An in floor cleaning should most definitely have a main drain(s) in the floor. Skimmers are top water cleaning only...leaves, etc. They do help with circulation as a suction point, but don't be fooled into thinking that stones/sand etc will make its way up vertically, and then horizontally into a skimmer. A LeafTrapper is a different thing...some mistake it as a skimmer as it does have a deck lid, but it is actually a point of suction that is created by venturi off an outlet pipe. It, as well, is an open slot canister installed int he deep end floor as well.

An infloor cleaning system requires main drains to function - it is a fundamental part of the design. I also rarely recommend them due to the miles of extra pipe you will have buried beneath the floor of your pool. You would need to have a lot of faith in your contractor to be pressure testing those lines properly - and hardly any pool builders pressure test even close to established standards in the plumbing industry.

@swimmingpoolsteve That is such an unfair scare tactic against in floor systems. Just because they aren't common in your area or your previous family/generation didn't use or believe in them doesn't give you a free pass to lie about "miles of pipe". Even at an exaggeration, it's uncalled for. You are to be a light of honest information in a rather gloomy industry. Please?!

Infloor systems are installed every day, are held under high pressure in a continued loop for the duration of nearly the entire build (or at least until after the shell has cured), and continually work and perform amazingly well for many many years when installed per spec. For some families, in floor systems are an ideal fit to their lifestyle and use of a pool, as well as the families aesthetics wishes of not seeing hoses or a robotic cleaner in their pool.

natural one - I have installed perhaps a hundred or more infloor cleaning systems as well as repaired / renovated a similar amount over the years - this gives me all the experience and every possible right to explain the risks of these systems to uninformed pool owners. There is nothing "scare tactic" about it - the hard facts are that the pool industry has a terrible history with a low standard for things like pressure testing - if you think otherwise then you are dreaming. So I suppose you gang your entire floor cleaning system into a single manifold and pressurize the entire system to three times maximum operational pressure for a sustained 24 hour period? Ya...I didn't think so and yet that is how you should pressure test a closed loop plumbing system ESPECIALLY one that is getting buried beneath the floor of your swimming pool!

Well I can say our pool is still not done and the in floor cleaning system it what is holding up the plaster. In hindsight I should of got a better pool contractor or not done the in floor cleaning system. He used the wrong size pipes. Right now he doesn't even know what the solution is going to be. I know that I paid summer prices for a pool that I should of waited to the off season to get at a discount with a different builder... Fusterating.

Very sorry to hear about your experience. In floor cleaning systems need a ton of flow to operate. 2 - 3 horsepower pumps dedicated for the purpose and the plumbing runs should all be in 2.5" pipe. If he ran the wrong pipe size then this means this is the first in floor cleaner that he has ever installed.

As a consumer I have had a caretaker system in my non screened FL pool for now 15 years(yes 15) and aside from rebuilding the the indexing valve 3 times and replacing the nozzle inserts in the floor jets it has been amazing. in 15 years I have vacuumed my pool 3 times, 2 of those after hurricanes. BTW the rebuild kits are covered for life thru Polaris as long as your PB submitted the correct warranty paperwork and schematic. I would also credit the Caretaker(and diamondbrite) to 15 years and still no need for a re-plaster. Ensure your PB knows what they are doing though, the jets are supposed to be designed to push debris to a drain, not the skimmer

"swimmingpoolsteve"- Im way late responding but yes, its a common loop pressurized via a dummy valve that doesn't isolate any one line from the cleaning valve, even three way valves are installed at equipment set after pressure testing is complete. Our builds stay pressurized for close to 2 weeks minimum.

2.5" feeds to each in floor bank are not necessary pending equipment location and TDH. Suction? yes, we always run a minimum of 2.5" from the main drains. Between my grandfather, my father and my self, we have THOUSANDS of in floor systems cleaning pool across the world. I won't go into detail how, but just as "chadlloyd" can back it up, they work and I will add that his system is the system we highly prefer over any other. Pumps don't need to be dedicated infloor pumps, more misinformation. With VS pump technology, the in floor cleaning system can typically clean the entire floor in 2-3 hours max, and then used at slower speeds for circulation, features, etc.

The absolute key and common denominator in these systems is the install. Of course there will be problems if installed substandard. Same goes for your vehicles' brakes and the computer software you're using.

cheers.