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The Weekly Pool Care Checklist (Printable)
The exact weekly pool routine, in order, with the twice-weekly jobs separated from the once-weekly ones. Takes about 25 minutes.
5 min readUpdated Sep 14, 2026
Pool Maintenance & Cleaning
A pool that gets twenty honest minutes a week almost never becomes a weekend-ruining project. A pool that gets ignored for three weeks in July becomes exactly that.
These are the routines, in the order they actually make sense, with the shortcuts that are safe to take and the ones that will cost you.
14 guides in this section
What you will find here
- Weekly and monthly checklists you can actually stick to
- Brushing and vacuuming technique that removes more in less time
- When to clean a filter versus when to replace the media
- How to cut chemical spend without letting water quality slip
Start here
The guide that covers the whole subject
If you only read one page in this section, make it this one. Everything else here builds on it.
All maintenance guides
Everything published on maintenance, newest first.
How-to
How to Change the Sand in a Pool Filter
When filter sand really needs changing, how much each Hayward, Pentair and Jandy filter takes, and the fill step that protects the laterals underneath.
10 minUpdated Sep 28, 2026
Guide
Pool Care While You're Away
What actually goes wrong while you're gone, how to set the chlorine and the pump before you leave, and when a pool genuinely needs someone to visit.
5 minUpdated Sep 17, 2026
How-to
Draining a Pool: When You Have To, and How It Goes Wrong
An empty pool can float out of the ground. When a partial drain is enough, when a full drain is genuinely needed, and the checks that come first.
5 minUpdated Sep 6, 2026
How-to
Pool After a Flood: Contamination, Silt and Draining
Floodwater is a health problem, not a chemistry problem. What to do first, what to replace, and why the pool stays full while the ground is saturated.
6 minUpdated Sep 6, 2026
How-to
Pool After Heavy Rain: What to Do in the First 24 Hours
Rain dilutes your chemistry and dumps organic load in at the same time. The order to work through, and the one thing to do before the storm arrives.
5 minUpdated Sep 6, 2026
How-to
Pool Waterline Scum: Why It Comes Back and How to Stop It
That greasy band at the waterline is body oil, sunscreen and dust. Here's how to remove it properly and stop it returning every week.
5 minUpdated Sep 6, 2026
How-to
Robotic Pool Cleaner Maintenance: Making One Last Ten Years
Filter panels, brushes, cable memory and off-season storage. The procedures behind the checklist, and the three habits that kill robots early.
6 minUpdated Sep 13, 2026
How-to
How to Backwash a Sand Filter, and How Often
The full backwash sequence step by step, when pressure says it is time, and why backwashing on a schedule makes your water worse rather than better.
6 minUpdated Sep 25, 2026
Guide
Above Ground Pool Maintenance: What's Different
Smaller volume means faster chemistry swings. Here's what changes, plus the wall and liner care nobody mentions.
6 minUpdated Oct 2, 2026
Guide
Saltwater Pool Maintenance: What's Different and What Isn't
Salt pools need the same weekly care plus three specific things. Here's what changes, what doesn't, and the mistakes that kill cells early.
5 minUpdated Jun 25, 2026
How-to
How to Vacuum a Pool (Manually, and Without Losing Prime)
Manual vacuuming done properly, including when to vacuum to waste instead of through the filter, and the priming trick that saves the pump.
5 minUpdated May 30, 2026
Guide
How Long Should You Run a Pool Pump? Longer and Slower
The 8-hours-a-day rule came from single-speed pumps and cheap power. Here's how to work out your actual run time and what it costs.
6 minUpdated Sep 24, 2026
How-to
How to Clean a Pool Filter (Sand, Cartridge and DE)
Backwashing isn't cleaning. Here's how to actually clean each filter type, when to do it, and when the media needs replacing instead.
7 minUpdated Oct 1, 2026
Common maintenance questions
How often should I clean my pool filter?
Clean when pressure rises 8–10 psi above the clean starting pressure, not on a fixed calendar. In practice that lands around every 3–6 months for cartridges in normal use, and every 4–8 weeks of backwashing for sand, with a deep chemical clean once or twice a season.
How long should I run my pool pump each day?
Long enough to turn the water over once, which on a variable-speed pump usually means 8–12 hours at low speed rather than 4–6 hours at full speed. Running slower for longer filters better, sanitizes more evenly and costs dramatically less to run.
Do I really need to brush the pool if I have a robot?
Yes, but less. Robots handle floors and most walls; they do not handle the step corners, the light niche, behind ladder rails, or the waterline band where oils collect. Five minutes of targeted brushing a week covers what the robot structurally cannot reach.
The Skimmer
One short email with the seasonal jobs that matter, the fixes worth doing yourself, and the gear that earned its price.
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