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On this Floc It Friday episode of the Talking Pools Podcast, Rudy Stankowitz sits down with Shawn Davis and Dan Chiles, two former admins of 14 PSI Industry Lounge, for a candid conversation about toxic Facebook groups—and the responsibility that comes with helping shape their culture.
But first, breaking news on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The Washington Post reports that a contractor-commissioned inspection identified at least EIGHTY-FIVE failures in the pool’s new blue coating following its fourteen-point-seven-million-dollar renovation.
In their October fourteenth investigation, reporters Meg Kelly, Klara Auerbach, and Amy Brittain describe buckling along eight of ten interior expansion joints, nearly forty blistered areas, and peeling in nearly two dozen locations. According to the inspection, contributing factors included materials unable to accommodate joint movement, possible application errors, and insufficient curing time. Photographs showed crews applying coating shortly before — and after — refilling began, despite a seventy-two-hour curing requirement.
While President Trump and administration officials have repeatedly blamed vandals, The Post reports that this inspection did not identify vandalism as a cause of the coating failures. A separate Park Service assessment identified four locations where vandalism was considered possible.
The Interior Department says the contractor is obligated to repair the pool, and the company has said repairs would be covered under warranty. The inspection’s central recommendations: Follow curing requirements and test coating products before application.
The dark side of Facebook groups and an effort to correct course
You came to ask about a pool repair. Somehow, you’re defending your intelligence, your business, and three generations of your family against a guy whose profile picture is a cartoon shark.
Welcome to the comment section.
Shawn and Dan acknowledge their own roles in an atmosphere that sometimes rewarded tearing people down. They discuss moving toward more education, better advice, and a community where pool professionals can contribute without preparing for a digital barroom brawl.
The conversation gets uncomfortable, funny, and refreshingly direct. There’s still plenty of profanity. The question is whether we can keep the personality while putting down the virtual barstools.
In this episode:
- When roasting shuts down learning: Why knowledgeable professionals stop posting and valuable experience stays hidden in private messages.
- Community versus combat: The friendships and professional support the group has fostered alongside its rough reputation.
- Taking responsibility: Recognizing harmful behavior, discussing apologies, and acknowledging moderation decisions that went too far—or didn’t go far enough.
- Generational differences: How language, expectations, and humor collide online.
- Lost in translation: Why the sarcasm you hear in your head can land very differently on someone else’s screen.
- Correcting dangerous advice: Bringing qualified voices into a discussion without making someone afraid to learn.
- The hardest three words: Why “I was wrong” might do more for the industry than banning every F-bomb.
- Doing versus teaching: Whether being skilled at pool work automatically makes someone qualified to teach it.
The takeaway: Pool professionals should be able to ask questions, challenge advice, and admit mistakes without becoming the afternoon’s entertainment. Education works better when people are willing to participate.
Tune in next Friday for part two and the conclusion of Fear of Facebook. It’s time to leave the barroom brawl and dive deep into education.
Also featured
A reminder from our mental health episode: the people answering calls and taking care of everyone else sometimes need support themselves. If you missed that conversation, go back and listen. You are allowed to have help.
Music credits
🎵 “How Life Goes” — Wendy Lucas
Used with permission. Thank you, Wendy, for sharing your music with Talking Pools.
Listen to “How Life Goes” on Spotify.
🎵 “Kings and Queens of the Game” — Rick Stone of Lion Heart Pools
AI music credit to Rick Stone. Thank you for contributing music celebrating the pool professionals who keep this industry moving.
Sponsor appreciation
Thank you to PoolBrain, Service Industry News, BlueRay XL, AquaStar, and Jack’s Magic, featured in this episode.
We also recognize our 2026 Talking Pools Podcast Mentor Award sponsors: Title Sponsors BlueRay XL and United Chemical; Gold Sponsor LaMotte; Silver Sponsor Revved Up Apparel; and Supporting Sponsor AquaComfort Water Group.
Content note: Explicit language and discussion of online bullying, PTSD, grief, and mental health.
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Email us: talkingpools@gmail.com
