Pool Tips

Black algae is not a stain and it will not wipe off. It grows roots into the plaster and wears a shell that normal chlorine cannot get through. Killing it takes brushing, not chemicals alone.

The old answer was eight hours a day. Turnover, pump type, and a Texas summer all change that number. Here is how to find the run time your pool actually needs.

Pool filter sand wears out in five to seven years. Changing it is a two hour job, and one careless step can snap a lateral and fill your pool with sand.

A leaking pool wastes water, chemicals, and heat, and a plumbing leak can wash out the soil under your deck. Here is the order to test in so you narrow it down instead of guessing.

Two numbers decide a pool heater: what it costs to install and what it costs to run. On the Texas Gulf Coast those two answers point at different heaters depending on how you swim.

A pump that spins but moves no water has lost its prime. Filling the basket usually fixes it in ten minutes. If the prime keeps breaking, the real problem is air getting in on the suction side.