Overhauling and Refurbishing a Plant Room
A clean, attractive and well-functioning swimming pool can add 15% to a property's sale price in the UK. To achieve the highest standards, regular pool maintenance and cleaning is essential.
Cleaning the pool itself is important, but the pool plant room is where the most attention is needed. The plant room is the nerve-centre and heart-beat of your swimming pool. Without systematic overhauls, refurbishment and repair, our plant room could encounter problems that will negatively affect the whole system.
But what should you expect from a pool plant room overhaul or refurbishment? Read our guide to find out.
Pool Plant Room Essentials for Pool Maintenance
Skimming the surface of debris, balancing the water chemistry, cleaning the pool walls and using a pool cover are all great steps to maintaining your swimming pool. But there's more to cleaning a pool than meets the eye.
Your pool plant room is the beating heart of the entire system and must have the essentials for optimum functionality to offer the best results. Some plant room tips include:
- Make the plant room as big as possible to allow for future system additions
- Easy access is important to make regular maintenance quick and easy
- The location of the plant room should be near the pool and on the same ground level
- Sound-proof your plant room for less disturbance and a more peaceful pool area
- Create plenty of storage space for pool items such as cleaning equipment or pool toys
Pool owners often overlook the importance of a spacious, well laid out plant room. If you buy a house with a pool, you may want to overhaul or refurbish the plant room to suit your taste or needs.
Benefits of Overhauling or Refurbishing Your Pool Plant Room
Clean and Clear Water
No one likes to swim in cloudy or dirty water. A properly functioning pool plant system will ensure the cleanest and clearest water for a pleasant swimming experience and optimal pool water treatment.
Prolong the Life of Your Pool
Whether you have an indoor or outdoor, above ground or inground swimming pool, regular maintenance will help it last longer. The covering and structure of your swimming pool can be maintained, updated or replaced every 5-20 years depending on whether you have vinyl, concrete or fibreglass. However, if the water and the plant room systems are maintained properly, your pool could last a lifetime.
Optimise Safety
Safety is number one when using your swimming pool which means optimized water chemistry and system operations. Serviced UV or Ozone disinfectant system will offer the best protection against contaminated pool water. New pool legislation may drive the need to change pool plant equipment, especially if your equipment is more than 10 years old.
Early Detection Saves Money
Regular maintenance and servicing of your pool will catch any problems early. Detecting leaks, electrical faults and blocked filters and repairing them early on will cost less than if they are neglected. These issues will worsen and cause much larger costly problems in the future.
What's Involved in a Pool Plant Overhaul or Refurbishment?
In both cases, aspects of your pool plant room can be repaired or replaced. But what can you expect from having your pool plant room overhauled or completely refurbished?
Overhaul
As with any mechanical system, an overhaul means a deep clean and service of all parts to check for any needs of repair. A professional overhaul will involve the following:
- Shut down the pool and drain the system
- Carefully deconstruct the system separating each part
- Deep cleaning to remove any mineral or chemical build-up or algae
- Inspection for any damage or wear and tear
- Reporting findings to the pool owner and suggesting next steps in repair or replacement
- Conducting approved repairs or replacements
- System reconstruction and system testing
- Final testing and clean up
An overhaul is recommended every 3-5 years depending on how much the pool is used and well it's maintained. Conducting a regular maintenance and service plan will allow you more time between full overhauls.
Refurbishment
A pool plant room refurbishment involves an overhaul as above. However, this is the perfect opportunity to revamp your pool plant room to optimise the system for the best results and therefore the best swimming conditions.
But first, the main aspects of a pool plant room refurbishment would involve inspecting, repairing or replacing the following:
- Pool pumps
- Plumbing, pipework and valves
- Sand, cartridge and diatomaceous earth filters
- Heat exchangers
- Gas, oil and electric heating
- Heat pumps
- Solar and other renewable heating systems
- Dehumidification and indoor pool climate control equipment
- Electrical panels and control systems
- Chemical monitoring and dosing systems
A professional inspection and refurbishment of your pool plant room will ensure all of these systems are functioning optimally so you can get the best results for your beloved indoor or outdoor swimming pool.
Update Equipment
Pool plant equipment is constantly being innovated to be more efficient and cost-effective. Outdated systems are costly to run, unreliable and not so good for the environment.
A pool plant room refurbishment is a great time to convert to more eco-friendly options. You could change to solar-powered electric and heating; use a cartridge filter or glass media instead of sand, install a pool pump timer, and many more.
Alter the Layout
Have you ever wanted to make more space in your plant room? Perhaps you need more room for personal pool items and inflatables, or you'd like to install a storage cabinet for all the water treatment kits and cleaning supplies. Your pool plant engineer will be able to offer some suggestions on how your system layout can be altered to offer your more space.
New Additions
You may have wanted to make some additions to your swimming pool for a while but never got round to it. A pool plant room refurbishment is your chance to add some extra lighting, water jets, heater, and many more exciting improvements.
Clean & Redecorate
With all the plant equipment out of the way, while it's being serviced or replaced, it's the perfect time to give the room itself a deep clean and fresh lick of paint. Over time, dust dirt and possibly even mould can build up.
Your pool maintenance professionals can give the entire room a good clean and remove and sand any old flaking paint or rust. Then they can prime, paint and seal the floors, walls, ceiling, door frame, brackets and anything else that needs freshening up.
Optimised Pool Plant by the Professionals
For the highest quality pool maintenance and most enjoyable swimming experience, you need to care for the heart of your pool – the plant room. Regular repairs and maintenance by professionals will prolong the life of your pool and offer you peace of mind.
Learn more about pool maintenance and how to optimise your pool plant room operations for the best standard of swimming conditions. Call 01494 671787 to arrange a no-obligation meeting with our plant room specialists.
