10 Tips for Getting Your Pool Ready for Summer

It might feel a little early to be opening your pool for summer, but now is the time to start thinking about getting your pool ready for its busy season. In this post, our experts will share their 10 best tips for you to get your pool in shape for summer:

1. Remove your cover — Hopefully, you’ve winterized your pool appropriately before the cold weather hit and covered your pool to keep out debris, bacteria and algae. This means your first step to getting your pool ready for swimmers is to take off the cover.
2. Fill your pool back to its normal level — It’s normal for pools to lose some water to evaporation over the winter, so add enough water to get it back to a normal level. Ideally, your pool will be filled to where the top of the water sits between the one-third to one-half mark on your pool skim filter.
3. Check your equipment — Make sure your pump, skimmer and filter are all in working condition before the season starts. If they’re not, either work on repairing them or replace them before you let swimmers into your pool.
4. Get your water tested — It can be difficult to know what’s hiding in your pool water by just looking, so be sure to buy an easy-to-use pool water testing kit. At The Pool Guy Store, we offer a huge variety of testing kits so you can find the best one for you.
5. Adjust your pool’s levels — Based on the results of your test, adjust the total alkalinity, pH, calcium and sanitizer levels into balance. While you’re making these adjustments, take a look at your chemical supply and make sure you have enough to get you through the summer. If you’re running low, take a look at our pool chemical selection and stock up.
6. Brush and vacuum your pool — This is the time to clean up all the gunk that’s been growing in your pool for the last few months. Be meticulous here so your pool can start the season as clean as possible.
7. Shock the pool — Get your water safe by super chlorinating your pool before the season starts.
8. Begin routine maintenance — Your break from maintaining your pool is over. Follow a routine of cleaning your pool often and check your equipment regularly to ensure your pool stays in shape all season.
9. Have your water tested regularly — Make sure your levels stay in check by testing your water on a regular basis. This will help you know which chemicals to add to keep your pool safe all season long.
10. Enjoy your pool — Now that you’ve done all of the hard work of getting your pool ready for summer, you’re free to enjoy relaxing in your pool. Invite some friends over, pull out a pool float or start swimming — whatever sounds best to you!

5 Most Common Replacement Pool Parts

In this post, our pool experts will take a look at five of the most commonly replaced pool parts. In order to keep your swimming pool in top shape, it's important to have a regular maintenance schedule. However, some pool parts may need to be replaced sooner rather than later. These pool products include:

1. Pump Motors & Seals
2. Lights & Bulbs
3. Pool Chlorinator Parts
4. Multiport Gaskets
5. Skimmers & Pump Baskets

1. Pump Motors and Seals

The pool pump is the heart of every swimming pool. When the pump's motor isn't up to par, your water isn't going to circulate properly. This can lead to a lot more problems like algae build up, dirty pool water and unhealthy swimming conditions. All of which can completely ruin the experience of swimming in your pool.

2. Light Bulbs

Like the light bulbs in your house, swimming pool lights do not last forever. They have a fairly predictable lifespan and since there are a number of them you can expect to replace your light bulbs on a regular basis. These are also easy ways to switch up the look of your pool, which is why some owners decide to replace the lights even if they aren't burned out.                     

3. Chlorinator Parts

Keeping the pool water clean and free of bacteria, algae and viruses is not an easy task. Chlorine is often the solution to maintaining clear pool water. Pool chlorinators regulate chlorine, continuously monitor the water levels and disperse chlorine as needed. Because it is a constant job, chlorinator parts succumb to wear and tear quicker than other pieces of pool equipment.

4. Multiport gaskets

Multiport gaskets, also known as spider gaskets, are a part of the filtration system. This system is constantly working to keep the pool water clean, so it’s understandable that from time to time the pool products within this system will need replacement. Multiport gaskets are one such product, but fortunately they aren't too difficult to replace.

5. Skimmer and Pump Baskets

Catching all the debris in a pool is no easy task. Over the years a lot of junk needs to be filtered out. Skimmers are part of the pool drain system that handles this process. Water flows through the skimmers at the waterline of the pool and into the filtering system.

If you look underneath the skimmer lid you’ll find the skimmer basket. These parts are subjected to a lot of gunk and need to be replaced if they become worn. This area of the pool should be replaced regularly to avoid costly repairs. 

Need to find pool parts to get your personal watering hole up and running? Give The Pool Guy Store a call and we'll help you find the necessary replacement pool parts!

Pentair MasterTemp Product Review

Warm up Your Water with the Pentair MasterTemp Heater

Taking advantage of your pool year round is easy if you can warm up the water when it’s cold out. One of the most efficient ways of getting your pool to the perfect temperature is with the Pentair MasterTemp pool heater. 

When you make the investment to increase the value and use of your pool with a heater there is a lot to consider. Today, there are many options available and it can be hard to determine which heater offers the best performance at the best price. The MasterTemp heater is one piece of equipment that pool owners have come to rely on and trust that it will keep the water temperature where it needs to be even in the middle of winter.

Economical and Efficient – The Pentair MasterTemp is designed to be efficient with its energy usage to lower the long-term costs of heating your pool. It heats up quickly and is certified for low nitrogen oxide emission.

Convenient – The MasterTemp pool heater is easy to install, use and maintain. Its compact design makes it easy to incorporate and the quiet motor makes it easy to relax while you soak away the worries of the day.

Durable – When a piece of equipment is out in the harsh elements it has to be solidly built. The Pentair MasterTemp 400 parts include a rust-proof exterior that can handle all kinds of climates.

If you are in the market for a pool heater the Pentair Mastertemp won’t disappoint. Using the latest technology and solid design it offers superior energy efficiency and performance.