0:00
we now continue our discussion on women
0:02
in the pool industry with Kelly and Dan
0:06
I guess you could say I'm trying to
0:08
figure out a way that when I'm too old
0:10
to be out in the field you know
0:12
bending up bending over you know those
0:15
filters and the pipes and cutting things
0:17
ways I could sit at home so things like
0:21
that and then uh I want to start taking
0:24
um the phca and Genesis classes for
0:27
building and Design
0:28
yeah not necessarily because I want to
0:30
be the Builder but mainly because I want
0:32
to be the designer
0:34
yep
0:35
that's something there's there are a lot
0:38
of people that do just that and and with
0:40
that you know it's it's interesting that
0:42
you you take that approach because
0:44
um a lot of designers and this goes for
0:47
Architects as well
0:49
um they're good at drawing pretty
0:51
pictures but the reality of trying to
0:54
construct what they draw oftentimes is
0:57
just not possible yeah um so
1:01
understanding the the what it takes to
1:04
build the structure uh by going to like
1:07
you said the Genesis courses are great
1:09
great sources for that
1:11
um water shape also has fantastic
1:13
courses for that there are a lot of
1:16
opportunities that give you some some
1:19
background so as you're drawing those
1:22
fantastic 3D designs you know it's it's
1:25
something that can be reality uh as
1:28
opposed to just a pretty thing so when I
1:31
first started doing pools obviously I
1:33
already knew I did not want to clean
1:34
fools forever
1:36
hated it as a kid knew it hated as an
1:38
adult but that's how you that's the way
1:40
I think people most people should get
1:42
into pools is starting from like a
1:45
service side so that you can understand
1:47
how the Pool Works
1:49
and what doesn't work
1:52
um and then I wanted to at that point I
1:55
wanted to become a builder but I wanted
1:57
to become a builder who built pools that
2:00
Not only was what the customer wanted
2:03
but was also for the service person
2:06
you know that that's how I I started in
2:10
the industry just that way doing service
2:13
um
2:13
and everything that I do today uh you
2:18
know everything that that I have our
2:19
team
2:20
it all revolves around the the longevity
2:24
and the serviceability and without the
2:28
service background I I think a lot of
2:31
people that jump into building either
2:33
from other Industries or or from other
2:35
even sectors within our our industry
2:38
without the service background that's
2:41
where you end up running into these
2:42
nightmares right you've seen them we've
2:44
all seen them I'm sure our listeners
2:46
have seen them where you know you you
2:48
just walk in the yard and go
2:50
who did this
2:53
what were they thinking
2:56
um why is the the cleaner line on the
2:59
other side of the pool where the
3:01
Negative Edge is for a 20-foot drop yeah
3:04
all all different crazy uh crazy things
3:08
that that were um just not really
3:11
thought of in terms of the
3:13
serviceability or longevity because uh
3:16
you know we've seen it from from our
3:19
infancies by dealing with it so let's I
3:23
think another thing
3:25
when uh it comes to builders I think
3:31
I want to phrase this correctly
3:34
when you have a builder that doesn't
3:36
have a lot of experience within the pool
3:38
industry or does or you know they're
3:40
just like I'll just hire subs for
3:42
everything
3:43
if you don't understand what each sub's
3:47
job is and how it should be that's where
3:50
these pools become nightmares
3:53
because maybe that sub that might be the
3:56
best buck
3:57
sometimes even when they're most
3:58
expensive but they did it wrong you know
4:00
the gunite's not level uh I had a pool
4:04
where the Builder abandoned the job went
4:06
to it and and in the spa they put a jet
4:10
where there's no bench
4:13
right where the you know the dam wall is
4:16
to go into the pool and the customer
4:17
calls the jet now the kinky jet
4:22
because of where it is placed when you
4:25
stand up buy it well maybe that was the
4:28
intent you know
4:30
thank you
4:33
they say the the Disney cartoon artists
4:36
always had some uh some interesting
4:38
things hidden in all of the cartoons
4:40
maybe maybe that was that golden way of
4:43
the customer didn't even know what it
4:44
was until my dad was like that's a jet
4:47
and why is it there and so the customer
4:49
gets in because they're we're also
4:51
making looking at the benches to see if
4:53
they're right which they weren't either
4:55
and they stand next to the chat and
4:58
they're like oh this is the kinky jet
5:03
dude but if if you don't know you how
5:07
are you supposed to be like hey that's
5:08
wrong or like you know I've had it where
5:11
I go in and I'm gonna put the the Jets
5:14
in after everything's been plastered and
5:16
built and it doesn't line up like it
5:19
should because the pipe went down after
5:22
gunite or you know all those things or
5:25
um I went to a warranty recently and I
5:28
don't have experience getting lights out
5:30
once they're plastered into the plaster
5:33
because they cut the pipe this is a 320
5:36
light so an inch and a half light they
5:39
cut the pipe Too Short when they
5:40
installed it so then when the plaster
5:43
company came in did a bowling effect and
5:46
Pla and they ended up Plastering the
5:48
Garment so we had to figure out a way to
5:51
not damage the plaster job but get that
5:53
light out and you know those are things
5:55
that are going to happen if the Builder
5:57
is one just too busy and not seeing
6:00
what's going on or two they just don't
6:01
know at all yeah exactly exactly and
6:04
that's you know good Builders if it's a
6:06
builder who's subbing out uh a lot or
6:08
even all of the project if if they don't
6:10
have that that solid foundation and and
6:14
aren't committed to going out and
6:16
inspecting every phase of the
6:18
subcontractors work before the next
6:21
phase and subcontractor comes in then
6:24
unfortunately that's what homeowners end
6:26
up with right kinky Jets so
6:29
kinky Jets and uh what was the other one
6:31
I had all the returns to the pool were
6:34
the in-floor system
6:37
there were no return so
6:40
that means floor system was going to be
6:42
on
6:43
all the time when the pool was on it was
6:45
on instead it was supposed to be
6:47
designed where it had its own pop
6:49
okay but because there was no other
6:51
return
6:54
that's what they had
6:56
yeah you know in the midwest that's
6:57
actually not very uncommon that really
7:00
the the filter pump is the the
7:04
circulation is all through the in floor
7:05
cleaning one in floor cleaning is done
7:07
the builders do them different ways but
7:10
it's it's not that uncommon to run into
7:12
that around our neck of the woods it's
7:15
and I I don't have any reasoning for it
7:18
other than the fact that the uh the most
7:21
in-floor cleaning is on gunite pools we
7:24
see very very little on vinyl pools
7:26
fiberglass I never see any but the and
7:29
gunite pools are not overly prevalent in
7:32
the midwest uh compared to where you're
7:34
at and you know in the Sun Belt and
7:36
everything else so the I I think it has
7:39
to do with a little bit more experience
7:42
when dealing with those types of things
7:45
just like we're talking about you know
7:47
right so someone's just doing what they
7:50
think is the way to do it
7:53
um but you know yeah there there's all
7:56
kinds of different things that if you if
7:58
you had to look at from a service
8:00
standpoint you you would certainly do
8:03
things a little different
8:04
yeah
8:06
it's interesting I like that we're from
8:08
two different areas so I can hear how
8:10
you guys do things compared to us and
8:12
probably vice versa yeah and you know
8:15
like we've said before I've I've never
8:17
had uh
8:19
buyers deal with and you know everything
8:23
else you got earthquakes mudslides
8:26
all the the beautiful part of California
8:28
that I I don't have to deal with and you
8:31
don't have to deal with the flat land of
8:33
Illinois that is boring as I'll get out
8:37
and uh although we do have similar I
8:40
guess
8:42
um sort of political environments and
8:44
things like that but uh the natural
8:46
environments are definitely different
8:48
yes
8:50
I I will agree with that one you know we
8:52
can have um
8:53
go to a pool with a bunch of pine trees
8:56
around it within 30 minutes
8:58
yeah
9:00
that's I would love to live in
9:02
California because of that you know you
9:03
can be in an hour and a half two hours
9:06
any direction you're in a different
9:08
place that's oh yeah it's really nice
9:11
I'm very very lucky about that I think
9:13
that's one of the reasons I don't mind
9:15
living where I do and paying what I pay
9:17
uh because I get those luxuries now when
9:21
my sister and my best friend try to
9:22
convince me to move to Texas
9:24
well now I have my definite reason of
9:27
why I'm not coming here
9:28
I can't breathe when it's humid yeah my
9:32
hair gets oily because it's humid
9:36
um I also noticed that the parking lots
9:39
are very massive
9:41
well there's plenty of space for it
9:43
right yeah
9:45
uh but
9:47
I mean but I'm used to the cost of
9:49
California
9:50
yeah and so it doesn't faze me they're
9:55
like oh it's so much cheaper here I'm
9:56
like yeah but you're hourly rate you
9:58
know in some departments I've learned
10:00
pools you make great money out here but
10:03
you have to look at those things and I
10:06
was very fortunate that I have a house
10:08
that I rent for dirt cheap
10:11
but super nice and plenty of room for me
10:13
and the boys and my dogs and
10:16
but
10:18
and pools are there's in my area there's
10:21
too many pools and not enough qualified
10:23
people
10:24
yeah that's a great a great position to
10:27
be in
10:29
one two three
10:32
all right
10:36
[Music]
10:40
foreign
10:42
[Music]
10:58
[Music]
11:08
foreign
11:10
[Music]
11:28
with the talking pools podcast
11:31
for information on sponsoring the
11:33
Tuesdays with Kelly and Dan show contact
11:35
us at talkingpools gmail.com
11:40
foreign
11:44
[Music]
11:48
at certainly different markets you know
11:51
like you're saying have different
11:53
um
11:54
values I guess in our industry and
11:57
different costs and different uh
12:00
you know
12:02
I don't know how I would ever survive in
12:05
Florida uh as a pool company oh I know
12:10
trying to do what we do and also I think
12:13
it's difficult you know we we do
12:15
you know we're kind of like all facets
12:17
construction service retail and you know
12:21
when you get down to Florida especially
12:24
it's it's not very frequent that you
12:27
find somebody that's doing everything
12:28
everyone is very much more specialized
12:31
and
12:33
um and it's obviously much more
12:35
competitive
12:36
um so it drives the cost factors
12:39
totally Askew from what we're used to in
12:42
the Midwest
12:43
yeah
12:45
um
12:45
it seems like down there they're
12:48
improving on prices but the prices that
12:50
we hear people say like on social media
12:51
or during conversations it seems like
12:54
it's very cheap for full service
12:58
um yeah you know it's it's funny pool
13:00
service and we probably have a whole
13:02
other podcast on that but you know we
13:05
people in Florida when when they hear
13:09
what we are able to achieve in that
13:12
regard I'm amazed they're not all
13:14
migrating up here because
13:17
I mean we we truly are getting upwards
13:20
of 500 a month plus chemicals where you
13:24
know that would be a whole year in
13:26
Florida
13:27
yeah well in Texas uh my sister said
13:30
that she starts for full service I
13:33
believe about 2 30 a month
13:36
and that includes limited chemicals
13:40
and where I'm at it's now
13:44
I want to say it's starting for full
13:47
service is probably about 150 175.
13:51
um and it varies so some people include
13:54
limited chemicals some people chemicals
13:57
are extra on top of that
14:00
um filter cleanings in my area are all
14:03
extra
14:05
um now compared to Florida we don't
14:06
clean our filters as often but we also
14:08
oversize our filters
14:10
right yeah yeah I I we we have some
14:13
especially in the recent years with the
14:15
the crazy boom that's been going on and
14:19
all of the the what I what I kind of
14:20
classify as non-pool people that jump
14:22
into our industry and all of a sudden
14:24
are building pools
14:27
um putting the you know 50 and 75 square
14:30
foot cartridges on pools in our Market
14:32
where the the standard in our Market is
14:36
four to five hundred square foot on a
14:37
pool so
14:39
I mean I've my own pool is 32 000 gallon
14:41
pool
14:42
uh it's about 1100 square feet of
14:44
surface area and I've got a 420 square
14:47
foot cartridge on it that most years I
14:50
started up early April and close it down
14:54
late October early November and I never
14:56
have to clean that filter all year long
14:58
so you know and and that's to me that's
15:03
the way a pool should operate when when
15:05
we're dealing with homeowners that want
15:06
to have low maintenance and things like
15:08
that and in our Market where maintenance
15:10
is four to five hundred dollars a month
15:12
plus chemicals not you know in in a lot
15:15
of the the warmer Sun belts you know
15:17
almost everybody has a pool person come
15:19
and take care of it for our our Market
15:23
isn't that way it's it's definitely a
15:25
luxury to have someone come and take
15:26
care of your pool so we try to oversize
15:28
like like you're saying and make it that
15:30
it doesn't need
15:32
to be another you know lawn to mow for
15:35
for the pool owner to try and make as
15:37
maintenance free as possible
15:39
now I do find it interesting is you'll
15:41
see online where they you know they want
15:43
a certain PSI on their filters
15:46
but where I'm at it's not uncommon to
15:49
have zero PSI because of the variable
15:51
speed pumps and these filters being a
15:54
bigger size
15:56
and the pool still stays beautiful you
15:59
see great flow through it and there's no
16:02
problems
16:03
do you find when you eventually do uh
16:07
pair those filters down the clean them
16:08
that not the full height of the filter
16:10
is actually being utilized though
16:12
sometimes yes
16:15
especially if they have like a 15 000
16:17
gallon pool and they put you know uh
16:19
like 500 square foot filter or whatever
16:21
is close to that on it
16:23
and there's no trees and nothing it's
16:26
just pretty bare
16:28
well and I guess that makes it easy for
16:30
maintenance too instead of cleaning them
16:32
you just flip them over and continue on
16:33
right
16:35
no there's a you can't go
16:39
bottom is not up
16:43
uh but yeah they still I
16:46
they still can filter perfectly fine as
16:49
long as I think as long as you can see
16:50
that there's flow in the pool staying
16:52
clear it's not that big of a deal
16:54
now yeah if it's one of those single 150
16:57
200 square foot filters yeah Zero's not
17:00
going to cut it
17:02
yeah zero would be something that would
17:05
bother me I I would change parameters
17:09
around to even with variable speed I
17:11
think I would be increasing speed
17:13
reducing overall run time or something
17:15
so that I'm showing you know five or
17:18
seven pounds at least on the filter to
17:20
to get better better use of the filter
17:23
and and instead of running 24 7 on this
17:26
thing drop it down to half that or
17:28
whatever to get there but when it comes
17:31
to my area we're especially like the of
17:34
California we're very mindful of our
17:36
energy costs because especially during
17:39
the summer time uh after four o'clock
17:42
it's very expensive
17:44
yeah and even with variable speed pumps
17:47
yes they're very energy efficient but
17:49
at the rates we're paying we try to have
17:52
everyone either run their their
17:54
equipment at night
17:56
or run it before four o'clock
17:59
what did you know off top of your head
18:01
what you are paying a kilowatt hour
18:03
there oh
18:05
god let's say a peak is almost 50 cents
18:08
yeah okay
18:10
we're it's pretty bad I complain about
18:13
Illinois but our Energy prices in terms
18:15
of gas natural gas I should say an
18:17
electricity are
18:19
I want to say among the lowest in the
18:21
country we're about 13 cents overall a
18:24
kilowatt hour
18:26
um you know when you're taking all the
18:29
fees and taxes and all that kind of
18:30
stuff it comes out to about 13 cents a
18:31
kilowatt hour
18:32
so actually looking it up
18:35
it's it's very reasonable to to run
18:37
pumps here and especially variable speed
18:40
pumps it's uh okay it's not 50 it's not
18:44
50 cents but it says Peak is almost 30
18:47
cents
18:51
significantly more than we're paying for
18:52
sure
18:54
so yeah people believe me they're on our
18:57
asses about running it I have a lot
18:59
they're like no we only need to rent six
19:00
hours no you don't
19:04
um but variable speed pumps in our
19:06
Marketplace for themselves within two
19:07
years probably because of that
19:09
we say two years but it's usually the
19:12
first year
19:14
yeah around around here it's uh well on
19:17
my own pool uh I built this pool in 2006
19:21
and I hit just single speed on it and
19:24
about six years in switched over to
19:26
variable
19:27
and metering the pump into independently
19:31
the the last year the single speed and
19:33
the first year variable speed in my six
19:35
month season it saved me a about 450
19:38
dollars
19:40
um at 13 cents a kilowatt hour so you
19:43
know for me it was a huge savings that
19:46
back at that time would have paid for
19:48
that pump in about three seasons and
19:50
again our Seasons depending are four or
19:53
five maybe six months
19:55
as opposed to year round so
19:59
definitely something worthwhile
20:01
oh yeah
20:03
but like we had mentioned before you
20:05
know that's where we need to have that
20:07
education about how to run those
20:09
variable speed pumps
20:12
um so that it's enough and knowing it's
20:14
enough and not overrunning it but not
20:16
under running it
20:18
yeah it's it's definitely a
20:22
different animal than single speed stuff
20:24
and there's definitely a lot more of
20:26
them being done wrong than than right I
20:28
feel
20:29
um yeah I go to pools where it's 300 or
20:33
3450 RPMs running for six to eight hours
20:36
a day
20:37
and I'm just like you're not getting
20:40
what you can get out of this pump so
20:43
let's you know change that also if
20:45
you're running it like that um I would
20:48
feel you're not going to get the same
20:49
life expectancy out of it
20:52
yeah anything that you're running hard
20:54
is is going to be much
20:56
much shorter and and also with the the
20:59
start stop as opposed to putting it on a
21:02
lower speed and having it run
21:03
continually
21:05
um you know the start stop on anything
21:06
is where the heaviest part of the wear
21:08
and tear comes and
21:14
so and now my phone rings because
21:17
someone's having problems connecting to
21:19
their controller
21:23
well I guess that's a good reason that
21:25
we should that and uh
21:28
it's and it's probably time that we
21:31
should sign off for today and
21:35
I time goes by fast with you
21:38
yeah well uh it it's it's fun I'm having
21:42
a good time I hope you are I hope our
21:44
listeners are and uh I would certainly
21:47
love to see some some listeners throw
21:48
some comments or emails talkingpools
21:51
gmail.com with some ideas as to topics
21:53
that they'd like to hear us touch on as
21:56
we're visiting with them every Tuesday
21:58
so yeah we're getting up get an
22:01
opportunity to do that please do reach
22:03
out to us let us know
22:05
um what what you think and how how we
22:08
can talk about things that might help
22:10
you so that'd be great
22:12
well thank you guys for listening again
22:15
to Tuesdays with Kelly and Dan we will
22:18
be back next week with something
22:23
I'll talk to you again have a good day
22:26
bye everyone bye-bye



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