Getting In WAY Over Your Head in the Pool Business!

Some pool jobs are not hard because they are technical, they are hard because one mistake can wreck a surface, flood a schedule, or turn a “quick fix” into an all-day rescue. I’m sharing the moments where pool service pros end up in over their head and how to avoid that trap without stalling your growth.

We talk through the Catch-22 of learning in the field and the simplest way around it: partner up and shadow someone experienced. Acid washing is a perfect example, where finesse matters and a seasoned tech can often predict results before the first drop hits the plaster. Pool and spa light replacement is another, especially combo setups where you need a second person to confirm which line you are pulling and to help you troubleshoot when things do not go smoothly.

Then we dig into black algae treatment, including the real labor of knocking off heads, the risks of granular trichlor on certain finishes, and why cal hypo options can be a safer alternative on pebble or colored plaster. Finally, we zoom out to the business side: when to refer out big equipment installs, how referral commissions can still pay well, and why focusing on a clean, consistent pool route with a dedicated repair partner can be a strong and scalable model.

If you want more practical pool service training and honest guidance from the field, subscribe, share this with a pool pro who needs it, and leave a quick review so more techs can find the show.

We break down the pool service Catch-22 where experience is the only real teacher, but the wrong first job can cost you time, money, and a customer. We lay out a practical approach for growing skills safely by partnering, shadowing, and referring out repairs that do not fit your lane.
• why some pool work is “learn by doing” but still needs guardrails  
• partnering on acid washes to learn process, pricing, and outcomes  
• why pulling pool and spa lights often needs two people  
• black algae treatment basics, tools, and protective gear  
• when granular trichlor is effective and when it can damage surfaces  
• using cal hypo options for pebble and colored plaster pools  
• recognizing equipment installs that are logistics-heavy and best referred out  
• referral commissions and partnering to split bigger install jobs  
• insurance limitations for new pool service pros and why they exist  
• building a business model focused on maintenance with dedicated repair support  
Learn more at swimmingpoollearning.com.  
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Transcript

Welcome And The Core Warning

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Hey, welcome to the Pool Way Podcast Show. In this episode, I'm going to talk to you about certain things out there that you could be in over your head by doing. And I'll explain this in more detail, but there are aspects of pool care, pool equipment that you may not be quite ready for, and I'll cover some of these for you and show you how you the best way you can tackle these situations. 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 swimmingpoollearning.com. Now a lot of this knowledge comes from experience and doing things out there. So it's kind of like a catch-22. If you wanted to do something but you don't know how to do it, and the only way to get better at it is by doing it. And of course, that is where that expression falls into place. And if you don't know what the catch 22 is, you can chat it and it'll give you a pretty good explanation of the military term that was used

Coaching Program Quick Plug

SPEAKER_00 2:13

in World War II for bombers that tried to get out of flying. They kept adding more and more missions to them. So quite an interesting application. And it applies here too because a lot of these things, in order to do them, you have to do them, if that makes sense. But you can't do them because you don't have the the right knowledge to do them. So there are some things you can partner with when you first start. And I'll start with the acid washing of a pool. This is a great one to partner with another pool company to learn how to do these because there is some skill involved, there is some finesse

The Catch-22 Of Learning

SPEAKER_00 2:50

involved in an acid wash. And if you're working with someone experienced, they can also point out the outcome of the acid wash in a lot of cases before they even start the acid wash. So you'll get an idea yourself of you know some potential outcomes in the future when you're out there bidding the acid washes yourself. You know, what is this going to look like when I finish? What's the process I should do? How much should I charge for this? What's the extra work involved? All of those can be answered by partnering with someone else. And believe me, there probably are a lot of companies out there looking to have a partner in an acid wash, you know, a single polar that

Partnering On Acid Wash Jobs

SPEAKER_00 3:27

doesn't have anyone to help them. Just put a sign at your supplier saying, we'll help with your asset wash, and see what kind of leads you're gonna get and let them know that you haven't done one before and you want to learn how to do them. And it may be a good opportunity to partner with this person in the future when you do an acid wash to have them be the second person. So it may work out well for you to partner with someone in this case, and it's pretty easy to learn once you do two or three of these acid washes, you're gonna know all this the ins and outs of it. So definitely you would want to partner for an acid wash. The other thing that you would want to partner with is pulling a pool or spa light or a pool and spa light combo. Now, this may sound very daunting, and it kind of is daunting in a way. You know, if you've never pulled a pool light or spa light, it's always good to have someone who's got a lot of experience do it, and then you just kind of tag along. So if you if you have a customer that has a spa light that's burned out, or a pool light, and they want to change him, let's say to LED, or just get all new lights, it's actually a two-person job anyway for the pool and spa light, because you have to know which one is which. It's not super complicated, but you can't do it yourself. There's no way to identify a pool and spa combo. I don't think there's a way to identify it by your without pulling and having someone on the other end know which one you're pulling. That makes sense. You'll

Pulling Pool And Spa Lights

SPEAKER_00 4:52

drain down the spa, loosen the fitting, the fixture, I should say, leave the light dangling, and then someone will be there when you pull to see which one's the pull, which one's the spa light. Sometimes you run into trouble, and if someone's experienced, they'll be able to help you out of a situation where you're having some problems. So I would say if your customer wants to upgrade their lights or has a light that needs to be pulled, contact an experienced repair person in your area, give them the referral, but let them know that you want to tag along because you want to see the job done and you want to help with the job. And that's how you gain the experience of that, is just by kind of shadowing someone who's pulled pool lights before, and they'll be able to walk you through the steps of doing that. Because there's some details, you know, there's not a lot of videos out there. I think Ineo Pools has a really old video of them doing it, but that's with the pool empty, I remember. And a lot of times you're doing this when the pool is full of water, so it does take a little bit of extra skill in that case, you know, and certain things you have to know when you're doing this as well that they can walk you through. So those two things I would say definitely partnering with somebody is a great way to learn how to do an acid wash properly and pull a pool light, pool and spa light, put a new pool and pot spa light in. I call it pulling, but you're just running the conduit and the light, and then you're wiring it up the equipment. Now, this is something that you can learn on your own, and I think it's good if you can find a pool on your route, or if you have a pool on your route that's really old, you probably will have one eventually if you haven't got one, and has black algae. And I I mentioned this because this is how I learned. I didn't really I wasn't really taught black algae treatment per se. I just kind of learned how to do it with older pools that were kind of disposable surf with disposable surfaces, I should say, or something like that. I don't know how to phrase it. They're pretty worn out. The plaster has chips in it, it's really old. And this is where I learned my black algae technique and kind of honed my skills. And the way I treat black algae is by aggressively brushing the black algae with a five-inch steel

Black Algae Treatment Skill Building

SPEAKER_00 7:10

brush to knock the heads off. And then I use Hasa Algae Band. Now I wouldn't recommend this product for rookies or people that haven't used it before because granular trichlor can burn the pool surface, it could leave a pretty good burn because it has really low pH. It's basically like a trichlor tablet in granular form with a low pH, and this is why it can burn the surface. Now, I don't recommend using granular trichlor either with a colored plaster pool unless it's really gone already, or a pebble tech pool. There's alternatives for that, but for just a white plaster pool that has black algae, it's really good to experiment on an older pool. So, what I'd like to do is get a pool, then use treatment that's in bad shape, and then I'll do the treatment. I did this one summer where I was doing a lot of green pool cleanups, and I ran into several black algae pools too, which I can hone my skills, and this is really helpful for me. And I would say I'm pretty much an expert on the black algae. How much algae brand do I need for this pool? Five pounds, ten pounds, you know, three pounds. How do you broadcast it properly? What's the best way to get the black algae off the walls of the pool? Well, for me, it's the five-inch stainless steel brush. I've also used the stain eraser to get really tough black algae off. I used to use the tricolor tablet scraper tool, but it doesn't have a lot of strength to it. And so I found that the stain eraser is a little clip-on tool that you can use on your pool pool. Works really good to get the really stubborn black algae heads off. Now, this is an extremely time-consuming process to scrape all the heads off the black algae, and then to broadcast the algebra, by the way. I have a video on this my YouTube channel, you can watch it. Wearing a mask is helpful. Wearing gloves that protect you because when you're broadcasting it, the white dust gets everywhere and it's gonna get blowback on your skin. So just wear full protective gear, and you'll learn just by these pools that are pretty bad, kind of how much black, how much a granular trichlor you can use, you know, how how high to raise the chlorine, how effective the treatment is, and by doing this on a one or two times on a really bad pool, old pool, you'll get pretty good skill. And then you could take that skill to a pool that is newer, that you don't want to ruin the plaster or damage the plaster on, and you'll have a little bit of the finesse already on how to do that. So I wouldn't recommend like if someone has a pool that's three years old that has black algae and they want you to treat it, and it's a pretty good black algae outbreak, you may want to pass on that one and refer it out to someone else until you get the skill level to treat it, because there is some skill involved. And before I leave the subject of black allergy, you learn a lot of new things too while you're doing this kind of stuff. And one thing I've learned is that for pebble tech pools, cal hypogranular works pretty good for black allergy and pebble tech. I've had pretty good success with that. Turn the pool off, turn the cleaner off, let everything set for two hours after you broadcast the cal hypo, and it's pretty effective because you don't want to use again granular trichlor in a pebble tech pool. I've also found that breaking up Calhypo tablets is a great way to treat black allergy on surfaces where the granular trichlor is too harsh. Colored plaster pools, newer pools, pebble tech pools. The calhypo tablets have like a coagulating thing in them that makes them kind of I don't know, rock like pebble-like. So they're not going to be granular when you break them up, they'll be more like small pebble, and they'll dissolve slow enough that the chlorine will actually be able to penetrate the black algae and remove it from the pool or kill it. So I found that cal hypo tablets are a pretty good alternative to the trichlor, and it's quite safe because the calhypo doesn't really burn the surface, it's got a pH of like 10 or 11, so it's a very safe alternative. So you learn things, and I'm passing that on to you because I think it's a pretty good tip. So that's how I learned black algae treatment. I learned the acid washing exactly how I mentioned it. I also learned how to pull pool lights as I mentioned it as well by tagging along with a more experienced person that installed the lights and I was able to help them out. So here's one that you may run into, and this is like I can bid for equipment like heaters, filters, pumps. I put everything in myself before assault systems, I could do all of that. But there may be some jobs that are just too big for you or too complicated. I ran into one of these when there was a remodel and the customer was selling their house and they wanted all new equipment put in. A really good selling strategy for this pool because it was really old and equipment was really in bad shape. But the equipment was in a weird location, and for me it was I found it difficult to even figure out how I was gonna plumb this thing and remove the equipment. It was not it was on a hillside and the equipment was tucked away in a corner. And for me, I just I realized from my experience

Big Equipment Jobs To Refer

SPEAKER_00 12:55

that I'd rather just refer this out. So you may get some particular circumstances where you don't even want to tag along, you don't even want to tackle it, you just want to refer it out. And I got 10% by the way for that because it was like a back then it was a while ago, but it was like a $7,000 install, which nowadays would probably be about $15,000, maybe more than that. So I got a pretty good commission referral check for that one. And I learned from that that there's a lot of things I don't want to do. There's a lot of installs that I just don't want to tackle. Heaters are one, not because they're hard to install, there's just three wires, and the gas line is fairly easy. If you can't tackle the gas line, a plumber can do it for you. Plumbing it is really easy, also. It's just that there's some logistics with removing the old heater that a single polar can't accomplish. So I refer that out to my repair guy who has two helpers to get the heater out. Some situations you need two people to get these old heaters out. Three people, I should say, to get these old heaters out. So this is something I don't do because of more logistics than anything. It's not that you can't do it, it's just that you have to hire somebody or get a helper to do it with you, and it just gets complicated. So kind of know your lane, where the separation is. Yes, there's a learning curve for some of the things I mentioned earlier, but then there's like just refer it out kind of thing. And that maybe the most logical thing to do in your business is just to refer that out. I mean, I have an HVAC guy I work with, he does HVACs, he actually put one in in one of the units I had, but he didn't do it himself. He actually partnered with a company and they split it because putting in a whole HVAC system for him, which is too much work, plus his regular repairs, and so you may fall into that same category where you built up your pool business to the point where you really can't spend three or four days of selling equipment, hooking up the automated system, doing all that, or you just want to maybe partner with another company and work that job together. You know, maybe you put in the filter pump and heater, have them put in the automation. That does take a lot of time, or maybe you do the automation, have them do the other part. So I'm not opposed to partnering with the company either. The split the work, you probably make a little bit more money than referring it out, but you have to kind of recognize these situations, especially when you're starting and you've never replaced a motor or a pump, you probably don't want to tackle that yourself. And a lot of times, if you have general liability insurance, there'll be a a I don't know what you would call it, it's not a waiver, maybe a clause you sign that you won't do any repairs for the first year if you're new. Some insurance companies make you sign that. And it's logical that they would have you do that because if you don't know what you're doing, you really don't know what you're doing. So it's good, like if your first pump install, I would definitely work with somebody and watch them do that. So kind of shadowing people is the best way to learn a lot of these repairs. Now, back when I learned them, I did everything myself because there was nothing back when I first started. It was not even YouTube, there were no cell phones, so it was really a tough era to work in. So we learned a lot just by doing things, but you don't have to do that now. You have options, you have YouTube, of course, you have these training academies they have all over the place that Pentair, Hayward, and Jandy put together so you learn how to wire equipment, how to install things. You could look for one in your local area, by the way. So there's a lot of resources out there for you. And I guess the the moral of this podcast or the takeaway would be you really don't want to do everything yourself at the beginning. You kind of want to learn from somebody. There's not a lot of training courses per se one-on-one, but you can find a repairman that's doing installs and just kind of help him out,

Training Options And Business Models

SPEAKER_00 16:49

refer work to him, then shadow him, and then eventually you may want to do some yourself. You may not want to do any yourself. I got a message from somebody who wants to start a pool business, but they were saying that they don't want to really do any repairs. And is that even possible? And my answer was perfectly acceptable, very feasible, and very possible. Focus on the pool route, maintain the pools, any repairs, just have someone you can dedicate. You can find someone that is a dedicated repair person and refer those repairs to them. And just tell the customer that your business model is that you service the pools and maintain their pools so that it's swim ready, there's no problems. Whenever there's a problem, you partner with Phil's pool service who does all the repairs for you, and they'll be there within 24 hours to do the repair. So it makes things much easier since you do a pool full pool route. It just makes things much smoother for the customer, and there's no interruption in service, basically. And any way you want to explain it, it's possible. So there's a lot of things you don't need to do out there, there's a lot of things you need to learn how to do, and of course, there's things that you may have a combination of both of those where you're teaming up with somebody out there. Looking for other podcasts, you can find those on my website, somewherepolearning.com. There's a podcast icon. Click on that, there'll be a drop down menu with over close to 2,000 podcasts, and you can listen to those at your leisure. And if you're looking at the coaching program that I offer, you can learn more at PoolGuyCoaching.com. Thanks for listening to this podcast. Have the rest of your week. God bless.