139 guides · written by someone who did the job
No guesswork, no upsells, no eight hundred words before the answer. Every page here is written by one person who spent fifteen years on service routes, on repair calls and behind a pool store counter, and got tired of watching owners pay to fix problems nobody ever explained to them.
15+ years on service routes, repair calls and the pool store counter — behind every page on this site.
15+ years on service routes, repair calls and the pool store counter — behind every page on this site.
Every part of pool ownership
12 areas, each one deep enough to answer the follow-up question you have not asked yet.
Editor's pick
Cloudy pool water has a handful of causes, and clarifier fixes almost none of them. Work through them in this order and find the cause before you buy anything.
Long, complete and kept current. These are the pages the rest of the site hangs off.
What NAR's survey, Latham's filings and the makers' own price lists say an inground pool costs, what a quote leaves out, and which numbers nobody publishes.
The five numbers that matter, the order to fix them in, and the doses that actually work. Written by people who've done this on real pools for 20 years.
When to close, how far your cover's maker says to lower the water, and the pump, filter and heater steps from the manuals, so nothing cracks in a freeze.
Fiberglass, vinyl and gunite compared on what the makers and builders publish: build time, price, upkeep, and the decisions you can't change later.
A pool came with the house and nobody explained it. Here's what to identify, what to test, what to buy and what to ignore in your first month.
Barrier heights, gap limits, gate hardware and the climbable-surface rule that fails more inspections than anything else.
Close by water temperature, not the calendar. Hayward says once the water stays below 65°F, because winter chemicals are used up faster in warm water, and a pool that runs out before spring can open green.
Closing, step by stepWhat a pool heat pump needs from your panel: a 208–230 V circuit sized from its rating plate, a 40 to 70 A breaker, about 4 to 8 kW, bonding and a disconnect.
What water depth in-pool furniture is made for, what builders charge for a ledge, why it needs its own circulation, and when one can be added later.
The makers' own prices for frame pools, the warranty each carries, what steel-wall makers don't publish, and the costs no box includes.
How to check a pool builder's license and insurance, the deposit and lien rules states set, and the contract terms to settle before you sign.
No main drain, a pool that has to sit level and a fraction of the volume. The opening steps that change on an above-ground, and the two that matter most.
A guide goes up when it is finished and its sources are checked, and it gets corrected when something in it turns out to be wrong.
What the codes on a Balboa or Gecko hot tub panel mean, from FLO and OH to HL and dr, which ones you can clear yourself, and which need a technician.
What the spa makers' manuals say when a hot tub's GFCI trips: the one-time self-test, new-install wiring, the heater, water, and when to call for help.
What the hot tub makers' manuals say about winter: freeze protection, power cuts, snow on the cover, and how to winterize a tub you won't be using.
What the spa makers' manuals say to check when hot tub jets go weak, surge or stop: the water level, filter, pump speed, air controls, valves and airlocks.
Which above-ground pools can stay up, how far each maker says to lower the water, and the plugs, pillow and cover that keep winter ice off the wall.
How Hot Spring, Jacuzzi, Sundance, Caldera and Bullfrog say to clean a hot tub filter, how often, what to soak it in, and when to replace it.
Equipment catalog
131 product pages covering pumps, filters, heaters, salt chlorinators, mineral systems, chlorine feeders, cleaners, lights, automation, test kits, above-ground pools and pool alarms, from 16 brands. Model numbers, specifications, warranty terms and parts lists, each read from the manufacturer’s own manuals and pages, with those documents linked.
Free tools
12 calculators for the questions that come up at the equipment pad, from pool volume and chlorine dosing to water balance and heater sizing. No signup, no email wall.
Why trust this site
Fifteen years of service routes, equipment repair and warranty work, and pool-store water testing. Everything here comes out of that, and anything that comes from a manufacturer is checked against the manufacturer.
The Skimmer
One short email with the seasonal jobs that matter, the fixes worth doing yourself, and the gear that earned its price. No sponsored picks, no drip sequence, unsubscribe in one click.
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