For pool owners who do their own upkeep
Pool Watch — Our Pool Maintenance Program
You handle the skimming and the brushing. Twice a year we check everything else, write down what we found, and tell you what changed since last time.
A service call tells you about one thing
When you call us out for a pump, we look at the pump. We fix it and we leave — checking your heater isn't what you asked for and isn't ours to do uninvited. That's fine, until the thing that fails is the thing nobody looked at. Pool Watch is the standing invitation to look at all of it, twice a year, and to keep a record so the second visit means something the first one couldn't.
Every visit, every plan
Equipment inspection pump, filter, heater, automation and salt cell, checked for operation and condition.
Recorded measurements pump amp draw against nameplate, filter pressure against its clean baseline, heater temperature rise, salt cell output, salt level and full water chemistry.
Layers of Protection safety review fencing, gate self-closing and latching, pool alarm, door and window alarms, safety cover, signage and life-saving equipment.
A written record with photographs kept visit to visit.
The second visit is where it pays
"Your pump was pulling 8.2 amps in March. It's 9.6 now. The nameplate says 8.9."
That sentence is only possible because someone took the first reading. It's also the difference between replacing a motor on a Tuesday in November and replacing it on the first hot Saturday in June. Most people find out something's wrong when it stops working. Members find out while it still does.
Just bought a house with a pool?
You have inherited equipment you have never run, installed by someone you have never met, at an age nobody told you. The previous owner knew which pump sounded wrong. You do not yet.
That is the position this is most useful in. Two visits a year, readings written down, and after the second one you have something no new owner has — a trend. A reading on its own is a number. Two readings a year apart tell you which direction things are going.
If you are still house-hunting and the pool is the unknown, that is a different service. A one-off pool inspection documents the age and expected remaining life of every component before you own it.
And if we have already carried out an inspection at your property, your baseline is on file. Your first Pool Watch visit becomes the second data point rather than the first.
Three plans, two visits a year
| Essential $29/mo | Advanced $59/mo | Complete $99/mo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment inspection | |||
| Safety review | |||
| Recorded readings and trend | |||
| Fault diagnosed on the same visit | |||
| Tile, coping, mastic, plaster and water loss | |||
| Repair discount | 10% up to $1,000 | 12% up to $1,500 | 15% up to $2,000 |
| Priority scheduling |
$29 a month is about what a single pool inspection costs. Pool Watch gives you two a year, every year, with the readings kept so each one tells you more than the last.
Essential tells you the heater didn't fire. Advanced sends the technician who can tell you why, on the same visit — no second appointment.
A small leak in spring is a note in the file. The same leak after a hard freeze is a very different conversation. Complete watches the tile, coping, plaster and water level too.
What Pool Watch is, and what it isn't
A visit records the condition of your equipment on the day we're there. We'll tell you plainly what we found — "the heater didn't fire on test", "amp draw is above nameplate". On Essential, working out why is a separate service call at your member rate. On Advanced and Complete it's included, done during the same visit. Pool Watch doesn't include repairs, parts, chemicals or cleaning, and it isn't a warranty. Equipment can fail between visits. What we can do is find the problems that announce themselves early — and most of them do.
What a home warranty covers, and what it doesn't
Most homes with a pool are sold with a home warranty, and most of those warranties treat the pool as an optional extra. It runs around twenty dollars a month on top of the base plan and carries its own separate cap. Across the major providers those caps range from a few hundred dollars a year to about three thousand.
Look at what that price has to cover. A base plan runs something like seven hundred a year, and the pool add-on another twenty-odd a month on top of it. For a heater replacement running several thousand dollars, that add-on would need fifteen years of premiums from one household with no other claim. The cap is not fine print anyone is hiding. It is what makes a three-hundred-dollar-a-year product possible at all.
The exclusion lists narrow it further. Commonly excluded: lights, heat pumps, cleaning systems, and saltwater generators. Most pools around here are salt. Check your own contract, because that is the only list that governs you.
Two more things about how the cap works. It is usually an annual total rather than a limit per item, so a single claim can use up the year — a heater in March means the pump in August is yours. And it only responds once something has already failed. Nothing in a warranty tells you the heater has two years left in it.
None of that is an argument against having a warranty. Keep it. A capped plan is built for the four-hundred-dollar actuator and the nine-hundred-dollar pump motor, and it is worth having for those. It was never priced for the catastrophe.
Pool Watch is the other half. It does not pay for a heater either. It tells you the heater is near the end while it is still February, the part is still available, and the pool is not in use.
And when work does need doing, there is no claim to file, nothing to authorise, and nobody else deciding whether it happens. We quote it, you approve it, we do the work.
When we come
February to early March, before the pool goes into use. October to early November, as it closes down. Both are deliberate. Finding a cracked heater in February means fixing it in a quiet month, with the part ordered and the work done before you need it. Finding the same crack in June means waiting behind everyone else who also just turned their pool on.
The fine print, in plain English
- Billed monthly. Cancel any time with 30 days' notice.
- Your first visit falls in the first seasonal window that starts at least 90 days after you join. That wait does not apply if we have carried out a paid pool inspection or health check at your property within the last twelve months — your baseline is already on file, so your first visit is scheduled in the next window.
- The repair discount becomes available after six months of membership — except for anything urgent, which is discounted from day one. We'd rather it was fixed than deferred.
- Repairs are quoted separately and always need your approval before we start.
- We'll need access on the day: gate unlocked or the code, dogs secured, and the equipment powered on so we can test it.
Two visits a year, so a $200 fix doesn't become a $2,000 one
Join Pool WatchFrequently asked questions
How is this different from weekly pool service?
Weekly service means we clean and balance your pool every week. Pool Watch is for people who do that themselves and want a professional set of eyes on the equipment twice a year.
What if something breaks between visits?
Call us. Members get priority scheduling and your plan's discount on the repair, whenever it happens — not just at a scheduled visit.
Do I need to be home?
No, as long as we can get to the pool and equipment. We'll send you the written record either way.
Can I change plans later?
Yes. Upgrades take effect at your next visit, downgrades at your next billing date.
Is the free Pool Health and Safety Check the same thing?
No. That's a one-off introduction for people we haven't met. Pool Watch is the ongoing version, with readings tracked over time and repair discounts attached.
Can I buy this for someone else?
Yes. Pool Watch can be bought as a gift — by a family member, or by a realtor for a client who has just closed on a pool home. We need the property address along with the recipient's name and contact details, and we arrange the first visit directly with them. Call us and we will set it up, rather than using the sign-up form on this page.
Join Pool Watch
Sign up for our Maintenance Program today and protect your investment with professional oversight.
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