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The Pool Envy Podcast is where real, licensed pool professionals speak up. In an industry overflowing with DIY chatter and surface-level advice, we dive deep into code, compliance, and craftsmanship that set licensed contractors apart. Our goal is to educate and elevate the industry — teaching safety, sharing knowledge, and helping those who build and service pools do it the right way.
You're listening to the PoolEnvy Podcast. Code, compliance, craftsmanship, hosted by Jason Davies. Let's dive in.
Jason D:Most people believe what they wanna believe. Blue water means safe pool. Pretty deck means no danger. A heater that turns on means it was installed right, and they cling to that illusion until the day it fails. My job, the part nobody else wants, it's walking into these backyards and telling homeowners the real truth they never saw coming because safety is not an option.
Jason D:Safety is not cosmetic. It's not Instagram. Safety is physics, code, grounding paths, pressure, geometry, expansion joints, escutcheons, anchors, and real world consequences that no one is prepared for. And once you see what I see, you will never ever look at a pool the same way again. I'm Jason with Pool Envy, licensed in Wisconsin, Texas, and Florida.
Jason D:Basically everywhere I go, I'm good to go. And this is the anatomy of what really happens in your backyard.
Spyder:Let's dive in.
Jason D:Let's start with a universal truth. Every unsafe pool looks great before it kills somebody. Shocks someone, floods, explodes, collapses, or gets denied by the insurance. A safe pool is never judged by its water. It is judged by evidence.
Jason D:So let's interrogate your pool, and I'm going to ask you the same questions an adjuster, inspector, or forensics engineer would, give or take. Where are your bonding grid terminations? Who installed your heater and where's the permit for it? Show me the documentation that your anchors and pool rails are actually tied into the equipotential bonding system. What's the expiration date on your drain covers?
Jason D:Do you know your deck slope and breakpoint? Do you have an expansion joint between the pool shell and the deck? And who can certify it? If you cannot immediately answer those questions, your pool does not look fine. It looks lucky.
Jason D:What I see when I walk into your backyard. Those shiny chrome rings around your handrails and ladders, the escutcheons, and the anchors buried in concrete, they're not just decorative hardware. They're part of a conductive assembly. The anchors what actually gets tied into the equipotential bonding grid. The handrail or ladder socketed into anchor frames becomes part of the bonding system.
Jason D:The escutcheon itself doesn't get a bond wire landed directly on it, but it's still metal in that conductive path. So if your anchors were never bonded into the grid, every person grabbing the wet rail is now a potential return path for stray voltage instead of being safely pulled into the bonding system. That could hurt. And here's the part that scares me after all these years. I've seen contractors in this very city cement over anchors without ever tying anything in.
Jason D:I've seen brand new commercial pools with ladders that weren't bonded at all. Electricity doesn't care whether the pool looks fine. What I see when I walk into your backyard, gas installations that would make NFPA inspectors cry. Gas work is not blowing bubbles into a line and hoping for no leaks. It is pressure testing, regulators, shut off valves, sediment traps, rigid pipe, venting, ample combustion air, clearance to openings, manifold pressure verification.
Jason D:Not my buddy looked it up on YouTube. I once had an electrical inspector show up furious at my job site, not at me. It's because he came from an inspection by another pool contractor who was doing electrical work without a license. The difference between looks fine and is fine, well, now you know. Structural and geometric realities.
Jason D:Depth, slope, break, and expansion. This is where you go deep. The part homeowners have never heard. Depth isn't arbitrary. Slope isn't arbitrary.
Jason D:The break in the floor profile, also not arbitrary. You can see where I'm going with this. Every measurement has to align with ANSI, APSB standards. Some of the local companies in my town, I've walked into their shells with no expansion joints, plaster delamination, and tile failures so consistent it's practically a signature. I've seen pools winterized by pros with air tools from Harbor Freight and no understanding of hydraulics.
Jason D:No offense Harbor Freight. $200 winterizing, $10,000 spring repair. This is why I don't fix pools, I fix contractors. Number four, the fiberglass shock incident. Another contractor in this area installs fiberglass shells.
Jason D:One day, I put my hand in the water and felt a buzz, a a little water tingle, the unmistakable sensation of stray voltage. I, the licensed contractor, was the one who's getting shocked. Irony. And the homeowner had no idea that the danger existed. The investigators list what adjusters look for before they say denied.
Jason D:Insurance evaluates pools much like crime scenes. Unbonded metal, unlicensed electrical work, unpermitted gas connections, missing expansion joints, improper slope break ratios, delaminated plaster from freeze cycles, expired VGBA covers, no documentation of anything. They don't deny claims because they dislike you. They deny claims because the evidence does not support your version of reality. But here's the turning point, and I want you to really hear this.
Jason D:You are not powerless. You're not struck. You are not at the mercy of the last guy who touched your pool. You can take ownership. You can understand your system.
Jason D:You can fix, document, and protect everything in your backyard. Knowledge doesn't overwhelm you. It frees you. The unstoppable checklist that makes you unstoppable. Here's what you do today, not next week, not after this episode, but today.
Jason D:Take a few photos. The equipment pad, full view. Gas line, shutoff, union, drip leg. Escuttions, anchor assemblies, handrails, take close ups. Main drain cover, screws, the condition of it, expiration dates.
Jason D:Bond wire terminations, as many visible points as possible. Next up gather these documents: permits, invoices showing licensed contractors, pressure test documents, bonding continuity photos. Ask your agent these questions: If an incident occurred, what documentation would you ask for first? Do you require current VGBA compliance in writing? What proves my pool is insurable?
Jason D:Alright. You've just crossed the line from hoping your pool is safe to knowing how to verify it. This episode wasn't meant to scare you. It was meant to wake you up, to hand you the knowledge that keeps your family safe, your home insured, your investment protected, and your future secure. You are now the most informed person in your neighborhood about pool safety because you listened, because you learned, and because you care.
Jason D:And if you want someone licensed, trained, and legally accountable to stand with you, Call Pool Envy. I'm Jason. This is the Pool Envy podcast, and you're now unstoppable. Licenses, Florida, CPC 1460695. Wisconsin, electrical and HVAC 1543940.
Jason D:Texas, T I C L, 1350. Rail, 635643.
Spyder:Thanks for listening to the Pool MV podcast, where licensed pool professionals speak up. Hosted by Jason Davies, licensed across Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas. For more insights, subscribe and join us next time.