Attention all Commercial & Public Pool owners. You must be ADA Pool Lift Compliant at your facility. THIS IS THE LAW!! There have been 21 reported cases of major hotel chains that have been cited for the lack of their compliancy. The fines will be heftier than the price of the lifts themselves. Call us today if you need our help becoming ADA Pool Lift Compliant.
Living in beautiful Lancaster County, PA provides us with four separate seasons of weather. Its springtime now and swimming pool opening season is here! In addition to the lush green grass and daffodils popping up everywhere, our fine feathered friends are also “busy” mating, laying eggs and cleaning out their nests. Many times that involves your swimming pool. Birds will deposit their waste and nest material around or in your pool to ward off predators. Momma ducks sometimes use your swimming pool for her ducklings’ first swimming lesson. This is not very sanitary or safe for you or them.
More than once I’ve had a Mother Mallard duck flying directly at me like a 747 while cleaning the swimming pool. I didn’t realize that I was “too close” to her nearby nest perched in the tall grasses around the pool. QUACK! That explains the term “DUCK” I suppose?
There are some simple solutions to help avoid these ‘foul friends’ from using your swimming pool or deck as a landing place. While we can’t guarantee unwanted guests, we have had good feedback from our customers who gave this a try.
1) Purchase plastic owls and snakes and place them strategically around your yard. You may want to inform the other family members so no one gets…uh…surprised.
2) Keep your pool covered with a solar blanket when it’s not in use. If you receive “droppings” gifted on top of the cover, remember to clean the cover before putting it back on the pool. We’ve got cover cleaner in-stock!!
3) Try one of our friendly floating penguins or dolphins in your pool. Just the movement in the water will distract visitors.
Swimming pools delight family’s world-wide and are a great source of fun and exercise. However, it is important for you to keep tabs on your swimming pool regularly! Some of you hire companies like ours to provide service and cleaning throughout the season. While there, we do a visual check of your pool equipment and levels, and will make you aware of anything we observe that is out of the norm. We recommend that homeowners keep a close eye too as conditions can change like the weather. We want to provide this information to you in order to avoid costly damage or repairs.
For the purpose of this article, we are referring to in ground swimming pools.
1. Water levels: It is imperative that you monitor the water level in your pool to ensure that there is sufficient water flowing to prevent pump burnout and not allow air into your system. Windy or hot days will provide more evaporation!
2. Over the winter months, keep heavy snow/ice loads, leaves and debris off the top of your cover! Too much weight could damage your cover or block your cover pump from operating properly. Use caution with your tool of choice however so that you do not damage/puncture your cover. See. #3.
3. If you notice your cover sagging more than usual, check your water level in the pool. Add water if necessary and monitor. Is there a hole in your cover? You could be pumping your pool water out of the pool with your cover pump!
4. Chemically balance your pool weekly! This is one of the easiest and most important tasks homeowners should do to protect their surface, pool equipment, and family. Need help? Contact us!
5. Monitor your filter pressure! Know what your “normal” starting filter pressure is on your system and monitor it regularly. If your filter pressure rises 10-15psi above your starting pressure, it’s time to backwash or clean your filter cartridges! Note: Your starting filter pressure will NOT be the same each year, due to age and condition of your filter media.
If you have questions about any of the information posted above, feel free to contact us by visiting our website at www.redrosepoolservice.com.
Each year we receive phone calls from our valued customers who are comparing online pricing to our pricing of pool equipment. The fact is that you will most likely be able to purchase your equipment for less online. However, there are dangers involved in making that decision that we want to make you aware of:
1) Many times you are purchasing equipment from a supply warehouse that may or may not have any knowledge regarding the piece of equipment you are purchasing. Are you getting what you think you are?
2) We have had customers who made purchases online only to find out that some of the necessary parts were missing from the box. Trying to contact a “real person” from the website is difficult at best.
3) We’ve had other experiences where the equipment arrives to your house damaged. Again, we cannot warrant or assist you with equipment bought from other suppliers.
4) In some instances, the manufacturer will not honor their normal warranties on equipment purchased from on line vendors.
Red Rose Pool Service has a policy that we will only install equipment that is purchased from our company, despite the fact that it may be the same brand and model. Why do we do this? We believe there is value in dealing locally and purchasing from our company.
1) Our technicians are professionals and attend additional training each year to keep up with the latest technology and equipment. That training comes at a price!
2) If we order and supply the equipment and there is damage or parts missing, you have a source to take care of any issues…and it’s someone you know!
3) Buying from Red Rose ensures that the manufacturers warranty is in tact and we will service and stand behind that equipment locally.
We have had real-life examples from our customers who made the mistake of buying online simply to save money. However they have actually spent more than what we would have charged originally to buy additional parts and in labor charges for us to ‘fix’ the issues.
Please take this into consideration before you buy your pool equipment on line. www.redrosepoolservice.com
In this current economy, we are all searching for ways to cut costs. Here are a few tips for cutting down on your pool expenses this season:
1) Take advantage of bulk/sale pricing on your chemicals for the season. You will save 10-30% off the regular prices. Our Early Buy Sale is going on now thru 4-1-2011
2) Consider upgrading your pool pump. Pentair now has the IntelliFlo Pump which can reduce your energy/electric costs by up to 80%.
3) Use a solar blanket on your pool surface. Using a solar blanket will help to keep debris and airborne particles out of your pool as well as keep your heat in. You will use less energy to heat your water.
4) Keep your filter media clean! We recommend that your filter grids or cartridges be professionally/chemically cleaned at least 1 time per season. Keeping your media clean will help filtration and again lower your costs for chemicals.
5) Check and clean your skimmer and pump baskets often! The more debris in your baskets, the harder your system has to work to keep your water filtered.
If you have any questions regarding these tips or wish to request service, just give us a call at 295-7000 or send us a message via FB, Twitter, or email to jgwinn@redrosepoolservice.com
www.redrosepoolservice.com
Our small business, Red Rose Pool Service, provides full service, renovation and cleaning for both residential and commercial swimming pools in the Lancaster County area.
At the end of our swimming pool season we continue by providing outdoor Holiday Lighting, again to residential and commercial businesses in the area. This service is completely provided by Red Rose. We supply, install, takedown and store all the lighting and greenery to our customers.
With the addition of the lighting service, this helps to sustain our seasonality a bit longer, providing added revenue and more work for our employees.
Finding the right niche to help diversify your small business is a true key for success! Good Luck.
