BioLab Changes Its Structure, Leadership - Pool & Spa News Insider

JOBS
Job of the Month: Service & Commercial Team Members, Leslie's Swimming Pool Supplies

More Jobs: Click here

More Info: Looking for qualified employees? To feature your classified ad in our enewsletter, click here.

PRODUCTS

For more on A.O. Smith, click here

INCENTIVES
News of education, early buys, rebates & other incentive programs. To participate, click here

MAGAZINE
Current Issue
Get industry news and insight from Pool & Spa News.

Contact Us
Pool & Spa News values your feedback.

Advertise
Find more information on advertising in the Pool & Spa News Insider.

HOT OFFERS
Other products from the publisher of Pool & Spa News:

Industry News

• BioLab Changes Its Structure, Leadership - Pool & Spa News
Big changes are afoot at BioLab. The Lawrenceville, Ga.-based chemical manufacturer has revamped its internal structure and ushered in a new management team.

• Slow Economy Forces Aquatic Show Cancellations - Pool & Spa News
The current economic crisis has forced two major aquatics organizations to cancel upcoming events.

• Pool Safety Council Exposes Myths Surrounding Landmark Safety Legislation - Yahoo! News/PR Newswire
— PSC Letter to the California State Attorney General

• A Dangerous Gap in Pool Safety - The Wall Street Journal

• Aquatics Drowning Lawsuits Ongoing - Aquatics International

• Home Depot in Ceres Emptied as Pool Chemicals Burn - The Modesto Bee

• Donations Keep Waterville Pool Afloat - The Wenatchee World

• Australia: Drownings, Rescues Prompt Warning Against Swimming While Drunk - The West Australian

Service Tip

DE filters can suffer significant damage every time they are cleaned if a tech is in a hurry to remove the element. To avoid unnecessary wear and tear, make sure to lift the element straight upward when removing it for cleaning. If it is angled against the filter’s frame when lifting, the element will bend and eventually break. While a waterlogged filter element can be extremely heavy, keeping it perfectly vertical when removing it is key to preserving the product life of any DE filter.

MOD Design Tip

Paul A. Como Sr.
President
The Pool Doctor
East Northport, N.Y.
2006 PSN Masters of Design Winner - Vinyl-Liner Pools

What great design concept are you working on?
Grottos — enclosed caves that you have to swim into. We build them with a loveseat, light and waterfalls streaming over the front.

How does it work?
We’ve built many caves and islands, but doing a cave grotto for about $15,000 is the cheapest. An actual cave costs $25,000 to $30,000. The grotto is really only an alcove covered by rock. When we build a cave, it’s a separate structure outside the pool and requires I-beams and massive amounts of steel and footings.

To keep costs down, don’t make them too wide. I don’t make them wider than 6 feet in the opening. Otherwise, the spill rocks get too expensive to purchase and make structurally sound.

Make a berm behind the grotto. You’ve got to plant it out to where it looks like it’s in a natural setting. We actually put 20 or 30 yards of soil around the whole back of the grotto and plant over it.

Snapshot

Going behind the scenes with:
Pat Walsh
President
The Aboveground Pool & Spa Co.
San Antonio, Texas

Every day, you hear about the economy and how people are unemployed. In Texas, we’re bucking those trends for the most part. However, at this point, I am too scared to have fun. Things were slowing down for us right when the economy was going down. But, it’s hard to determine if business is really slow because [at this time of year] we sell few pools to begin with. I am a little apprehensive about what’s going to happen in the next few months.

I’ve noticed that our customers seem to be the bargain hunters. Usually, we get the planners at this time — the people who are doing the complete backyard makeovers with pool and spa combos, deck work and more. I feel like we’re missing those buyers a little bit.

To protect ourselves, we have expanded our service work. In year’s gone by, we were sensitive about taking on too much service because when the pool season hits, our guys are too busy to deal with it all. Now, we’re taking any and all service work that we can get.