Ballpark Estimate: Weekly maintenance costs between $50 and $100 per visit
If you’re ready to dive into in-ground pool ownership, you’ll need to be prepared to invest the time and money in maintenance and upkeep. Hiring a professional pool care or pool cleaning service is easy way to do this and ensure that your pool water will be completely safe.
Coming Clean
Professional pool cleaning can be an important part of keeping your water chemistry properly balanced, which is essential for your health and for the life of your pool as well. Of course you can always maintain your pool yourself, but many people find that the time and effort it requires cuts into their time to enjoy the pool, so they prefer to leave pool cleaning to the experts.
Benefits
With the help of a professional pool cleaning service, you can expect to wake up every morning to find a stretch of clear, blue sparkling water in your backyard that’s just waiting for you to jump right in.
Most pool cleaning services can handle a variety of maintenance tasks, including monitoring the water chemistry, removing debris to keep the pool clean, brushing the walls to remove any build up, vacuuming the pool floor and emptying the skimmer and basket.
How often you have these tasks performed, though, will depend on where you live and how often you use your pool. Keep in mind that some pool cleaning tasks need to be done on a daily basis, while others can be spread out every several days or even once a week. There are also other things that may need to be done less frequently or even seasonally. Most people handle the daily pool cleaning maintenance themselves and then hire the professionals to come in on a weekly basis.
Signs of Trouble
You may think that having your pool professionally cleaned is a must for aesthetic reasons. While this can certainly be true, it can also be essential for your health, too. For instance, when any leaves, branches, or other garbage lands in your pool, it can change the chemical balance of your water and can also clog your filter, which will prevent it from properly doing its job.
When things do go wrong, often there are visible signs to alert you to the problem. For instance, water that has a murky look or is changing color probably has an issue with the pH level. This may mean that you don’t have the correct chemical balance or that your filtration system isn’t working properly.
When your water becomes green and/or you find the pool walls marred with black spots, this can be caused by algae and needs to be addressed immediately, since this spreads bacteria and can make you and your family sick. Therefore, you should meet with a pool cleaning service company and find out what they recommend in terms of services and frequency.
What to Expect
When you opt for a weekly pool cleaning service, you can expect your pool cleaning company to oversee the following standard steps:
- Skimming the leaves and other debris off your pools surface.
- Checking the pH levels and adjusting the pool chemicals as needed.
- Keeping the pool filter clean.
- Emptying the pool skimmer and pump baskets.
- Running a brush over the sides and bottom of the pool to remove any build-up or residue
- Vacuuming the bottom of the pool.
Extra Services
Many pool cleaning services will also clean your deck, check your pool equipment on a regular basis, replace any worn or damaged parts and also ensure that your water level is correct. In addition, pool cleaners may also handle seasonal upkeep, including opening and closing your pool. While all of these pool cleaning services do come at a cost, remember that by relying on the expertise of a professional company, you are taking steps to protect your pool so this investment can be well worth it
How to Find
When shopping for a pool cleaning company, you can browse through your yellow pages or do a search online to find local options. There are also some websites you can use that have directories of vendors in your area. These include Find a Pool Service, SwimmingPool.com, Pool Care Directory, and PoolManSearch.com. You can also visit the website of the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals. Or, ask neighbors, co-owners or other pool owners for recommendations.
What to Look For
Before you hire a pool cleaning company to handle your pool cleaning, you’ll want to check references to be sure other customers have been happy with their work. You can also make sure they have no complaints filed through the Better Business Bureau. In addition, be sure to request for proof up front that any company you hire is insured in case any damage occurs on your property.
Cost for Pool Cleaning
What you spend on a pool cleaning service will depend on where you live, how big your pool is and what type, and what you want. But there are some basic guidelines that can give you an idea of what to expect in terms of pool cleaning costs. (Keep in mind as your pool size and complexity increases, the costs will rise accordingly.)
- For weekly pool cleaning, this usually costs between $50 and $100 a week.
- Monthly pool cleaning costs can be between $100 and $200.
So you can expect weekly pool cleaning costs to come up to between $250 and $400 for an in-ground pool, or $100 to $200 for once-a-month pool cleaning service.
Extra Costs
If seasonal upkeep isn’t included in your monthly pool cleaning package, closing and opening your pool each season will cost in the $100 to $200 range. In addition, if you need to hire a pool cleaning professional to come out and perform pool repairs, this will often be at an hourly rate in the $75 to $125 an hour range.
DIY Option
If you want to handle your regular pool cleaning yourself and only call on a professional for bigger maintance and repair projects, you can expect do-it-yourself pool cleaning to cost you between $50 and $100 a month for the chemicals you’ll need. You may also need to make a-time investment of $100 to $200 on the tools and supplies, such as a pool vacuum head and hose, wall brush, leaf skimmer, pole and kits to test the water balance.