Today we are offering Nextdoor app users 50% Off their first month pool service. Our current rates are $110 for a screened in pool and $120 for an unscreened pool.

We not only clean pools but we repair them as well. Our troubleshooting and repair is second to none with an expertise that is used by other pool companies in the area when they get stuck.

Call Michelle in the office today at 407-255-7665 to get set up.

The best pool cleaners on Amazon for a screened in pool:

For screened in pools you usually don’t need to worry much about heavy leaves and debris falling in from the trees above. The cleaners that fit this category best are suction type cleaners. They either plug into your skimmer or optional vacuum port on the side of the pool. You essentially shut off the main drain line (the white drain at the bottom) so it doesn’t get stuck on the drain and let the pool cleaner run around the floor and walls. There are a host of awesome cheap vacuums on Amazon that will work on screened in pools. Here are some of my top picks as I’ve seen hundreds in the pools that we take care of in Orlando.

The Hayward Navigator

The Hayward Navigator has been a tried and true model for many years in the pool industry. This vacuum is an all around champion and basically will work on screened in and unscreened pools pretty well. It is not designed to climb the walls but in some cases with the suction turned up higher than it should be you may find it going all the way up to the tile. The cleaning pattern is essentially a turning circle one way and then a turning circle the other way. Parts for this vacuum are a plenty with aftermarket generic copies all over Amazon. There are a couple of parts that will wear down as this vacuum has 5 or 6 things that will need changing over the years. Shoes, wings, a-frame bearings, turbine and turbine bearings are some of the usual parts needing replacement. Many of my customers refer to it a their R2D2 because it’s shaped like a little robot and steps around the floor with its 2 feet. I give this automatic pool cleaner a 3 out of 5 because it’s pricey but it does an all around good job.

Baracuda G3 by Zodiac

For the price you will not beat the Zodiac Baracuda G3. I only recommend this pool cleaner if you have a SCREENED IN POOL. If there are a bunch of leaves that this vacuum will have to contend with it will get bogged down and not work as good as the others. One great thing about this vacuum is that it climbs the walls, thus saving you the labor of brushing the walls. There is only 1 moving part on this vacuum and a couple of other wearable items that will need to be replaced. It is a super simple design and do not expect this cleaner to fly around the bottom of your pool because it is snail like slow. It basically bounces on the floor as its method of movement. Depending on the shape of your pool and its slow movement it may get stuck by the steps are weird areas that may cause issues for turning in your pool. I give the Baracuda G3 a 5 out of 5 because of price, ease of repair, cleaning walls and longevity.

MX6 by Zodiac

The Zodiac MX6 is a wonderful choice for a screened in pool that may cause issues with the wall crawling G3 like steps, bar seats or squared corners. It looks like a futuristic tank with 2 tracks that last a really long time before needing replacement. The hoses that it uses are proprietary so don’t expect to find any cheap replacement ones on Amazon when they need it in 3 or 4 years later. There are a couple of other moving parts on the inside that will also need to be changed as it gets older. I give this vacuum a 4 out of 5 for screened in pools.

Mx8 by Zodiac

The Zodiac MX8 is the bigger brother to the MX6. It basically has a wider cleaning path and is for bigger pools. I give it a 3 out of 5 but if you have a large pool like a 20 x 40 seriously consider this pool cleaner.

Kreepy Krauly by Zodiac

The Kreepy Krauly is one of the original cleaners that every other wall crawling cleaner copied. The price point on this model makes it a tough one to beat. I give it a 5 out of 5 because of its low cost and quiet operation. There is one moving part inside as well but it is extremely durable unlike the diaphragm on the Zodiac G3 which wears out fairly easily. Two other wearable parts makes this vacuum an easy choice for those that don’t want to be bothered with a broken pool cleaner.

There are a host of other cheap vacuums on Amazon but buyer beware you’re rolling the dice with these Mickey Mouse models as we call ’em in the pool biz. Well I hope this helps you in your search to make your pool life easier. Feel free to send an e-mail to propoolcare@gmail.com with pictures of your pool and we can help you select the perfect vacuum for you.

The best pool cleaners on Amazon for unscreened pools:

If you have an unscreened pool your BEST option is a cleaner that plugs onto the pressure side of your pool system. This is the side that pushes water instead of sucking water into your pump and filter. The reason being is usually that unscreened pools have a lot of leaves and debris so pressure cleaners will not slow the flow of water down on your filtration system if you have a really heavy day of leaves falling into the pool. For the most part, they cost more to install and operate because there is usually an added booster pump to help the vacuum move around the floor. These pool vacuum cleaners work on the venturi principle which in this case is water shooting straight up into a catch bag and that in turn makes a current under the vacuum to pull debris up into the bag. So because the debris bag is the main catch area for the dirt some of the finer particles go through and back into the pool. For that reason these cleaners don’t work as well to get every little bit of dirt out of your pool. However, they do usually have an extra feature to help blow the debris off the walls and floor in the hopes that some may make its way to the main drain. This tail whip also keeps algae from growing in areas that you may have to brush with other suction type pool cleaners. Some people find this tail whip annoying at times because when the vacuum gets to the tile line of the pool it may spray some water up in the air and on things near the pool side. Be that as it may if you have a pool with heavy trees or sand this still might be your best option so study this section well.

The Polaris Vac-Sweep 360 by Zodiac

This little vacuum DOES NOT REQUIRE A BOOSTER PUMP. You must however make sure you have a fairly strong pump in order to keep this puppy moving while still circulating the water in your pool. In many installations the vacuum port is used if it pushes water. You could also plug it into one of the pool returns but understand that you may have to plug off some of your other pool returns in order to make this cleaner work good. The hoses are larger in diameter than most other pressure cleaners so that proper flow gets to the head unit. It is the cheapest type of pressure cleaner and could do the job but be weary on selecting this if your system doesn’t already have good flow.

The Polaris Booster Pump PB4-60

This is the lowest price pool cleaner booster pump on Amazon to date. It comes with the connecting hoses and fittings to plug into a threaded 3/4″ female port on your plumbing. Unless you a really good at plumbing and electrical I would only suggest professional installation on this pump for the first time. If you are replacing an older booster pump then a quick swap with the new hoses and electrical is all you need to do. Many DIY homeowners can install this on their own if you’re just swapping out old to new.

The Polaris Vac-Sweep 280 by Zodiac

This pool cleaner is very popular for a pressure cleaner. It has 3 wheels and gets its power from a small hose connected to a single cleaner line that is plumbed to a mandatory booster pump (see above.) There is a backup valve that pulls the vacuum in reverse every 2 minutes in case it gets stuck on the stairs or some other odd area of the pool. Sometimes this backup valve can cause more problems than help if it wraps the cleaner around a deep end ladder or even its own hoses. You will need to gauge the flow of water with the included flow disks and diverter valve so that the vacuum goes at just the right speed. An all around champ to pick-up lots of leaves in your pool.

Pentair Kreepy Krauly Legend

If you are looking to replace your old Polaris and/or want something beefier then this is a cleaner I would highly recommend. For the little additional money you get a much wider opening to feed even bigger leaves into an extra large bag that is super easy to dump. It has 4 wheels with 2 front wheels driving it to help move on the floor even better as well as keep it from tipping over. It too also comes with a backup valve that is on the hose so it may have similar issues as the 280’s backup valve. I find that this vacuum works best for pine needles because of the larger opening. The polaris 280 sometimes bunches up the needles in the opening depending on certain variables.

Keep in mind if you’re going for that natural look this is not the pool surface for you. Jewelscapes (R) almost looks like melted precious stones. When you first see a Jewelscapes (R) pool you most certainly do a double take and focus on the sparkling surface to see why it shines so brilliantly. Once you see how classy it looks this will most certainly raise the bar in the products that you’ve been researching for your new look.

Professional designers will love the fact that there are 4 different variations to choose from classic series, opal series, reflective series and Jewelscapes ONE.

We find these on many high end homes here in Orlando. The look of pebble is a textured classy look that quartz surfaces like our quartzscapes ™ just can’t achieve. Don’t get me wrong, I like quartz products for the budget conscious but if you are looking for something that will put your pool over the top and you have the extra dough then pebble is it.

So you’ve heard the benefits of pebble such as staining and lifespan but a potential drawback is a bumpier surface. Now this isn’t to say that you’ll be stepping on sharp stones and such, however if you’re a tenderfoot then the classic pebble with larger stones (approx 5 mm or less) may start to agitate your feet after a couple of hours of swimming when your feet get soft.

So the answer to that is the happy medium with a little less durability and much smoother feel is mini-pebble. The stones are approx 2 mm and are the exact same mixture as the classic pebble. It’s even the exact same price.

One of the main benefits of pebble is that it hides dirt particles that would normally be seen with the naked eye. The different colored stones trick the eye into thinking that it’s clean. That is a nice thing in between vacuuming.

Check out the colors below:

Although we can pretty much get any quartz surface you want we use NPT Quartzscapes ™ as our main provider. The main reasons are delivery speed, cost and availability. As a result, every color selection we have can be delivered in the same time frame. This is because we mix the batches on site versus the manufacturer mixing it and bagging it at the factory. That is called premix. So since we mix all the bags in our mixer on site we can deliver whatever colors you choose at the same speed because our wholesaler will have these different bags on hand for all of the plasterers in the area to use and mix on site for their different colors.

Therefore, if you go with other premix bag manufacturers and you choose a color that isn’t in stock, then it could take a while before these bags get delivered. This happens all too frequently and holds up the remodel and building process. Who wants their pool remodel to drag on right? So here are the different colors available for a quartz remodel with NPT Quartzscapes ™

Remodel a Swimming Pool Project Cost

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Here is the average cost for pool resurfacing in Orlando, Florida according to HomeAdvisor Projects.

On the day of the announcement of our new President, we are running specials until the end of 2016 for swimming pool resurfacing. This applies to any standard quartz surface up to 15′ x 30′ in dimensions for the low price of just $2995. Professional Poolcare is doing our part to get this economy roaring again. Please take advantage of this special because once it’s gone, it’s gone. Prices before spring time go up because of the high demand.

Educate yourself more about resurface options here.

Our company uses a local supplier for our materials to perform pool resurfacing. This is beneficial to customers in a couple of different ways. First we have built a relationship with Premix Marbletite so that their customer service is prompt and outstanding. Secondly, our project manager can see first hand at the factory that the quality of the aggregate mix is up to our standards. Lastly, customer dollars stay circulating in the local community.

There are some pools that require additional surface preparation prior to pool resurfacing that will incur an additional charge of $800. Unfortunately, there is no way for our crew to tell if your pool will need that until we have it drained and actually start chipping away under the tile. If a customer’s pool is deemed necessary for this additional work we will notify them immediately.

For the vast majority of pools that our company works on this added step is unnecessary. Usually the old surface is still hard enough to make a good mechanical bond to the new troweled on surface. If your pool has been green for over 6 months there is a good chance that you may incur this cost.

Check out our local manufacturer’s website for more information on the Marquis aggregate.

Premix Marbletite – Pool Resurfacing

The standard color choices are all that have a white aggregate (the material between all the pebbles.) All other color choices add different pebbles, dyes and admixes to the base which makes them more expensive. Other color choices are up charged by $300-$800 depending on the color you choose and the size of your pool.

Completing this job will take approximately 2 days. The first day will be prepping the pool and the second day will be troweling on the new surface. Afterwards your garden hose is used to fill the pool. Many homeowners can call their water company to ask for a credit. They usually have a procedure for removing the sewage charge on a water bill after pool filling. Our company can provide a letter of the approximate gallons filled to the utility company if needed. Once the pool is filled a service tech will return with the introductory chemicals to set your pool water in balance.

To start your pool resurfacing project we require a 50% deposit to purchase materials and reserve a spot on our schedule. The remaining 50% is due upon completion.

Call us as soon as possible to get an estimate and schedule your swimming pool resurface job.

Do you really need to drain your pool before a hurricane?

Many people call us and ask about preparing your pool for a hurricane. The most common question is weather or not to drain your pool. The short answer is no. Almost all pools are built with a drain channel or is sloped in such a way as to divert water away from your house. You can visually see these drains as a strip or a couple of round or square areas placed strategically around your pool deck. Although, If your deck has poor standing water areas or is sloped improperly so that the overflow water might flood your home then you should drain your pool 8″-10″. If you are definitely prone to flooding then tarp and sandbag the doors and low lying areas of your home by your pool.

Turn your pool equipment off.

Turn everything off at the BREAKER. If you have a digital pool controller DO NOT JUST TURN YOUR PUMP OFF WITH THE REMOTE BUTTON. You need to protect your controller by killing power at the breaker. Brown outs and power surges can wreak havoc on pump motors, pool controllers, salt systems and anything electronic. Most breakers are located out near the pool equipment or on the side of the house near the pool equipment. In older homes you may have a breaker in the garage.

Check your Solar Panels BEFORE the hurricane arrives.

Do not go up on your roof during the hurricane. Yes I am surprised I have to say this too. If you have solar panels double check the straps that hold them down on the roof. Make sure they are tight and adjust them if necessary. Apply roof patch sealant over the lag bolts and any other areas that are drilled into your roof. Roof fasteners and penetrations are flashed to ensure a leak-free roof for decades but It’s good practice to reseal your solar panel hardware every year anyways.

Also, check your homeowners policy to see if it covers your solar panels. If it doesn’t you may want to ask about including them, usually for a very minor increase in premiums.

Stack and move patio furniture near the house. Flip stacks of chase lounge chairs upside down to give less surface area to the wind. Tie them down if you cannot move them under cover like in the garage. As a last resort you can throw them into the pool. Understand that rust stains could be left behind as many patio sets have metal of one sort or another on them.

Here is a tip to make debris cleanup easier for un-screened pools:

If you have a tarp large enough to cover your pool, spread it out and weigh it down on the pool deck. After the storm passes, you and a friend can “peel over”the tarp to one side so that all the debris is dumped on your deck/yard and not in your pool. It will be heavy depending on how much rainwater is collected so go slow. A small sump pump can pump out the water on top of the tarp.

***This tip does not work with solar covers because they are usually cut to fit and most if not all of the debris will still end up in your pool.***

Lastly, you should have some extra tablets, granular and/or liquid chlorine on hand to be on the safe side. This can buy you an extra week or two before the pool starts to develop algae if the power is off for a long time. If you have a salt system and there is no power you’re not producing chlorine so use liquid or granular. Leaves and heavy debris increase your pools pH. Having some muriatic acid on hand is also helpful.

After the hurricane passes:

DO NOT IMMEDIATELY TURN ON YOUR PUMP ONCE POWER IS RESTORED.

1. Check the area around your pool motor(s) Clean out any debris that may have been deposited around the motor.
2. To be safe, it may be best to leave your pool pump of for 24-48 hours to dry out. Especially if you don’t know how high the water came up around it.
3. Only turn the equipment back on if you have good power for a long time. After hurricanes, the power comes on and off many times as the power company is fully restoring power to area. These brownouts can harm your equipment especially digital pool controllers and variable speed pumps. The variable speed pumps do have better over and under current protection but let’s not tempt fate with $1000 pumps shall we?
4. Visually inspect your pool for heavy debris. Use a leaf rake or net to scoop out debris BEFORE vacuuming pool. Pay special attention to twigs and rocks. This WILL clog your plumbing. We get so many calls after storms because people clog their skimmer or vacuum lines. If you are able to vacuum to waste (pump to yard) like a DE filter or a waste line with a blue discharge hose, do that. If you have a DE filter backwash your filter with whatever water is left that needs to be lowered.
5. Adjust your chemicals. If you have a salt system you may have to add 2 or 3 bags of salt depending on how much salt parts per million your pool is diluted down to.

MAJOR HURRICANE DAMAGE

1. If your solar panels ripped off the roof, set your solar system to bypass the solar collectors. This may be an automatic valve or manual depending on your system. You may have to call a pool service company or plumber to “loop” the lines until you are able to get your roof and or panels repaired.
2. If your screen enclosure frame is damaged check your homeowners policy to see if you can make a claim. Most insurance companies do not cover screen enclosures. Take a sawzall and cut away any bent beams if it is a loss. The sheet metal screws on the enclosure will rust on your surface if left too long. Cleaning up rust isn’t such a big deal but it’s just one less thing to keep off your list.
3. Massive water runoff into pool with dirty water from the yard will require 24/7 filtration, seriously high chlorine and phosphate remover treatment(s). DO NOT VACUUM UNTIL YOU CAN SEE THE BOTTOM. Net and brush the pool daily to get heavy debris out so when you can see the bottom you know your plumbing is safe.

Pool Service Cleaning Companies in high demand

Most pool companies in the Orlando area are small to medium in size (1-5 trucks.) Almost all will be taking care of their weekly service customers first before adding additional workload from one time hurricane clean-ups. Work piling up is just like waiting in line for water or gas before the storm except clean up services are not essential for survival. Please be patient with cleanup companies even if they promise you a certain day. We have no way of knowing workload until we get to jobs. I have made a lot of pool business owner friends being in the business here in Central Florida for 25 years and I can tell you that we are all in the same boat. Nobody is sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. Leave a message if you do not get an answer right way and we will get your clean-up scheduled.

Here is a link to a Facebook live video I did explaining some of this.

Acquablue Pools – Clermont, FL

Everblue Pools – Poinciana, FL

Champion Pools – West Los Angeles

Please contact us at propoolcare@gmail.com for linking.