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Tip #9 The Heel Test!
Pool construction is typically tough on the landscape (photo right). As a result, decks are generally built on fill dirt. Without proper compaction, fill dirt naturally settles. Without a secure base, pool decks settle along with the ground and that results in cracks. 
There are 3 ways to control cracks in new concrete decking and the Pool School Pro CD explores them all, but a well compacted deck will side step a host of problems.
You compact the fill in 2' lifts but, how do you know when the ground is ready to receive a deck slab? You can call an engineering firm that will arrive in a shiny new truck and run several expensive tests with sophisticated equipment or you can do a simple field test with the equipment you wear everyday.
In a photo judged one of the ten most important in Pool School Pro, the simple 'heel test' lets you know in an instant how well prepared the deck area really is. Lift your heel about a foot and slam it into the soil (sneakers are OK). So long as your heel doesn't penetrate the soil more than 1", the ground is ready. More than one inch penetration, and you're gonna have problems. Guaranteed.
Deck construction, surfacing, crack repair and renovation fills more than 60 pages and offers over 50 color photos in the new Pool School Pro CD
Tip # 10 Three Painting Tips!
Paint is the only pool surface that's "homeowner applicable'. It will cost you around $600 to resurface your own pool, and to many poolowners that sounds like a real deal. To make sure it's a good deal, you've got to do it right the first time. For starters, shake the paint at the paint store. Otherwise, you start out with a gloppy mess like this.
All problems are fixable, so long as you understand the problem. Anytime you work with paint, you've got to be prepared to 'stir'. One of the materials you'll be using is a two part epoxy repair material that is stirred immediately prior to use. To mix a small amount of material in a small can, use a small mixer paddle. 
In this photo, a 'flea market find' mixer paddle is fitted to a variable speed drill and another ideal pool tool is born.
The repair material shown sets up within half an hour on a warm day so, you'll want to repair horizontal floor cracks and imperfections first. As the material solidifies, move to vertical wall areas and you'll eliminate a lot of the sags and drips typical of an amateur, rush paint job.
Secrets to successfully painting a pool fill more than 36 pages and offer over 47 photos and graphs in our
Excerpts from Pool School, pictures, text, graphics and web page design © 1997-2009, Scott Cruikshank, all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of the author is prohibited.
