Our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated pool and gym near Baud

Yesterday at our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated pool and gym near Baud I released a youtube video on how to clean a green swimming pool of algae fast.

For a step by step guide on how to clean a  green swimming pool:

Our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool and gym near Baud

In March at our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool and gym near Baud we open the pool ready for the arrival of our first guest.

Some 5 years ago Naomi enjoyed her first trip too France and I managed to persuade her to jump in the pool without testing the water - it was only 8 degrees. (for a laugh have a look at the video)

Our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool and gym near Baud

Today at our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool and gym near Baud the pool heater was switched on to get the pool ready for the guest arriving for a holiday in
La Forge on 2nd April.

Last weekend the pool was opened and we emptied the pool taking out 40% of the water to reduce the stabilizer level within the water and have run the pump 24 hours per day since opening the pool.

renewing 40% of the water in the pool

This week the pool area has been power washed and all the sun beds cleaned ready for the arrival of our guest to enjoy staying at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud.

Our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool near Baud

Today at our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool near Baud we opened the swimming pool in order to get the pool ready for guest staying in La Forge on 2nd April.

The pool was really clean on taking off the winter cover yet I decided to drain 40% of the water away in order to reduce the amount of stabilizer within the existing water.

Opened the swimming pool today at our Brittany holiday cottage

 We will run the pump now 24 hours per day and will start the heater on the 20th March to provide enough time to get the temperature up to around 26 degrees for the arrival of the guest.

Our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated pool and gym near Baud

Yesterday at our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated pool and gym near Baud, Naomi and I closed the swimming pool for the winter season.

To clarify the steps of closing the pool.

Two weeks ago the heater was switched off and we have allowed the temperature of the water to drop to under 10 degrees - the recent cold nights have helped going down to 3 degrees for a few nights this week.

Yesterday I cleaned the pool, the skimmer nets were replaced and the pump filter was also cleaned.

I then added a winter dose of Chlorine equivalent to what I use for a shock treatment then covered the pool with the winter cover.

I left the pump running for an additional 24 hours and now its been switched off.

From now until the opening of the pool in March I will just run the pump once per week for 3 hours just to turn the water over.

Naomi cleaning the pool in the summer at the Brittany holiday cottage

The pool this year has been an absolute doddle to maintain as we switched products and opted for an all in one tablet that did everything. In past years we would get algae growth appearing every couple of weeks after a  treatment but this year none!

The swimming pool is opened in March and offered on a private basis from 12th March through to the end of May for guest staying in La Forge and then throughout the summer months shared with La veille Maison also.

Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool and gym

Last week at the Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool and gym we finally put on the winter cover and closed down the swimming pool.

The procedures for closing the swimming pool are simple enough. Firstly the heater is switched off and we allow the water temperature to drop.

The pool is then cleaned and we then give it shock treatment of chlorine and that's it! - the winter cover is placed over the pool and we just wait for March to arrive before opening it all up again to find the water crystal clear.

One final point while the pool is closed I just run the pump once per week for 3 or 4 hours just to turn the water over.

I used to have the pump running every night for 2 hours during the closed season in earlier years but when switching to the weekly pump run noticed no difference in the water quality when opening the pool yet save a lot of money with the new regime in electricity costs.

The swimming pool is opened at the start of march with the heater switched on after 2 weeks so its all up and running for the start of April where guest staying in La Forge can enjoy the heated swimming pool on a private basis.

cleaning the pool at the Brittany holiday cottage

In April La Forge is currently offered at just £375 per week or book 2 weeks for £700 having being reduced from £549 per week.

Brittany holiday cottage with private pool

Today at the Brittany holiday cottage with private heated pool  after going to the hospital at Pontivey for Naomi's weekly check up we bought a new summer cover for the swimming pool.

Just shows its good to shop around and what ever happened to customer loyalty with the shop that installed the swimming pool, heater the lot qoating 592 euros for a new pool cover compared to the 380 euros we actually paid!

I don't think we will be giving any additional business to the original pool shop and by going else where we have also made a new friend.

The swimming pool at the Brittany holiday cottage was opened last weekend and we will begin to heat the pool this weekend ready for the start of April.

Guest enjoying a holiday at La Forge during April and May have private use of the heated swimming pool.

Enjoying the private heated pool during the Easter break at the Brittany holiday cottage La Forge based in Kerbourbon just 3 miles from the market town of Baud

Brittany holiday cottage with private heated pool

This week at the Brittany holiday cottage with private heated pool we have had fun and games with one of our chickens, so much so we have given her a name.

She is now called 'HILTS' after the Steve McQueen character from 'The great escape' after escaping the chicken run almost every day- to be found outside the property.

At first I thought it was just a one of and gave her the benefit of doubt before clipping her wings as I try to not clip to give them some protection if ever a predator was to get inside the coup but as she was now getting out she was putting herself in greater danger.

So we clipped the right wing only to find that she was still getting out. We think she is flying on to the hen house and then launching herself over the 5ft fence. Yesterday we clipped the other wing and thankfully she is now staying put...lets hope she does not learn to tunnel...lol

The other two birds stay put as they are larger birds and I expect that due to there size they can not make the flight over the fence.

Buying the chickens for the Brittany holiday cottage has been a great decision as the children staying for there holidays at either La Forge or La Veille Maison love interacting with the birds.

Brittany holiday cottages with heated pool

How time flies at the Brittany holiday cottages with heated pool it was a year ago that Naomi took the plunge into the swimming pool on the first day it was opened. It was only 9 degrees and I would not let her feel the water temperature before she jumped in. Its been my most successful you tube video with 82,796 views over the year.

For guest staying at the Brittany holiday cottages La Forge and La Veille Maison I promise the water will be warmer....lol

Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool

Mid March at the Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool is the time of the year that the swimming pool is opened ready for the start of the main holiday season starting at the Easter half term.

During the Easter holiday guest staying in La Forge have private use of the heated swimming pool and garden as La Veille Maison is not available to rent until 25th May.

As you can see from the enclosed picture the swimming pool is situated with wonderful  views over looking the countryside surrounding the Brittany holiday cottages.

Brittany holiday cottage with heated pool

A few weeks ago at the Brittany holiday cottage with heated pool I created a short film on how to clean a swimming pool that has turned green with Algae, I will state that there were no guest staying at the holiday cottages that week and I deliberately allowed the pool to turn green for the purpose of making the film.

See what you think; click here to watch the film:

The pool remains clean all season for the benefit of guest staying in La Forge or La Veille Maison is is looked after on a daily basis.

Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool

This year at the Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool, the pool was closed at the end of October and just to finish on the jobs involved with running the pool, I'll run through how the pool is closed.



Firstly it is given a good clean, making sure if any algae is present it is wiped of the walls and then thoroughly hovered. Before this Ive timed it that the chlorine in the pool has gone and the heater has been off for a week and the temperature is around 10 degrees, I then cover the pool with the winter cover and then introduce a double dose of Chlorine tablets to kill any thing that's present in the water.



The pump is then just put on a timer to run between 12am - 7am taking advantage of cheaper electricity then a few weeks later i reduce it further down to just 4 hours per day.



That's it, very straight forward and when the pool is opened in March ready for the start of the swimming pool season its crystal clear.



The heater is switched on 2 weeks before the start of April or my first booking at La Forge.

The swimming pool is open between April and September at the Brittany holiday cottage with private pool but can be extended into October if requested.

Brittany holiday cottage with private swimming pool

I learnt I had to do a new job yesterday at the Brittany holiday cottage with private swimming pool with regards to the pool maintenance.

The swimming pool is heated via a heat exchanger and walking along the garden path yesterday I noticed the heater sounded different, on inspection I was alarmed to see the back of the heater covered in thick ice during a hot summers day.

I immediately switched it off and went on line to browse for a manual, I could not find my make but read the maintenance instructions for a similar model.

Once the ice melted I discovered that the thin wire grill at the back of the heater was covered in gunk and following the service instructions I found, I cleaned this all off using a paint brush and a bucket of water not to damage the grill.

Once cleaned I switched the heater back on and noticed a more powerful ejection of wind from the machine and it was running very quite again.

I woke up this morning to another bright and sunny day at the Brittany holiday cottage with private swimming pool and rechecked the heater to find no ice and all was running lovely. I did notice a few leaves had fallen from the tree above and through the suction of the fan had stuck to the grill.

So I guess the muck I had cleaned off was made up of leaves that had simply been sucked onto the grill and then had broken down into the muck.

So I guess each morning I'll just check for debris and remove and leaves that are present, that way it will avoid having to do a major clean once per year.

Guest staying at the holiday cottage currently are enjoying a second week of hot sunny weather and its a joy to see the young boy learning to swim in the pool each day.

La Forge Brittany holiday cottage with private swimming pool

The final instalment on how I keep the pool at the Brittany holiday cottage nice and clean is relatively short just to finish on every thing that I do.

Some times normally about twice per year no matter what I do the water goes alittle cloudy, it could be something that is blown into the water, I really dont know what, but as soon as I see the problem its sorted out in just a matter of a few hours.

I have a final trick up my sleeve known as Flock cartridges and if ever the water turns alittle cloudy I place one of these in the skimmer nets. Basically the flock magnetises the tiny particles in the water and makes them bind together, before the particles are so small that they just circulate through the sand filter but after inserting the flock cartridge they become big enough to be trapped within the sand and just like magic within a matter of hours the pool is back to being crystal clear again.

The only thing I then do is back wash the sand filter to clean the sand of the debris.

Its as simple as that to keep the pool at the Brittany holiday cottage crystal clear throughout the holiday season.

La Forge Brittany holiday cottage offers a Private swimming pool for your enjoyment and a gym for those wishing to keep trim while enjoying the delights of the French cusine.

Brittany holiday cottage with private swimming pool

La Forge Brittany holiday cottage with private swimming pool is situated just 3 miles from the market town of Baud.

In today's instalment of pool care I will discuss the final elements of keeping the pool crystal clear.

Depending on the weather and pool use material can be blown in or taken into the water, this material is large enough to be seen and each morning and afternoon I spend 5 min just using the net to scoop out the leaves and seeds that are blown in. If on the bottom material is seen then I will use the pool vacuum to suck up the material which is then deposited into the net of the surface skimmer, after which the net is replaced.

The cleaner you keep the pool, the less problems arise, in the same way if I ever see algae starting to grow on the walls I'm straight in with a brush scrubbing it off.

It may sound alot of work but in reality I guess I spend about 2 hours per week while the pool is open in general cleaning duties and checking the water. Its the thanks I get from the guest on how well maintained and inviting the pool looks that makes it worthwhile at the Brittany holiday cottage with private swimming pool.

Brittany holiday cottage with private swimming pool

The Brittany holiday cottage with private swimming pool always looks clean and inviting to swim, in this instalment of pool care I will mention testing the PH of the water.

Testing the water of the swimming pool is carried out on a regular basis normally every 5 days, one of the test is making sure the PH of the water is at the correct level. The PH is the water hardness or softness depending on which way you look at it, the reason this is important to get right is because all the other water treatments rely on a certain water quality to function correctly.

Its the PH of the water that I have found to change depending on the weather. Now if I get an off reading rather than instantly add PH minus too bring the reading down or PH plus to raise it, I wait and test the water each day over the week to just make sure its not the weather that's changed the reading. If after a week the readings are still out I don't add the full dose of chemicals to make the desired adjustment but to break it down into smaller amounts and wait to see what difference it makes. The mistake I made in the first season was to put the calculated amount in one go only to find the water quality swinging all the way over and out of the required margins, hence its better to check the water quality in gradual amounts and over days.

In this way you reduce the amount of chemicals that are being used in the pool which not only saves money but makes the whole job a lot simpler.

I hope you enjoy the private swimming pool at La Forge Brittany holiday cottage

Brittany holiday cottage with private swimming pool

In this section of how I look after the private swimming pool at the Brittany holiday cottage I will touch on the day to day care.

Each morning the pool cover is removed and any leaves are scooped out from the water with a net and 4 or 5 times per week the bottom of the pool is hoovered to remove any debris that has blown in.

The swimming pool at the holiday cottage has 2 skimmer filters that collect any surface litter in the first stages of filtration, these are checked each morning for any night time visitors that have been trapped such as frogs which are removed with all other blown in material. The nets tend to be replaced once per week.

While we are on the subject of filtration, the surface skimmers and nets are the first stage of pool filtration, once the water passes the fine mesh nets it then moves too the pump which has another mesh filter, once through that is passes through a sand filter to capture the smallest of particles.The sand filter is back washed once per week to eject all the matter that is collected.

I would say that to keep the pool clean, healthy and spotless takes less than 20 min per day.

Ive heard horror stories from guest saying they stayed at cottages in the past who's pools were green with algae, covered in debris and basically unfit to enjoy. It feels so nice to hear from guest staying at la Forge how good the pool looks and makes the time worth while in keeping it pristine.

Brittany holiday cottage with private pool

Looking after the private pool at the Brittany holiday cottage has worked out easier than I ever expected.

With the water quality the first element is the Chlorine, the previous owner explained to me that the main purpose of adding this to the pool is to kill all the harmful microorganisms and bacteria that could be harmfull to swimmers. The second element of using the Chlorine is to yo yo the levels in the water to control algae growth, if the levels remain the same algae will get used to the concentration and begin to florish so to keep the water crystal clear the Chlorine is bounced up and down over a 5 -7 day cycle.

In addition too the Chlorine I use another Chemical known as HTH tablets and this is also used to kill any bacteria in the water.

The fact that the pool is only used by guest of La Forge holiday cottage, the levels of Chlorine do not have to reach what you would find in a public pool, therefore its more pleasurable to swim at La Forge without having sore eyes from over Chlorinated water.

Ive now looked after the pool for 4 years and have had no problems, in the next blog I will talk about checking the PH of the water and the general cleaning needed to keep the water crystal clear for the guest enjoyment.

Brittany holiday cottage with private pool

Laforge Brittany holiday cottage benefits from having private use of the swimming pool and over the last few seasons many guest staying at the cottage ask how easy is the pool to maintain.

For me it all goes back to keeping Koi Carp, initially you get so wrapped up in checking the water quality that your forever making adjustments with chemicals and end up never get it right.

The previous owner left instructions on how to look after the swimming pool, pumps and filters but remembering my fish keeping days I created my own system sticking to the basic principles that were laid down by him.

The main lesson I learnt from the Koi days is that the weather can change the results of water test on a day to day basis and thinking there was something wrong in the early days I would add more chemicals and have a yo yo effect with the water.

I now test the water around the same time of day once or twice a week which is more than adequate and over time your eye soon picks up any changes in the water quality.

Ill post more information over the next few days on what chemicals I use and how to keep the water of the private pool at the holiday cottage crystal clear and healthy.