10 Myths of Pool Ownership

Here are the top ten myths - and some helpful tips - about owning and maintaining a swimming pool. 

1. "I can't afford a pool."
Owning a pool is probably a lot easier than you think. There are many reasonably-priced options for putting a pool in your backyard. The type of pool, materials, accessories, and landscaping you choose will influence the cost of the project. You should also remember that your pool will help reduce other expenses, such as the cost of vacations away from home, membership dues to community pools and other recreational activities.

2. "My yard will be ruined for a year and workmen will be around all the time."
An accurate understanding of the building process will help you develop realistic expectations for the completion of your pool. Many pools are completed in just a few months. But obviously, unforeseen factors such as the weather or permit delays can affect the building process. A good builder will communicate any changes in the project schedule to you as soon as possible.

3. "It takes too much time and effort to maintain a pool."
You can always hire a professional to do the job, but with today's cost-effective technology, you can get the same great results in very little time. In fact, maintaining a pool is easier than maintaining your car or your lawn!

4. "My electric bill will significantly go up if I own a pool."
Utility bills vary depending on where you live and who your provider is, but average estimates show that utility bills only increase between $30 and $50 each month. But that's nothing when compared to the money you'd otherwise spend on entertainment, vacations, and trips to the community pool, including the expense of gasoline, food, and concessions.

5. "I'm afraid of the risk of accidents and drowning occurring at my pool."
While attentive adult supervision is the best way to maintain a safe pool, fences, pool covers, gates and pool alarms offer additional layers of protection to enhance safety. Some experts believe that having a pool actually saves untold lives because children who learn to swim at a very early age are less likely to drown in an emergency situation later in life.

6. "I am worried about the increased insurance and liability that come with owning a pool."
Homeowners should always check with their current insurance brokers and shop around for the best coverage available. You should also contract with a reputable builder, carefully read safety materials, closely follow safety equipment instructions, and ensure that there is adult supervision of the pool at all times.

7. "Pools require constant repair."
You should research a builder's work and ask questions about the longevity of the pool types they are considering. Proper cleaning and maintenance prevent the need for unscheduled refurbishing, and some companies may even offer a lifetime guarantee for pools they install.

8. "I'm afraid of getting taken by a dishonest pool builder."
Like with any building project, you should always check a builder's professional credentials, ask for references and view samples of complete work.

9. "A pool is a big investment and I'm afraid that financing will be really difficult."
Homeowners can finance a pool with a long-term mortgage. Additionally, pool builders who offer in-store financing have industry experience and can explain financing options, loan terms and current interest rates to help you find a manageable monthly payment plan.

10. "I've heard that pools detract from the appeal of a home in the real estate market instead of adding to it."
Not true. Banks and other financial lenders often look favorably upon swimming pool financing, considering it a "home improvement" that will increase both the current and resale value of the home.

10 Reasons to have a POOL

1. Encourage Family Time
When you build a pool, you're actually creating a fun and relaxing space for your children and family to spend time together without ever leaving the backyard! You'll make lasting memories as you teach your kids to swim, play with them in the pool, and cook-out by the water.
2. Create an Outdoor Paradise at Home
A well-designed swimming pool isn't just a bunch of water. It can turn your backyard into an elegant outdoor oasis. With waterfalls, vanishing edges and other unique amenities, a pool can serve as a relaxing and inviting centerpiece right in your own backyard.
3. Throw a Party
When warm afternoons and cool summer evenings roll around, a pool is a great way to entertain. Invite your friends, family and neighbors over for a poolside cook-out or a dip in the water.
4. Stay Healthy and Lose Weight
Instead of driving to the gym, you can spend time exercising in your own pool. Research shows that swimming provides a better total body workout with a low risk of injury. It also helps you to lose weight faster.
5. Unwind and Relax
When you get home from a long day at work or need to escape the busyness of life, take a quick dip in your pool to unwind. Spending time in the water helps your body relax and get rid of stress. You'll also sleep better than you ever have before.
6. Increase the Value of Your Home
Recent studies show that owning a pool increases the value of your home by as much as 15%. It also makes your property more attractive to prospective homebuyers. If it comes time to move, owning a pool may be the difference between selling your home quickly or keeping it on the market.
7. Stay Cool
Instead of hiding out indoors by the air-conditioning, you can beat the summer heat by lounging in the cool waters of your own pool.
8. Keep an Eye on Your Kids
With a swimming pool in your backyard, you can give your kids and their friends a place to play that is both convenient and safe. You can also rest easy knowing that your children are close by.
9. Save Some Money
A pool is easier to finance and maintain than most people think. And in the long run, pools are less expensive than big family vacations and other entertainment options - and they last longer.
10. Long Lasting Fun
Building a pool is a great investment that will reap rewards for a lifetime. A vacation, a movie, or a visit to a theme park will all come to an end, but a pool will be enjoyed by your friends and family for years to come.

Company History

Tri-County Pools was established in 1988 by Ron and Linda Larson.  Our family owned and operated company has more than 24 years experience in the Tampa Bay Area and has built over 7,800 pools.  During this time, we have become experts at listening to your desires and expectations and in exchange, sharing our insights and experience with you.  Tri-County Pools has earned a distinguished reputation in the Tampa Bay area. Family owned and operated, our company combines superior construction with extraordinary customer service. Tri-County Pools is the Tampa Bay Area’s most dependable and reliable pool builder, and serves many of the bay area’s most prominent home builders.

Tri County Pools has been a Better Business Bureau Accredited Business since 1989 with an A rating.



Ron Larson, President of Tri-County Pools, has over 39 years of pool construction experience and has built over 15,000 residential and commercial swimming pools.  Ron has earned a distinguished reputation in the Tampa Bay area with customers, builders, vendors and contractors.


Pat Mathews, our General Manager/Managing Partner, has over 20 years of pool construction and sales experience.  Pat has managed thousands of residential and commercial pool construction and re-model jobs in the Tampa Bay Area.  Pat has also earned a distinguished reputation for being an honest, trustworthy, hands-on and hard working owner.

Tri-County Pools: S-A-F-E-T-Y

Tri-County Pools: S-A-F-E-T-Y

S-A-F-E-T-Y

S-A-F-E-T-Y

You, your family, and friends will enjoy a happier, healthier pool and spa experience if you remember the FSPA rules of S-A-F-E-T-Y.

S is for more than just SUPERVISION - children must be watched closely

* There's no substitute for an ADULT watching a child
* Do not let anything or anyone distract you when a child is in or near a body of water, not even for a second
* Keep your eyes on the pool at all times

A is for ALERT - Pay attention, Play smart

* Toys: A favorite toy left near the water can be a very strong attraction for a child. Toys, tricycles and other playthings should be stored away from the pool or spa area.
* Store all chemicals, cleansers and accessories safely and securely in appropriate areas.
* Sunscreen: Choose It and Use It! The sun is strongest in the summer months. Be sure to apply sun protection regularly while enjoyed the pool. No sun, just clouds? Be alert - Continue to use sun protection.
* Remember to serve all food and beverages in non-breakable containers in the pool area.
* Get out of the pool at the first sign of thunderstorms.

F is for FREE - Be Substance-FREE

* Never use a pool or spa while, or after, consuming alcohol or any drugs. Consult a physician if taking any mediation on a regular basis prior to swimming or using a spa.

E is for EMERGENCY Procedures - Get training and education

* Learning CPR , cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is a skill that may save a life. The local YMCA, the Red Cross and many local hospitals offer classes.
* Keep a charged portable telephone by the pool -
Parents won't have to leave children unattended to answer the phone. And if you need to call Emergency Services, your phone is within seconds reach - your call could make a REAL difference!
* Rescue equipment - Is your pool safety ready?
Ropes and float lines placed across the pool alert swimmers to the separation of the deep and shallow ends of the pool. Rescue equipment such as life rings and shepherd's crooks can be used to pull someone in trouble to safety.
* Keep a list of emergency contact numbers pool side.

T is for TEACHING - Never too old or too young

* Swimming Lessons - Everyone should be taught swim. Children of all ages should be enrolled in swimming lessons or a program to familiarize them with the water. Check your local YMCA, Parks and Recreation departments or other local programs near your area.
* Diving - Learn safe diving. Know the depth of the water prior to diving. Never dive into shallow water. Never dive into an aboveground pool.

Y is for YOU
By thinking about SAFETY all the time, YOU are being a RESPONSIBLE pool owner and user! Thank You!

Tri-County Pools: Pool finishes stay beautiful when salt water stays balanced.

Tri-County Pools: Pool finishes stay beautiful when salt water stays balanced.

Pool finishes stay beautiful when salt water stays balanced.

New Balance

By Karen Erstad
August 2010

	Pool finishes stay beautiful when salt water stays balanced.

Much like the coats of paint covering their houses, homeowners want beautiful and durable finishes on their pools, but the staying power of a good pool finish is highly dependent on its environment. Getting 20 to 25 years out of a pool finish requires diligent monitoring of water balance, says Randy Dukes, technical sales representative for Aquavations, South Miami, Fla.
"Cementitious pool finishes are cosmetic coatings applied to the shotcrete shell, the structural part of a swimming pool, and they are generally applied ⅜ to ¾ of an inch thick," says Dukes.
"They are not structural, and they are not waterproofing agents. They are semi-permeable, cosmetic applications. So sound technical practices in water chemistry are absolutely imperative when it comes to maintaining a surface that comes in contact with water 365 days a year. Properly maintained water is the key to the service life of any cementitious finish — that water needs to stay balanced."
While maintaining balanced pool water is not always easy, pool professionals do have an ally to turn to: the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI). This index determines water balance based on readings of pH, total alkalinity, calcium hardness and water temperature. This tool is not new to the industry, but it may be underused.
When dealing with pools with salt chlorine generators, it's critical to use the LSI because it accounts for the difference in total dissolved solids in the water, says Bob Harper, general manager of Pristiva, a salt manufacturer owned by Compass Minerals, Overland Park, Kan.
Harper says a factor of 12.3 is used in calculating the LSI in salt water pools to adjust for the 3,000 to 3,500 ppm of salt which has been added, whereas a factor of 12.1 is used in traditionally chlorinated pools.
"Also understand that the higher ionic strength in a salt pool typically means higher calcium carbonate solubility," he says. "The pool's appetite for calcium is actually greater because water will balance itself, taking what it needs if you don't provide it, and you can run into problems like etching of fresh concrete, where it's almost like grooves or pitting in the finish of a pool because the water is taking the calcium out of the finish.
"Another particular problem is called efflorescense. This again has to do with ionic strength and equilibrium, and this is when salt comes in contact with cement surfaces or finishes and typically what happens is the surface is trying to be in equilibrium with the material that's laying on it, so the water will actually draw up calcium salts through the surface itself, which will form deposits. Those deposits typically show a discoloration — it's usually a whitish color. So it'll give a lightening effect to the look of the finish, and this can show up more readily on a pigmented plaster or aggregate finish. The real key to preventing efflorescense is to use a salt with a rapid dissolution rate and then brush the salt vigorously so it doesn't lay in any one particular spot on the surface for any given period of time."
If you do encounter balance issues with salt pools, you're more likely to experience problems like scale and others related to high-pH conditions, because pH tends to rise in salt pools due to the electrolytic process of producing chlorine. For every chlorine molecule produced by the generator, two sodium hydroxide molecules are produced. Chlorine lowers pH and sodium hydroxide raises it, but since twice as much sodium hydroxide is produced, pH goes up.
One way to deal with this slow drift upward in pH is to install an acid feeder, says Dukes. "These feed trace amounts of diluted acid to the pool during the operation of the equipment and the cell and help maintain the pH, so that the pool service guy doesn't have to be there two or three times a week or the homeowner doesn't have to go out and add a cup of acid every other day.
"Putting acid in the pool will drive the alkalinity down, so every couple of weeks, you need to add sodium bicarbonate to get the alkalinity back because low alkalinity will make the water corrosive."

At Start-Up And Beyond

Starting up a pool with a salt chlorine generator can present special challenges. The salt, of course, cannot be added until after the initial finish curing period of 28 days. Dukes recommends using dichlor to chlorinate during that time because it's a fairly pH-neutral product, and it's 57 percent cyanuric acid by weight. Then, when it comes time to add the salt, check to be sure there's a free chlorine level of 1.5 to 3 ppm in the water, says Dukes. If your reading is below this, the salt chlorine generator will work much better if you shock the pool to remove the combined chlorine.
"A lot of municipalities are on chloramines, which is ammonia and chlorine, and the salt generators are not capable of overcoming this combined chlorine," says Dukes. "So they need to develop some free chlorine rather than expecting the chlorine unit to overcome that combined or total chlorine. I think this really fools people. They get the pool up and running, they get the salt chlorine generator out there, they turn it on, they've got combined chlorine and they can't get any free chlorine out of the salt generator."

In salt pools, Harper recommends using a non-phosphorous-based sequestering agent. "Traditional pool chemicals tend to break down in the harsh conditions inside the salt chlorine generator cell. The most commonly used chemistry for sequestering agents are phosphorous-based, and while these have been used for decades in the pool industry, they have just proved to be ineffective in salt water pools because not only do they break down so they're rendered ineffective, but the byproducts of many these are orthophosphates, which can create a lot of problems in a salt water pool."

Another Alternative

To avoid the potential pitfalls of the high TDS levels in salt pools, Jon Temple, a veteran pool plasterer and owner of Tempool, in Jacksonville, Fla., likes to use ozone as the primary means of sanitization and a salt chlorine generator as secondary means. "This way we're able to put less salt in the pool, and turn the machine down lower to back up the ozone, so we're creating fewer total dissolved solids," says Temple. "I really got into that when I worked over in the Middle East because there's no chlorine there, so they really use a lot of ozone."
If you do encounter a pool with excessive total dissolved solids, Temple says there are a couple of options. You can dilute the water or use a chemical to help filter out the total dissolved solids. "Jack's Magic has a product called The Magenta Stuff, which is what I use, and that's helping out a great deal. You can use that accompanied by a Jack's Purifiber, and that helps get some of the total dissolved solids out of there."
Because an ounce of prevention is worth probably much more than a pound of cure, it's really ideal to keep the water balanced in the first place. To do that in a salt pool, Temple says it's important to regularly clean and recalibrate the salt chlorine generator cells. "Salt chlorine generators cost around $1,500, and the cell in them tests the water to see how much new chlorine needs to be made. Well, I have an electronic tester that cost me around $2,200, and after every three times of checking water, I have to recalibrate it so I get an accurate reading. If the machine that's in the pool on the salt cell only cost a couple hundred bucks, I'm sure it's not getting accurate readings after a while. It needs to be recalibrated. The industry has to show maintenance people and homeowners how to clean the cell and to make sure it's actually functioning properly. The water also needs to be tested regularly with a test kit. Salt cells are not maintenance free. They still require somebody to get out there and test the pool and maintain it."