Nightmare Pools: True Stories from the Route

Some pools look profitable until they aren’t. We pull back the curtain on the accounts that drain time, money, and patience, and we map out the simple rules that keep your route safe and sustainable. From the backyard with a trained guard dog to the “easy” green pool with a dying pump, we show you how to spot trouble before you’re knee-deep in cloudy water and finger-pointing.

First, we talk safety with real stories from the field and why “the dog will be put away” isn’t a plan. You’ll learn practical deterrents and, more importantly, when to pass on a property altogether. Then we dig into green pool rehab: how to read a yard before you quote, equipment red flags that predict failure, and the true cost of running unreliable systems 24/7. We share what to check, how to price honestly, and the exact moments to walk away.

We also decode seasonal debris traps. Eucalyptus, jacaranda, and oak can lull you in winter and bury you in summer. We explain how to audit trees, anticipate bloom and shed cycles, and price for the worst month rather than the best week. Finally, we break down heavy-use residential pools that behave like commercial sites—constant cloudiness, rapid filter loading, and high bather load—and how to protect yourself with rate adjustments, extra visits, and hard boundaries. If an Airbnb won’t allow surcharges or off-day service, it’s not your account.

You’ll leave with a field-tested checklist to protect your margins: avoid attack-dog yards, refuse taped-together equipment, learn the local trees, and identify commercial-level usage early. If a client resists repairs, run time, or fair pricing, replace the account and invest that slot in someone who values your expertise. Enjoy the conversation, then subscribe, share the show with a fellow pool pro, and drop a review telling us your biggest red flag to watch for.

We share the hard-won rules that keep a pool route safe, profitable, and sane, from avoiding aggressive dogs to spotting green pools that won’t clear. We also unpack seasonal tree traps, heavy-use backyards, and how to price

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Chapters

• 1:36 Sponsor Highlights
• 2:59 Coaching Program Invitation
• 3:19 Dog Risks At Service Accounts
• 7:00 Tools And Tactics For Dog Safety
• 9:00 When To Refuse Green Pool Cleanups
• 13:49 Equipment Red Flags That Kill Profits
• 17:32 Tree Seasonality And Debris Surprises

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:48

This episode is brought to you by Hasa. Liquid is clearly better. Liquid chlorine is the highest purity, works immediately, has no added cyaneric acid or calcium, and it will leave your pool safe, clean, and clear. And by the bottom feeder professional grade battery-powered vacuum system, it sucks to clean pools, so cleaning pools sucks less.

SPEAKER_01: 1:09

Get$100 off with code DVB100. This episode is brought to you by Skimmer, the number one pool service software in North America. With Skimmer, you can streamline your schedule, grow your revenue, and keep your customers coming back with five-star service. Whether you're a one-person operation or an established team, Skimmer is your partner in six days.

SPEAKER_00: 2:11

Are you a pool service pro looking to take your business to the next level? Join the Pool Guy Coaching Program. Get expert advice, business tips, exclusive content, and get direct support from me. I'm a 35-year veteran in the industry. Whether you're starting out or scaling up, I've got the tools to help you succeed. Learn more at Summicpoollearning.com. Being attacked by a dog is no fun, and I've had a few run-ins with dogs that I probably should not have been doing the service account. And in hindsight, I probably should not have even accepted these accounts because of the personality of the dog itself. Now, if there's ever an account where the customer says that they have a dog that's vicious, it's bit people before, but they'll put it away and make sure it's not out there when you get there. You're not 100% guaranteed that this won't happen. The dog won't get out by accident, they may forget to lock a gate. Something like this may happen. So I would advise you to pass on these accounts where the dog may be vicious and trained to attack. There was one incident when I first started pool servers, I was working for a company in Upland, and there they had this dog, it was a Rottweiler that was trained to attack, and they said they would lock it up every time I was there. Not a problem, I guess. I didn't know any better. I was just an employee working for a company, just starting out, and the dog actually they forgot to lock a side gate or something. And I'm walking back towards my truck, and this is the days where we didn't have vacuum systems, and I had my manual hose my manual vac head and my pool hose, and I was carrying it on my shoulder. And so I quickly dropped the hose to the front of me, like use it as a shield, and I kind of just kind of walked forward with the pool hose in front of me, and I was pretty scared. And the dog was kind of confused because it probably never saw an object before that had this, you know, green hose in front, walking towards it. I guess dogs can't see color that well, and it I just looked kind of weird. And it and I had my pool pole with me on my side, kind of using it as a you know, kind of like a defense against it. It didn't even try to attack me. I think it was just confused and it was probably surprised there was someone in the backyard, I think, because you know it it never has the never had the chance to actually use the skill that it was trained for. And this was an incident, of course, I got out of the yard safely, thankfully, but I realized that I don't want to do these service accounts on my own route where the dog may be vicious, and I didn't take any accounts where the dog was trained, a trained guard dog. But there were some sketchy dogs, of course, and there always are dogs that you kind of worry about. You know, they're really quiet, they're watching you, maybe they'll sneak up on you. Some of them will they kind of run towards you and then stop almost like they're playing playing attack. And it's just one of those things where you have to be prepared. So I have pepper spray, I also carry this dog dazer device, dog dazer 2. It's an ultrasonic device. You can push a button and the dog doesn't like the sound of it, and that usually will stop most vicious dogs. Although I realize with a pit bull, it seems to make them even more aggressive, they don't like it, and they just go crazy. And there's different things you can have, like um the thing that makes that clicking noise, like a the shocker thing, and it's just one of those things where just avoid these accounts where the dog may be suspect because chances are they're gonna leave a gate open, a kid's gonna come out, dog's gonna fall behind them, and chances are you're gonna get attacked. A lot of my group members post the dog bites they get when these vicious dogs get out. It's just not worth it to have an account like that, and it's a pretty scary situation when a dog's coming at you that's gonna take a piece out of you. This is a lesson I had to learn the hard way, and there are certain green pools that you should just walk away from. There's green pools that, in my opinion, just will take too much time and effort and may not be worth that time and effort. You know, if there's a an account that you take over and the pool's been off for a year, the equipment is really old and the customer wants you to clear it up. And I've been in the situation where it was really old equipment, the pool has been green for probably over a year, and it just was a total mess. And I took this green pool cleanup thinking that I can do it because I've done other green pool cleanups and you know they've been successful. And some things that I realized is that the equipment, this is before I I realized certain rules, and I'll back up a little bit. There's the first rule is when you walk up to the property, assess the house. If you know you're walking past a driveway and there's a car and cinder blocks, and then you get back there and the grass is up to your knees, and you get to the pool, and it looks like no one's touched it for a year. I would say, you know, just bid that one really higher. Just tell the customer, you know, I really um don't have time to do this pool this week, so if you want to call someone else, you can do it. I'm pretty booked up for the next couple weeks. Kind of just put it off because all those warning signs walking up to it goes to show that this is not gonna be a pool that you know that was given attention, the whole property is not attended to, and after you finish it, it's probably not gonna stay blue unless they hire you on, of course. But then there's a lot of red flags there to begin with. I'm not saying you should necessarily judge a book by its cover, but if everything's in a state of disrepair, then the attitude of the customer probably is they don't care about their house, their pool, and it's one of those incidences where you probably should trust your instinct and not take it. But I have unfortunately taken on these pools before, and another rule that I have established is that the equipment has to be decent for me to do the green pool cleanup. So if I get back there and the filter has duct tape on it, and there's you know those compression fittings on the pipe to keep it from leaking, and the pump looks like it's just it's on its last leg, it's really loud and it's all rusted. I really won't do the green pool cleanup there because I've done these before. I've had the pumps die in the middle of the green pool cleanup, you know, running 24 hours, and the pump just turns off, and then the customer's like, hey, the pump's not working, and what did you do to my pump? All these things are because the pool's been neglected for so long, the equipment's been neglected for so long, it's really not worth$800 you're gonna charge, or$1,000 you're gonna charge for it because you're gonna be spending a lot more time than you think, and there's a chance that the filter grids need to be repaid replaced or the cartridges, and the customer's not gonna want to do that. And so, in this instance, definitely walk away from these green pool cleanups that probably won't turn around because of all these other factors. So I've tried this before, I I've attempted to do one. I mentioned that the motor died in the middle of the green pool cleanup. So then I got a rebuilt motor for them, put it in there, and then I realized that the customer was turning off the pool because they didn't like it running so long because of the electricity bill, and then I found that it just was impossible to clear up because the filter was really old. I told the customer they need new grids, you know, they had silicone patches on them, they refused to get new grids, and it just got to the point where it made it to like a murky blue-green cloudy mess, and I just didn't go back. I just told them that's the best I can do with the situation and the equipment. They weren't particularly happy, but at that point I can't do anything else because of the substandard equipment, and truthfully, the customer wasn't being helpful as well by turning off the pump, not letting it run when it needs to run. And this is definitely what I consider a green pool that won't clear up. Stay away from those. You should know these from experience as you get more into the industry, that this is a pool you don't want to even attempt to turn around. And the Pool Guy Podcast Show is teamed up with UPA to bring you affordable, reliable liability insurance starting at just$64 a month. Get up to$2 million in coverage, and the members of my coaching group get an even lower rate. Protect your business and your peace of mind. Sign up with UPA today by clicking the link in the podcast description. I've been tricked before by this also, and this is something that you learn over time that a pool with trees around it, even if it looks really good when you bid it, it may not look good either in a windstorm or certain parts of the season. For example, I've done many pools with eucalyptus trees where I took the account it looks great in the wintertime. You know, this there's in the in the fall and then you know when you're getting into winter, and but when you're getting into summer, the eucalyptus trees actually start to shed their leaves and their bark, and the pool is a total disaster. So certain trees actually bloom at different times, and you have to kind of know these tree species. I actually have a book in my truck that has like different species of trees, and I would look them up just to make sure I would know when they would be blooming, what actually debris falls, because some of them, like I'll give you an example, like a hacaranda tree, it's a tree that has these really pretty purple flowers and has these nice green leaves on them. But if you don't know this breed or species of tree, when you take on the account, let's say you take it on in January, there's no flowers on it in January, so you'll take on this account assuming the tree is a pretty clean tree. But come May, all these purple flowers start blooming, and you may go back there and admire it. Oh, this is a really pretty tree. But then in June and July, all these flowers fall off, and then shortly after that, all the little tiny green leaves fall off, and they're really small little particles that get everywhere. This is definitely a tree that's really messy. And if you're out of season doing the bid, you may not know this. And it's something that happens to everyone out there. I've had this happen again with eucalyptus trees, tacaranda trees, oak trees, any trees around the pool, you have to assume that they're gonna have a lot of debris at some point during the season. You know, the oak trees, the pollen in April and May is just tremendous, and the whole pool is covered with this yellow pollen. The tile line has like a half an inch of yellow all the way around it, and you'll know this if you do these kind of pools with these trees. So any heavy any pool with a tree around it or trees around it, I consider has a potential to be a heavy debris pool during parts of the season. And of course, if there's a windstorm, you're out of luck because that pool is gonna be totally destroyed with all the leaf debris. It's not just the leaves that fall, it's all the leaf leaf debris and dead things in the tree that just sitting in there, and then a windstorm or a major rainstorm knocks all of that out of the tree. So just be aware that if you see a tree that's shedding a few leaves here and there, and you're not you're not worried about it, eventually during a windstorm or a heavy rainstorm, everything in that tree that's kind of just settling in there is gonna fall into the pool and make a pretty big mess out of it. So don't fall for the trap of trees around the pool that look nice and the pool looks clean during certain parts of the season. I can almost guarantee you that other parts of the season it's gonna be a pool that you're not gonna want to keep on your route for very long because of the excessive debris that's gonna be in the pool. Now I know that we do pool service to maintain the pool and to so that the customer can use the pool, but there is an extreme to this, and I've had incidents where this has happened where the backyard pool is pretty much like a commercial pool. They have some kids using the pool, and you may not notice when you when you do the bid as well, you know, you it looks like a pool that's not used that much, is pretty clean from the last pool service, and you take on the account, and you'll notice a few times that the pool is kind of cloudy, and you're kind of wondering what's going on, and so you shock the pool, you notice that the filter is getting dirty or more dirty than usual, and then you clean the filter. But one thing you you're not there to realize because you're there for 15 or 20 minutes a week, and you may be there like on a Thursday at 8 a.m. where no one's using the pool, that this pool is an extremely heavy use pool. Now there are some giveaways to this. You have toys around, you have this constant battle with the cloudy water, and you also see signs that the pool is being used. You know, there's you know, towels slaying around, there's other debris from pool use, and you realize at some point, hopefully, that this is a pool that is really heavily used, almost to the point of a commercial pool in the summertime. They may have their neighborhood friends come in, you know, they may start using the pool at 10 in the morning, and even at some point the customer may tell you, yeah, the kids really like the pool, and all summer long they're using the pool. This to me is a account, and I know that you do pool service to maintain pools for the customers, that makes sense, that's your job. But there are certain pools where there's just too much usage, in my opinion, for the amount that they're paying you for, and you may want to raise the rate in these pools because of all the extra work you're doing. The customer may balk at that and change services, which is fine, but there comes a point where this heavy use pool is a kind of a disaster on your route. You know, there's algae forming sometimes in the summer. Of course, you can use enhancers to kind of battle that, but again, you're dealing with a residential pool, maybe 15 by 30, 15,000 gallons. So it's being used like a commercial pool where there's 10 or 12 people in the pool in the summertime all week long. And the pool is not designed for that kind of usage, for that kind of commercial usage, doesn't have the commercial equipment, it's not running 24 hours, and it's just gonna be a real nightmare to keep clear. I've had these pools before. Once I realize that they're really heavy use pools, I'll maintain them to a certain point and then I'll do the one-for-one. When I get another account, I'll let the customer know that I'm consolidating my pool route and I can no longer service their pool. It's not that I don't want the work, and it's not that I'm kind of shrinking from the pool service providing pool service, but there is a point where the pool is just being used way too much for what it's designed for, and your pool service is not really designed for commercial service in a residential pool setting. So keep that in mind when you have that. Airbnbs are another one where you're gonna have problems with heavy usage, and if the customer is not calling you or allowing you to surcharge them for visits not on your service day, they turn to pool and make sure that it's good for the next customer coming into the Airbnb, then that's an account that you need to drop right away, and sometimes they're not even worth taking on those vacation rentals because of the heavy usage. So that's just a few examples of some pools that I put in the horror file or stay away from. And if you can learn from this and kind of avoid these pools, I know when you're starting out, you kind of have to take every single account you get, but as you get more established, there are certain accounts that you definitely want to start passing on, and these are definitely some of those. If you're looking for other podcasts, you can find them by going to my website, swingingpoollearning.com. On the banner, there's the podcast icon. Click on that, there'll be a drop-down menu of over 1700 podcasts for you there as well. And if you're interested in the coaching program that I offer, you can learn more at poolguycoaching.com. Thanks for listening to this podcast. Have you guys your week and God bless. This episode is brought to you by Hasa, providing products that deliver clean, healthy water for every aspect of everyday life. The bottom feeder battery powered vacuum system, portable, powerful, and only weighs 12 pounds. And Skimmer. Get Skimmer, America's number one pool service software. Podcast listeners can try Skimmer for free at getskimmer.com backslash pool guy.