A pool brings a sense of community to a home. It provides an outlet for friends and family to spend time together while relishing the great outdoors. Perhaps no one knows that better than Josh Holden, a sixth-generation Texan whose business — and life — revolves around taking care of pools and making sure they’re ready for Dallas residents to enjoy.
Holden, who grew up in West Texas, attended the University of Texas, and then lived in Houston for 10 years before moving to Dallas three years ago, started his career in oil and gas. But after making the move to Dallas, he became interested in the pool industry. After all, pools provide more than just community to Texans — they offer a respite from the heat. He learned the ropes while working at a North Texas pool business for a few years, and at the beginning of last year, he started his own: Josh’s Pool Service.
Although his ability to do in-person networking was limited due to the pandemic, he persisted in getting the word out about his new business. “I’m a people person,” Holden says. “I work hard. I hustle.” In reality, it turned out that 2020 was a great year to establish a pool cleaning company, as people stayed home much more than they might have otherwise. Many North Texans traded in the beach for their backyard — and Holden was ready to help.
For a year now, he has provided white-glove pool services to Dallas homeowners, primarily in the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, Lakewood, and Lake Highlands. Keeping a tight-knit customer radius means Holden can assist all of his clients efficiently and can provide high-quality service to everyone. He works on pools year-round to keep them clean, but his business picks up in March and stays strong through September.
His services include a weekly clean, twice-weekly clean, and filter clean. He ensures the chemical balance of the pool is always correct and removes any debris and algae from the water. He also makes sure that the cleaning mechanism in the pool works properly, and he performs minor pool repairs.
Even when a pool is not seasonally in use, Holden stresses the importance of maintaining pool cleanliness and water level. “I just try to reiterate for my customers to keep water in the pool,” he says, “meaning halfway up the skimmer line. When you have water in there, it flows through your filter. Not having water would be like running a car engine without oil. It’s absolutely necessary to keep proper water in there.”
Holden also cautions against the use of too many chlorine tabs at one time in the pool, which can cause a chemical imbalance. “All you need, even during the peak dog days of summer, is one to two tabs,” he says. “Otherwise, it raises the cyanuric acid level too high and won’t sanitize the water properly. The ideal level for that, also known as a stabilizer or conditioner, is 30 to 50 parts per million. If it gets above 100 parts per million, the pool needs to be drained and you need to start over fresh.”
Through Josh’s Pool Service, Holden has found that, no matter who the homeowner is, every lifestyle calls for community and fellowship — and a pool facilitates that. By keeping his clients’ pools in pristine condition, and being a dependable business owner, he’s helping them foster that community. “I’ve learned that people want someone to be there when they say they’ll be there, somebody that they can depend on to be trustworthy,” he says.
Moving into the second year of Josh’s Pool Service, Holden hopes to continue to expand his clientele and learn more about the remodeling and repair side of the pool industry.
“Hopefully I can eventually be the biggest provider in the area,” he says. “But more importantly, what I’m after is providing quality service for somebody who wants and appreciates it.”