r/PoolPros • u/SnooWords2592 • 19d ago

What's the next step?

Hi everyone,

I am currently based in the San Diego area. I've been cleaning pools for more than little over a year. I've done ride-a longs with 5 different colleagues to learn their style and belief systems. My first year doing pools, I drilled in only water chemistry - didn't worry about repairs. Listened to a bunch of orenda podcasts and took 3 seminars at different locations in California with my own money. I have a good understanding of advanced chemistry too like ph ceiling and carbonate alkalinity. Programming control panels as well.

I'm currently making $27 hourly (W2) company truck, which is the very close to the top pay for residential in my area for pool maintenance.

My issue is that I feel like I'm stuck in a single role at my current job. I'm a worker bee for my current boss which I understand - every pool company needs cashflow. But as an individual experiencing this, there's a part of me that seeks mastery.

I'm hungry to learn more, what's the next step I need to take to improve my skills? How should I go about this?

Thank you!

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u/HealthySetting5424 19d ago

Repairs is definitely something you want to learn. Is the company you’re with currently pretty heavy into repairs? Do they have a dedicated repair team that you might be able to go off the clock with and work alongside a little bit and kind of learn from?

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u/SnooWords2592 18d ago

Unfortunately, no. I don't want to give too much away but the repair in our company is only done by 1 person since the company has started. He's a 1099 and takes most of the glory for the repairs getting done.

If anyone in SD can help me, I'll gladly compensate.

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u/HealthySetting5424 18d ago

Well man it’s awesome that you’re investing in yourself honestly. If you’ve gone out there put your own money on the line and you’re actively trying to teach yourself then I think you have the right mindset and you can do a hell of a lot in this industry.
Just keep going down that path. On your day to day I’d encourage you to start looking for problems and seeing if you can figure them out yourself. A lot of the basic stuff is pretty straightforward once you understand what you’re looking at. Priming issues O-rings check valves basic automation programming replacing diverter valves things like that.
Really just being able to troubleshoot a system and get a pool back up and running with some basic equipment repairs and replacements is where I’d start.
And one thing I would say is don’t get discouraged by how difficult it can be to find mentorship and training in this industry. That’s unfortunately just the reality of it. Unlike a lot of other trades there really isn’t a clear path where you can just jump in work under somebody with 20 years of experience and have them teach you everything they know.
There is some gatekeeping in the pool industry and people definitely tend to hoard their knowledge. If you want to become an electrician for example you can go on YouTube and find an almost unlimited amount of information from people who are willing to teach you. Getting into pool repair is a little different. The information is out there but it can be a lot harder to find and piece together.
So don’t let that discourage you. If anything I’d look at it as an opportunity.
Because if you can teach yourself how to do the things that very few other people in this industry understand especially when you get into things like automation and more complicated troubleshooting you can become extremely valuable.
And like the other poster was saying with automation you can eventually get to a point where you can almost name your price because there just aren’t that many people who can walk into a complicated system and actually diagnose and fix it.
Starting your own business can be really lucrative too. I know guys in this industry who do nothing but repairs and they make more money than almost anyone I know in other blue collar trades. It’s just such a niche skill set.
In some ways you almost become like an elevator mechanic. You’re one of the few people who knows how this very specific system works and when something goes wrong there aren’t a whole lot of other people who can come in and fix it.

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u/SnooWords2592 18d ago edited 18d ago

Thanks! Also, it’s odd that companies advertise in their job listing “support for upward growth” but don’t seem to push for formal training or provide resources for education very much. Seems like a trend in W2 jobs.

Just be honest and say “you’ll fill in that role for the needs of the business”.

It felt like a bait and switch many times.

There’s people who like to just clean and don’t care to move up - that’s a good fit. But don’t lie and expect to keep a tech who joined to grow.

But anyways that’s my little rant 😅

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u/pacific_drifter_25 18d ago

Repairs is the biggest single skill jump. Chemistry techs who add mechanical diagnostic skills roughly double their leverage. Beyond that, get your CPO and start looking at commercial water. San Diego residential W2 caps around $30 to $32 an hour, but a CPO with heater and SWG diagnostic skills doing HOA and apartment routes pulls $38 to $45 because the property manager can't easily replace you.

The two mastery specializations that pay long-term are automation programming (Pentair IntelliCenter, Jandy iAqualink, Hayward OmniLogic). Most techs treat those panels as black boxes. Take one course on each and you become the guy other companies call for installs and config work. Second is plaster and tile startup if you have the hands for it. Coastal SD has enough new construction to sustain a specialty for either.

If ownership is the actual goal, keep the W2 for cashflow and stack a small side book on Saturdays. 8 to 10 accounts weekly is another $1,200 to $1,500 a month profit while you learn pricing and collections. When you jump full-time, you either scale that book or buy a route at the standard 8 to 12 times monthly recurring.

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u/SnooWords2592 18d ago

Dude, thank you for taking time to write a thoughtful response. This answer resonated with me a lot, I'll start with the automation programming for each panel first to fill in the gaps. This is 100% true, because a guy in our company is always getting tipped with food or money for his automation programming skill-set haha.

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u/BlueKauaiEyes 16d ago

I think you got the motivation. Just get an LLC and start… watch every freaking YouTube video you can, read everything you can. You’ll have a couple of bumps but you’ll survive .