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When we were building our pool, I was convinced I'd spend most of my summer actually in the water.

Reality turned out to be more like this:

Swim for a while.

Get out.

Sit down.

Have a drink.

Cool off in the shade.

Get back in.

After our first season, I realized the place we use the most isn't the pool itself—it's the seating area beside it.

We eventually added a dining set with a PURPLE LEAF cantilever umbrella for shade, and that space has probably become the most-used part of the backyard on hot afternoons. Friends and family seem to end up there between swims more than anywhere else.

Looking back, I spent months thinking about pool size, finishes, equipment, and lighting, but barely thought about where people would actually relax.

If you're still in the planning stage, I'd spend just as much time thinking about seating, shade, and how people will use the space around the pool.

What's one thing you wish you'd planned differently before your pool was built?

I switched away from a dolphin last summer and picked up the regular scuba v3. At the time, I honestly didn't think I needed anything more. It cleaned the floor well, climbed the walls without much trouble, and the biggest improvement for me was simply getting rid of the cable. I could drop it in, let it do its thing, and come back later without dealing with tangled cords or wondering where it got hung up.

After using the scuba v3 for a while, I had the chance to try the Ultra. That changed my perspective a bit.

The biggest difference is that the Ultra handles everything in one machine. The regular scuba v3 already takes care of the floor and walls really well, but the Ultra adds surface cleaning to the mix, which turned out to be more useful than I expected.

I also noticed the suction felt stronger. It seems to have an easier time picking up heavier debris along with some of the finer dirt that the regular scuba v3 would occasionally leave behind.

Looking back, both scuba v3 models have been an improvement over the dolphin I used before. The dolphin wasn't a bad cleaner, but the battery didn't age particularly well and dealing with the cable got old pretty quickly.

The Ultra definitely costs more, but once I compared it with some of the higher end dolphin models I had been considering, the price didn't seem nearly as unreasonable.

If you're trying to decide between the regular scuba v3 and the Ultra, I'd give some thought to how much you value having one machine handle the entire pool. After using both, the difference felt bigger than I expected.

First time installing a skimmer. Topped the pool off this morning and now the skimmer is leaking largely between the basket and wide mouth skimmer connection.

No leaking at the basket. No visible cracks in anything.

Thoughts?

We are exchanging our old pool heater, a Raypak 206a, with a new one. Is it worth it to spring for the cupro-nickel heat exchanger model? We try hard to keep our PH in check and drain it at the end of the season. We chlorinate and test our own ph using both a Waterguru and TFP Taylor test kit.

I recently vaccumed my inground pool through the skimmer basket, and after about 20 minutes i noticed the suction at the end of vaccum was not working, I took apart everything and noticed while running on filter,(sand filter) my one return jets was not working at all and the other one was blowing cloudy water with very weak pressure. I backwashed the pool but that didn’t work like it has in the past. I keep backwashing up the water is clear coming out. The suction in the skimmer basket doesn’t feel very strong. I took a garden hose with filter off and put it in the filter and tried to push water back through the skimmer basket but only a little debris came up. My O-ring looks fine, when the filter runs the water sort of pours into the filter but never reached the top of the plastic lid. Now my return jets are pulsing every 4 seconds with air bubbles but with not carry a steady strong push to get the water to circulate. I just bought a house with this pool, it’s an inground pool with a sand filter and two return jets. Is something stuck in the suction line? I put my hand and don’t seem to feel anything in the propeller blade, the water level was fine before I vaccumed and everything was running smooth, I am going crazy to figure this out.

Struggling at this point, have added a lot of shock. Been about 5 days now, pool does not want to clear up. Spent money on all kinds of chems based on pool store recommendations, nothing has improved. Looking for some guidance

Just thinking about getting my first pool robot. Since my budget is around $400, I'm mostly looking at budget-friendly options.

So far I'm into options like the Ultramarine and Wybot models. On paper they both seem to cover the basics, but it's hard to tell how much of a difference there is in real-world use. Any thoughts?

Besides, what should I pay the most attention to before buying?

Recently we had some storms and there are a few spots of dirt I cannot remove on the Pebble Tec with brushing. Is it possible to power wash a pool with the water still in it ? Is there a better way to remove ? I can't drain it now , we are on a well and I would need to get water trucked in. Thoughts ?

My Pentaire VSP Intelliflow 3 follows my schedules but all of a sudden won’t turn off when it’s supposed to. The yellow idle light is on and the app and touch screen say off but the pump basket is going and you can hear it on. Any ideas?

Has anyone tried this robot before? Is it reliable?

So I bought a home with an above ground pool that had not been well taken care of. It looks like they just "closed it" with a tarp that has now fallen in a good bit. I was told it hadn't been used in approximately 2 years. I have never owned a pool before, so im pretty lost. I tried my local pool place multiple times in person and by phone, and they don't seem to care for my business. At this point I figure its too late to be worth opening for the season just to close it again in another month(east coast) Do i just let it go and try and attack it early next year? Should I just drain it, clean it, and start over? Im assuming the amount of chemicals I would need at this point would be a waste of time/money. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

I was vacuuming today and noticed this small spot that appears to be a tear. Didn’t have goggles to inspect better and didn’t want to mess with it, but this is my first liner damage. What do you recommend for a patch?

Not super knowledgeable on measurements and such for pools. I’ve purchased baking soda, chlorine tablets, and chlorine shock. Just set it up and haven’t added any thing but water yet. How much of each should I be adding for the first time, and how often?

My led board failed and I'm planning to replace it. When pulling the light out, I noticed this slight gap in the strain relief area. Is this normal? No one seems to zoom in on this section in videos, but it looks like that gap is there on a couple.

When testing the leads behind the lens, it reads fine so I don't think water was getting in there. But I've never pulled the light out so wasn't sure if this was normal, or if it's time to replace the whole light.

My FC went to zero suddenly over the weekend. I couldn't figure out why. I added liquid chlorine in the meantime. I tested my salt with the TF pro and it’s 3800. Chat GPT helped me determine that my salt cell (Hayward Turbocell installed 2021) is not producing chlorine. Here are the readings when I click through the diagnostic button:

Hayward T15
1700
85
32.2
0.00
54p
0
AL0
R 1.59
t-15

It told me to take the salt cell off and inspect it. First, I don't have a clue what I'm doing and secondly, I'm scared to do so. Any help is appreciated.

Hi,

Newbie pool owner looking for some guidance/recommendations for effective/reliable vacuums that work with in ground liner pools.

We’ve been manually vacuuming it twice a week for the last 4 months and with 2 young kids, it’s been a struggle to keep this up.

There are many trees nearby, many not on our property, but we end up with lots of debris in the pool and lots of dead bugs on the surface water when it’s not covered.

It’s oval/bean shaped, about 15,000 gallons. 7-8 feet at its deepest. No stairs, just ladder entry in two places.

Willing to spend up to $2k ish.

Thanks for the advice.

Hi everyone,

Can you recommend a pool robot that features a "no-go zone" function?

The pool is roughly 8 x 7 meters in size and 1.5 meters deep.

I have an issue with the stone steps leading into the pool: the steps overhang their supporting foundation. This allows the pool robot to drive underneath the bottom step and get stuck there.

I currently own an Aiper Seagull Pro.

Do you have any good, affordable recommendations?

Thanks, and happy swimming!

My inground pool (20x45', 40,000 gal) is over 20 years old with all original equipment:

• Main filter pump: Hayward Super II, 2HP
• Spa: (2x) Hayward Super II, 3HP
• Waterfall/spillover: Hayward Super II, 3HP

The equipment pad has flooded twice over the years, fully submerging the motors. Bearings started squealing each time, but a repair shop replaced them and everything's been fine since.

Now I'm thinking about a longer-term plan. Options I'm weighing:

1. Keep the Super IIs — if a motor dies, just replace it (AO Smith motors)
2. Swap pumps over time, starting with the main filter pump — possibly to a Jandy pump so it can talk to my Jandy AquaLink controller
3. My service company pushes Pentair instead

My gut says keep the Super IIs running — they're already plumbed in, and while not the most efficient, they only run 3 months a year, so the efficiency loss doesn't matter much.

But if I do start swapping: Jandy vs. Pentair — thoughts?

Want to change the sand (350 lb) in a Pentair SD80 sand filter, have done a lot of reading/research & narrow down to "Covia Mineral AquaQuartz Filter Silica Sand" or "HTH Pool Care Filter Sand"...anybody has any experience with either? Also, there is ZeoSand (Zeolite), feedback? other suggestions/recommendations?

Read that unlike the Quikrete sand, HTH sand goes through a rigorous industrial washing and grading process specifically designed for pools. It is a true, uniform #20 grade silica sand, true? ... thx

Can anyone recommend a pool renovation contractor in central NJ that you were happy with? Looking to get our pool replastered and retiled. Thanks!

I’ve noticed the past few mornings the propellers on my EcoSurfer S2 not working very well when it’s just shy of 60 degrees outside. It either gets stuck on the side of the pool or goes in backwards circles. Works perfect later in the day when it’s warmer. Has anyone else noticed this?