Thanks for bringing back the joy!

[mpetrillo]

I'm going to try to make a long story a fairly short post. I've been around pools all my life. As a kid my family had an inground gunite pool. To this day,some of the happiest moments of my life revolved around that swimming pool. Summers were all about swimming with friends and family and just plain fun. As a kid I luckily had no responsibility for caring for the pool, but I remember my Dad working fairly hard to keep it up(I do remember some swearing involved on his part).
When I grew up and had my own family I wanted to build a pool for my daughters to enjoy and love, the same way I had enjoyed my family pool. I talked to my Dad about this and he reccomended against it. I was literally stunned. What I had remembered as a joyous addition to my childhood, he remembered as a continuing pain in the a**, with algae blooms, numerous trips to the pool store for advice, and lots of money for chemicals that didn't always do what was promised.
I built a pool anyway, an inground gunite like my family's. I soon learned what my dad was talking about. I followed all the pool store advice and the Bioguard plan. I would open in the spring to a green swamp. Two weeks later, after lots of work and $, the water would sparkle for about a month. Then came what I like to call AA. August and Algae. It seemed like no matter how much I tested(with drops) and kept my pool balanced(according to the pool store) the first week of August brought Algae and a ton of money lost to Bioguard. I would close to a partially green pool with relief (thank god I don't have to worry about that for a while). I understood what my Dad had gone through. The joy of a swimming pool was gone for me.
Three years ago, in desperation, I found Pool Solutions and Ben. I was skeptical. Laundry Bleach! Baking Soda! Come on what was this guy selling? But I was desperate. I had literally nothing to lose. So I tried it. Hook,line and sinker. And the really funny thing is- it worked! My pool has sparkled for the last two and a half years. No AA. No spring swamp. No hole in my wallet to Bioguard.
I know this post has gone on too long(it's my first) and for that I'm sorry. But there is no quick way to thank you all for what you have done. You've brought back the joy of a swimming pool to me. I now have what the pool stores and the Bioguards never let my Dad have, the simple joy of swimming in a pool with your kids and not having to worry about constant and unending problems.
I've lurked here for three years. I can't express the thanks I have to Ben for all the work he puts into this site. This is what the internet should be. Ben, you have done something amazing here. Keep up the fantastic work. To all the regulars that I have listen to for the last three years, Carl D, Watermom. Aylad,MWSmith, Thank you all so much. You have brought the joy back for me and my family. Thank You All.

[gonefishin]

Glad you finally posted! I enjoyed reading it.

I had a pool when I was younger...but this is the first I've owned. I'm soooo grateful that I found poolsolutions. My water looks great. I just keep wondering when I'm going to start to have problems...or an algae bloom. But I'll just keep checking my water and addressing any problems accordingly. Plus I have the peace of mind that should I get stuck...I've got a place to come with my problems.

Owning a pool is proving to be much more enjoyable than I had thought. Thanks poolsolutions!


dan

[Pool_Mike]

This is great to hear and thank you for your sharing your thoughts.

And to me, this makes it more comfortable to progress on the pool that is being built for our family.
Never owning a personal pool, this was a big decision for us, since everone that I knew "claim" they have had or recent pool history experience say's that THEY WILL NEVER OWN A POOl.
It made me feel very uncomfortable to have us become a new home owner pool because we listen to others (hey what are friends for, right? ).

Unlike us. I been a avid boat owner for the last 8 years. Never a headache to get the boat out to the lake. The headache would start when taking it out and towing it home and then cleaning it and the honey due list keeps going. Not to mention I would spend at least over 180.00 a day to play with the boat.
Fuel costing me over $150 a fill up. Buying food, fill up the tow rig (Humble 12mpg suv) Boat launch fees, stress dealing w/ other boaters that don't know how to back a boat trailer. It truely gets very stressful, but more annoying since there seems to be an idiot born everyday that owns a boat or heck even a jetski/pwc.
So getting rid of our 2004 ski boat, I think the pool will hopefully be a great move and bless to not even leave my property to enjoy the smiles on my family's face.
So on here I been asking a whole lotta questions and I seem to get great feedback and support. So I feel that I soon to be a newbie pool-owner, I fill I made a great move to get out of the boating world and into the backyard pool world.

Thanks for welcoming me on here at the poolforum.com

[medvampire]

This is my first pool and very happy I found this forum. My girl friend had one when she was a kid and she rembers her dad fighting algae. I have had very good luck following the example that the mods, members, and posters have proven here. All I can say thanks to all who have pushed me along here.
Steve

[CarlD]

MPetrillo:

This makes it all worth-while. Thank you. Whether someone posts and says "help" or someone learns from them while lurking, it's what we are in this for: so we can all enjoy clean, sweet safe pools at minimal effort and cost.

And don't forget the contributions of our 4th moderator, Poconos. Al's been our expert on pool mechanics (pumps, filters, plumbing, etc) and the pioneer in home-made solar systems and using DE in sand filters to super-charge them!

Plus he's a WHIZ at ice-fishing in his pool during the winter! (but I don't think he stocks it!) He gets all the fun of ice fishing, the convenience of not having to go out to a lake, and he doesn't have to clean fish!

[poolmom06]

Well my kids are waterdogs in the summer, two years ago we bought one of those Intex easy set pools, they swam in that thing all summer! We loved it, having been around pools all my life, I took good care of it even with its subpar filtration system.
Last summer one of our neighbors was moving, they had an above ground pool and didn't want to take it with them and we approached them about buying it, they said $200 and its' yours!! We wrote them a check as fast as we could then got to work!! We took their advice on how to get the ground prepared, mind you this is the middle of July in Texas, it was HOT~! Our problem was we had to take it down at the old place and put it back up at ours... It went smooth and it really helped to see how it went together as we took it down. We told our boys that it would be their birthday present(they have summer birthdays) and they were thrilled. All total we spent about $500 total by the time we purchased all the needed materials and did all the work ourselves but we have a beautuful AG 18ft round pool that we love!! It was the best $500 we have ever spent.
I found this site a week ago and I truly believe it saved my sanity!! I was spending $$ at the pool stores to avail, I read everything here and paid close attention and it has paid off! My pool was cloudy and green a week ago and my son swam in it today thanks to the BBB method. I went yesterday and bought 2 boxes of Borax, a gallon of bleach and a 4 lb box of Baking soda, I have muratic acid already ( pool store purchase, in search of an answer~) I spend less than $10!!! My husband is much happier that I have a blue pool now and it's clearing of the cloudiness, slowly but surely, I will vaccum twice a day to clear it. My neighbors have had problems with theirs this year, I am going to recomment the BBB method to them as well!!!
I can come here with a question and get an answer very quickly. I am going to continue to take my water in for testing once a week or so just to be on the safe side.

[Watermom]

I am going to continue to take my water in for testing once a week or so just to be on the safe side.

Better yet, get a good test kit and test the water yourselves. The one Ben sells at www.poolsolutions.com is the best you can buy and the one that most of us use. Definitely worth the money! Enjoy your pool.

[drumr]

The first year I had my pool I dealt with algae, cloudy water, and other things we all fight. Even though the store we bought the pool from had a "pool school" for new pool owners the information was at best vague, because they sell so many different kinds of pools they keep the information very general. I found poolsolutions.com a month before I opened my pool on the 2nd season and couldn't believe the BBB method. I asked the evironmental engineer at my workplace about the chemical names Ben referred too and asked him if it all made sense and sure enough he said it did. So I opened my pool and introduced the BBB method to it and have had sparkling water ever since. This is now the fifth season using the BBB method and we have perfect water. It's amazing how easy it is, no algae problems, just keep the water balanced per the instructions here and poolsolutions. I live in middle Tn. and my pool gets sun all day, my neighbors using baquajunk always have cloudy water and in August seem to get algae real bad, I try to convince them BBB is the way to go, but they always say you only have to check your water every couple of weeks and it is easy, but when I see their cloudy water vs. my clear water and it only takes 2 minutes to pour a bottle of bleach in everyday or every other day and the money I have saved....IT'S A NO BRAINER!!!
I am thinking seriously about a SWG for next season, but need to do more research first.

A huge thanks to all here who make my pool so easy to care for!!!
JD