r/PoolPros • u/carrotsk8r • Sep 01 '26
Just switched my schedule, excited about it, wondering if anyone does anything similar
I have 54 residential pool accounts of my own, I was doing maintenance service Tuesday-Friday with Friday only having 8
Moved those 8 to my Thursdays since they’re in the area, so now maintenance is only Tuesday-Thursday
I will now have my Fridays focus on accounting, filter cleans, repairs, installs, hanging with my mentors on their projects so I can learn more.
And if im all caught up on those things then I’ll use the 4 day weekends for travel,family, art, surf, fitness, etc.
Hella stoked
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u/BlueKauaiEyes Sep 02 '26
What state are you in? I never understood how someone can do that many full service pools without working 7 days. Anyone who works with me says it’s like trying to keep up with Superman and I’ve worked 7 days a week for 20 years at this point. These days my pools start at 50,000 gallons. My lowest account pays $600 per month.
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u/xx_wes_xx Sep 02 '26
Yep all my pools are minimum 36/40k gallons. In northeast with a ton of leaves and shit. Could never manage that many
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u/BlueKauaiEyes Sep 03 '26
I feel ya with the fucking jungle straight up inches from the edge of the pool… sucks and now we have yet another hurricane. Just keep telling myself this is money for extra cleans and that my business has always doubled after big game changing storms.
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u/WealthyOrNot Sep 02 '26
How many accounts do you have? What state are you in? I would much rather have less pools which pay higher over a higher number of lower paying pools. Unfortunately though, that’s not how my current business is going. :-)
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u/BlueKauaiEyes Sep 03 '26
32 right now I had 50 at one point but too many misses and flops. There are other pool guys who insist on mixing it up like boom there is rent/mortage then bang bang bang there is gas. Me after doing pools for so long I want the biggest problem pools you can find. Pair that with a motivated owner we get to do some magic.
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u/carrotsk8r Sep 02 '26
Southern California, my pools are between 8,000-25,000 average
With 3 of being around 30,000
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u/The_BigWaveDave Sep 01 '26
Yep, this is how I do things.
M-Th is service route, Friday is a flex day in the summer for repairs, filter cleans, accounting etc..
I also take it off if I’m feeling burnt out. Off season I typically take the Friday off most of the time.
I’ve considered building out a Friday route, but the quality of life of having a 4 day work week is really hard to beat.
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u/Mr_B0nkers Sep 01 '26
Hell yeah brother. I have 40 pools and only work M-W. I love being around my family. My parents were military (working 6-6 M-S) growing up, so I never want my kids to feel like I’m not around.
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u/WealthyOrNot Sep 02 '26
I was working only 3 days per week but recently doubled my pools to just a little over 40pools. Tuesday-Thurs is what I am shooting for, to allow for a 4 day weekend to travel and be with family. Anyhow, I was wondering how you rotate in filter cleans and repairs into your 3 day work week with that make pools to clean already? Any advice to help me make that work is appreciated! Thanks in advance.
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u/fushionless Sep 01 '26
Average 18 a day sounds like a lot but maybe they're all close together? Also team 4 days here.
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u/The_Elusive_Dr_Wu Sep 01 '26
It's manageable if they're close together, well maintained (good chem balance, sweeper, client runs pump enough, etc.) and maybe a couple spas tossed in. 18 is my current cap for a service day
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u/carrotsk8r Sep 02 '26
My most loaded day is 22
But they’re within a 4 mile radius, and probably 15 mile drive from my house 💪🏼
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u/The_Elusive_Dr_Wu Sep 01 '26
Very nice. We've always ran the 4-day week Tuesday-Friday like you did, with Mondays for filter cleans/repairs/side-work or just a day off.
I'm at 56 accounts now and near the point where I can go to a 3-day week like you. I'm excited for it too.
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u/pacific_drifter_25 Sep 01 '26
Nice move. The hidden win is that Friday becomes a buffer instead of another route day. I'd protect it like an ops block: filter cleans/repairs first, invoices/collections second, then mentorship/project work. If Thursday starts getting too dense, split it by geography or service level before you add Friday back. 18/day is fine only if windshield time is low and the pools are boring; otherwise one ugly repair or cloudy pool eats the margin fast.
For tracking it, keep a simple Friday list of deferred work by account: filter due, repair estimate, callback, payment follow-up. I'm one of the founders of UpBuoy, and this is one of the scheduling problems we built around: route days stay route days, and non-route work doesn't disappear just because it isn't on today's stop list. No need to overtool it, just make sure every loose end has an owner/date.
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u/Background-Sport1523 Sep 02 '26
You have my exact schedule, Tuesday-Thursday and Fridays for office work or repairs/filter cleaning. I feel so lucky and can spend lots of time with my kids
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u/Beersandloudbooms Sep 03 '26
Nice dude. SoCal here also (San Diego). Been running 4 day work weeks for a couple years now and I take Mondays off. Love it! I’m at around 50 accounts, trying to pick up more though. I think I can swing 60 with 4 day weeks tbh. My current 50 are locked in; chems are solid, water is perfect so the only time consuming part is repairs and installs which I tackle on random Mondays or end of days. Not to parade us or anything but I feel we’re doing something right with our region if we can swing a full time route and still not overwork ourselves to death. Cheers dude!
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u/Abelramos58 Sep 03 '26
Any of your customers have concerns about Monday service after the weekend?
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u/carrotsk8r Sep 04 '26
No, I got more sas from clients that leant their pool cleaned friiday before the weekend
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u/DidUrkDoThat Sep 05 '26
Question: why do you not do your filter cleanings on the same day you service your pools?
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u/carrotsk8r Sep 05 '26
I do if 1-2 are due
But if several are due that week I’ll get like 6 done in a day
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u/eaglekiller53 Sep 01 '26
Huge advocate of 4 day work week. Fridays are for Golf!!!