Getting excited to open your beautiful backyard pool for swimming season? After waiting for the long, cold winter to finally end, you’ll probably be antsy to get the pool out of its hibernation mode and into the sun ready for you, your family, and your friends. However, you can’t just roll up the cover and jump in after months of no use—particularly if all the water was drained out.Opening your pool for the new swimming season involves getting your pool ready for swimming again. There are actually a few steps involved in making sure your pool is ready. First, it’s better to start early. As soon as winter melts into spring, and when the weather warms up a bit and it’s a bit less mucky, it’s time to start cleaning your pool, whether it’s empty or filled with old water from last season. Most pool owners work with leftover water rather than dumping and refilling.

You’ll need to clean the debris off the pool cover before removing it, which will reduce the amount of debris that ends up falling into the pool. Then, remove the pool cover and clean it. Next, get your trusty pool net to scoop out as many leaves and bugs and as much dirt, debris, and other clutter out of the pool as possible. If there’s no water in the pool, clean out the bottom of the pool, then add fresh water.

Next, buy some fresh pool supplies to clean the water and remove algae. If you have old supplies that are still usable and not expired, you can try those, but for best results, new supplies are always better. Read the instructions before use, and then follow them. Always double check instructions, even if you think you remember what to do. After adding the cleaning supplies, restart the pool pump and filter and check the water level. You should also inspect all your pool equipment for any leaks, broken parts, tears, or cracks.

Hire a professional who will make sure everything is in good working order before you “officially” open your pool for the swim season, after you’ve completed the other steps yourself. Hiring a professional pool contractor to thoroughly inspect your pool will give you the reassurance and peace of mind you need to ensure everything is safe, ready, and good to go. If you don’t have a pool contractor, look for one in your area. Try the local business listings and compare prices and services offered, or you can ask around for a recommendation.

The pool contractor should inspect the pool water carefully, making sure the water level is right and testing the chemical balance of the pool, and then make any changes or give suggestions as necessary. Balancing the water and its chemicals is a fairly complicated process, and it’s best to leave this up to a professional, rather than trying this yourself. The contractor should also check for any leaks, tears, rips, cracks, or broken parts in the pool, the liner, filter, and pool pump, and make any repairs as necessary, and ensure everything is in good condition before giving you the thumbs-up approval.

If you’re slightly on the “lazy” side and you’ve got the extra money, you may want to consider hiring a pool contractor or pool service team to complete the entire process—from the unearthing and original cleaning to the chemicals balance and final inspection. Although this will certainly cost you more, it will be much more convenient for you, save you time, and you won’t have to wonder if you did everything correctly or properly.

Ready to have a pool installed? Find a qualified contractor and get a $50 rebate!

While not every pool has one, and while not every pool owner will agree it’s worth the time, money, and effort, decks really do improve the look as well as the functionality of a pool, and decks are becoming more and more popular with pool owners. But if you decide to add a deck to your pool, how do you go about planning one? There are a number of important factors to consider with respect to planning a pool deck and choosing the right type of pool deck, including materials, location, and layout.You may want to consider the pool deck material first, although you’ll definitely need to keep your preferred deck layout and design in mind, because not all materials suit all types of pool deck layouts. There are several different choices as far as materials go with respect to pool decks, and there are specific features, as well as pros and cons, for each choice.

Stone pool decks, for example, are very popular among pool owners with larger, fancier, and higher-end pools in bigger yards. Here you can choose from sandstone (generally considered the most appropriate for pool use as its surface won’t get slippery when wet), flagstone, bluestone, and marble and granite, the latter two of which are non-slick like sandstone but are quite a bit pricier.

A concrete deck is another favorite option, and probably the most popular. They are very reasonable price-wise, and offer a wide range of options, including painted or colored decking, landscaping features (like rocks and “waterfalls”), stamped concrete, and other specialty designs. A deck made of ceramic tile is a popular alternative to concrete as this material is also quite versatile in how it can be arranged, designed, and styled.

Don’t like the concrete or ceramic look? You could also opt for a brick deck, which when constructed well can look stunning, particularly with brick homes. However, keep in mind that bricks absorb heat and can get quite hot on summer days.

In addition to materials, you’ll need to consider location, if your pool hasn’t been built or installed yet. If the pool is close to the house, the deck style and design should somehow match or complement your home, or at least avoid clashing with it. If the pool and pool deck will be significantly farther out in the yard, you’ll have more leeway with respect to design, layout, colors, and materials.

Don’t forget about the layout of your new pool deck. The deck’s layout should always be in your mind (closer to the front than the back) while you’re choosing the right materials and location. The factors to take into account with pool deck layout include your available space to work with around your pool and in your yard, where your patio, barbecue or grill area, and hot tub (if you have one) are, and the afternoon sun (you’ll want the pool deck area to be bathed in sun rather than stuck in the shade during the afternoons).

After you have made your initial choices and plans regarding your very own pool deck, you may wish to speak with a professional pool designer, contractor, or installer about your plans and see if he or she has any suggestions, changes, or recommendations to make after considering your pool, yard, home, and overall landscape. A professional can also give you a cost estimate and help you draw up the blueprints.

Ready to get that pool and deck installed?  Find a qualified contractor and get a $50 rebate!

Once you’ve decided to take the plunge and hire a swimming pool contractor, the next question you need to ask yourself is how far do you want to go with it? Having as swimming pool installed is great, but it’s the added features that make it a luxury.Today’s pools come in a variety of styles, from the ordinary to the spectacular. A qualified swimming contractor can help you choose among a variety of options from the standard rectangular shallow-to-deep model to a pool with elaborate features such as a fountain or a faux lagoon, complete with a waterfall, natural looking outcroppings and appropriate plantings.

It all depends on your taste and your pocket book. Even on a small budget, some basic amenities will make your pool more attractive and more enjoyable for you and your family.

Some of the basic amenities include:

SHADE: It’s great to swim in the sunshine, but if you want to enjoy lounging poolside, you might want to consider investing in an umbrella or two. If you’re having a deck installed as part of your pool package, ask the installer to include strategically placed umbrella holders as part of the package. That way you can move your shade wherever you need it. For permanent and more elaborate shade features, consider a gazebo, arbor or a couple of well placed awnings.

BARBECUE AND FIRE PITS: A poolside barbecue makes pool parties more enjoyable and saves you from running back and forth to the kitchen when you should be out by the pool having fun. When the sun sets, there are few things more relaxing or romantic than sitting by an open fire. Having a firepit close to the pool adds to the fun. Outdoor fire pits are popular now and a relatively affordable way to add to the ambiance of your existing pool. If you’re having a pool installed, consider having your swimming pool contractor add a permanent fire pit or grill as part of the package.

Don’t forget about LIGHTING and HEATERS. For nighttime pool parties, lights are an important safety feature that also add to the attractiveness of your pool. Heaters help you enjoy your pool into the evening and later into the season. In addition to heating the pool, consider purchasing a portable heater for the poolside, so your guests have somewhere to warm up when they get out of the water. Hire an accredited pool builder can help you decide what amenities would be best for your poolscape.

Think about what you want up front and you’ll be enjoying your pool for many seasons to come.

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Having a swimming pool installed virtually guarantees years worth of fun relaxing entertainment. But did you know it can also be good for you?  Swimming provides an excellent workout, improving your cardiovascular health, muscle tone, flexibility and endurance.If you’re thinking about having a swimming pool installed, but can’t decide whether it would be worth the time, effort and money to hire a swimming pool contractor then, consider these facts:

• Swimming uses almost all of the major muscle groups.
• Swimming improves circulation.
• Swimming promotes proper breathing by improving your body’s use of oxygen without overworking the heart.
• Swimming can help strengthen and rehabilitate injured or underused muscles.
• Because the water makes your body virtually weightless, swimming provides one of the best low-impact total-body workouts available.
• Swimming burns hundreds of calories per hour, helping you maintain a healthy weight.
• Swimming is good exercise for people of all ages and abilities.

Sure, you could improve your health by taking a daily swim at the community pool, but then you’d have to compete for space and schedule your workouts around the hours of operation of the pool or community center.

On the hottest days, you’d be lucky to have enough open water in which to stand. Where’s the fun and health benefits in that?

Whether you’re considering having a swimming pool installed for the health benefits or the recreation value, a quality swimming pool contractor can help you decide what type of pool will meet your needs and budget and help bring the fun and benefits of swimming right into your own backyard.

If you’re considering hiring a swimming pool contractor to install an above-ground or in-ground pool, you’re probably wondering about safety, particularly the safety of children in your home or neighborhood.While it’s true that improperly secured or poorly supervised pools can provide an inviting danger to children, recent data released by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) shows that a third of as many children under age 5 — or about 115 annually — drown from other hazards around the home as drown in swimming pools.

Not including pools, about two-thirds of child drowning deaths in the home occur in bathtubs.  Other hazards include 5-gallon buckets, toilets, coolers, sinks, fish tanks and landscape ponds. This is not to say that pools are risk-free.  According to the CPSC, about 280 children under age 5 drown in swimming pools each year.  These deaths are largely preventable.

The CPSC recommends taking the following steps to keep your swimming pool safe:

• Install physical barriers, such as a fence or wall, completely around the pool to limit access. Fences and walls should be at least 4-feet high and installed completely around the pool. Gates should be self-closing and self-latching. Make certain the latch is high enough to be out of reach of small children.
• Closely supervise young children, and be prepared in case of an emergency.
• If a child is missing from anywhere in the house, always look in the pool first.
• Supervise children while they are in or around the pool. Knowing how to swim doesn’t make a child drown-proof.
• Never use flotation devices as a substitute for adult supervision.
• For aboveground pools, secure or remove steps and ladders when the pool is not in use.
• Be cautious of drains, and never use a pool or spa with a missing or broken drain cover. The powerful suction from a pool or hot tub drain can grab a swimmer and hold them under the water.  Consider installing a Safety Vacuum Release System (SVRS) , that will automatically shut off the pool pump if the drain becomes blocked.
• If someone does become trapped, shut down the pump and pry a hand between the drain and the trapped swimmer’s body to break the suction seal.
• Have a professional swimming pool contractor regularly inspect your pool or spa for entrapment or entanglement hazards.

For more information on swimming pool, spa or hot tub safety, visit CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov, or call (800) 638-2772.

Looking for something fun to do with your family and friends this summer? The answer might be as close as your own backyard. Hiring a swimming pool contractor isn’t quite the same as hiring a party planner, but once the pool builders leave, you’ll have all the equipment you need for a summer full of fun and memorable parties.Here are some ideas to get you started:

HOST YOUR OWN LUAU

Treat your guests to a Polynesian getaway without the jet lag. Decorate the pool area with Tiki torches, bright colors and Hawaiian- themed accessories from your local party supply or craft store. Use real or artificial flowers to decorate table tops and the surface of your pool.

Then, invite your guests to don their most colorful Hawaiian shirts, “grass” skirts and sunscreen for a stay-at-home trip to the Aloha State. Serve tropical drinks, plates of fruit and Hawaiian-themed dishes. If you have the yard for it, you might even want to host your own pig roast. For entertainment, line your guests up for a hula contest, or “surf” from the side of the pool or take turns making a splash in a Big Kahuna Belly Flop contest.

FOURTH OF JULY SPLASH DOWN

Celebrate America’s independence with an alternative to the hot, smokey mosquito infested fireworks display at the city park. Stay cool instead. Decorate your pool area with red, white and blue streamers. Start off the festivities with a squirt gun or water balloon battle. Serve All-American foods like apple pie, hamburgers and snow cones. When the sun goes down, kick back and enjoy the fireworks from the comfort of your favorite raft.

BACKYARD BEACH PARTY

If a trip to the coast is too pricey, bring the seaside fun home with a backyard beach party. Decorate the pool area with sea shells and fishnets, plastic crabs and other sea critters. Buy inflatable porpoises or sharks to float in the pool. Barbecue hot-dogs and hamburgers for your beach cookout. Put up a net for some “beach” volleyball, or bring in some sand for a castle building contest.

NEIGHBORHOOD YACHT RACE

You don’t need a fortune in misbegotten shareholder funds to go cavorting on the high seas. Host your own backyard yacht race. Have your guests don their best cabana wear, provide them with captains hats and suitably large sunglasses from your local party supply story and invite them aboard for some high class fun.

Buy some plastic boats from your local toy store to race across the pool. Decorate your pool and deck area with rope lights or colorful lanterns and serve the best “caviar” (tuna fish on crackers) and truffles (chocolate kisses) to complete your upper crust theme.

If you want to turn your backyard pool from boring and blah to breathtaking and brilliant, consider adding a waterfall to your pool to transform it into a beautiful paradise. Nowadays there are plenty of options for extra features and add-ons for pool owners, and waterfalls and poolside water fountains are becoming more popular, as they seem to make the water “come alive” and add just the right touch of pizzazz to an otherwise mundane, run-of-the-mill pool.You’ll find that there is a wide selection of pool waterfalls available, including a variety of styles, sizes, and colors, to fit any taste and budget. Generally, streams are installed within the waterfall, and you can choose from a wide, straight stream or a small brook-like stream—the latter is usually more natural-looking. The waterfall itself can either be narrow or wide; keep in mind that wider curtains of water will produce softer sounds, and narrower gaps will create more gushing sounds.

Some poolside waterfalls come with artificial boulders and rocks, as well. Waterfalls for your pool can also vary as far as what they’re made of, but good quality poolside waterfalls and water fountains should also be very strong and durable in addition to looking esthetically pleasing. For example, pool waterfalls made from high-density foam and fiberglass will withstand the elements and last a long time. Other waterfalls for your pool are made of strong plastic.

One great benefit of using waterfalls for your pool is that they are convenient and simple to set up and use. They do not require an additional source of water, but can simply be hooked up to your pool’s pump in order to re-circulate the pool water through it.

In order to find just the right water fountain or waterfall for your pool, you can check out the selection available at your local pool equipment stores and pool service companies. Something else you might want to consider is to go online and search for pool waterfall options and ideas that way. There are many pool companies that put their services up on the web, and some are strictly online companies.

You also have the option of building a poolside waterfall yourself—a good idea if you’re handy with construction, have some extra time, and want to go easy on your pool waterfall budget. Of course, this will take some work and research on your part in order to first of all learn how to build a waterfall for your pool, and also to accumulate all the right materials and tools needed, but if you have the time, the desire, and the motivation, this can be a great alternative to buying a pre-made poolside waterfall that’s installed for you.

Waterfall kits are also available, which include all the necessary materials and step-by-step instructions in order for you to install it yourself, so a lot of the work is done for you, but you still get to do the installation.

Of course, many of us don’t have the skills, the time, or the motivation to take on such a project, and prefer to shop around and buy a pre-made waterfall and hire the company to install it. This is where comparison shopping is a must—whether you’re looking locally, online, or both—in order to find a waterfall for your pool that you like, that is high quality, and that’s affordable for you. However, keep in mind that cheaper doesn’t always mean a better deal—if you’re not careful, you could end up with a poorly designed waterfall with a short lifespan.