Splash Pools Presents the Pentair Intelliflow Swimming Pool Pump

Submitted By: Splash Pools Splash Fiberglass Pools of North Carolina serves all of North Carolina, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Greensboro, Lake Gaston the the surrounding areas. We specialize in the installation of Viking Fiberglass Swimming Pools, Vinyl Liner and Concrete Swimming Pool Installations and Renovations including Tile and Coping, Natural Stone and Paver Decking, Pool Resurfacing with Pebble Tec outdoor fireplaces & kitchens, landscaping and more. Visit Splash Fiberglass Pools of North Carolina at www.SplashPoolsNC.com

Winterizing Your Inground Swimming Pool

Closing your inground swimming pool

Swimming Pool Tips

Clean out the swimming pool. The first step is to clean out any leaves, insects, dirt and debris. Use your pool vacuum, or just fish them out with a net. Clean out the skimmer and the pump basket, too. Clean the tile line with tile cleaner. Easier now than next spring, when the scum has had all winter to set. Balance the water chemistry. This protects the pool from corrosion or scale buildup. Using a water test kit, adjust the water to the recommended levels of pH, total alkalinity, calcium (hardness) and chlorination.

If you want to add a winterization chemical kit, do it now. These kits put high levels of chlorine and algaecide in the water to prepare it for the winter months ahead. Your pool retailer offers ready-made kits for the purpose; use according to the maker's directions. In the case of larger pools, you may be directed to supplement the kit with additional quantities of some chemicals, too. Don't let your chemicals damage your pool. Don't add tablets or a floater that contains chlorine or bromine—they can damage the equipment nearest them. If you already have chlorine or bromine tablets in your feeder, let them run out so that none remain. If you're adding winterizing chemicals, pour them into a bucket and then into the pool. Some of these chemicals instruct you to turn on the pool filter while you add the chemicals. Make sure you do, especially if you have a vinyl liner pool—you don't want stains on your liner from un-dissolved granules or damage to your equipment from concentrations of chemicals in the water. The #1 enemy: freezing. When water freezes, it expands with enormous force. It's the force that breaks up highways, splits garden hoses, explodes beverage cans in your freezer, and it's the force that expands and cracks pool pipes, filters, pumps and skimmer baskets. If you are closing up your pool for the winter, you should always take precautions to protect from freeze damage no matter where you live—even pool owners in the South have learned, to their regret, that freezing temperatures are an ever-present risk. To start the process, drain the water down below the skimmer mouth. DO NOT EMPTY THE POOL! The expansion of the soil under the pool as the water in the soil freezes can jack the pool right out of the ground; it needs the weight of some water to keep it firmly in place. Be good to your pump and heater. Disconnect your pump and filter. Make sure all water is completely drained from the pump. For insurance, turn it upside down once and dump any excess water out. Remove the drain plugs from it (there may be one or two); they'd trap water inside, which is bad. Once you've drained the pump, turn it on for just a second or two (no more—the seal is vulnerable to damage) to expel any remaining water from the impeller. Store any small plugs or parts in the pump basket, so they're easy to find next year. If you have a heater, drain it and make sure there is no standing water inside. Blow it out with a compressor or shop vac. Drain the heater completely, remove any drain plugs, and stash those plugs too in the pump basket for next season. Remove all return jet fittings (the entire fitting!). If you crack a fitting while removing it, don't panic! You can get a replacement come spring. Remove all skimmer baskets. Put fittings and any other items that you remove in one of the skimmer baskets or the pump basket to avoid loss (this includes the dive board bolts too). No water in the pipes = no freeze damage. Unscrew and loosen any quick-disconnect fittings or unions at your pump and filter system, then blow out the pipes. A wet-dry shop vacuum or air compressor is ideal for this. Force the air from your pump down the skimmer and through the skimmer (or "suction side") pipes. Blow out the return plumbing by hooking up your compressor to the return lines at the filter system, or by screwing it into the pump's drain plug. Keep at it until you see air bubbles emerge from the return jets, then tightly plug the fitting below the water line. Close up all exposed pipes with plugs. Also blow out the main drain line (if any). No diving necessary to plug up the drain pipe—when you see bubbles coming out of the drain, plug the pipe on your end or close the gate valve. This will create an "air lock" in the line, ensuring that no more water can enter it from the pool side, which protects the main drain line. Clean the filter. Remove the filter hoses. Spray the cartridge filter elements and D.E. (diatomaceous earth) grids with Filter Cleaner, then rinse them clean with a garden hose. For D.E. filters, drain the filter tanks and leave the backwash valve open. If you have a sand filter, clean it by backwashing. Important: Don't acid wash a D.E. filter at pool closing time. Wait until spring, when you can conveniently run pool water through the system to rinse it out. Simply rinsing off the acid and putting away the filter will give the acid all winter to attack the filter components. Open the drain at the bottom of the filter to let out any water in the filter outlet; be sure to open the air relief valve on top if you have one. Put the multiport valve in the closed or "winter" position—blow the water out of it if necessary—and remove the pressure gauge. Stow the drain plug with the other removed items you're stashed in the pump basket. Your final freeze insurance: the flotation device. Before you put on the cover, you'll want to install a flotation device in the center of the pool. This device needn't be anything fancy—it can be a "pillow" sold at your local pool retailer or a truck innertube. The float balances the rainwater and ice sure to form on your pool's cover over the winter. Even more important, it eases pressure on the pool walls by allowing winter's ice to push in on the flotation device, not outward on the walls. Last step: The winter cover. The winter cover is important for both the pool and the people around it. It's stronger than a summer cover, both to withstand the weight of snow and ice, and to protect people or pets from accidentally falling through the cover into the water. If your cover has any rips, fix them. If they're beyond repair, replace the cover. Stretch the cover over the pool, black side down. If any sharp points are protruding from beneath, cushion them with cardboard or rags. Then stretch the cover very tightly across the pool (this can be a 2-3 person job). Run a strong wire through the holes around the perimeter of the cover, and snug it up using a wrench so the cover stays down in winter's winds and rains. Time for storage. Remove rope and floats from pool and put with the rest of the supplies. Store any dive board and ladders in the shed or garage, with your pump and filter. Store your dive bolts or ladder bumpers in the pump basket. If you have a sand filter, just leave it outside. You're done. Your pool is ready for winter's worst. Your investment is protected. And your spring pool opening should be an easy step to another season of swimming enjoyment! Submitted By: Splash Pools Splash Fiberglass Swimming Pools of Raleigh, North Carolina serves all of North Carolina, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cary, Lake Gaston, . We specialize in the installation of Viking Fiberglass Swimming Pools, Vinyl Liner and Concrete Swimming Pool Installations and Renovations including Tile and Coping, Natural Stone and Paver Decking, Pool Resurfacing with Pebble Tec outdoor fireplaces & kitchens, landscaping and more. Visit Splash Fiberglass Pools of North Carolina at www.SplashPoolsNC.com

A word about price...

With todays economic climate the consumer is in a position to receive a great value for their dollar. This is especially true in the swimming pool industry, but I caution you that as your excitement builds as bid after bid come in at lower and lower prices that you may not actually be getting what you think you are. It may be tempting to go with a low ball offer and take the risk that you will be saving a few thousand dollars but I can assure you that you will end up spending up more money in the long run. As these low ball pool installers are throwing pools in thousands of dollars below our actual cost, I find myself wondering how that could be...but in the past few months, I have found out why... We have gotten more calls for renovations in the past 3 months than we have in the past 2 years. When we go out to these projects we find a common thread. Cheap & undersized equipment, undersized plumbing, terrible construction practices and the owner is left holding the bag. As I spend time looking over the contracts these customers had with their initial pool company, I find myself on the side of the pool company. They are doing exactly what their contract said they would. Few customers know what size plumbing to install in a pool, what the tolerance of level is, what a rough grade is and many other industry phrases mean. I will hit on some of the main issues our renovation customers have run into: 1. Rough Grade - In many cases the pool will be installed and the company will rough grade the site. This can mean many things from company to company but from what we see it means dig the pool and spend about 10 minutes with the bobcat pushing the dirt around the site. The dirt is not ready for seed or plantings and will have rocks, stumps, roots, etc in it. 2. Pool Level Tolerance - This is the how close to perfect level the pool is. The industry standard for fiberglass pools is +/- 1 inch. This means in some places the pool is 1 inch high and in some places the pool is 1 inch low so really it can be 2" out of level. We set our pools to +/- 1/8" and our infinity edges to +/- 1/32". 3. Pump and Plumbing Sizing - A large pump is not the sign of a good pool. In most cases a 3/4 hp pool pump is more than enough to run almost any residential swimming pool. The key in not the horsepower but the actual flow rate and head loss calculations. While it is more expensive, you should opt for a smaller pump and larger plumbing. We use nothing smaller than 2" plumbing on any of our pools. Pools with a 3 hp pump and 1 1/2" plumbing just cost a ton of electricity and barely move any water at all. Its like trying to suck a drink through a coffee straw...no matter how hard you suck, you're not going to get any more through that straw. I ask you to become an educated consumer and demand that you get what you pay for. Sometimes cheap is just that...CHEAP. The deals you should be looking for in todays economic climate are those from the best and most reputable companies around. These companies stand behind their product and provide components that will stand the test of time. The quote below is interesting and I feel it sums the situation up well. There is an old adage... " It is unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money... that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing what it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot... it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it would be well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better in the first place." There is nothing in this world that someone can't make cheaper, quality wise, and sell for less money. We price our work very competitively for the quality we put into every job. For that reason we stand behind our work with confidence. We guarantee your satisfaction and would be happy to meet with you to compare any legitimate written bid for comparable work. Thank you for considering Splash Pools. We want your business and will do everything possible to justify your confidence in us. Submitted By: Splash Pools Splash Fiberglass Pools of North Carolina serves all of North Carolina, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cary, Lake Gaston, . We specialize in the installation of Viking Fiberglass Swimming Pools, Vinyl Liner and Concrete Swimming Pool Installations and Renovations including Tile and Coping, Natural Stone and Paver Decking, Pool Resurfacing with Pebble Tec outdoor fireplaces & kitchens, landscaping and more. Visit Splash Fiberglass Pools of North Carolina at www.SplashPoolsNC.com

Management Changes at Viking Pools

Management Changes at Viking Pools

Tom Straub

Effective immediately, Tom Straub is assuming the role of President of the Viking Pools Division of Latham International. Under Tom’s leadership, our customer base has grown over the last four years during a very difficult business environment. Tom is taking over for Todd Stahl, who will remain with the company but moves into the role of Senior Advisor. September of 2010 marked the fifth anniversary of Viking’s acquisition by Latham, and Todd expressed a desire to initiate an orderly transition, and we agreed with that objective. In this new capacity, Todd will remain active in the business, and he will assist Tom and be available to help us with our growth initiatives.

Bill Reynolds

Additionally, Bill Reynolds, the Midland, TX General Manager is being promoted to Director of Manufacturing for all Viking Pools locations. Bill has done a great job in Texas; he understands what we need to do to meet customer expectations, and comprehends what our challenges are. We are pleased that Bill will step into the role that Jeff Dryja performed prior to his passing.

Submitted By: Splash Pools Splash Fiberglass Pools of North Carolina serves all of North Carolina, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cary, Lake Gaston, . We specialize in the installation of Viking Fiberglass Swimming Pools, Vinyl Liner and Concrete Swimming Pool Installations and Renovations including Tile and Coping, Natural Stone and Paver Decking, Pool Resurfacing with Pebble Tec outdoor fireplaces & kitchens, landscaping and more. Visit Splash Fiberglass Pools of North Carolina at www.SplashPoolsNC.com or Contact us at Info@SplashPoolsNC.com or (919) 291-8354

Viking Pools to be featured on TLC's hit reality show

Splash Pools of NC wants to make sure your calendars are marked for November 11, 2010 at 6 pm. TLC will be running their hit TV show, Little People Big World. The Roloff Family will be installing a Gulf Coast pool form by Viking Pool.

Splash Pools recognizes the importance that swimming pools offer people. Not only are Splash Pools beautiful to look at, they are a great source for an active and healthy lifestyle. Contact us today to learn more about the benefits of owning your own pool (919) 291-8354 or frank@splashpools.net.

Submitted By: Splash Pools serves all of North Carolina, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cary, Lake Gaston and the Triangle . We are a complete outdoor contractor installing outdoor kitchens & fireplaces, natural stone & paver patios, landscaping, swimming pools & spas, pool houses, cabanas and much more...Our speciality is unique and unusual swimming pools & spas. Visit Splash Pools of North Carolina at www.splashpoolsnc.com or Contact us at Frank@FrankBowman.com or (919) 291-8354.