Pool Cleaning Yeah!

Closing the Pool for Fall:

How to start a pool cleaning Business, well starting in the fall is a great way! How you close your pool for the cooler part of the year depends on whether you live in the snow belt or the sun belt. In the sun belt, it's largely just a matter of slowing down the filtration and placing a cover on it to reduce evaporation. In the snow belt, however, it is another story. In cold areas, precautions need to be taken to make sure damage does not occur because of freezing water.

The process of closing a swimming pool for the fall needs to begin at least 4 to 7 days before the actual closing. Start with a thorough cleaning of the pool. Use a pool brush to thoroughly scrub the sides and floor of the pool, then give it a thorough vacuuming. When the pool has been cleaned, test the water and get it balanced to a pH of 7.2 to 7.6. The alkalinity should be adjusted to 80 to 120 ppm. Calcium hardness needs to be between 180 and 220 ppm. When the pool has been adjusted to these figures, give it a good shock with a chlorine or a non-chlorine shock product.

Allow the chlorine to reduce naturally for several days and test it again. When it has fallen to below 3.0, add a winterizing algaecide. It is important to let the chlorine level fall because the chlorine will cause a floating pool cover to decompose. Remove all of the accessories from the pool, such as cleaning apparatus and the ladder if you haven't already done so. Drain off a bit of the water until the level is at least a foot below the level of the skimmer.

Make sure all water is drained out of all pipes and hoses because they are likely to break in freezing weather. You can use an air compressor to blow all the water out of the pipes. An alternative way to winterize pipes is to add a product known as pool antifreeze. Use a lubricant on any moving parts of the pump and filter assembly to keep them from rusting.

You will need to have a pool cover on hand. You can use a mesh cover or a waterproof cover. There are pros and cons to each. Mesh covers keep the leaves and debris out but allow rain water to get through. Waterproof covers keep the rainwater out, too, which can help keep algae from developing through the winter. The use of a pool air pillow in the center of the pool can help keep the pool cover from the surface of the water. Place the pool cover on the pool securely but not too tightly so that it can expand and contract with the water. Enjoy your winter and look forward to fun in the sun next year. What ever the time of year it is it is a great time to start a pool cleaning Business. If done right can be a great way to make income and be your own boss!

Swimming Pool Safety Tips For Adults

More often than not, drowning and other swimming pool-related accidents that involve children may have been prevented in hindsight. Whether you are swimming with your kids at your own backyard pool or at a community or public pool, the swimming pool safety guidelines are similar. Keep these safety guidelines in mind until they become second nature. Ensure too that other adults or older children that you entrust to watch over your young ones when you are not around know these safety guidelines as well.

Keep watch of children when they are in or even just nearby the pool. This is easier said than done as some adults think that it is enough to be just sitting around while the kids are playing in the water. However, supervising children means being mindful of what they are doing all the time. Thus, adults who are supposed to be watching over the kids must refrain from chatting on the phone, or being engrossed in conversation with other adults, or worse, be drinking alcoholic drinks while they are supposed to be watching the kids.

Swimming pool safety measures also include keeping the children away from drains and pipes in or near the pool to avoid children from getting into and trapped inside these installations. For those who have their own pool in the backyard, it is important to install a fence with a self-closing and self-latching gate, pool covers, door alarms, and gate alarms. Gates must be four feet tall or even higher and must not have any parts that can be used by children as handholds or footholds when they want to climb over the fence.

Of utmost importance as well is to know how to swim and to teach one’s children how to swim too. Finally, increase your swimming pool safety skills by learning how to perform CPR on both children and adults.

Swimming Pool Waterfall Kits

If your backyard swimming pool looks a bit boring and unremarkable, then you might have thought about adding waterfalls, fountains, and other kinds of features that would make it look more interesting. But you might have hesitated to do this once you found out that it would cost a good amount of money. However, there is a less expensive option which you can go with. You can get modular kits that feature different types of waterfall designs. You might also like to consider installing solar panels so you do not need to spend anything on electricity ever again. Anyway, modular kits are made to look like their natural counterparts where the water flows or trickles down rocks. RicoRock is the company that manufactures these kits and they guarantee that the waterfalls will last for a lifetime. The rocks used in the kit are made from cast pieces which are backfilled with concrete over the rebar structure, thus providing strong structural integrity.

There are many different designs which homeowners can choose from. The popular Love Seat Grotto is designed to be constructed around a love seat, though it can also be used to fit a round spa. The Cascada Mediana, meanwhile, resembles individual boulders and features both a sheet waterfall effect and a trickle effect. The Viente Ocho design, on the other hand, is a ledger style kit that can easily fit in a tight area when the rocks are stacked vertically, or can add interest to a wide space when the rocks are used to create a stair step effect. The best thing about these waterfall kits is that they can be installed on an existing swimming pool, so there is no need for you to spend lots of money to remodel your old pool.

Swimming Pool Contractor

One exciting thing about buying a house is to get one with a big swimming pool. However, if you do not have a swimming pool and would like to put one in, the very first thing you’ll need to do to start making the pool of your dreams into a reality is to find a good swimming pool . Here are some ideas about how to go about finding one, and what to expect once you do.

A swimming pool is something that needs to be fitted correctly and built properly so that it lasts for a 

very long time. A swimming pool contractor can provide you with all of the necessary resources to get your swimming pool built just the way you want it, with the perfect depth, length, shape and materials. You must choose your contractor carefully because if you do not do your homework and select a poor one, you could end up having countless problems and additional expenses.

Swimming pool contractors are available by the thousands and you will have to get as many quotes as possible in order to find the ones that can give you the lowest price with the best references. Always be sure to get pictures of swimming pools that they have done before and even ask to see them in person. Ask to speak personally to former clients, to see their pools, and obtain general information about the contractor and his quality of work. One of the best things to do is to find a client that has had their swimming pool for a good many years. Ideally, you can see how the pool has held up over the years, ask if they have had any problems or repairs with the pool, and how they felt the overall quality of the job was. After you have done your homework, you will then have a good selection of which swimming pool contractors are the best candidates for your job.

When you have finally made your selection of the best qualified swimming pool contractor, your next step is the planning phase. In order to install your swimming pool, you will have to find out exactly what they need and what you have to do. They will probably come to your house and give you advice as to the best location for your swimming pool. There are usually certain regulations and restrictions on how close you can build your swimming pool to the road or to another structure, so they will have to make sure that the location you have chosen will be acceptable in this regard. The plans must then be approved according to the various housing laws that govern your area. If you are adding a permanent structure to your house, the building commission and housing sectors will have to be notified and the plan approved by them as well.

Once the plans have been approved, the next step is preparing for the building phase. To start, the swimming pool contractor will come out several times to map out the area where the pool is to be located and mark it off with some kind of ropes. It is at this point where you can make the pool any shape you desire. It can be rounded, rectangular, or any other number of shapes to your liking. The design that will offer you the optimal amount of space in a given area is the basic rectangle. It is also the best shape for swimming lengths (laps) and doing exercises.

Another aspect of the building phase is deciding upon the swimming pool’s depth. The deep end can be as deep as you like, within reason, but if you have children, it may be better to have a shallower pool for safety purposes. Another option is a combination of the two, which is to have both a deep end and a shallow end. This is often accomplished with a graduating affect, or slope.

There are a few more details to consider in preparing for the building phase. You must choose the building materials and where to locate the steps to get in and out of the swimming pool. Locations for the placement of the swimming pool lights, pump, and filter must also be planned. One very nice item to consider is have your swimming pool contractor plan for a wooden house or hut in the pool area. These are great for storing all of the swimming pool gear like the chemicals, floats and cleaning tools. It keeps them safely away from children and has a much neater appearance than having these items all over the place.

Once these steps have been taken, it is up to the builder to complete the job. Again, be sure to use a qualified, experienced swimming pool contractor to make this experience a positive and rewarding one. The result will be a beautiful pool that can provide healthy exercise, fun and relaxation for many years.