Product Description

*The secrets of water maintenance trade professionals are revealed in this detail-by-detail guide to keeping pools, spas, and other recreational water containment units in tip-top shape. *Offers inside-out coverage of chlorine alternatives, automation, noise control, pool-side safety, portable spas--and everything from minor maintenance to major fixes and remodeling. *A must for pool maintenance and spa technicians, this book includes environmentally friendly product resources, along with troubleshooting tips and project checklists that make caring for a pool or spa less costly.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #220648 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Review
An expanded and revised edition of the original...including cutting-edge technologies...detailed information and repair tips...and helpful resources. -- Service Industry News, November 30, 2000

[for an] above-ground or on-ground pool...you'll find far more value from the book than its price. -- San Jose Mercury News, 4/30/04

Review
You need a copy of "The Ultimate Guide to Above-Ground Pools," by Terry Tamminen. Regardless if you just acquired an above-ground or on-ground pool or have had one for years, you'll find far more value from the book than its price. (San Jose Mercury News )

From the Back Cover
“If you want to buy one book on swimming pools, this is it!”
—Review from Amazon.com

Written for both the professional and the homeowner, this comprehensive field guide clues you in to the secrets of water maintenance, providing details on keeping pools, spas, and other recreational water features in tip-top condition. With over 10 million site-built pools and spas in the United States, the pool maintenance technicians have to be ready to conquer, and with this useful book they can be. As for homeowners, even if they hire a pro, this book can turn them into educated consumers, able to negotiate the best price for a job or even do some quick fixes themselves.

This guide covers:
*Everything from minor maintenance to major repairs and remodeling
*Chlorine alternatives
*Product resources*Automation and noise control
*Pool side safety*Water features such as ponds, rockscapes, and waterfalls
*Water chemistry
*Troubleshooting
*Environmental concerns with new information

Homeowners and professionals will recoup the cost of The Ultimate Pool Maintenance Manual many times over with the savings they’ll experience from using it. New technologies in heaters and pumps, environmentally conscious water chemistry, chemical disposal strategies, and the increased interest in above-ground and indoor pool technology make this second edition a must for both professional and homeowner.

Customer Reviews

Invaluable Guide for Pool Owners
The Ultimate Pool Maintenance Manual: Spas, Pools, Hot Tubs, Rockscapes and Other Water Features, 2nd Edition is an in depth, easy to read guide for maintaining your pool. I have purchased a few different books on the subject and this is by far the best.

Geek Pool Book
We bought a house with an inground pool 5 years ago. A bit of a surprise really. We had ZERO experience with pools, and knew only by rumor that we were buying something that required a LOT of care and maintenance. I hunted through bookstores for a guide I could learn from. I am a technical writer by profession, so I know a thing or two about how to present complex ideas to the innocent. Browsing through this volume I was impressed with the author's skill at getting ideas across (well structure informattion - here's the idea, heres' the basics, here's the gory details). I bought it on the strength of his organization and writing, not on the content (about which I knew zilch).

It is still in regular use 5 years later. YES, it is technical. YES, it sometimes provides way too much information for the novice. But if you have a brain and you can handle some complexity, this book is BRILLIANT. I knew nothing, and in very short order I learned what I needed for basic care. This book is a bible for pool maintenance. Over the years I've learned (from experience guided by this book) how to strip a DE filter, how to repair my Polaris pool robot, and more about water chemistry than I ever thought possible. This past summer ('07) it guided us through a plaster refinishing (pool is ~30 years old) and taught me how to restart the pool.

It IS written by a pool professional, FOR pool professionals, and even has advice on how to run a pool maintenance business (which is of zero interest to me). But if you can learn from a pro talking to other pros, this book is it.

The "Haynes" manual for pools
This book is to swimming pools what the "Haynes" car maintenance manuals are to your car. It contains all the information required to maintain your pool, even though probably someone else is going to do it for you. If you own a pool, it is worth reading the book to understand what the service technician should and shouldn't be doing, and when the pool is in need of help. It can also help you save some money by doing the work yourself. The book is entirely about maintaining a pool, not owning one. It is written in a friendly, readable style, and you can simply keep it as a reference manual to know what to do when things go wrong. If you are considering installing a pool or spa, this book will show you what you are letting yourself in for. If there is one omission in the text it is that the author ignores electric pool cleaning robots, though they are probably the most effective way of keeping the pool clean.