The easy answers are yes and absolutely!  When it comes to purchasing a swimming pool, most people first focus on size. Though size does matter features matter more. The way you and your family will use your pool will determine what feature make sense for you.

Entry points should be the first consideration. The way your pool will be situated in the back yard and will be accessible is our fist consideration. Will you be accessing the pool form only one side or will you have space on multiple sides of the pool? If you’re leaning towards the latter, multiple entry points will be very important to you.

Next is the convenience or safety ledge. All Leisure pools feature a convenience ledge that runs all the way around the pool approximately 24” below the water. This ledge provides a very easy way out of the pool from any location. Though only 3-4” in size it is one of the most praised features among our clients who have owned other types of pools.

Last but not least is seating. Many people don’t think about seating when shopping for a pool but seating matters. You will not always be swimming laps, playing volleyball, or doing cannon balls. There will a decent amount of time that just sitting with a beverage and taking in the day will be important. The seating area will become your favorite part of the pool.

Whether you’re creating your own party central or a retreat from the world, careful design consideration and feature rich pools will be the difference between just a pool and your very own paradise.

Rule 1800

As many of you know the last couple of years have been rough for the owners of Rule pumps. After being the undisputed leader in small pumps from boats to pools the decision was made by Rules parent company to move the operation to Mexico. Thought this was done in a discrete fashion with almost no one in the industry knowing, the fallout was anything but quite.

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From approximately 2009 and on the cover pumps that were manufactured in Mexico have run at a near 100% failure rate. This has left the pool industry in a state of near shock and desperate for a replacement. Good news Pool Nation its here. Introducing the Little Giant! Though a bit bigger and not quite as esthetically pleasing, this pump definitely lives up to its name- Its a Little Giant.

Little Giant

For those of you that have not had a pump fail- Congratulations. Just in case you do, there are just a couple easy steps to get a replacement pump. Simply call Rule at 978-281-0573. Give them your name and info as well as the alpha-numeric code on the side of the pump- and presto. They will send a replacement right out.

Thought  this hardly makes up for the inconvenience of having a pump fail or worse yet a cover or pool damaged, it is nice that they are standing behind their product and are now really trying to make it easy for customers to get warranty claims processed.

For some mysterious reason when it comes to home improvement there seems to be an unspoken 11^th commandment. ‘Thou shall not engage in home improvement without a minimum of 3 estimates.’ (I can almost see Mosses taking notes and looking confused) I don’t know where that came from OR what benefit it serves at least anymore. Most people with a little internet research KNOW what they want and who they want to work with. Besides meeting with 3 or 4 ‘pool guys’ is frankly time consuming and not that fun.

I met with a young lady and her husband last night in Columbus, Ohio to discuss her new pool.  I asked all them about how they were going to use the pool and about their vision of the new space. She was, as most of our clients are, VERY informed and educated on what types of pools are available and the pros and cons of each. She went on to tell me that she had a vinyl pool growing up and wanted to pursue fiberglass because she understood the advantages and benefits.

It didn’t take long before i knew this family wanted us to build their pool. I knew because they told me.  They had been through the website, watched all our videos, read our blogs, played 20 questions with me for an hour and wanted a Leisure fiberglass pool. At the end of the meeting I asked them for their business and their response was a complete surprise to me and even seemed to surprise them.  ‘Matthew’ she said, ‘we really feel like we need to get a few more estimates.’  As she said this to me I could see the confusion even in her own eyes. ‘What for?’ I asked ‘Is there another fiberglass pool you are considering?’ ‘Definitely not’ she said ‘We love what Leisure manufactures and are set on it. I just feel like I have to talk to some other companies.’ I could tell this was almost embarrassing to her.

Ultimately this customer admitted to me that she had scheduled 2 more meetings with vinyl builders even though she had grown up with a vinyl pool and ruled out a tarp pool as an option. She said she simply felt that she HAD to have 3 estimates even if they were products she had already decided against. We have been trained as a culture that in order to make an educated decision we must follow this 11^th commandment of getting 3 estimates.  After hearing herself say this out loud I think she realized how silly this was and did go ahead and place an order for her new Leisure Pool.

The lesson here is this: Do your homework, educate yourself, listen to your instincts when speaking with builders, and then TRUST YOURSELF. Reputable companies will have references for you to check and with the information available to you on line, you don’t need 3 or 4 estimates you just need one good one.

As you are putting together you new pool and living space one of the things you will be looking at is what to do about a cover. Though on the surface this may seem like a very basic component the truth is it’s NOT. There are many different options when it comes to winter covers and you will absolutely get what you pay for in each.

Most price point pool companies that have ‘packages’ typically included a cover. In MOST cases these covers are nothing more than a piece of plastic (or a tarp) and tubes with water in them called water bags. You simply cover the pool with the tarp and lay the water bags around the perimeter to hold the cover in place. These are VERY dangerous. In the event a pet or person fall into the pool with the cover on, it is unlikely the end will be anything but tragic.

The second option is a winter safety cover. These come in different grades and qualities. The basic concept of them is you cover the pool with a fabric material capable of holding pets and debris out of the pool by attaching to the deck of the pool with anchors. Some people refer to them as ‘trampoline covers’ as they very much resemble a trampoline when installed. Aside from strapping and material type the main difference between covers is ‘stock’ or ‘custom.’

A custom safety cover is as the name implies is just that- custom. It has been made to conform to the shape of the pool, deck, water features, slide, etc. For a customer that has an apron that may not be more than a few feet wide, landscaping or water feature this may be the only option.

A stock cover on the other hand is a cover that has been made to a preset shape and size. Most of the time these stock size covers can be purchased for less money because there is no measuring or customizing and they fit a wide Varity of pools. Typically they will overhang the apron more in one direction than another and may even run into the lawn a bit. So long as you’re OK with the aesthetics of the stock its typically a savings of $1000 or so from their custom counter parts.

Stock or custom there is no wrong answer. Just make sure you never use a tarp and water bags. Covering and secure the pool for the off season is just the responsible thing to do. Be safe and happy swimming!

One of the more common questions I get is: Do you do salt pools? The short answer is yes I do. What I have come to realize however is that there is an abundance of misinformation and lack of knowledge out there when it comes to what a salt pools is.
A salt pool can be referred to (several incorrectly) as many things. Saline pool, salt generator, salt chlorine generator, non-chemical chlorine pool, free chorine, salt system, salt pool, Zero Chlorine, and even mineral pool. All of these mean the same thing. A ‘salt pool’ is not any different than any other pool. It is not constructed or plumbed any differently. It simply has a chlorine generator installed in the filtration system, and high grade salt added to the water. Whala….A ‘salt pool.’

To understand how a salt chlorinator works you must understand that chlorine comes in different physical forms. Liquid, solid, gas, chemical, non chemical, modified solid, etc. A Chlorine generator works by converting the salt molecule that has been put into the water INTO a non chemical chlorine molecule. This is done by removing a neutron from the salt though a process called electrolysis. The chorine molecule then goes out into the pool, attacks a waste molecule, burns off (kind of like evaporating) and leaves behind the salt molecule to eventually go back to the pump and chlorine generator and repeat.
Maintence on this type of system is VERY easy. Because salt does not evaporate, you will only have to add salt back into the pool to replace the salt that splashes out and that is lost by winterizing your pool. This equates to a just few pounds per year for most people and typically is about $10. Cleaning of the chlorine generating cell is periodically needed. Most private pool owners will do this once a year and it takes about 10 minutes and a ½ cup of pool acid (muriatic). Some of the better units on the market will even clean themselves as well as tell you how much salt is in the pool making ownership and maintenance even easier.

As for cost, in my opinion modest. Typically 1200 to $2000 installed and ready to go. They variables include: Cost of the unit, effort to wire it to your electric panel, and the amount of salt you will need (based on the volume of your pool). Here is the myth. If you own a fiberglass pool, you will not save thousands of dollars on choline. Why? Because you are not using thousnads of dollars in choline. The cost savings commonly discussed online are experienced by those owning concrete or vinyl pools that are accustom to spending $1000 or more per yer on chemicals. The benefits to having a salt chlorination on a fiberglass pool are all the other things….Soft smooth water, non burning eyes, no bleached hair, no ruined bathing suits, and most important of all, EASY.

See more at:

Salt Water Chlorine Generators: History, Types, Operation, and Considerations

Auto Pilot: Salt Nano System

Auto Pilot: Digital Soft Touch