Guides for Flower Mound and North Texas pool owners
67 guides written to make you better informed, including the ones where the honest answer is that you do not need us. Grouped by what you are actually dealing with rather than by publication date.
Weekly care
- What Pool Service Costs in North TexasThe published bands, and the honest reasons a quote lands high or low inside them. Volume, equipment, tree load and chemical inclusion move the number more than anything else.8 min read
- How Pool Service Works: Request, Visit, SwimRequest, visit, swim. The written plan comes before the first stop, the route day stays the same, and the report arrives the same day.5 min read
- Pool Turnover Rate and Dead SpotsTurnover is arithmetic and dead spots are geometry. A pool with good numbers and a still corner will keep growing algae in that corner.6 min read
Water chemistry
- Why Pool Water Turns CloudyCloudy water is a particle problem before it is a chemical problem. Here is how to tell which cause you have, and why shocking a pool often makes it look worse before it looks better.6 min read
- Hard Water and Scale in North Texas PoolsCalcium only goes one direction in this region unless you take water out. Here is how scale starts, what it damages first, and when a partial drain is genuinely cheaper than fighting it.7 min read
- Why Pool Water Turns Green After RainRain is a dilution and a delivery, not a poison. The bloom arrives two days later because that is how long algae needs once you stop defending the water.6 min read
- How to Clear a Green Pool Without DrainingA green pool is a sanitizer and filtration job, not a plumbing job. The work is holding a chlorine level day and night while the filter catches what you killed.8 min read
- When a Green Pool Should Not Be DrainedDraining is a structural decision before it is a cleaning decision. Here is what an empty shell risks in North Texas clay, and the short list of reasons that actually justify it.7 min read
- Black Algae Versus Green AlgaeGreen algae is a water problem you can shock away. Black algae is a surface problem with a lid on it, and brushing is the treatment rather than the preparation.7 min read
- Mustard Algae in a Chlorinated PoolIf it brushes off like powder and is back tomorrow in the same shady spot, it is not pollen and it is not dirt. Mustard algae lives through chlorine levels that kill green.6 min read
- Pink Slime in Pools and SpasPink slime is bacteria wearing a slime coat, so it ignores algaecide and hides where water barely moves. Removal is mechanical first, chemical second.8 min read
- How to Read Pool Test ResultsThe numbers are not a list, they are a chain. Read them in the order that one controls the next and most of the confusion goes away.7 min read
- Chemical Levels for Swim Ready WaterSwim ready is four numbers plus one thing you can see. If you cannot see the bottom, no chemistry reading makes the pool safe.6 min read
- Why Saltwater Pool pH Keeps ClimbingIt is not the salt, it is the outgassing. Lower your alkalinity and the climb slows down a lot.6 min read
- CYA Lockout and High StabilizerChlorine is not locked out so much as held back. High stabilizer raises the price of every ppm of sanitizing you want, and no product lowers it.6 min read
- Phosphates and Why Algae Keeps ReturningPhosphate removal is a supporting move, not a sanitizer substitute. Test before you buy, and fix the chlorine first.8 min read
- Metal Stains on Pool PlasterTest the stain before you treat it. Organic and metal stains look similar and the two treatments are almost opposites.7 min read
- Partial Drain and Refill ExplainedDilution is arithmetic, not guesswork. Work out the percentage you need, respect the ground and the shell, and plan the rebalance before you start.6 min read
- The Langelier Index Without the JargonIt is a direction, not a grade. Positive water builds scale on your tile and cell, negative water eats your plaster, and pH moves it faster than anything else.6 min read
- The Green to Clean Return VisitThe first visit kills it. The return visits are where the water actually gets clear, and skipping them is why some recoveries fail twice.6 min read
- Removing Calcium From Pool TileFind out which kind of calcium you have before you start scrubbing. One type comes off with a pumice stone and the other will only dull your tile if you try.9 min read
- Acid Wash Versus ResurfacingAn acid wash spends plaster to buy appearance. If there is not much plaster left to spend, the honest answer is a resurface.7 min read
Equipment
- Pollen Season and Pool Filter CareFor about six weeks every spring the filter is the whole job. How to tell pollen from mustard algae, and why the usual cleaning schedule stops working in March.6 min read
- Repair or Replace a Pool PumpA pump is a motor bolted to a wet end, and the two fail differently. Knowing which half failed tells you whether you are buying a part or a pump.7 min read
- Salt Cell Care for Saltwater PoolsSaltwater is not low maintenance, it is different maintenance. The cell is a consumable part and North Texas water is hard on it.6 min read
- Setting a Filter Pressure BaselineA pressure gauge with no baseline is a decoration. Write the clean number down and the filter tells you when it needs attention.8 min read
- How to Clean a Cartridge Pool FilterThe rinse is the easy half. Degreasing before acid is the part that decides whether your cartridges last two seasons or five.6 min read
- DE Filter Teardown and RechargeBackwashing is not maintenance, it is housekeeping. Once a year the grids come out and get looked at, and that is where the failures are found.7 min read
- Sand Filter Media and When to Change ItSand does not wear out by getting dirty, it wears out by getting smooth. Rounded grains filter poorly no matter how well you backwash.6 min read
- High Filter Pressure: What It MeansHigh pressure is a restriction on the discharge side. Clean the filter first, and if the number does not fall, stop cleaning and start looking past the filter.6 min read
- When Filter Cleaning Is an Extra ChargeA filter clean is priced by filter type and frequency because the work genuinely differs. Bundling it into every monthly bill hides the cost rather than removing it.5 min read
- Why a Pool Pump Will Not PrimePriming is an air problem far more often than it is a pump problem. Here is how to walk the suction side in order, and the point where continuing to try does real damage.6 min read
- What a Noisy Pool Pump Is Telling YouDifferent noises mean different bills. Learning to tell a bearing from cavitation from a mounting resonance tells you whether to call today or plan for next month.6 min read
- Why a Gas Pool Heater Will Not FireA gas heater is a sequence of permissions, and it will not light until every one of them is granted. Knowing the sequence tells you which permission is missing.7 min read
- Heat Exchanger Scale in Pool HeatersScale inside a heater is an insulating blanket in exactly the place you need bare metal. It shows up as slow heating and high limit trips long before anything visibly fails.6 min read
- Heat Pump or Gas Heater for a Texas PoolThese are not two versions of the same appliance. One buys speed at any temperature, the other buys efficiency when the air cooperates, and North Texas gives you reasons to want both.7 min read
- Dirty Salt Cell or Dead Salt CellBoth faults look identical from the control panel. The only honest test is to clean the cell properly and see whether output actually comes back.6 min read
- Salt System Error Codes and Warning LightsThe panel infers almost everything it tells you. Learning what each warning is actually measuring keeps you from adding salt you do not need or replacing a cell that is only dirty.6 min read
- Pool Light Out: Causes and Safe Next StepsA bulb is a bulb until the circuit starts tripping. The moment a pool light trips a GFCI, it stops being a lighting problem and becomes an electrical one.6 min read
- Pool Valve Actuators and What Goes WrongHalf of all spa mode complaints are a valve that did not turn. Learning to tell a failed actuator from a seized valve tells you which part is being bought.6 min read
- Equipment Pad Leaks and Where to LookA wet pad is a diagnosis, not a mystery. Whether the leak is on the suction or pressure side tells you almost everything about what to look for.6 min read
- How Pool Leak Detection Actually WorksA leak search is a process of elimination, not a hunt. Each step removes a category, and the last category standing is where the digging happens.7 min read
- Freeze Split Fittings on a Pool Equipment PadThe damage happens overnight and shows up when you turn the pump back on. Knowing what to look at before you hit the breaker is the difference between a fitting and a flood.6 min read
- Pool Auto Fill Problems and RepairsThe auto fill is the least glamorous device on the property and the one most capable of hiding an expensive problem. Both of its failure modes are quiet.5 min read
- What Pool Automation Should Actually ControlAutomation is worth it for the things that have to happen in a specific order at a specific time. It is not worth it for the things that need a person looking at the water.6 min read
- Pool Automation After a Wifi or Router ChangeChanging internet service rarely stops the pool from running. It stops you from controlling it remotely, and the fix is usually network details rather than pool equipment.5 min read
- Robot, Booster and In Floor Pool CleanersThree completely different machines that all end up described as the pool cleaner. Each one costs different money to run and fails in a completely different way.6 min read
- Bonding, GFCI and Tripping Pool BreakersA tripping pool GFCI is not a nuisance device. It is a safety system reporting a real fault, and the correct response is to leave the power off until somebody qualified finds it.6 min read
- Quieting a Loud Pool Equipment PadNoise rises steeply with pump speed, so running slower for longer is the single biggest improvement available. Mounting and plumbing changes handle the rest.6 min read
- Where the Energy Goes on a Pool Equipment PadAlmost all of the money is in the pump, and almost all of the savings are in speed rather than hours. Everything else on the pad is rounding error.6 min read
Spas and hot tubs
- Hot Tub Not Heating: What to CheckMost no heat calls are flow, not electronics. Here is the short list you can safely check yourself, and the point where it stops being a homeowner job.6 min read
- Hot Tub Not Bubbling: Weak or Missing JetsJets need water, air and a clear path. Almost every no bubbles call comes down to one of those three being interrupted somewhere obvious.5 min read
- When to Drain and Refill a SpaA spa holds a fraction of a pool volume at twice the temperature with far more bathers per gallon. Water that old cannot be dosed back into shape, only replaced.6 min read
- Cloudy Spa Water and What Causes ItA cloudy spa is usually telling you the water is finished rather than that it needs another product. Knowing which of those you have saves a weekend.5 min read
- Swim Spa Jets, Heat and Running CostsA swim spa is a small pool that thinks it is a hot tub. The surface area is what drives the heating bill and the propulsion system is what drives the maintenance.6 min read
- Cold Plunge Water Care and MaintenanceCold does not mean clean. A plunge needs the same sanitation discipline as any small body of water, and the chiller is the part our summers punish.5 min read
- How an Attached Spa Fits a Weekly RouteA spa is a small hot pool bolted to a large cool one. It gets its own test and its own dose every week, because the pool reading does not describe it.5 min read
- Spa Jets and Blowers: How They Work and FailTwo systems, two sounds, two failure modes. Telling them apart is most of the diagnosis, and hard water is what ends jet internals in this region.5 min read
Seasonal
- North Texas Pool Opening ChecklistThe order matters more than the chemicals. Inspect before you energize, balance before you sanitize, and open on water temperature rather than on the calendar.6 min read
- Winterization and Freeze Protection in TexasDown here the plan is not closing a pool. It is keeping water moving through the two or three nights a year that can crack a pad, and knowing what to do when the power goes out.7 min read
- Summer Algae Prevention in Texas PoolsNothing about your pool changed in July except how fast it eats chlorine. The pools that go green are the ones still on an April routine.6 min read
- Storm Debris Cleanup for PoolsOrder matters. Netting on the first day is worth more than any chemical on the third, and settled leaves become stains and phosphate fast.9 min read
Commercial
Buying and selling
Choosing a company
- How to Switch Pool Service CompaniesThe risk in switching is not the new company. It is the uncovered week in between. Here is the order of operations, and the questions worth asking before you sign.6 min read
- Photo Reports After Every Pool VisitReadings plus photos, the same day, every visit. It exists because the water looked fine is not a report and never was.5 min read
- Rate Match Against a Current Pool InvoiceA like for like match on weekly scope, priced against a current invoice. Precise about what qualifies, and honest about what does not.5 min read
Browse by topic
- Weekly care
- Water chemistry
- Equipment
- Spas and hot tubs
- Seasonal
- Commercial
- Buying and selling
- Choosing a company
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Send the city and a pad photo. You get the plan before the first stop.