Pools & Spas

Rolling with the Changes
Pool service tech, Robert Foutz Jr., takes a look back over his 40 years in the service side of the pool industry, with an eye toward some of the many changes he has seen along the way—as well as some of the new things he had to learn in order to adapt. ...
Managing an Attractive Nuisance
When a construction site is left unsecured, it can become a serious hazard, says veteran expert witness, Scott Cohen. The danger isn’t hypothetical. It’s real, potentially fatal, but also, thankfully, preventable. The key is always keeping in mind that clients, and especially kids, don’t always appreciate the hazards of a working construction site. ...
Off-Season Resets
Winters in the Hamptons on Long Island, NY, are cold, long and for pool service businesses, also quiet and even lonely. As summer residents vacate for ski slopes or warmer climes, Julie Kazdin reports that winters at her company are focused on rest, retooling, and renewal, all essential in preparing for the busy season ahead. ...
Not Waiting for Spring
Aaron King believes in overcoming obstacles, as he explains in this look at solving winter pool-renovation challenges using controlled work spaces and reinforced PVC membranes. It's an approach, he says, fits neatly with his company's tradition of seeking innovative construction solutions. ...
BSquared offers New Free Standing Sunledge
BSquared Pools offers the new Free Standing Sunledge, a patent-pending feature that can be added to any outdoor living space, giving consumers the benefits of a sun ledge without the need for a pool!  Manufactured from the same pool-strength polypropylene panels used in its pool kits, this ‘plug-n-play’ solution can be used independent-of or in-combination-with a pool. Interior measures 72” x 82” with 235 gallons of and a gentle overflow waterfall. Gentle overflow waterfall. Accommodates various pool loungers. Made in the USA. Learn more here.
Watershape University Honors Military Veterans
Watershape University has announced the 2025 recipients of Grant’s Grants. The program provides courses to military veterans working in the pool industry. This year’s grants were awarded at WU’s “Education Vacation” on December 7 in Phoenix, AZ. ...
Engineering an Answer for Modern Pools
Waterproofing inground concrete bodies of water has long been one of the primary watershaping challenges and responsibilities. Yet, there are reasons why North America has fallen behind in pool waterproofing innovation, and good cause to believe why it’s now starting to shift. ...
Deep Foundations: The Rigors of Building Hillside Pools
When you build swimming pools and surrounding structures on the hillsides of Los Angeles, you enter a world of extremes—steep terrain, shifting soils, strict regulations, and invisible engineering that must endure for generations, all in a place famous for earthquakes. ...
Rethinking Water-to-Cement Ratios in Pool Plaster
Jon Temple is out to stir things up in the pool-plaster industry. One of his most provocative and potentially impactful crusades is all about water-to-cement ratios in mix design and its implications in plaster appearance and durability. It’s an issue he says that needlessly keeps plasterers in the dark. ...
Old. Old? OLD!
Service technician Robert Foutz Jr. has worked on his company’s pool service route for more than four decades. During that time, he has seen generational change in pool service and the broader landscape of society—none more dramatic than in the ways we communicate. ...