Pool Chemistry and Maintenance From a Backyard Pool Owner
Nadia Caldwell · July 15, 2026
I’ve helped with pools across Arizona and Nevada, and I can tell you the number-one question I get from vinyl liner pool owners in the spring is: “Can I add a sun shelf to my pool like the one at the resort down the road?” The honest answer? It depends — and the “depends” part … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · July 7, 2026
Let me cut straight to it: no product manufacturer makes a DIY pool sun shelf kit that actually works the way you’re imagining. Across twelve years of looking after my own pool and helping neighbours and family with theirs around Arizona, Nevada and coastal Southern California, I’ve fielded this exact question from at least fifty … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · June 21, 2026
Last month, a pool store clerk told a customer standing next to me that “rough plaster is just cosmetic — it’s not actually affecting anything underwater.” That comment stuck with me because it’s exactly backward. The homeowner in question had water chemistry that tested perfect on paper: balanced pH, proper alkalinity, chlorine right where it … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · June 20, 2026
A call comes through my phone roughly once every season from someone who looks after a shared pool, voice tight with concern: “Nadia, there’s this cracked stone border around the pool and water’s somehow getting behind it — what is that thing supposed to be?” Fifteen years of chasing pool chemistry across Arizona and the … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · June 20, 2026
The folklore says concrete pool decks are maintenance-free, and that’s wrong. Walk around enough aging pools, and you’ll see why: that poured slab that looked pristine on move-in day starts cracking within three to five years, graying under sunscreen and algaecide residue, then develops lifted edges that become tripping hazards. I’ve chased water chemistry on … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · June 19, 2026
A pool I was helping with had shallow lounging zones that sparked territorial battles before breakfast — guests would blanket those ledges with towels and hardcover novels faster than I could finish my morning test strips. The appeal was obvious: six inches of sun-warmed water, your body horizontal, zero responsibilities. Years later, homeowners and contractors … Read more