Step One: Babe, I NEED a Pool!

I’ve started this blog for several purposes. One- to let people know of their options when it comes to building a pool. Two- to offer solutions to those who already own their own pool and are having issues. Three- to document my own pool project step by step through convincing the husband I need a pool,  picking out the best type of pool for us, the design of the pool, building the pool, and keeping the pool going and looking great.  I think it’s important to know all of your options.

My husband Tommy Gray is the owner of A-Grade Pool Services. He has been in the business for almost 10 years now! I trust this man! Not only as my husband, but I trust him as a pool builder.  I have been begging him to build our pool for YEARS now. I mean a pool guy without a pool that’s just weird.  Now I know he’s been very busy building other people’s pools and remodeling commercial and residential pools, but what about us!  We have young children, it’s hot in Tennessee, every summer I find myself looking for someone who has a pool so I can invade their space and go swimming!  Now that you see where I am coming from, I’ve been promised a pool and I have every intention on getting my pool in 2017!

For you women who NEED a pool and NEED help convincing your husband, I have several tips that I have found most convincing for that guy in your life.

1- Swimming is beneficial, not only is it a great sport, it is the only sport that allows you to work out and work on your tan at the same time! A fit, tan wife equals one happy life!

2- Swimming is known to drain the energy out of children. Tired, drained kids mean more alone time for us!

3-The beach is so far away and so expensive, we can create our own beach in our own backyard! A beach entry pool…hey, what’s not to like about that! With the money we would have spent at the beach we could have a deposit for a nice pool.

4-There’s nothing like jumping in a pool after enduring hard yard work. It’s been proven that a wife will accomplish more yard work with a pool than without a pool. (save this one for last it’s the clincher..)

5-If I am busy swimming in a pool, working on the tan, I will be spending less time shopping! A pool can actually save YOU money! (yikes, my husband LOVED this one, I’m hoping after he builds our pool he forgets I ever mentioned it.)

6- Memories we will make~ pool parties, late night swims, all the fun times with our kids,  these are priceless! A pool is the perfect centerpiece for so many memories.

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Biggest Money Savers

 

Spring is almost here! Even though we have had a cold spell, okay it’s FREEZING, by next week temperatures will start rising and pool season will be back on schedule! Cold weather does put a pool company behind, plastering a pool, installing in ground and above ground pool liners, etc. can not be done when the weather is cold. The sun plays a vital role in drying plaster and helping a liner stretch into the correct position.

We get calls everyday and most customers are surprised because they had not clue about the things I’m going to share with you. Here are some of the best ways to save yourself money on your pool. If you don’t have a pool but anticipate having one one day these are great tips to put in your memory.

1-Pool Liners- NEVER completely drain any pool with a liner. This is a call we get so often. My pool is nasty so we just decided to drain it completely. When a liner is installed the air behind the walls of the pool is sucked out to make it fit tight. It is stretched into the correct position. The water in the pool keeps this air out and protects your liner. The sun is a liner’s biggest enemy that and chemicals (which is next on the list). It will cause your pool liner to dry, eventually tear. If you have to take a little water out, immediately refill the pool and do not take all the water out. Even if you have done it before- you are taking years off the life of your liner- stop while you can.

2- Chemicals- You have to make sure your chemicals are correct in your pool! Putting too much or not enough is detrimental to your pool. On a gunite in ground pool  the plaster will not last as long if your chemicals are not right on target. On a liner pool the wrong amount of chemicals can cause your liner to fade and not last as long as it would if the proper amount of chemicals were in the pool.

3- Pool Covers- Sometimes trying to save that extra money on your pool, will wind up costing you more money in the long run. We see so many people with liner pools not getting a cover for their pool. Sure we are in the business of selling covers, but the reason we sell so many covers is they will give a longer life to any pool liner or gunite pool. During the winter with the harsh weather, it protects your pool from those elements. The sun again is hard on pools. So by covering your pool through the winter months you are protecting your pool and it will SAVE you money because you will not have to replace your liner or plaster as soon as you will without this protection.

Hope this helps you all out!

A-Grade Pool Services (AGP) replaced this in-ground pool liner and put a deck overlay on their pool deck. Call us today865-643-1749 for all your pool needs- renovations, including re-plaster, tile and coping replacement, liner replacement, new construction, and deck overlays!

 

Biggest Money Savers

 

Spring is almost here! Even though we have had a cold spell, okay it’s FREEZING, by next week temperatures will start rising and pool season will be back on schedule! Cold weather does put a pool company behind, plastering a pool, installing in ground and above ground pool liners, etc. can not be done when the weather is cold. The sun plays a vital role in drying plaster and helping a liner stretch into the correct position.

We get calls everyday and most customers are surprised because they had not clue about the things I’m going to share with you. Here are some of the best ways to save yourself money on your pool. If you don’t have a pool but anticipate having one one day these are great tips to put in your memory.

1-Pool Liners- NEVER completely drain any pool with a liner. This is a call we get so often. My pool is nasty so we just decided to drain it completely. When a liner is installed the air behind the walls of the pool is sucked out to make it fit tight. It is stretched into the correct position. The water in the pool keeps this air out and protects your liner. The sun is a liner’s biggest enemy that and chemicals (which is next on the list). It will cause your pool liner to dry, eventually tear. If you have to take a little water out, immediately refill the pool and do not take all the water out. Even if you have done it before- you are taking years off the life of your liner- stop while you can.

2- Chemicals- You have to make sure your chemicals are correct in your pool! Putting too much or not enough is detrimental to your pool. On a gunite in ground pool  the plaster will not last as long if your chemicals are not right on target. On a liner pool the wrong amount of chemicals can cause your liner to fade and not last as long as it would if the proper amount of chemicals were in the pool.

3- Pool Covers- Sometimes trying to save that extra money on your pool, will wind up costing you more money in the long run. We see so many people with liner pools not getting a cover for their pool. Sure we are in the business of selling covers, but the reason we sell so many covers is they will give a longer life to any pool liner or gunite pool. During the winter with the harsh weather, it protects your pool from those elements. The sun again is hard on pools. So by covering your pool through the winter months you are protecting your pool and it will SAVE you money because you will not have to replace your liner or plaster as soon as you will without this protection.

Hope this helps you all out!

A-Grade Pool Services (AGP) replaced this in-ground pool liner and put a deck overlay on their pool deck. Call us today865-643-1749 for all your pool needs- renovations, including re-plaster, tile and coping replacement, liner replacement, new construction, and deck overlays!

 

Step 2: Making plans

Now that you have made the decision to build a pool, next step is planning! We know that we will be building a pool house to put our equipment in and to store chemicals/ salt, floats, etc. So we decided to start the process of running our electricity to the back yard where the pool house will be. For us underground utilities will look so much nicer than having wires running across our yard. So we decided to go on and get the electrical all moved to underground. Due to codes, lines must be buried 18″ underground, we went ahead with 2 feet just to be on the safe side. Inspector has came out and inspected our ditch and we got his okay to proceed! Wires have all been ran. Once we are finished covering the ditch we will then be ready for the last inspection, and this step will be accomplished!

We started discussing the design of our pool– rectangle, figure 8, beach entry, deep end 6 or 8 feet, chemicals or salt system, diving board, slide, water features, swim out, decisions- decisions. Many people are switching their chlorine systems for salt systems. Salt systems you only have to add salt 2 to 3 times a year depending on the amount of rain you have that season. Chlorinated pools require a lot more maintenance and are generally more expensive.  The more features you have in your pool the more money you will spend; however some of these features are worth the extra money! These are things to think while you are in the process of building a pool.

Be sure to check out our new, improved webpage knoxvillepoolservices.com

Also check out our facebook page www.facebook.com/agradpoolservices

This is pretty much what our front yard looks like right now! This was a new build we did in October 2016.