Bournemouth pool repairs, timed around the summer season.

Seaside pools and the visitor calendar

Bournemouth is a seaside town with long sandy beaches and a large number of hotels, many with indoor pools. Together with Poole and Christchurch it makes up one of the biggest built-up areas on the south coast, so there are also leisure, school, university and health club pools, plus private pools in homes.

For a hotel, a pool out of action in August is a problem guests notice. Autumn, winter and early spring are usually easier, and booking early gives time to agree the scope and order materials before the window opens.

What to sort out before the pool drains

The tiling is only part of a shutdown. The pool has to be drained, the plant managed while it is empty, and the refill and water treatment restarted once the adhesive and grout have cured. We agree who does what with your staff or plant contractor at the start, so nothing holds up reopening.

• The dates you can close, and any you cannot
• Who drains the pool and who restarts the plant
• Cure time before refill, written into the programme
• Guest notices and any spa areas closing at the same time

Catching faults between closures

A heavily used hotel pool tends to show wear first at the steps, the entry points and the waterline. A single sharp or lifting tile is a safety issue and should be reported straight away. Send us clear photos with something for scale and we can tell you whether it needs attention now or can wait for the planned shutdown.

Grout that has gone dark is not always failing, and a deep clean sometimes brings it back. Grout that is missing, soft or crumbling is a different matter, because it lets water reach the adhesive behind the tiles. Knowing which you have helps decide whether a clean, a regrout or repairs should go into the next closure.