TLC Pool & Spa

TLC Blog- What type of pool cover? It’s that time of year, where customers have already decided to close the pool or keep it open for the season. If you’re still wondering, please see my previous blog, located at www.tlcpoolandspa.com under the FAQ section. For those customers that HAVE decided to close your pool for the season: 1) Make sure you get on the schedule as soon as possible...Continue reading

TLC Blog- Calculating Pool Volume One of the major reasons my wife and I purchased our home 20 years ago, was because it had a pool. We’d never owned a pool before, but growing up in Texas, we enjoyed many lazy days in our friends’ swimming pools. Thinking back, I had no idea how hard their parents must have worked to keep that water clean, especially since this was before companies like TLC existed, there was no youtube and they were basically left with rudimentary testing c...harts, along with reading the back of chemical labels. Much was the same when we first got our pool. I didn’t realize that TLC offered pool schools, that they would test my chemicals for FREE/tell me what to add and again, youtube did not yet exist. One of the things that always boggled my mind early on was that all of the chemicals labels read, for example: per 10,000/2,000/1,000 gallons. I just purchased this pool. How on earth did I know how many gallons are in this thing. With that in mind, I wanted to provide you with a simple formula for determining your pool volume, as follows: Length in feet X Width in feet X Average Depth in feet X 7.5 = the amount of water your pool holds in gallons. For example, my pool is 16 feet wide x 32 feet long x a 6 foot average depth (4 feet in the shallow end/8 feet in the deep end) x 7.5 = a volume of 23,040 gallons of water. If you have come to the store more than once or twice for a water analysis, you know we already have this information in our computer, so the recommendations we provide already include this calculation. But, if you’re reading the Bioguard labels to add weekly algaecide (for example), this information is very useful. Of course, you can always ask us and we can tell you your pool volume. But, I thought you’d like to know how we initially calculated this information. I hope this helps!

Customers, I hope this message finds you well amidst the Covid concerns sweeping the country right now. In light of these concerns we are now requesting all customers and employees to wear masks when inside the building and to maintain social distancing wherever possible. Aside from Covid, I am sure you all recognize the extreme heat Atlanta has experienced the last couple of weeks, so I wanted to take the opportunity to share what you can do, to insure your pool remains at s...afe chemical levels and free of algae, as follows: Extend your run times. During this time of year, your pump/filter should remain active for at least 12 hours per day. Remember to backwash your sand/DE filters and clean your cartridge filters to ensure proper flow. Check your water chemistry weekly. If you are a weekly customer, we will test this for you. If you are bi-weekly, we can test your water sample at the shop at no charge (as always) during your off-weeks. In general, if you are a chlorine pool, you should add 2 bags of smart shock and 4 ounces of algaecide per week, assuming a medium sized pool. If you are a salt pool and not on our maintenance program, insure your salt system is producing chlorine by providing us a water sample at the shop. And, bump up your chlorine production by 25%, if you are not already at 100%. I would also recommend using some type of Phos Free solution. Phosphates are the food that algae lives off of. Phos Free kills algae’s food supply, thus keeping algae from blooming. The two products we have on the shelf are Pool Tonic and Pool Perfect + Phos Free. Either of these will work. We use the latter on all our salt maintenance customers. Maintain your stabilizer (CYA- Cyanuric Acid). Stabilizer helps keep your chlorine from the sun burning it out of the water. Stabilizer should be right around 60. Too low will ensure you will be continually adding shock. Too high (over 125) will tend to make your water cloudy. Maintain your water level. During this high heat, water is evaporating quickly, especially if there is no rain in the forecast. If the water drops below the skimmer, you could cause damage to your system, while decreasing the flow of your pool. If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a shout. I hope this helps! Sincerely, Todd Sherman- Owner, TLC Pool & Spa

TLC Opening Customers, In light of many people staying home, due to the coronavirus concerns, if you would like us to go ahead and open up your pool early, while you are already at home, please give us a shout at the store and we will get you on the calendar ASAP. With the potential of us needing to send everyone home over the next few weeks, added to a decreased risk of opening with algae, it may make sense to go ahead and get this done now.... Let us know. 770.926.2715 Todd

TLC Water Testing Customers, We obviously realize many of you, like we, are concerned about the recent news over the Coronavirus. As such, you are minimizing your contact with others and responsibly practicing social distancing. With this in mind, we have decided to provide two new services to the community, until we get through the current pandemic. In front of our store, starting Tuesday, March 17th and continuing until we all reasonably feel safe, will be a large blue co...oler for you to drop off your water sample. Along with the cooler will be forms (see below if you want to print at home) that include a space for your name, address, phone number and a spot for you to include what is going on with your pool or hot tub. (This could be clear, algae, cloudy, hazy, etc) Once we retrieve your water sample from the cooler, we will independently analyze your water and provide you with two options, as follows: 1) We will pull the chemicals from the shelf for you, print out the analysis/recommendation and charge the credit card we will need on file. We will then have a box, just inside the store on the right, with your name written on the box. You can then pop in, pick up your box and leave. OR 2) If you are within a 5 mile radius of the store, we will do all of the above, but drop off the chemicals to your front doorstep within the next 48 hours of you providing the water sample. Obviously, this is of additional cost to us, and dependent on man hours, so please be patient. However, it is a service we want to offer to our community, so that we all remain safe. Please let me know if you have any questions and how else we may be able to assist you/your family during this time. As always, feel free to call my mobile at 678.428.0309. Or, you can reach Pam in the office at 770.926.2715. Stay safe! Sincerely, Todd Form Information First Name: Last Name: Address: Mobile Number: Condition of Pool (Circle One): Clear, Algae, Hazy, Cloudy Delivery or Pick-Up (Circle One)