What to expect from a pool company in the Algarve

Search for a pool company in the Algarve and you will find dozens of names offering roughly the same promise: we will take care of your pool. The promise is vague for a reason. Pool work covers everything from skimming leaves to replacing underground pipework, and very few companies do all of it well. Knowing what you actually need is the difference between paying for the right expertise and paying for a van that visits on Tuesdays.

After eighteen years of working on pools between Vila Real de Santo António and Sagres, we have a clear view of where a specialist earns their fee, and where a well-equipped owner does not need one at all.

Which work genuinely needs a specialist?

The work that patience and a test kit will not solve: locating a leak, sizing and installing equipment, and rebuilding structure. Those are the three cases where attempting it yourself costs more than hiring someone, because the mistake tends to surface months later with the work already done.

Water loss is the clearest example. Once a pool loses more water than evaporation explains, the cause is a leak in the shell, the fittings or the pipework, and finding it by guesswork means digging. We are the only company in Portugal with electronic leak detection equipment, which locates the source in a single visit with the pool still full.

Equipment installation is another. A heat pump sized by rule of thumb costs more to run every day of its life. We size pool heat pumps with Polytropic's own software, and install covers, chlorinators and control systems that we have fitted hundreds of times. The same applies to structural work: stripping a tired finish back to the screed and rebuilding it is a job for a refurbishment team, not a weekend.

Which work can you do yourself, with the right equipment?

Almost all of the routine. Most of what a weekly maintenance visit covers, testing, dosing, skimming and topping up, disappears or shrinks once the pool is properly equipped, because each of those tasks now has a piece of equipment that performs it with nobody present.

A salt chlorinator treats the water continuously, so there is no hand-dosing and no drums of chlorine in the garage. An automatic cover keeps debris out and heat in, which means less skimming and lower running costs. The INDYGO pool level control tops the water up on its own and tells you if something is wrong. With that combination working for you, looking after a pool takes minutes a week, not hours.

This is the honest answer to a question we are often asked: no, we no longer offer a weekly maintenance service. We concluded that the best thing we can do for a pool is equip it so that it largely looks after itself, and be there for the work that genuinely needs us.

How do you judge a pool company before hiring one?

With three questions, all of them asked before you hear a price: which brands they install, who carries out the work, and whether there is a written specification. The answers separate a specialist from a generalist faster than any quotation will.

Ask what brands they install and how long they have worked with them. A company that switches suppliers every season is buying on price. We work with Polytropic, Sugar Valley, PS Cover, Piscine Sécurité Enfants and SQ, and we change manufacturer only when we find one that stands up better to conditions here, which is rare and never decided from a catalogue.

Ask who does the work. Some companies sell the job and subcontract the labour. Everything we install is fitted by our own team.

Ask for a written specification before a price. A quote from photographs is a guess. Every project we take on starts with a site visit and ends with a specification you can hold us to.

Frequently asked questions

Do I still need a pool company if I have a salt chlorinator and a cover?

For routine care, mostly not. For installations, repairs, leak detection and refurbishment, yes. The equipment reduces the everyday work; it does not replace specialist work when something fails.

Does Just Pools offer weekly pool maintenance?

No. We supply and install equipment, carry out refurbishments and provide the only electronic leak detection service in Portugal. Our aim is to set your pool up so that weekly visits are unnecessary.

How do I know if my pool has a leak or is just evaporating?

Evaporation in an Algarve summer can take several centimetres a week. Loss beyond that, damp ground near the pool or a creeping water bill points to a leak, and testing locates it without emptying the pool.

What does good pool equipment cost to run?

Less than the problems it prevents. A full inverter heat pump, a cover and a salt chlorinator each pay part of their own way through lower chemical, water and energy use.

If your pool needs equipment, a refurbishment or an answer about where the water is going, tell us about it. We will come back with a straightforward assessment and a written specification, with no obligation. Get in touch.