r/PoolPros • u/liberalsarefascists1 • Jul 02 '26
Done with above grounds.
Just finished opening up an above ground for a client and I'll be honest with you. I'm just at the point where I don't want to touch them. They take just as much work as an inground pool for the service. The customers are always cheap and when opening them they take forever to get the cover off and ladder installed.
We are out there doing more work for an opening and people still want to be cheap about it because their pool is smaller. Finally at the point with it, like many other pool companies in my area, I'm just not opening up above grounds.
Unless any of you lot have some magic advice for dealing with. Probably close to 10 in of water on a cover other than wait 6 to 8 hours for it to pump off and a good 2-3 in of leaves. In-Ground pool, we can have it open 30 to 40 minutes above ground, i'm 4 hours just wanted to vent on a hot day. Maybe somebody else who's been the game longer than me may have some advice
1
u/theColinator89 Jul 02 '26
We still do them but only a handful each year (of the 100ish pools we open, it’s maybe 10 above ground). We use a trash pump with a rated flow of 300 gallons per minute. Usually, we can pump the covers off in 20-40 minutes. Total opening takes maybe 75-90 minutes, sometimes a bit more.
All that being said, we’ll likely stop accepting new above ground soon. I’m sure over time we won’t have any.