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Private equity has entered the pool industry, and companies looking to acquire thousands of service accounts are knocking on the doors of independent pool professionals.

But what happens when they knock on yours?

In this Insurance Interlude, Steve Sherwood and Pat Grignon discuss what pool company owners need to consider before selling their business, route, or customer accounts. Steve shares his own experience with an acquisition offer and explains why a bigger salary was not enough to convince him to surrender the freedom he spent a decade building.

Pat breaks down several important issues that can follow a sale, including tail coverage, prior claims, non-compete agreements, non-solicitation clauses, and the danger of signing a contract without experienced legal representation.

Selling the business may end your ownership, but it does not automatically eliminate your exposure. A claim connected to work performed before the sale could surface afterward. Depending on the policies and purchase agreement involved, the seller may be required to obtain several years of tail coverage.

The buyer may also restrict where the seller can work, what services they can provide, and whether they can contact former customers or employees. That means the contract could affect far more than the final purchase price.

Pat’s strongest advice is simple: hire an attorney experienced in business acquisitions. Not your uncle who handles divorces. Not your buddy who once fought a traffic ticket. Hire someone who understands deals and can identify exactly where the buyer is receiving the wins while the seller assumes the risk.

In This Episode

• Why private equity is targeting pool service companies
• Steve’s experience receiving an acquisition offer
• Why a higher salary may not replace the freedom of ownership
• What pool company owners should do before considering a sale
• How tail coverage may protect against claims reported after closing
• The difference between occurrence-based and claims-made coverage
• Who typically pays for tail coverage
• Why tail coverage can be surprisingly expensive
• How non-compete and non-solicitation clauses differ
• Restrictions that could prevent you from returning to the pool industry
• Why selling your route does not necessarily end your liability
• The importance of carefully reviewing every restrictive covenant
• Why every seller needs an experienced acquisition attorney
• How to avoid accepting a one-sided purchase agreement

The Bottom Line

Do not become hypnotized by the purchase price.

Before selling the business you spent years building, determine what liabilities remain, what insurance must stay in place, what professional activities will be restricted, and what happens if you later regret the deal.

Get the insurance advice. Get the legal advice. Read the contract. Then read it again.

This episode is intended for general educational purposes and does not constitute legal or insurance advice. Laws, policy terms, and enforceability vary by jurisdiction and circumstance. Consult qualified legal and insurance professionals before selling a business.

#TalkingPoolsPodcast #InsuranceInterlude #PoolBusiness #PoolService #PrivateEquity #BusinessAcquisition #SellingABusiness #PoolRoute #TailCoverage #BusinessInsurance #RiskManagement #PoolProfessionals #CaliforniaPoolAssociation #SteveSherwood #PatGrignon

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What does nearly 50 years in the swimming pool industry teach you? According to Jerry Wallace, there are no shortcuts, you never stop learning, and sometimes you need to show up with a rolling suitcase full of textbooks.

Natalie Hood sits down with Jerry Wallace, president of Swim Chem and one of the 2026 Talking Pools Podcast Top Ten Pool Industry Mentors. Jerry shares how he entered the family business as a teenager, the mentors who shaped his career, and why mentoring is about leaving the industry better than you found it.

Then Jerry puts his decades of water chemistry, plaster, and expert-witness experience to work busting some persistent myths about calcium nodules. Are they caused by excessive calcium hardness? Are they simply another form of scale? Can adjusting the water chemistry stop them?

Jerry explains why calcium nodules are typically associated with voids, delamination, pinholes, or cracks beneath the plaster surface, not a pool professional’s failure to maintain the water. His message to service professionals is blunt: educate yourself, document your work, demand an explanation, and stop allowing people to steamroll you.

Jerry also discusses why manufacturers need to listen more closely to service professionals, what younger professionals bring to the industry, and the three groups every successful business must protect before looking at the profit-and-loss statement: family, employees, and customers.

And, because this is Talking Pools, Natalie settles the critically important question of whether pineapple belongs on pizza.

In This Episode

• How Jerry entered the pool industry at age 16
• The mentors who helped shape his career
• Why mentorship is about life lessons, not merely technical knowledge
• How to recognize when someone is no longer coachable
• Why there are no shortcuts to long-term success
• The difference between calcium scale and calcium nodules
• Why high calcium hardness does not selectively create isolated nodules
• How voids, delamination, cracks, and pinholes contribute to nodule formation
• Why changing the water chemistry treats the symptom, not the underlying problem
• How service professionals can defend themselves against unsupported blame
• Why pool professionals must become experts in their trade
• What manufacturers misunderstand about real-world equipment retrofits
• Why the industry needs stronger communication between engineers and field professionals
• What younger generations are bringing to the pool industry
• The three priorities Jerry’s father used to measure a successful year
• Jerry’s controversial but unwavering defense of pineapple on pizza

Jerry’s Message to Pool Professionals

Do not assume a calcium nodule is your fault simply because someone points at the water chemistry. Test the water, investigate the surface, document the evidence, ask for the actual mechanism, and make the person assigning blame show their work.

If you are going to work as a pool service professional, become an expert and stand up for yourself. Nobody else is going to do it for you.

#TalkingPoolsPodcast #PoolIndustry #PoolService #SwimmingPools #PoolChemistry #CalciumNodules #PoolPlaster #Mentorship #PoolProfessionals #WaterChemistry #PoolEducation #SwimChem #JerryWallace #NatalieHood #MythbustingWednesday

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For this special Mondays Down Under episode, Lee, Shane, and Nick are finally together in the same room after two exhausting days walking the floor at SPLASH! 2026.

The team shares the products, technology, conversations, and innovations that caught their attention, including smarter chlorinators, Bluetooth pressure monitoring, automatic backwashing, direct free-chlorine testing, advanced commercial sanitation systems, and robotic cleaners that are becoming increasingly independent.

They also speak with representatives from Waterco, Davey, Fluidra, Brauer Swim, Maytronics, and other industry leaders about equipment designed to reduce maintenance, conserve water, improve chemical control, and give pool professionals better information before they arrive on-site.

Beyond the equipment, the episode explores two important industry developments: a new guide addressing sanitization marketing claims and the draft revision of Australian Standard 3633, which has not been rewritten since 1989.

And yes, after two days of demonstrations, masterclasses, interviews, networking, and enough walking to make a Fitbit file a workers’ compensation claim, everyone’s feet are completely destroyed.

In This Episode

• The sights, crowds, and atmosphere of SPLASH! 2026
• Waterco’s MultiCyclone dual-cartridge filtration system
• How centrifugal prefiltration can reduce cartridge cleaning
• The Waterco OptiCell and direct free-chlorine measurement
• Commercial salt-chlorination and AOP systems from Brauer Swim
• Fluidra’s Solo, ECHO, Halo Pro, and Halo Pure chlorinators
• Seasonal programming and centralized app control
• Bluetooth pressure gauges that monitor filter condition
• AI-assisted heat-pump technology
• The Maytronics Dolphin EON robotic cleaner
• Internal robotic-filter backwashing
• Managing multiple cleaners through one technician-friendly app
• Robotic cleaners that dock, recharge, and empty themselves
• Automatic remote backwashing with the iWash system
• A rollable, lockable insulated spa cover
• The new sanitization marketing-claims guide
• Why “freshwater,” “mineral,” and ionized-pool claims need clarity
• The draft revision of Australian Standard 3633
• Why Australian and New Zealand pool professionals should provide feedback
• Lee’s chemistry, diagnostics, and customer-experience masterclasses
• The WAVES event and helping more women find their voice in the industry
• Why SPLASH belongs on every Australian pool professional’s calendar

If you attended SPLASH! 2026, tell us which product or presentation impressed you most. If you missed it, Lee, Shane, and Nick have done the walking, filming, questioning, and blister collection for you.

Send questions, topic suggestions, or requests for future industry guests to talkingpools@gmail.com.

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Email us: talkingpools@gmail.com