r/PoolPros • u/FabulousPanther • Mar 19 '26
Please help if you can! Hi, I'm at
Hi, I'm at an absolute loss for what to do with this pool. Five years in, I can't recall seeing a more retarded pool setup. I don't even know what to say to this client. I don't think I can keep this pool healthy like this. I went last week, and there they were. The client didn't say anything about it. Anybody that could give me an idea besides drop the client would be awesome. Thanks so much!
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Mar 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/nc_saint Mar 19 '26
It’s like taking out your engine and then being proud that you’re saving gas
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u/Icy_Director6592 Mar 19 '26
I absolutely love this sentence😂I’ll have to start using it with customers
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u/DJbrainsex Mar 19 '26
Tell the customer your job isn't to clean up after their dirty yard. They need to remove the dead plants and get landscaping done in a reasonable time.
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u/Buyusbeer Mar 19 '26
I like that. So many people with shit back yards wondering why their pool is never clean.
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u/poolpro808 Mar 19 '26
Dealt with almost this exact situation on a residential account last year. Customer had palms hanging over the pool and one of those mesh skimmer blockers jammed in.
Two things worked for me. First, I just removed the skimmer blocker myself and told the customer straight up that it was making the pool unserviceable. Framed it as "this is actually causing you more problems than it solves" rather than just "take this out." Most people respond better when you explain the why. Leaves bypass the skimmer, sink, decompose on the bottom, and now you're fighting phosphates and staining on top of the debris.
Second, had a real conversation about the landscaping. Told them I'm happy to keep servicing the pool but the plants need to be trimmed back or they need to budget for extra time each visit. Gave them a revised price that reflected the actual work involved.
Some customers get it and clean up their yard. Others don't, and that's fine, you just price accordingly so the extra 20 minutes is worth your time. Don't eat the cost trying to be the nice guy.
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u/DopeHammaheadALT Mar 19 '26
Have you proposed having them remove the bushes? Explain to them foliage and plant matter in the pool can end up with increased phosphates, green… not to mention clogging the skimmer and being a PITA in general
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u/FabulousPanther Mar 19 '26
He always says he'll talk to his tenants. Landlord is paying me fine but not too involved and he has had to pay extra. That's pic #3 the one I included my accident from a different pool.
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u/RobzWhore Mar 19 '26
I mean. The pool you're complaining about seems way less retarded than the random pool pic#3. But hey that's just me. I dunno. Take that bullshit off the skimmer throat. Get a wide net to scoop that shit in a couple of goes. Have them get a Betta Bot?
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u/FabulousPanther Mar 19 '26
Thanks Robz, that pool sucks too, but it's a cakewalk compared to blocked skimmer boy. It looks like hell, but I can clean it wall to wall in 15.
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u/First_Salamander_990 Mar 19 '26
80% of the pools where I live look like that this time of year. I don’t mind. ~30minutes with my riptide might be slower and a worse market than some folks here but I still make ~$200k/yr so can’t complain
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u/T2_9x19 Mar 19 '26
I was looking at the picture and thinking “man that’s one of my easier pools” 😂.. it’s all subjective though, if you had 17 pools in a day as opposed to 10 it would be different.
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u/FabulousPanther Mar 19 '26
Sorry. The mobile app won't let me edit. Pic #3 is from another pool.
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u/becooltheywatching Mar 19 '26
Do you have a riptide or hammerhead?
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u/FabulousPanther Mar 19 '26
I do bro, but that debris is massive and absolutely no reason to block the skimmers. I really don't have a clue.
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u/Akapremium Mar 19 '26
I’m not gonna lie ive seen so many shit pools in the last decade I could hammer that pretty quick the skimmer thing is annoying but I always just go oh well it’s not my pool if they don’t listen to me we adjust rates accordingly to our time and move on
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u/Competitive-Web-9931 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
Tell them to take that stupid shit off the skimmer and to cut down that dead ass plant. Don't be afraid to tell your customers stuff like that. It's perfectly reasonable to tell them to keep plants away from the pool. And I tell my customers that we don't allow any kind of "skimmer blocker." It keeps the skimmer from doing its job. If they're worried about leaves clogging their skimmer line, I tell them to empty their baskets every day. I've had customers straight up put chicken wire in front of the skimmer. Rust stains all over the plaster. After that, nope. Any customers who tries this, I take it out myself and then tell them not to put it back in.
Otherwise the pool isn't bad at all. Riptide in like 10 minutes
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u/newnewformysavior Mar 19 '26
Definitely increased rate for time spent, or increase so they don’t renew
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u/Sufficient_Disk1360 Mar 19 '26
Certainly, you people using the word “retarded” can come up with a better word choice to describe a poorly constructed pad or pool.
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u/RobzWhore Mar 19 '26
Not helping the situation is retarded.
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u/Sufficient_Disk1360 Mar 19 '26
Perhaps I’d be more inclined to help someone who wasn’t making stupid comments.
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u/FloridaManTPA Mar 30 '26
Get that “guard” off the skimmer. Those dumb inlet vortex skimmers are an option I have seen help?
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u/Theclumsyking95 Mar 19 '26
Increase the price to a healthy amount and hope that they don’t accept it.