I\u2019ve been running Pool Scouts crews in the DFW area for eight years now, and every single December I get the same panicked call at least a dozen times: \u201cWe just got home, and the pool is green.\u201d Or \u201cThe pump is making a horrible noise.\u201d Or the absolute worst one: silence on the other end of the line when I ask them to go check the equipment pad because a pipe decided to split at 2 a.m. on Christmas morning.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t want that to be you. So here\u2019s the real-world, battle-tested checklist I personally hand out (or text) to every customer before they leave town. It\u2019s what we follow when we watch hundreds of pools every holiday season, and it\u2019s what I do on my own pool before I load the family up to head to my in-laws in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n
1. Clean it like you\u2019re never coming back<\/b><\/p>\n
Empty the skimmer baskets and pump basket twice in one day. Do it once in the morning, go run your errands, come back in the afternoon, and do it again. You will pull out another handful of leaves, I promise. Pecan hulls and live-oak tassels are the silent killers this time of year.<\/p>\n
While you\u2019re there, brush the walls and steps hard\u2014especially the shady north side and the bench nobody ever sits on. Algae doesn\u2019t read the calendar. We\u2019ve pulled bright green samples in December from pools that were perfect the week after Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n
Vacuum or run the robot all the way to the bottom. That layer of tan dust you keep ignoring? It\u2019s organic, and it will eat every ounce of chlorine you have while you\u2019re gone. I had one customer in Southlake last year who skipped this step and came home to zero chlorine and a pool that looked like split-pea soup. Cost him $380 and two extra service calls to fix.<\/p>\n
Backwash the filter or hose off the cartridges. A dirty filter plus freeze cycles equals sky-high pressure and blown spider gaskets. Ask me how I know.<\/p>\n
2. Freeze protection is non-negotiable (and most people have it set wrong)<\/b><\/p>\n
If you have automation\u2014Pentair, Hayward, Jandy, whatever\u2014open the app right now and actually look. I can\u2019t tell you how many times a customer has sworn up and down that freeze protect was on\u2026 until we realized the last power blink turned it off.<\/p>\n
Set it to trigger at 38 \u00b0F, not the factory default of 34 \u00b0F. You\u2019d rather the pump run a few extra hours than gamble on a cracked heat exchanger. And make sure it\u2019s running the main circulation pump for at least 20\u201330 minutes each cycle, not just the booster.<\/p>\n
No automation? Go to Home Depot or Amazon and buy a simple outdoor smart plug that reads local weather (they\u2019re $25\u2013$35). Program it to turn the pump on any night the low is 34 \u00b0F or below. I\u2019ve got one on my own pool, and it\u2019s saved me twice already.<\/p>\n
Extra credit: leave one pool light on during the freeze. The 100\u2013300 watts of heat it puts out keep a surprising circle of water from icing over, and it looks cool from the kitchen window.<\/p>\n
3. Chemistry: cheat high on purpose<\/b><\/p>\n
I want your chlorine at 4.5\u20135 ppm the day you lock the door, not 2\u20133. It\u2019s going to burn off or get eaten by organics while you\u2019re gone, and coming home to 1 ppm is way better than 0.2 ppm.<\/p>\n
pH at 7.4, maybe even 7.3 if it likes to creep up on you. High pH in cold water is the fastest way to scale up a brand-new salt cell or heater.<\/p>\n
Stabilizer (cyanuric acid) below 30? Raise it now. We get those random 70\u201375 degree days in December, and the sun will still cook unprotected chlorine in 48 hours.<\/p>\n
Throw an extra puck in the chlorinator and turn the feed rate up one notch. If you\u2019re gone two weeks, add a second floater with two extra tabs. Yes, you might come home to 7\u20138 ppm chlorine. That\u2019s fine. You can let it drift down naturally.<\/p>\n
4. Water level\u2014check the 10-day forecast like it\u2019s your job<\/b><\/p>\n
If there\u2019s more than an inch of rain predicted while you\u2019re gone, lower the water 3\u20134 inches below the middle of the skimmer mouth today. I\u2019ve pumped out more decks the day after Christmas than I care to remember.<\/p>\n
If you have an automatic cover and we\u2019re expecting ice, leave the level normal or slightly high so the pump stays primed even if the top inch freezes solid.<\/p>\n
5. The little things that save thousands<\/b><\/p>\n Or just let us do it (the option 90% of our customers now choose)<\/b><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the honest truth: most people used to do this checklist themselves. Now they just forward me their flight itinerary and say, \u201cKeep it alive until January 3rd.\u201d<\/p>\n We come out once or twice (your choice), do every single thing above, send you a couple of photos of blue water and a text that says \u201call good,\u201d and you get to drink eggnog without wondering if your pump is currently destroying itself.<\/p>\n Last December we watched 487 pools over the holidays. Exactly zero came home to problems. Several owners told me it was the first vacation in a decade, and they didn\u2019t check the pool camera every single night.<\/p>\n We still have a few holiday slots left, but they disappear faster than tamales on Christmas Eve\u2014especially that dead week between Christmas and New Year\u2019s when half of Plano leaves town.<\/p>\n Call or text us at 469-352-9191<\/a>, or hit \u201cRequest a Quote\u201d on the website<\/a> and tell us your exact travel dates. I\u2019ll take care of the rest.<\/p>\n Enjoy the family, the food, the zero-responsibility feeling of being somewhere else. Your pool will be happier when you get back than when you left\u2014I guarantee it.<\/p>\n Safe travels, Merry Christmas, and see you and your sparkling water soon.<\/p>\n \u2014 Your local Pool Scouts crew<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":160975,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-160974","local-post","type-local-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n