signature pools

Fiberglass Pool Owner in Vernon Hills, IL Recommends Signature Pools

Todd Emmerson · Jun 18, 2010 ·

April 2010

In the Spring of 2009, we installed a fiberglass pool designed and built by Signature Pools. We moved from Los Angeles to Chicago several years ago. Our home in Los Angeles had a beautiful pool which served as a family gathering destination. Our children literally grew up in that pool and we missed having it terribly. After we moved to Chicago we tried in vain to recreate that family experience – at one point we installed a spa, but it was never the same. And now that our older children have grown, we have adopted two young children. Our younger children spent the entire summer in our new pool last year! We know in our hearts that we have finally recaptured that special focal point for our family.

Before we installed our pool, we researched several companies and types of pools. We selected a fiberglass shell because of its durability, beauty and ability to withstand the elements. During the proposal process, Todd Emmerson – Signature’ Sales Manager – was by far the most helpful to us as we considered various designs, styles and sizes. The Company and its staff were incredibly professional and helpful throughout the entire process – from design through permitting, construction and set up. The project was done on time and within budget. And Signature was great at communicating with us all through the entire process.

The actual construction went very smooth and much quicker than I had anticipated. One thing that caught me by surprise was the toll the installation took on our yard. I knew the yard would get torn up, but until you experience it firsthand you are not prepared. Regardless, Signatures’ crew was extremely careful, and the safety of my family was paramount to them. They also did an outstanding job cleaning up at the end of each day and made sure to put things back to its original state as much as possible upon completion.

Once the pool was installed, Jim Gavula spent a great deal of time teaching us how the equipment worked and how to care for our new pool. We called Jim several times with a lot of questions and he was always patient and very helpful.

Signature Pools and its staff were phenomenal! We love our new pool and expect to get many years of enjoyment from it with our children – and hopefully our grandchildren at some point in the future.

Very Truly Yours,

Ken Mooney
Vernon Hills, IL
Leisure Pools – Roman 19

Thanks Ken for your kind words. The team at Signature Pools takes pride in receiving such letters of recommentation from our clients. As an industry leading fiberglass pool builder we realize that our success is built one pool and one happy client at a time. If you’re currently in the research phase of purchasing a pool we invite you to read all of the testimonials on our main website SignaturePoolsChicago.com in the About Us section as well as on this blog. On this blog you can find additional testimonials under Customers or News and Updates. You can stay up to date with Signature Pools by subscribing to the RSS feed in the upper right hand corner of this page or by joining our Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/SignaturePools. You can also follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Signature_Pools.

Pictures in this article: The first picture is a screenshot of the design that our client was able to see before construction of the pool began. The second picture is of the finished pool.

On a side note, this pool was also awarded by Leisure Pools as the Best Roman Model pool for 2010. You can read a little more about this project and the award we received here.

There is air in my pool pump

SignaturePools · Jun 2, 2010 ·

This past week we have received several calls from customers asking about their pool pumps. In many cases they are not able to prime the pump completely or it looses prime when turned off. Here are a few things to look for if you come across this issue yourself.

1. Pump Lid- Make sure the lid for the pump is seated correctly and tightened all the way. Also check and see that the gasket between the lid and pump housing is in place and lubricated. A damaged, worn, or misaligned lid or seal can cause the pump to suck in air- preventing a full prime.

2. Skimmer and pump basket-check both the basket in the skimmer and inside the pump housing to make sure they are sitting correctly in place. A skimmer basket should align flush to the bottom of the skimmer pot. The pump basket should always be seated in the bottom of the pump. Many pump manufacturers such as Jandy and Pentair have a notch in the top of the basket that lines up with a grove inside the pump.

3. Water Level- make sure the water level is high enough in your pool. If it’s too low, air can be sucked through the skimmer and into the pump. Over time, this air can damage your pool equipment.

4. Loose pump union- check the threaded plumbing on the front of your pump. A loose union fitting may be allowing air to leak into the pump. Make sure to also check that the gaskets between the union fittings are also seated correctly and in place.

Preventing air from leaking into your circulation pump is important to keeping your pool equipment working well for years to come. If you have any questions about pool pumps, or any other pool equipment and maintenance, feel free to contact us at Signature Pools or call 630.845.1145.

What is wrong with my chlorine generator?

SignaturePools · May 28, 2010 ·

So your pool is up and running and the kids are ready to jump in the cool, refreshing water- but there’s a problem! The pool water is all cloudy, maybe even green!?! What gives?? You have a chlorine generator…no chemicals needed, right?

Not exactly….

Many pool owners have a misconception about what their chlorine generator (salt system) actually does. Here are a few ground rules to keep in mind when maintaining your system.

1. Salt Level: Make sure the NaCl (salt) is at the proper level in your pool water. This measurement is made in parts-per-million (ppm) and should normally range between 2700 ppm and 3400 ppm. Your pool equipment should have either a light indicator or internal digital salt tester to let you know if the level is correct. If you have doubts about the accuracy of the equipment, use an independent testing agent to verify the results. An easy test strip available from your local pool supplier will do the trick. I personally like the AquaCheck brand for ease of use.

2. System Diagnostics: Once you verify the proper salt level in your pool water, you may want to run a quick diagnostics check of the salt cell to make sure it is running properly. Most chlorine generator systems have a diagnostic mode that will measure the current that is running through the cell. This will indicate whether or not the system is functioning properly.

3. Clean the Cell: Over time, calcium and other minerals will collect on the internal fins of the salt cell. By cleaning the cell with an acid solution you will boost and extend the performance of the chlorine generating system. Refer to your owners manual and manufactures’ recommendations for this process because every system is different.

ALWAYS USE CAUTION WHEN HANDLING ACID AND OTHER POOL CHEMICALS!

4. Test your chemicals: Many people think that having a chlorine generator means they don’t have to worry about chemicals for their pool AT ALL. This is simply not true!!! Staying on top of pH, Alkaline, and Stabilizer will greatly enhance the performance of your chlorine generator. If these other levels are out of balance you may not be producing enough chlorine to safely sanitize the pool water.

Follow these simple steps to make sure your salt water pool runs smoothly, safely, and effeciently all season long. If you have further questions about chemicals, or would like to speak to us directly, please feel free to contact Signature Pools and Spas, Inc or give us a call at (630) 845-1145.

Signature Pools attends the 2010 Leisure Pools Dealer Conference

Todd Emmerson · May 24, 2010 ·

Continued training and education is imporant if you are going to excell at anything in life and this holds true to being a high quality swimming pool company. Each off season the team at Signature Pools attends many different national, regional, and local conferences in order to remain the leading fiberglass pool builder in Illinois. One of the conferences we most look forward to is the annual dealer conference hosted by Leisure Pools. In early spring of this year Todd Emmerson (sales/design manager) and Tom McNelis (president) attended the Leisure Pools 2010 Dealer Conference at Leisure Pools national headquarters in New Braunfels, TX (San Antonio area). This three day event is designed to educate pool companies on proper installation techniques, new and upcoming products, and overall industry analysis. It was also a great opportunity to network with other quality pool builders from all over the country.

The dealer conference also consists of an awards presentation for the best pools built the previous pool season. This year Signature Pools was honored to be awarded in two of the five categories. We were awarded with the Best Roman Model pool for a beautiful pool that we designed and built in Vernon Hills, IL last season. This job consisted of a Roman 19 model pool in the outback blue color finish, an automatic pool cover, 2 deck jets, a 2′ SunDek border around the pool, with the remainder of the patio being Yorkstone Pavers from Unilock. This was a challenging job due to the size of the yard, existing landscaping and playground, and the homeowners desire for a large area of grass to remain for two young children, but the team at Signature Pools pulled it off again.

We were also the winner of the Overall Category (Leisure Pools – Pool of the Year) for a stunning backyard transformation we designed and built using a Grand Elegance model pool in St. Charles, IL. The pool was finished in the Australian Blue Aquaguard gelcoat. It also has a large limestone patio, pegola, outdoor fireplace, automatic pool cover, and plenty of entertaining areas for large social gatherings. This same pool is also currently a finalist for the 2010 Master of Design Awards. The Master of Design award is one of the most prestigious awards given yearly in the swimming pool industry. Last year we were awarded a Master of Design award for a beatiful fiberglass pool/ spa combination in Yorkville, IL. You can see the article and a picture of that job here: 2009 Master of Design Award. We will keep you posted on the status of our 2010 entry.

The team at Signature Pools would also like to congratulate the winners of the other categories. Best Riviera Model Pool: Parker Pools in Kileen,Texas. Best Moroccan Model Pool: Enchanted Pools in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Best Elegance Model Pool: Earl’s Pools in Calera, Alabama.

As always, to keep up to date with the latest information on Signature Pools and the fiberglass pool industry you can subscribe to the RSS feed of this blog by clicking on the orange square on the upper right hand corner of this page. You can also follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/Signature_Pools or join our page on facebook at www.facebook.com/SignaturePools.

Largest Freeform Fiberglass Pool from Leisure Pools is Nearing Completion

Todd Emmerson · Apr 14, 2010 ·

Several months ago we announced that Leisure Pools was working on a brand new pool model called the “Grand Riviera”. Our team at Signature Pools just wanted to take a few minutes to update our future customers who are looking for a deep end pool on the status of this new model as well as show you a few recent pictures of the progress. You can see the beginning stages of the pool by clicking here: www.sigpoolschicago.mysites.io/blog/2010/01/04/leisure-pools-announces-new-model-for-2010-the-grand-riviera.

The good news is that the plug for the pool is almost complete.

Upon completion of the plug the mold will be built and then finally the actual pool shells can be produced. As you can see from the pictures, the Grand Riviera will be one of the largest free form fiberglass pools ever produced. With dimensions of 40′ x 16′ x 8′ it will be one of the most innovative and stylish deep end pools in the industry and the only 8′ deep swimming pool in the United States available with the industry leading Aquaguard Gelcoat. The pool will also come with a modified version of the very popular family play bench available on the current Riviera models. Due to the size of this pool the steps have been moved to the center of the shallow end as opposed to the side of the pool. This small change gives the pool a truly grand entrance.

The lastest news is that the mold should be complete and be available for production by the middle of May 2010. If you would like additional information on this pool or any other pool models from Leisure Pools please contact our sales and design department at 630.845.1145 or visit us on the web at: www.sigpoolschicago.mysites.io Also, to keep up to date with updates on this pool, other news within the swimming pool industry, or status updates from our team at Signature Pools we recommend subscribing to the RSS feed of this blog by clicking on the orange square on the upper right hand corner of this page. You can also follow us on twitter www.twitter.com/signature_pools or join our fan page on facebook at www.facebook.com/signaturepools.