West coast of Florida here and we have a pool cage (many overhanging trees) so can't comment on the leaves problem. I just wonder what your pool maintenance guy means by a maintenance nightmare. There is really nothing to maintain in an in-floor system. Our in-floor has been working perfectly for 3 1/2 years now. One head did stick, replaced it easily and free of charge - under lifetime warranty.
Perhaps your pool guy is afraid of losing his job? For maintenance I check the PH regularly, visually check my pool most days, and empty the skimmer if it needs it. The pool rarely needs anything adding, perhaps some salt after very heavy prolonged rains, maybe a pint or two of muriatic acid if the PH rises. That's pretty much it. I brush the pool once in a blue moon if I feel like the exercise, as it rarely needs brushing. The salt cell is checked on schedule and the pool is back washed when needed - not often. I must add that the pool is always sparkling clean.
Perhaps the leaves change the scenario to a nightmare but for us the in-floor means almost effortless maintenance.

I can tell you what the pool maintenance companies say about them in my area--they don't work as well here because we don't get a lot of sand, but a lot of dust instead. So when the floor cleaners pop-up, it just stirs up the dust and clouds up the pool.

Evidently, they work very well in areas with a lot of sand instead. And they help clean up the shelves and sitting benches where a robotic pool sweep won't get to. I doubt it'll do much for leaves.

From my research 70% to 90% of the "cleaning" is done via the skimmers anyway.

Houston, TX here. Infloor cleaner keeps pool sparkling clean. Works fast and great on leaves, grass clippings, bugs, dirt. We never skim, rarely vac, sometimes brush the sides.

toddao...we have a in-floor cleaning system here in Louisiana..lots of trees and leaves...our pool is in the woods literally...oaks primarily and some pine needles when the wind blows hard enough.

No problems with leaves being cleaned by the in-floor system. Have to empty the pump basket every other day when the leaves are falling the heaviest. However..one disclaimer...we also have a negative edge which takes care of most of the leaf load so our pool may be much different than other pools in the woods with in-floor cleaning.

Our Pool is always clean in appearance. No unsightly lines or equipment in the pool making it appear un-natural.

Everyone always comments how we keep our pool so clean...we actually don't do much to it at all regarding cleaning.

We also have lots of sand and there are 2 spots where the sand collects for some reason...these areas (6"x6") are cleaned every other month or so with one of those hand-pump spa vacuums and takes about 3 minutes tops.

Hope this helps.

I have a polaris 380 in Nassau County Long Island (NY) and love it. Cuts down on having to vacuum. I would do it again.

Thanks for the feedback folks. It seems like the in-floor systems are worth looking into. I do love the clean look. Would be great not to have a polaris stuck spewing water out of the pool which happens with our current pool from time to time.

I'm hoping that I can draw from your experience. I've moved into a home with an in-floor cleaning system in the pool. For the past couple of months the system worked wonders. But now I hear very loud noises and what appears to look like air pockets exploding out of the floor. What is causing this? I don't know anything about in-floor systems and am worried about the pool.

Please help.

Nancy,
Most probably air is entering the system while the filter pump is off. When the pump comes on it is pushing the air out of the system thru the return lines, which in your case are the floor jets.
Check for a leak at the pump or backwash valve for starters.

Word of warning.

In floor systems work VERY well when installed as designed.

The major infloor manufacturers have in-house engineers that design the system specifically to your pool.

However, many pool companies install them as they see fit (meaning they dont install them to design specs, so that they can offer them cheaper than their competition while still claiming to offer infloor systems).

I run into this ALL the time. I may offer a system that adds $5 to $8k to the project while some cheapo competitor comes in and says he can do it for $2000. Invariably, its NOT done to design specs and ends up being nothing more than an "agitation" system that moves debris around somewhat, but doesnt REMOVE it from the pool.

If you do install one, demand to see the engineered plan from the manufacturer and make sure its installed that way!