When you were little did you dream of owning your own pool? You know you did.
Did you have that one friend, the neighborhood rich kid, who had his own pool? You would find any reason to go over to his house and use that pool. “Mom I am studying … at the pool.” “Mom I’ve got a party to go to … at the pool.” When you were there you would dip your hand in the crystal blue water and inside you would turn a bit green with envy. Right then and there you vowed to yourself, “Someday I will own my own pool.”
And one day you got it. You bought your dream house with a dream pool. The first night in your new home you most likely stood at the edge of your pool. You were like Gatsby in that moment, hand outstretched, the green light of success at your fingertips, and then it hit you, “Oh darn, I’ve got to clean this thing.”
Yes, you do have to clean your pool. But how often should you clean your pool? There is a pretty established school of thought when it comes to pool maintenance. Here is the shorthand version:
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- 1. Weekly maintenance
- 2. Monthly maintenance
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Let’s dive a bit deeper into each kind of maintenance.
Weekly Maintenance
Weekly maintenance is maintenance that is done every week. I know. That was deceptively simple.
What exactly goes into weekly pool maintenance? A few fairly simple things that every pool owner should know how to do. Of course, you can always apply the “Franklin Fix” and pay someone to clean your pool every week, but why not take an hour and do it yourself?
You will want to skim the surface of your pool with a skimmer at least once a week. Regular skimming keeps dirt from sinking to the bottom of your pool. You may want to up your skimming schedule to every couple of days if you see a lot of dirt collecting on the surface.
You will want to clean the strainer basket of your pool at least once a week. You will also want to run your pool vacuum to keep your pool floor clean. Be sure to scrub the walls and tiles of your pool to keep them free of calcium and algae build-up. Lastly, you will want to check the pH levels of your pool once a week. The pH level of your pool should be between 7.2 and 7.8. If the pH is a little off, you will need to add the correct chemicals to balance it out.
Monthly Maintenance
Putting pool filter cleaning under monthly maintenance isn’t exactly accurate. If you over-clean your filter or clean it too often you can seriously damage your pool filter. Obviously, if you don’t clean your pool filter often enough you will have a dirty pool and also risk damaging your pool filter. So how do you know?
The best guide is to check your pool filter’s manual. Pool filter manufacturers provide a very specific outline for maintenance, including how often a filter should be cleaned. Some filters may require monthly cleaning, some require cleaning every two months, others every three to four.
You will also want to check your water level at least once a month. Over the course of a hot summer pool water will evaporate and the water level in your pool will go down. Check your water level and refill as needed.
Consider “shocking” your pool once a month as well. Shocking a pool is the process of super-chlorinating your pool to restore chlorine levels and get rid of bacteria. You can also test your pool’s chlorine levels to see when a “shock” is necessary.
And If You Are Too Busy…
If your life is simply too busy to do your own weekly and monthly pool maintenance consider a Franklin Fix. What is a Franklin Fix? Pull out a $100 bill and look at it? Who do you see? Benjamin Franklin. If you do not have the time to do your own pool maintenance, make sure you hire an expert to do it for you. Whatever you do, do not let your dream pool slide into despair.
If you haven’t built your dream pool yet, call the custom swimming pool experts at Precise Home Builders. We specialize in exotic swimming pools you won’t see anywhere us. Click here for more information.
