How Much Per Gallon Do You Charge To Maintain A Swimming Pool Per Month?

[Gavin]

given that the larger the pool the more chemicals it requires a price per gallon might be a good way to price a monthly pool service. at least its a place to start.

so anyone out there using this price per gallon pricing?

[precision]

That could get way to confusing as far as billing goes. we charge the same per week for all pools unless they have special fetures like an attahed spa. If you price it right you will profit on all jobs- Chems are always extra

[Gavin]

That could get way to confusing as far as billing goes. we charge the same per week for all pools unless they have special fetures like an attahed spa. If you price it right you will profit on all jobs- Chems are always extra

Thanks precision. Yeah right now I have 5 pools and they are different sizes..smallest is 5,000 and largest is 15,000 gals...and I charge $145 incl chems. but I was thinking about using a per gallon figure as the larger the pool the more chemicals is can use. was thinking about $12 per gallon.

[Dr. Spa]

$6000 a month for a 5000 gallon pool?

DUDE! I WANT YOUR JOB !!!!

[precision]

is 145 a month week what?? I realy feel you should rethink the gallon thing- ive been doing this for 16 years- charge extra for chems- base proce for vaccing pool empting baskets etc for instance 50 a week plus chemicals that are needed- buy chems in bulk and and use your supply and charge by the pound of chems use like 10lbs of alkalintiy for like 15 dollars when you bough a 100lb drum etc

[Gavin]

$6000 a month for a 5000 gallon pool?

DUDE! I WANT YOUR JOB !!!!

sorry meant .012 per gal. or $12 per 1,000 gallons

[Gavin]

is 145 a month week what?? I realy feel you should rethink the gallon thing- ive been doing this for 16 years- charge extra for chems- base proce for vaccing pool empting baskets etc for instance 50 a week plus chemicals that are needed- buy chems in bulk and and use your supply and charge by the pound of chems use like 10lbs of alkalintiy for like 15 dollars when you bough a 100lb drum etc

$145 per month. with once per week visit. takes me around 45-60mins to adjust chems and clean each pool. I take my time and don't rush. my clients seem to like the fact I take around 1hr on their pool. they assume I'm doing a thorough job. also I didn't want my clients worrying about how much the chems would cost each month so decided to keep it simple and include chems. really doesn't seem to take much longer to clean a 17,000 gal pool than a 10,000 gal but obviously once the pool is balanced the larger pool will always consume more chems.

[Pool Raider]

<!--quoteo(post=101714:date=Feb 25 2010, 05:55 PM:name=precision)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (precision @ Feb 25 2010, 05:55 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=101714"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->is 145 a month week what?? I realy feel you should rethink the gallon thing- ive been doing this for 16 years- charge extra for chems- base proce for vaccing pool empting baskets etc for instance 50 a week plus chemicals that are needed- buy chems in bulk and and use your supply and charge by the pound of chems use like 10lbs of alkalintiy for like 15 dollars when you bough a 100lb drum etc<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

$145 per month. with once per week visit. takes me around 45-60mins to adjust chems and clean each pool. I take my time and don't rush. my clients seem to like the fact I take around 1hr on their pool. they assume I'm doing a thorough job. also I didn't want my clients worrying about how much the chems would cost each month so decided to keep it simple and include chems. really doesn't seem to take much longer to clean a 17,000 gal pool than a 10,000 gal but obviously once the pool is balanced the larger pool will always consume more chems.

Where do you service pools? I want to move there. In Northern California one of the nations largest markets, the avg for a (Full Service) Top/ bottom cleaning, empty baskets, and providing chems is $90-$120/ month. Most companies around here charge extra to clean the filter system at least twice a year if it's a 300+ sq/ ft unit.

Most companies in my area charge between $45-$60 for a basic service or "Chem Only"

[brettnolan]

raider,

I find it amazing that pool service is so cheap in CA where everything else is so expensive. Most companies in the midwest charge nearly $100 per visit, chemicals extra.

But, my understanding is that there are a lot of immigrant workers in CA driving the price down.

Funny how things work.

[NccPools]

southern oregon is anywhere from 35.00- 75.00 just depending on pool size and $50.00 is a safe bid to clean a pool per visit

[poolsrus]

Hello all.

My name is Ron, and I found this board while researching pool routes.

Anyone have an opinion on these pool routes that brokers are selling?

Any suggestions for a guy wanting to break into the biz?

Or maybe some threads here on the board I should be reading?

Thanks

[PrecisionPoolJay]

We charge our weekly service customers $75/week PLUS chemicals. You can not determine what you will need no matter what size the pool is. We bill at the end of each month for the service, my techs are supposed to leave behind a slip every week noting what chemicals were added so when they get their bill they are not surprised. Everytime we have tried to included chems we feel we loose money.

- just wanted to add we are looking to raise our weekly rate to $95 as we are very busy with weeklys and think we could get that in MA/NH

[aaronkr]

We currently have three different levels of maintenance depending on the customers needs. A once/week cleaning is $55/wk plus chemicals. A bi-weekly cleaning is $65/wk plus chemicals. Our cleanings include brushing walls, vacuuming, cleaning baskets and backwashing. If we have to clean a filter, remove sand, etc... all of those side jobs have their own associated fee. If you would like, you can view a copy of our maintenance programs at http://www.hometownpoolstore.com/pool-service-agreement

[Texas Pool Rx]

I do a base price and upcharge if the pool is much larger or if they have a high number of trees, a very dusty backyard. I assume that each pool will have an attached spa, most of them do where I work. $130 a month is the price with chemicals included with an average customer paying $150 a month.
Tool me about a month to figure out where I was losing money and if I needed to adjust pricing, I charged less at first and I was not making enough. Most systems are on chlorine, with 50 pools a week ($7500 total being billed), I generally go through an average of 50lbs of shock and 50lbs of tablets a week ($200). Occasional bottle of yellow treat or algecide ($16) and about $50 in other balancing chemicals. So regular chemical treatment is not where I was losing money.

The problem came for me when I included algae blooms in the pricing. That would jack my price per week up another $200 if a few pools had a significant algae bloom.

So now I include chemicals, but if they have an algae bloom I will charge them for additional chemicals.

Also, if a pool doesnt have algae or anything, you should be able to crank out a pool every half hour. It saves alot of time, and as long as the pools are clean, people are happy, they dont usually care if youre there for half hour or an hour. I do 12 pools a day in 5 hours if everything is pristine, 6 hours on average, and 8 hours if there are a huge number of pools with algae that day. Get a routine down and keep with it, saving time lets you do more pools in a day and more money in your pocket at the end of the week. But don't skimp on anything... if you skip something one week it will catch up to you the next and really mess with your time. The best way to get your time down from what I've found is just keep a routine. I get there, clean out the baskets and check the equipment, skim the surface, vacuum, brush, backwash (if needed), then add the chemicals, and it's muscle memory now.