Over years of use, weathering, and missed maintenance, a pool can fade, becoming a dull, unwelcoming environment for swimmers. Renovating your swimming pool can help bring life back to your pool and upgrade your existing pool with newer features. From re-fitting tiles and upgrading filter systems to a complete pool remodel, there are plenty of opportunities to explore in pool renovation; however, there are some things you should consider before investing in your next project. Here are the 7 things to know before you start your pool renovation.  Will You Need Help With Your Renovation Project? Sourcing labor is one of the most challenging tasks for any project. At times, the work may seem simple enough for a homeowner to undertake themselves, but professional assistance can ensure the proper steps are taken and is often required for challenging jobs. Pool contractors, such as designers, electricians, and builders, are trained to take your renovation from start to finish efficiently, allowing you to get back to swimming sooner!  Pick The Most Suitable Season For Your Project Choosing the most suitable time to start a renovation can largely determine how much you’ll be swimming this upcoming season. Many pool owners aim to complete their project before the summer, allowing them more time to enjoy their new pool. Work starting in Winter may pose risks to larger remodels, which depend heavily on good weather conditions. Spring is the ideal time to start pool renovations, with ample time to complete work once the unsettled weather has passed. However, Larco Pools is capable of working around your schedule and can renovate your pool whenever it is convenient for you. Review The Reasons For Your Pool Renovation There are many reasons to consider a pool renovation, such as safety and functionality concerns or aesthetic improvements and upgrades. Most customers will perform some renovation or remodel work over the lifetime of their pool, focusing on structure, designs, and systems that begin to wear down with age. Here are some of the most common reasons our customers decide to invest in pool renovation: Pool Resurfacing Pool resurfacing upgrades the topmost layer of your pool to provide aesthetic improvements and additional protection from the elements.  Safety Features Upgrading or adding additional safety features to your pool can help to keep it a welcoming environment for the whole family. Common renovation tasks include adding or replacing ladders, railings, pool covers or adding or replacing pool fencing.  Aesthetic Upgrades Adding a touch of style or luxury to your pool before the next swim season can be a perfect way to upgrade your pool. Nothing beats a new deck for bathing in the sun or soaking beneath a cascading fountain on a hot summer’s day. Aesthetic upgrades can be both for appearance and functionality. Maintenance, Repairs, And Upgrades Sometimes renovation is necessary to keep your pool working correctly. A tired pump or cracking tiles may only hold out for so long during the summer, so replacing old, worn-out materials and equipment can be wise before they quit mid-season. These types of upgrades can also help increase the lifespan of your pool and improve energy efficiency and overall functionality.  Choose a local and experienced Tampa pool renovation company Our experienced pool renovation team will help renovate your current pool and make it look new again! Contact us today to find out more about our services across the Tampa Bay area. Our knowledgeable staff will create the perfect swimming pool for you! Contact us today to get started. 

Imagine this: you’ve just received a big bonus or finally saved that last bit of money, and you have the perfect idea of what to do with it. You’ve drawn up the plans for a new pool in your mind. The family is eager to jump in. You might even invite your entire extended family and other family friends like Clark Griswald did in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. There is a lot of excitement involved when purchasing and building a swimming pool. Your spouse provides input and the kids are excited about the colored lights and water features. It’s an exciting time for you and your family, and it’s easy to continue dreaming about the finished product and not be aware of potential problems along the way. It’s even easier to rush into the process in your eagerness to make that dream a reality, making it that much more likely that you didn’t give yourself enough time to select the right pool builder for you. Unfortunately, selecting the wrong pool builder can backfire in many, many ways. Pool construction is big business, and unfortunately, there are plenty of scammers out there.  Just within Tampa and around Florida there has been recent news of pool builder scams, including: Florida man gets 30 years in $3 million dollar pool fraud scam – August 2022 Olympus Pools being investigated by Pasco, Polk sherif’s offices over fraud allegations after Better Call Behnken reports – May 2021 Dozens of customers lose nearly $1 million to now-defunct pool contractor – November 2019 With an investment as big and long-lasting as a pool, it’s important to make sure you find a pool builder you can trust to get it right the first time. Rushing the process to find the right pool builder for you can cost you big in both time and money later on, and there’s a very good chance you still won’t even end up with the pool you want. Our team here at Larco Pools wants to make sure you find a pool builder you can trust for your new build, so we’ve put together this guide about how to find the right pool builder for you.  Step 1: Do Your Research One of the best ways to research potential pool builders is to search local pool contractor websites. You can tell a lot of information about a pool builder from their website, including the caliber of their work based off of photos, information about the company, what styles and designs they favor, and what services they offer. Be sure to pay special attention to the background, and any listed training, certifications, and awards. Once you find a couple pool builders you like, contact them for an appointment. If you really want to be sure that you’re hiring the right company, you need to find a company with the correct licenses and certifications, great reviews, and an excellent rating from the Better Business Bureau. Larco Pool has an A+ rating from the BBB, and you can view our reviews and certifications on our main site. We also lay out our customer service process so you can see firsthand the care and attention that we provide you throughout your experience with us. We’re proud of our Larco name; it’s a brand that we’ve developed over several decades and we work hard to protect our reputation. Want some inspiration or examples of Larco Pools’ work? We have published several pages of completed work, showcasing our gorgeous completed projects in order to provide you with ideas and inspiration. Remember that with Larcol Pools, you’re not just getting a pool – you’re buying a lifetime of value! Step 2: Verify Credentials Make sure you are able to check and verify the pool builder’s credentials and they match what they have listed on their website. This will help weed out sketchy pop-up companies that may make many claims that they can’t back up. In particular, you should ask for a phone number, address, and how long they’ve been in business. It is also a good idea to find out who handles the construction. Step 3: Assess Customer Satisfaction Don’t be shy about asking for references! One of the best ways to assess how a company will treat you is hearing how they treated their past customers. If a company refuses to give you references, this is a huge red flag that they may be hiding something. Any reputable company should have satisfied customers willing to share their experiences. Be sure to also check for reviews online. While references are great, they are also provided by the company so they’ll almost certainly be sure to only pick the very complimentary ones. Reviews from other customers is one of the best ways to learn about other customers’ experiences, concerns they may have had, and issues that went unresolved.  Alternatively, it can be a great way to find the highlights of the company, such as good communication and customer service. While no company can completely escape negative reviews, there should be some evidence that the company attempted or did make amends for any issues that are mentioned in the reviews. Step 4: Get Promises or Claims in Writing If you are talking to a salesperson representing a pool builder and they promise a claim or warranty for the pool, make sure you get it in writing. While ideally, you could trust people at their word, it is always best to have a guarantee and evidence whenever possible. The pool builder should be able to back the claims that are made to you by their sales representative. If they are reluctant to honor the offers made by the salesperson, the pool builder is likely not one you can trust to honor their word when it comes to building your pool, either.  Step 5: Compare the Information From Each Pool Builder A pool is a big job and a worthwhile investment, so you want to make sure that you are picking the pool builder

Enjoying your pool in your Tampa Bay home? Think it could be better? Read on. When you first had your pool designed and installed, it probably seemed like your perfect dream pool. But over time as you lived with and enjoyed your pool, you probably realized a few updates might make for an even better experience. Here are 8 signs that it may be time to upgrade your pool to make it feel as new, exciting, and inviting as when you first had it installed.    Not Enough Pool Lighting Not all upgrades are about making your pool fun and exciting again; some upgrades are very necessary to maintain safety around your pool. If it is really hard to see your pool in the dark, it is probably a good idea to upgrade your pool lighting since a pool with low visibility is especially dangerous.  While most pools are built to have some pool lighting, many of them do not have enough to make the most important aspects of the pool visible. Your pool lighting should allow you to see the wall, the edges, the stairs, and the path back to your house. If any of those are poorly lit, it is best to upgrade your pool lighting as soon as possible to keep you and your loved ones safe. Additionally, lighting can always be added around your pool deck and inside of your pool to ensure that you can see properly, too.  In addition to safety, pool lighting can let you enjoy your pool for longer, allowing you to really get your money’s worth. After all, even in the summer, there are a limited number of hours between when you get home from work and when it gets dark. The pool light or two you currently have may not be enough to make the pool feel safe and enticing after dark; if you can’t see the pool edge or easily find the path back to the house, you may decide that it’s not worth the hassle for a swim. Fortunately, this is something you don’t have to live with. Adding some pool lighting to your pool area and deck will allow you to use your pool for longer. We suggest upgrading your Pool Lighting to LEDs Incandescent lights and other types of bulbs can run up your electricity bill. Not to mention, incandescent bulbs get hot overtime which is its own safety concern. In contrast, LED bulbs do not hold heat like incandescent bulbs do which makes them safer to use for outdoor lighting areas. They are also much more energy-efficient, using 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs, while also having a longer lifespan that is quite impressive at 40,000 hours. 2. Your Tampa Pool Is Leaking Pools can develop leaks near the skimmers, pipe valves, drains, jets, and even the light fixtures. While some pool leaks are minor and can be repaired, other larger leaks such as those caused due to structural damage need a complete remodel to fix. Make sure your pool leak isn’t major by investing in a pool leak detection test! If you do find you have a major leak, it’s not the end of the world. Now you have both a way to lower your water bill and a good reason to remodel your pool to fit your current vision of an ideal pool. 3. Your Pool Has Outdated Equipment Outdated heaters require more energy to use, while more modern heaters are designed to be more energy efficient and effective at heating your pool. This can save you money in operating costs and keep your pool warmer longer, too. This is also true of other outdated pool equipment, such as the lights and water features.  In addition to being more energy-efficient, these features can also be upgraded to be automated. Automated pool features can be controlled through your cellphone or through a timer, allowing you to control your pool whether you are home or not.  In short, updating your outdated equipment can save you in energy costs in the long run while also allowing you to enjoy new levels of ease and customization.  If you’re wondering whether or not your equipment counts as outdated, a good rule of thumb is that if you have a heated pool or hot tub that was installed 10 or more years ago, you likely have an old heater. That said, innovations in technology happen quickly, so it may be worth considering updating your equipment even if you installed it within the last 10 years.  4. Your Pool Has Damaged Tiles, Decking, or Coping Damaged or broken pool surfaces are not only unattractive but can also make the pool’s surface’s feel rough which can then scratch at bathing suits and feet. Additionally, damaged pool tiles and decking can make your pool more prone to leaking and create places for algae to hide. Resurfacing your swimming pool can be a great way to restore your pool’s cosmetics and ensure that your pool isn’t suffering from any leaks or major structural damage that would be more costly in the long run. Having pool surfaces that are in good condition is a matter of safety, hygiene, aesthetics, and cost efficiency, so if the surfaces of your pool are worse for wear, it is definitely worth considering upgrading them.  5. Your Pool Is Missing a “Wow” Factor You want your pool to be your dream paradise to escape to; the only difference is that it’s right in your backyard which makes it even better. Sometimes, though, the pool you thought you wanted just doesn’t live up to the expectations that you had in your head. You can upgrade your pool by adding in different features. Adding in water features like waterfalls and fountains can add visual interest, improve water circulation and filtration, and create an atmosphere of luxury and relaxation. Adding in a swim-up bar or a slide can increase the recreational value of your pool, making it a fun place to