“Concrete” Pool Wall Construction

Pool Nerd has recently posted a good description of the workings of a reinforced “concrete” swimming pool wall. It is well worth the look if you are new to concrete construction practices.

The Pool Biz

The Pool Guy's The Pool Biz blog which primarily addresses his concerns and problems with salt water chlorine generators (a.k.a. SWG). This site is very opinionated but definitely worth a check if you are planning on adding a SWG to your existing or new pool. He appears to be a pool builder and/or service provider in Texas. It is quite obvious that he has a chip on his shoulder but it appears that his intentions are to honestly inform the pool owning public about his concerns with salt added to pool water.

I have a SWG, which in my opinion has only worked marginally since it was installed during 2006 summer. I have not had any of the problems he has noted on his website, but I think one method for minimizing some of the potential damage is to quickly wash off the pool deck to minimize the potential problems associated with higher concentrations of salt on the deck from evaporation.

Arizona Pool Design

Swimming Pool Phoenix is the blog for Arizona Pool Design. There is a wealth of information for the pool builder, soon to be pool owner, and pool owner. Currently this site is getting a new post almost daily (many are pulled directly from other sources). During a quick review, a few items appeared to be misleading (e.g., Three Must Have Chemicals for Your Pool, October 31) so use common sense when using any of the information.

Pool Nerd

The “poolnerd” is a Southern California pool contractor/subcontractor willing to give his advice freely. He does not appear to have any “ax to grind” or ulterior motive, just a good place to find his opinion about swimming pool and spa topics. You will find insight into the pool construction business and process through many of the posts. He covers many construction topics thoroughly from what I can tell through a quick reading of some of the posts.

Previously, my post stated that there does not seem to be any comments about the problems associated with elevated levels of CYA (Cyanuric Acid, a.k.a. Stabilizer or Conditioner) from the constant use of stabilized dry chlorine (e.g., dichlor and trichlor). While true, this was not the best statement I could have made about this website. I had been discussing the problem with others and it was just the first thought I had as I was reading through some of the topics. There is a section about pool chemistry that is informative but this topic is not the primary intention of Poolnerd’s website (my apologies for misleading anyone).

Build Your Own Pool

How I Build My Own Swimming Pool was created by a guy in Arizona that decided to save money by building his own pool. There appears to be some good information here. While I do not know that I would have come to all of the same conclusions that he did, he has done a good job of documenting his thought process.

Do not think this is a “how to” site for doing all of the work. It is intended for the owner/builder. There is a good section about “why to” or “why not” be an owner/builder, in general he does a good job of covering the basics; however, I disagree with his conclusion about getting subcontractors in the Sunbelt. It is my opinion that it is possible to get subcontractors willing to work for owner/builders when the construction market is slower (possibly now); however, during the construction craze of the last few years very few good subcontractors are willing to work for owner/builders so you will most likely be picking from the subcontractors that are on the B or C lists.

There is a “paid” section to this site that I have not visited but it appears to have more detailed information for those that are serious about being your own contractor. Let me know your thoughts if you have visited this area of the website.

Pool Talk

Pool Talk blog covers the sport of swimming as well as items regarding personal swimming pool ownership. This blog covers the gamut of pool and swimming thoughts (and some other stuff too). Pool Talk blog was started in October 2006 as their personal swimming pool was closed for the season and includes their search for a replacement diving board.