yourself. My pool takes less than 30 mins a week to maintain, year round.

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I have a pool guy i’m paying $160 a month for but I started checking my pool balances, PH is high, CYA looks like zero, chlorine was 0…first time pool owner, is it my responsibility to be getting CYA up and adding muric acid? Or should i fire this guy.

I’m even cleaning my own filter, am i just paying this guy $40 a week to add chlorine and brush the side? Is that what I should expect?

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My god… absolutely!!! He’s fired

A normal pH can jump on you quickly in a day or two even after adding acid. But the guy should have all the rest of that under control.

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is it my responsibility to be getting CYA up and adding muric acid?

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Just a small recommendation - use Cyanuric acid - instead of muriatic. The muriatic burns off really quickly.

Walmart has bags of "stabilizer" granules that are pretty reasonable - and my levels are much more stable.

OK - fair point - I didn't think about which he might be using the muriatic for.

I used to have to chase the pH pretty frequently. I don't have good results using muriatic - seems like things are out of whack again in a few days.

I use another pH lowering product - it's Clorox brand - again Walmart has it pretty reasonably and for my pool it lasts longer than using muriatic. Contents say Sodium Bisulfate.

I don't know why, but for my pool these products work better - it stays pretty stable for weeks at a time.

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add a tablet of chlorine a week to help keep CYA up and give my salt cell a little help.

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That’s not a bad idea. One tablet per week isn’t moving your CYA level much, and frequent testing of CYA is a pain. I try to keep my CYA at 40, max of 50, so I can load up tabs for vacations.