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The Pool Envy® Podcast goes beyond surface-level swimming pool advice to examine the standards, systems, evidence, and professional judgment behind pool construction, safety, operation, and failure.
Hosted by Jason Davies, a licensed swimming pool contractor and independent consultant, the show explores pool code compliance, construction defects, inspections, workmanship, water chemistry, equipment, litigation consulting, and expert-witness issues through real-world observations and practical explanations.
Created for pool professionals, homeowners, property owners, attorneys, and anyone who wants to understand not only what happens in a swimming pool—but why—each episode helps listeners ask better questions, recognize meaningful evidence, and distinguish confidence from informed judgment.
Pool Envy® — Standards, not suggestions.
From the job site to the code book, this is a Pool Envy Podcast where licensed pool professionals speak up. Code, compliance, craftsmanship, hosted by Jason Davies. License across Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas. Your deep end starts now.
Jason Davies:Welcome back to the Pool Envy Podcast. If this is your first time here, hi. My name is Jason Davies, and today, we're gonna do something a little different because boring sometimes is too boring. This episode, it's not gonna be about pool heaters. It's not about plaster.
Jason Davies:No chemistry here. It's about something much bigger. It's about why I do what I do. Over the years, I've learned something. People don't usually hire me because everything is going super great.
Jason Davies:They hire me because something happened, something failed, somebody disagrees, a project stalled, our repair didn't work, Or they're looking for answers that nobody else has been able to give them. This means my job starts where certainty usually ends. Almost every week, I receive some version of the following same email. Jason, can you review these photographs and write a report that may be used in court? I mean, I see this a lot.
Jason Davies:That's why I'm bringing it up here. I understand why people ask this question. It's a reasonable question, but it's also the wrong question. They're assuming they're hiring an opinion. They're not.
Jason Davies:They're hiring a process, a process that begins with observation, moves to documentation, continues with asking questions, comparing observations to applicable standards, understanding how a system actually functions, and only then forming an opinion. Sometimes that opinion supports exactly what the homeowner hoped it would. Sometimes though, it doesn't. That's part of being independent. You know, one of the things I've been called over the years is arrogant, and I live up to that title.
Jason Davies:Here's why. I've actually spent some time thinking about that, not because it bothers me. It it doesn't. Because when you have no friends, what's it matter? I always try to understand where criticism comes from.
Jason Davies:And here's what I've eventually concluded in my own mind, and I'm the only one I have to justify this to. I don't think people are reacting to confidence. I think they're reacting to consistency. When I say I'm going to compare something to an applicable standard, I do. When I say I need more information before reaching a conclusion, I mean it.
Jason Davies:When I say I don't know, I actually don't know, and I'm comfortable saying that. In today's world, that can seem unusual. There's a lot of pressure to have an immediate answer. To respond first. To sound certain.
Jason Davies:I've learned that certainty should not be the result of an investigation, not the starting point. One of the values that guides almost everything I do is this. I value reputation over fame. The sentence has become more important to me every year. Fame is about being noticed.
Jason Davies:Reputation is about being trusted. They're not mutually exclusive. Years after a project is over, years after a disagreement has been resolved, years after a project is finished, or in some cases, years after a dispute has been resolved. I still have to be able to be comfortable reading my own work, looking at the paper with my own two eyes. I have to be able to look at it and honestly say, I'd write that again.
Jason Davies:That's Reputation. People also ask me why I sometimes ask so many questions. Well, because good questions usually lead to better answers. One phrase has followed me through countless investigations. What if we go one step further?
Jason Davies:Instead of just giving up here, let's let's look into this more. When I think I understand almost everything, I start wondering about the part I don't, and that's the part I'm keenly aware of. What assumption am I making? What haven't I measured? What haven't I considered?
Jason Davies:Is there another explanation? I've always appreciated a principle commonly associated with the philosopher Socrates. And if he's not a philosopher, well, that's in this podcast. Not because it's ancient, because it's practical. The idea that wisdom begins by recognizing the limits of your own knowledge.
Jason Davies:And perhaps I'll just ad lib the whole Dunning Krieger thing, if you know, you know. Whether those were his exact words, it's really not the point, the principle is. The moment we believe there's nothing left to learn, we stop investigating. Another analogy I often think about is a simple sheet of paper. Imagine two people arguing over the sentence written on one side of the paper.
Jason Davies:One person insists it's true. The other insists it's false. My job is not to decide who argued that better because debates can get preheated. We've seen the way our world goes. My job is to remember something they both forgot or won't consider perhaps.
Jason Davies:The piece of paper has another side. It also has thickness. Sometimes the answer isn't the other side. Sometimes the answer exists somewhere between them. That's why I don't rush.
Jason Davies:That's why I don't jump to conclusions. That's why I ask another question. That's why my opinions change. Something I've learned has nothing to do with engineering. It's this.
Jason Davies:It has to do with leadership. Leadership isn't always making the popular decision. If it were, then there would be a lot of leaders in the world. Sometimes leadership is making the consistent decision. If you worked with me for a long time, you've probably noticed something.
Jason Davies:I don't usually react to one difficult conversation. I don't make major professional decisions because of one frustrating email. I look for patterns. I observe. I think.
Jason Davies:I ask questions. So if one day I quietly decide not to continue a professional relationship, it probably wasn't because of the moment. It was probably because of a boundary that was developing for quite some time. Healthy professional relationships are built over time. The same is true with unhealthy ones.
Jason Davies:Protecting your integrity sometimes means protecting your boundaries. That's not anger. It isn't ego. It isn't hiding behind a computer screen. It isn't about lawyering up and not talking to anyone.
Jason Davies:It's leadership. One thing I've also noticed throughout my career is how quickly technical discussions become personal. People stop discussing the evidence, they start discussing personalities, tone, confidence, who they like, who they don't. I've learned something important. None of that changes the facts.
Jason Davies:None of it changes a measurement. None of it changes an applicable standard. So I don't spend much time there. My job isn't to judge people. My job isn't to speculate about motives.
Jason Davies:My job isn't to win arguments. My responsibility is much simpler. Be truthful. Be factual. Be authentic.
Jason Davies:Be honest. Ask good questions. Document carefully. My other jobs involve remaining objective, remaining professional, remain in control. Because control isn't about raising your voice.
Jason Davies:Control is about having the last word. Actually, it's not. Control has nothing to do with that. Keep that in mind. Control is having enough confidence in your process that you don't need your ego to finish that conversation.
Jason Davies:Think about that one. If you've listened this far, I hope you're picking up something. I'm probably not the easiest person to hire, and that's absolutely 100% totally okay with me. If you're looking for someone to validate a conclusion before an investigation even begins, I'm probably not your person. Actually, I'm definitely not your guy.
Jason Davies:If you're looking for someone who will simply agree with you because you hired them, I'm definitely not your person for that. But if you're looking for someone who's willing to ask difficult questions, who will follow the evidence wherever it goes, the paper trail, who will tell you when the facts support your position, and who will also tell you when they don't, then we'll probably work really well together because I don't need to impress people. I need to remain viable. I need to protect a reputation that's taken decades to build and could be lost in a single careless decision. That's why I investigate the way I do.
Jason Davies:That's why I ask one more question. And that's why I believe the truth deserves patience. Until next time, ask one more question. Stay with the facts, and above all, remain in control.
Spyder:This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not legal advice, and it is not site specific engineering, code, or safety determination. All field conditions should be evaluated in context. Thanks for listening to the Pool Envy Podcast, where licensed pool professionals speak up. Hosted by Jason Davies, licensed across Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas.
Spyder:For more insights, subscribe and join us next time.