The jobs that fall outside weekly cleaning: acid washes, green pool recoveries, automation, salt systems and filter sand changes for pools across Charlotte, Matthews, Waxhaw and Fort Mill. Written quote first.
Weekly service keeps a healthy pool healthy. It does not bring back a pool that turned green during a two-week vacation in July, strip ten years of calcium off a plaster finish, or save you the drive home to switch the heater on. Those are specialty pool services, and in Charlotte we get the same five requests every year: a green pool after a storm or a pump failure, a stained or chalky plaster surface, a salt system because tabs got expensive, an automation panel because the old timer clock died, and a sand change on a filter that came with the house.
Each one is a one-time job with a written quote, not a subscription. Most of them end with the pool back on a normal weekly pool service schedule, which is the part that keeps you from needing us for the same thing next year.
An acid wash strips a thin layer off plaster and takes the stains, algae ghosting and calcium haze with it. Done on the right surface at the right interval, it makes a tired pool look new. Done wrong, or too often, it eats years off the finish. We drain, wash, neutralize and refill plaster and pebble pools, and we say so plainly when a chlorine wash or a resurface is the better call.
Acid wash details · Just the waterline? Pool Tile Cleaning
A Charlotte pool goes from clear to swamp in about a week of hot weather with the pump off. We bring it back with chemistry and filtration rather than a drain-and-refill wherever the water allows, which saves thousands of gallons and protects the plaster. Most green pools are swimmable within days; how long it sat sets the timeline. Why the pump stopped is the question we answer while we are there.
Green to clean details · Pump the real problem? Pool Pump Repair
Automation replaces the timer clock and the walk to the pad with a panel and a phone app that runs the pump schedule, heater, lights and salt cell. We install Pentair, Hayward and Jandy systems, match them to the equipment already on your pad, and set schedules that make sense for Charlotte’s pollen season and summer heat. Panel dead or app offline? Those repairs are handled here too.
Pool automation details · Adding color lights? Pool Light Installation
A salt chlorine generator makes chlorine from dissolved salt, so you stop hauling tabs. The water feels softer and the chlorine level stays steadier, but it is not maintenance-free: cells need cleaning and the pool still needs balancing. We size the cell to the pool, larger than the gallons suggest so it lasts, install it and set the output. Existing cell reading low or flashing an inspect warning? We service those as well.
Salt system details · Weekly care after the switch: Weekly Pool Service
Filter sand does not wear out on a schedule, whatever the bag says. It needs changing when it is clumped hard with calcium, coated in sunscreen oil, channeling water straight through, or you inherited the filter and have no idea what is in it. We check first, change it only when it needs it, and replace cracked laterals while the tank is open. Filter blowing sand back into the pool? That is a repair, not a sand change.
Sand change details · Sand in the pool? Pool Filter Repair
Three steps, and a written quote before we touch the water.
Text or email a photo of the water, the surface or the equipment and tell us what changed. Half the time we can tell you the fix from the picture.
We test the water, inspect the surface or pad and give you a written quote for the job, including what happens if we find more once we start.
We finish, balance the water and tell you what to watch so the same problem does not come back next summer.
A lot of pool companies in Charlotte will quote an acid wash or a drain-and-refill because it is the bigger ticket. We quote the job the pool actually needs, which is sometimes a chemical treatment and a filter cleaning. Damon has worked on Charlotte pools for over ten years and his Google reviews keep saying the same thing: honest about what you actually need and fair on price. Call (980) 998-3777 with a photo, or request a free quote online.
Straight answers to what Charlotte homeowners ask us about acid washes, green pools, salt and automation. Still stuck? Call with a photo.
Rarely. Every acid wash removes a thin layer of plaster, so treat it as a once-or-twice-in-the-life-of-the-finish fix for heavy staining, not routine maintenance. Most Charlotte plaster pools never need one if the water stays balanced and the tile line gets cleaned. If a pool has already had two, the next conversation is about resurfacing, and we will tell you that before you pay for a third.
A light green pool with a working pump clears in two to four days of heavy chlorination, brushing and round-the-clock filtration. A black-green pool you cannot see the bottom of takes a week or more, and some are cheaper to drain. Charlotte heat speeds algae up, so the sooner we start the shorter the bill. Keep the pump running 24 hours a day during recovery.
It is still a chlorine pool; the generator just makes the chlorine for you. Softer-feeling water, no tabs to buy and a steadier chlorine level are the upsides. The downsides are the upfront cost, a cell that needs cleaning and replacing every few years, and salt's effect on some natural stone and unsealed metal around the pool. For most Charlotte families who swim all summer, the trade is worth it.
If you have a heater, a salt cell or color lights, yes. The panel runs the pump at the right speeds, heats the spa before you get home and stops the heater running all night by accident, which pays for itself. A plain pool with a single-speed pump and no heater gains less, and a simple timer may do.
Not on a schedule. Clean filter sand does not wear out, and the five-year rule on the bag sells sand. Change it when it has clumped hard with calcium, is coated in sunscreen oil, or is channeling water straight through without filtering. Otherwise, opening the tank once a year to check the level and the laterals is enough.
If the water is light green and you can still see the bottom, yes: liquid chlorine, brushing twice a day, and the pump and filter running nonstop will usually get there in a few days. Nobody swims until the water is clear and chlorine is back in the normal range (the CDC's healthy swimming guidance explains why). If you cannot see the steps, the pump is not running, or it has been green for weeks, call. The chlorine needed at that point is more than most owners will buy, and the filter will need cleaning several times along the way.
It removes plaster, which is the point. Done correctly on a finish with life left in it, you lose a thin layer and gain a clean surface. Done with acid too strong, left too long or rinsed badly, it etches the finish rough and shortens its life. That is why we inspect the plaster before quoting and turn down pools where a wash would do more harm than good.
Modern heaters with cupro-nickel exchangers handle salt water fine when the water is balanced. The risk is around the pool: unsealed natural stone, soft brick coping and bare metal fixtures can pit or spall from salt splash over the years. Sealing the coping and rinsing the deck handles most of it. We walk the pool edge before a conversion and tell you what needs protecting.
Ideally, yes. A Hayward panel reads a Hayward cell and drives a Hayward pump with no extra hardware; mix brands and you end up with relays and workarounds instead of full control. If automation is in your plans, say so when the salt cell or pump is being chosen and we will keep everything on one system.
No, you need a repair. Sand in the pool means a cracked lateral or standpipe inside the filter, and new sand will go straight through the same crack. We open the tank, replace the broken part, and top up or replace the sand while we are in there, which is why sand changes and filter repairs are often the same visit.
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