How to Choose a Pool Service Company

Pool service is an easy trade to enter and a difficult one to do consistently, which is why the quality range is so wide. These are the things actually worth checking, and they are all things you can establish before signing anything.

Ask what license they hold for equipment work

Cleaning a pool and repairing the equipment that runs it are different activities with different requirements. In Texas, the equipment side is licensed work. Reed's holds Texas Residential Appliance Installer, Contractor License #960, and it is printed on every page of this site precisely because it is the thing worth checking before anyone touches a heater.

A company that only cleans is not necessarily a bad company. It just means that when something on the pad fails, you will be finding a second contractor at the point when you least want to.

Ask whether the cleaners are certified

CPO stands for Certified Pool Operator, and it is the water chemistry and plant operation credential for this trade. It is the difference between someone who doses to a test and someone who doses to a habit. Ask directly. It is a straightforward yes or no.

Ask whether the same person will service your pool

This is the question that tells you the most, and almost nobody asks it. A route that rotates staff weekly produces technically correct visits and misses everything that requires comparison. A cleaner who has seen your pool every week for two years notices the week it is behaving differently.

One of our customers put it plainly in a review: what she liked was that the same person cleans her pool each week. It is a small thing that turns out to be most of the value.

Ask what is actually included

Get the scope in writing and compare like with like. A weekly service that does not include brushing, or does not include backwashing, or treats the equipment inspection as an extra, is a cheaper service because it is a smaller service.

• Water chemistry check and chemical balance on every visit
• Phosphate remover
• Skimmer and pump baskets cleaned
• Bottom vacuumed, surface skimmed, walls brushed
• D.E. and sand filters backwashed
• Automatic cleaner bag emptied
• Visual equipment inspection included, not extra

Then check how long their customers stay

Reviews that mention years are worth more than reviews that mention a single good visit. Anyone can do one good visit. A customer who says they have been with a company for ten or twenty years is telling you about consistency, which is the only thing that actually matters in a recurring service.

Reed's has been working on Fort Bend County pools since 2003, and some of the customers have been with us across an ownership change and a hurricane.