Cardinal Pool Blog

Welcome to Cardinal Pool!

2011-08-01T10:38:00.002-05:00

Cardinal Pool & Outdoor has been a full service pool & outdoor store for more than 30 years! As a family business, our goal is to provide our customers with the type of service we would want ourselves. Located in Champaign IL, we strive to provide the most comprehensive pool, chemical, and outdoor furniture solutions in the area! Click on the links below, or check out our blog archive to the right to learn more.

Cardinal's Services Include:
*Award Winning Pool Construction
*Pool Service & Maintenence
*Chemicals & Supplies
*Professional Water Analysis
*Outdoor Furniture

Cardinal Pool & Outdoor, Champaign IL

Current Hours: Tu-Fri 9-4, Sat 10-2, Sun-Mon Closed

Our friendly and professional staff is here to answer any questions you may have about our company or our services. Call Cardinal Pool & Outdoor at 217-352-7665, or vist us at 511 South Country Fair Drive.

Pool Service & Maintenence Champaign Illinois

2011-04-19T11:05:00.001-05:00

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Cardinal provides a complete range of pool services.
Call or stop by today to find out more about:
   *Openings / Closings
   *Repair
   *Pool Cleaning
   *Pool Sitting
   *Consultation

Patio & Outdoor Furniture Champaign Urbana Illinois

2011-04-17T15:22:00.015-05:00

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Transform your yard or patio with outdoor furniture from Cardinal, then vacation in your own backyard! Our "resort furniture" is beautiful, comfortable, and will last for decades to come. We're conveniently located in Champaign IL, and offer value pricing on wicker, cast aluminum, wrought iron, umbrellas, sunbrella cushions, and any other outdoor / patio furniture you might need.

You really need to stop by, but here are pictures of some of the styles we carry:

Cardinal Pool & Outdoor, Champaign IL

Find out more.

Come talk to Sharon at Cardinal today. Our sets are the finest you can own, are value priced, and will transform your home for years to come!
Current Hours: Tu-Fri 9-4, Sat 10-2, Sun-Mon Closed

Baquacil Pool Chemicals

2011-04-15T14:52:00.001-05:00

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Baquacil is the leading non chlorine pool chemical on the market, and "might be" the perfect pool chemical for your family. First of all, there's no perfect chemical system. The brochure might not point out Baquacil weaknesses, but every pool system has it's pros and cons.

If you're lucky enough to have a low maintenance pool, then Baquacil is awesome. It's a lot less work than a chlorine pool, it's much gentler than a chlorine pool, probably costs about the same as chlorine pool chemicals, and is even much easier on your liner & solar blanket which ends up saving you money for a better system. Baquacil is greatly preferred in this case!

If you're unlucky enough to have a high maintenance pool (or have a toy pool with a tiny filter), then Baquacil is probably not for you. Baquacil basically works by chemically turbo charging your filtration system. If your pool gets large amounts of organics (leaves, twigs, bugs, animals, tons of people, etc.) or has insufficient filtration, then Baquacil not going to work well in your pool.

If your pool is average maintenance, Baquacil may or may not be for you. Chlorine is harsher and can normally tackle problems that arise more easily, but chlorine is also fickle to regulate, and most people don't take the time needed to avoid creating extra problems themselves. See my article on daily chlorine testing to learn more about chlorine:
http://cardinalpool.blogspot.com/2011/04/whats-your-chlorine-level.html

Whatever your choice of pool sanitizer, if you live in the Champaign-Urbana area you should shop at Cardinal. We sell aggressively priced quality chemicals and offer professional water testing free to our chemical customers.

Champaign Urbana Pool Water Testing Service

2011-04-14T14:07:00.001-05:00

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You should periodically get your water tested by a pool pro.
Eyeball tests don't cut it, and simple sanitizer tests are great but only tell part of the story. Most pool owners don't have the capability to perform a complete pool water analysis, but a full test not only determines how well the "water is balanced" (i.e. pH, Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness, and Sanitizer Levels), but also gives you a chance to ask your local pool pro questions about you can increase the efficiency of your chemicals, filtration, etc.

A complete water analysis should probably be performed:
   *for Brand New Pool Owners
   *for Pool Openings
   *for Pool Closings
   *Monthly, if you aren't having any problems
   *Weekly, if you're having minor problems
   *Daily, if you're having major problems

This pool's problems might have been avoided with a single professional water test.

If you live in Champaign or central Illinois, please try Cardinal's comprehensive water testing service. We can help you fix problems (hopefully before they even start), and keep your pool as economical & enjoyable as possible. Yes we try to sell you chemicals after a test, but only the chemicals (they're high quality & aggressively priced) you actually need.
Our full analysis service is only $15, or free for our customers.

Our friendly and professional staff is here to answer any questions you may have about our company or our services. Call Cardinal Pool & Outdoor at 217-352-7665, or vist us at 511 South Country Fair Drive.

What's your chlorine level?

2011-04-11T13:14:00.001-05:00

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Man walks into a pool store and asks for a chlorine pool water test.

As they're testing his water, the pool folks ask him what his chlorine's been reading recently.

PUNCHLINE: "I added some the other day" he says.

Hahaha! Hilarius Right? Priceless!

If this wasn't funny, the bad news is that you know squat about a chlorine pool. The good news is that you're about to learn a valuable tip...

Save yourself time & money by testing your pools chlorine level daily.

Test your water every single day! It doesn't take long, and you'll save yourself hassle & spend a lot less money on chemicals as well. If a buddy down the street, a salesman, or the interwebs say otherwise, ask them if they'll fix your pool when you run into problems. Test your water every single day. We say this in our store probably a hundred times a day in the summer and get blank looks just about every time. Forget about some "system" you heard about, or that you have an advanced degree (in something besides pool water chemistry). Get your lazy bum outside and test your pool chlorine...every single day. That's easily the number one tip for running a chlorine pool.

Semi technical explanation that you really should read, but really don't have to.
Chlorine is a great pool sanitizer if you "babysit it". It's great because, because when it works it usually works very well. If you can keep your chlorine levels in the "ideal range" (around 1-2ppm), and do the normal weekly & monthly pool stuff (this is an article about chlorine so I won't elaborate here) you probably won't have many water issues. The problem is, chlorine isn't "stable". The amount of daily chlorine your pool requires to keep levels at 1-2ppm varies wildly due to changing environmental factors. If you're not testing enough, then you have no way of knowing if the amounts you're adding are correct. You don't want too little chlorine in your water. You don't want too much. You want the right amount. You won't have the right amount unless you test daily. The "eyeball test" (looking at your pool water to judge if you're adding the right amount), while extremely popular and better than doing nothing at all, doesn't cut it. To summarize, any pool care system that doesn't include daily testing might seemingly work great for a while, but at some point will create problems that will cost you a lot of extra time and money to fix.

So how much daily chlorine is my pool need going to need?
It varies a lot. In central Illinois, some days your pool (say a 10,000 gallon pool for sake of discussion) might only use a mere 1 ounces of chlorine. Some days it might need 1 full pound. That's probably the normal daily range if you keep your pool under control. If you develop serious algae or mold problems, it might need a whopping 3 pounds daily (for a while) or potentially even more. I'm certainly not advocating just dumping chlorine in the pool to fix all your problems, but I've seen pools that had basically become a small swamp and temporarily required more chemical than I'd care to document here. The key is to keep your pool clear and as low cost as possible by adding "just enough chlorine". Be sure your water's chlorine reading is always just high enough that you don't develop problems in the first place.

Chlorine is all the same right?
Absolutely not. To be clear, my numbers above are for "quality pool chlorine", which has 99% active ingredient, and is either a powder (sodium dichlor), or in tablet/puck form (sodium trichlor). Real chlorine seems more expensive than "el cheapo chlorine brands" until you start considering how much more of the cheap stuff you'll have to use, and how much the filler is going to cloud your pool.

So check that chlorine reading every day. If problems, visit your local pool pro (that's Cardinal Pool, if you're near Champaign Illinois), but above all else get in that water and relax! Yes a pool takes some work, but stay on top of it and you'll have a lot more time and money to actually enjoy it.

And now a word from our sponsor.
If you live in central Illinois, please consider buying all your chemicals from Cardinal. We stock a comprehensive selection. We are aggressively priced on quality pool chemicals not loaded with filler. And we provide free professional water analysis for all our customers.

Our friendly and professional staff is here to answer any questions you may have about our company or our services. Call Cardinal Pool & Outdoor at 217-352-7665, or vist us at 511 South Country Fair Drive.

Scooters

2011-04-08T17:01:00.001-05:00

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We now stock 2 lines of scooters from KYMCO (we're not really a dealer yet), the leading brand in scooter value. These scooters are not only a blast to ride, they're much more economical (and environmentally friendly) than cars! Both come with 2 years warranty, and a free $100 gas card (which at 80+ mpg will get you a long way). 50cc versions are street legal with a regular drivers license.

The "Agility", features a modern design, and is a basic high quality scooter that's extremely affordable & fun! The 2011 Agility comes in Red, Blue, and Silver, with either a 50cc or more powerful 125cc engine.

2011 KYMCO Agility

The "Like", features a georgous head-turning retro Italian design, with the same fantastic build quality as the leading Italian scooter manufacturer, but at about half the cost! The 2011 Like comes in red, white, black, or ivory, with either an adequate 50cc, or a powerful 163cc engine.

2011 KYMCO Like

Chemicals & Supplies

2011-04-08T16:56:00.001-05:00

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Cardinal stocks a wide range of chemicals to sanitize your pool water. We carry Baquacil, which is the leading non chlorine pool system. We also stock our own value Chlorine brand, and sell low chlorine products as well. To all our chemical customers, we offer a free professional water analysis service.

We stock all the supplies you need. Pumps, filters, covers, cleaning equipment, toys, even value above ground pool kits. If Cardinal doesn't have something for your pool, then you don't need it.

New to pools?
Here are some short articles to help you learn more about water chemistry:
   *Water Testing
   *Chlorine
   *Baquacil

Our friendly and professional staff is here to answer any questions you may have about our company or our services. Call Cardinal Pool & Outdoor at 217-352-7665, or vist us at 511 South Country Fair Drive.

Pool Construction

2011-04-08T16:53:00.001-05:00

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When you consider the addition of a family pool, the most important question is "Who do I trust to build it?".

Cardinal's Story.
As a young owner of Cardinal Crane, Russ Law got his start in construction by building many of the bridges in the area (Champaign, IL). Then about 30 years ago, Russ began building quality inground pools engineered to last. Cardinal Pool was born. Since then, Cardinal has built hundreds of beautiful custom pools for families just like yours.

Pictures of our work.

Cardinal Pool, Champaign IL

Find out more.
Visit us at our retail location, or let us come talk to you about a pool for your family.

Our friendly and professional staff is here to answer any questions you may have about our company or our services. Call Cardinal Pool & Outdoor at 217-352-7665, or vist us at 511 South Country Fair Drive.