The work · Lesson 01 · 5 min
A visit from the gate to the report
A route falls apart when every house is a new invention. The visit is a short list you can say out loud. Learn the list before you learn the exceptions.
Before the gate opens
Read the note from last time while you are still in the truck. Gate code. Dog. Filter was weak. A customer who asked you to stay off the lawn. The note is part of the visit, and skipping it is how you ring the wrong bell.
If there is no note, you write the first one today. A route with empty notes is a route only you can run, and only while you remember.
The cleaning they can see
Skim the surface. Brush the walls, the steps, and the waterline. Empty the skimmer and the pump basket. That is the part a customer checks from the kitchen window, and it is the part that has to happen even when the water looks fine.
Work in one direction around the pool so you don't talk yourself into skipping the far corner. The far corner is where the leaves sit.
The pad, then the water
Look at the equipment before you open a chemical jug. A loud pump, a wet pad, or a pressure number that jumped since last week changes what the rest of the stop is for. Chemistry on top of a broken filter is a story you will have to undo.
Then test. Add what the test asked for. Write down what you added, and what you saw, in words the next person can use. That next person might be you in seven days, or a tech you hire in a year.