OK, you are on Softswim from BioGuard right now and you would like to try chlorine in the pool next year.
When you come in for your closing chemicals, I'm going to run a water test (if you bring me water) and make sure that the pool is balanced and ready for closing. If you have decided to switch to chlorine, we are going to be more selective in our closing chemicals, not using all of them to close the pool.
We won't go ahead and do the switch this fall, we'll wait until spring. It would be best to open your pool in April before it starts getting warm, we'll have you vacuum to waste and drain most of the pool at that time. Then you can just start the pool up on chlorine and away you go!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Above Ground Winter Covers
What about those winter covers for above ground pools............it says it has a 7 or 10 year warranty?
I have to tell ya, the winter covers for above ground pools that I have seen are bad and worse as far as quality. I have called them "glorified trash bags" more than once.
Unfortunately, we need covers for our above grounds each winter and I have not found any better way to cover an above ground pool than the winter cover with a cable and winch. Unless you have a deck around your above ground, then you can put a nice Loop Loc cover on it - with anchors into the deck. WOW! That will last a very long time.
The above ground covers generally come with a 7 or 10 year warranty. The manufacturer normally deals directly with the consumer for a warranty claim and they usually cover "workmanship" and not tears caused from wind or by our ingenuity in ways that we tie those rascals to the ground so they don't take off like big balloons in Kansas in the winter! :)
The covers with less than a 7 year warranty are so lightweight, they may not even last the first winter. A cover with a 7 year warranty, generally I would expect to last a couple of years and a 10 year warranty slightly longer. It does help if you do your best to take care of the cover. Some folks put a pillow under the center and run water around the edge to help hold them down. In the spring, when you take the cover off, use a good winter cover cleaner - like Stow Away from BioGuard. It'll get that cover clean and then squirt the rest of the bottle on the cover and fold it up. The Stow Away will keep mildew from growing on the cover and it'll be in great shape for next year's closing.
I have to tell ya, the winter covers for above ground pools that I have seen are bad and worse as far as quality. I have called them "glorified trash bags" more than once.
Unfortunately, we need covers for our above grounds each winter and I have not found any better way to cover an above ground pool than the winter cover with a cable and winch. Unless you have a deck around your above ground, then you can put a nice Loop Loc cover on it - with anchors into the deck. WOW! That will last a very long time.
The above ground covers generally come with a 7 or 10 year warranty. The manufacturer normally deals directly with the consumer for a warranty claim and they usually cover "workmanship" and not tears caused from wind or by our ingenuity in ways that we tie those rascals to the ground so they don't take off like big balloons in Kansas in the winter! :)
The covers with less than a 7 year warranty are so lightweight, they may not even last the first winter. A cover with a 7 year warranty, generally I would expect to last a couple of years and a 10 year warranty slightly longer. It does help if you do your best to take care of the cover. Some folks put a pillow under the center and run water around the edge to help hold them down. In the spring, when you take the cover off, use a good winter cover cleaner - like Stow Away from BioGuard. It'll get that cover clean and then squirt the rest of the bottle on the cover and fold it up. The Stow Away will keep mildew from growing on the cover and it'll be in great shape for next year's closing.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
OHHHHH All This Rain!
Wow, Here in the mid-section of Kansas we have seen a lot of rain lately.
Rain can create a few needs in our swimming pools. If you have an automatic pool cover, you must keep a cover pump and keep the water off the pool cover. If your pump quits, just find a way to remove the water as soon as possible. Don't try to operate your pool cover with water on the top. You can cause damage to the cover, trying to pull all that water as well as the cover.
If your pool is open and all the rain water is going in to the pool, don't worry - just take a water sample to your BioGuard Professional and have the water tested. Adding rain is like adding fill water - the addition can change the water balance.
Rain can create a few needs in our swimming pools. If you have an automatic pool cover, you must keep a cover pump and keep the water off the pool cover. If your pump quits, just find a way to remove the water as soon as possible. Don't try to operate your pool cover with water on the top. You can cause damage to the cover, trying to pull all that water as well as the cover.
If your pool is open and all the rain water is going in to the pool, don't worry - just take a water sample to your BioGuard Professional and have the water tested. Adding rain is like adding fill water - the addition can change the water balance.
Friday, September 4, 2009
My Pool is Green and I'm just gonna close it for the winter
It might sound like a good solution to a green pool - just cover it up and leave it - and many times I have felt like that when a pool is being difficult!
You might really want to rethink this one. If the pool is green and you just cover it up, the algae continues to grow. It grows and grows and makes a really nice thick matt of algae, and it really gets growing in the pool. By the time that you open the pool in the spring - guess what you have? A real green swamp with floating string algae from top to bottom.
The best idea is to start at your Professional BioGuard Dealer with a water test. They will help you balance the water and give you a prescription to clear the water. You will have to do your housekeeping first - vacuum the bottom, dip out trash, brush the walls of the pool and then treat the swimming pool. This will be no easy task, but it will be much much more work if you put if off until spring.
After you clean and treat the pool, you should leave the pump run 24 hrs a day until it clears up - and keep the sanitizer level up too. It will likely take 7 to 10 days to clear the swimming pool completely.
Have your water tested one last time to make sure that your pool is ready for the winter.
You might really want to rethink this one. If the pool is green and you just cover it up, the algae continues to grow. It grows and grows and makes a really nice thick matt of algae, and it really gets growing in the pool. By the time that you open the pool in the spring - guess what you have? A real green swamp with floating string algae from top to bottom.
The best idea is to start at your Professional BioGuard Dealer with a water test. They will help you balance the water and give you a prescription to clear the water. You will have to do your housekeeping first - vacuum the bottom, dip out trash, brush the walls of the pool and then treat the swimming pool. This will be no easy task, but it will be much much more work if you put if off until spring.
After you clean and treat the pool, you should leave the pump run 24 hrs a day until it clears up - and keep the sanitizer level up too. It will likely take 7 to 10 days to clear the swimming pool completely.
Have your water tested one last time to make sure that your pool is ready for the winter.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Build my swimming pool NOW?
You might think that fall is not a great time to build your swimming pool, but I would suggest that maybe it is a good time to think about building your pool.
When we build your swimming pool, we are going to use equipment to dig up the ground, drive big trucks on the lawn and cause all sorts of mess. You might find it necessary to move utility lines - like gas, electric, water, cable, telephone etc. All these different folks working in your yard make a mess - not to mention the disaster to the underground sprinkling. When the pool is completed, you have a nice "dirt" yard left. You could choose to sod the yard, but after the sprinkler system is all repaired, if it is fall - you can go ahead and seed your yard.
If you build your pool in the summer, it is likely you will have a dirt yard until fall when you can seed the yard.
So, if you are "on the fence" about whether fall is a good time to build an inground pool - it's GREAT!
When we build your swimming pool, we are going to use equipment to dig up the ground, drive big trucks on the lawn and cause all sorts of mess. You might find it necessary to move utility lines - like gas, electric, water, cable, telephone etc. All these different folks working in your yard make a mess - not to mention the disaster to the underground sprinkling. When the pool is completed, you have a nice "dirt" yard left. You could choose to sod the yard, but after the sprinkler system is all repaired, if it is fall - you can go ahead and seed your yard.
If you build your pool in the summer, it is likely you will have a dirt yard until fall when you can seed the yard.
So, if you are "on the fence" about whether fall is a good time to build an inground pool - it's GREAT!
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