SteveB | 2009-10-18 | 10:21:37 PM wrote:


"FenderAxe" wrote in message
...
Hi there --

I'm considering buying a home with a swimming pool, but I'm
concerned about the monthly cost of maintaining the pool.

Is it difficult to maintain a pool's chemical balance yourself? If
you hire someone to maintain the pool, what is the amount you
normally pay per month?

Any information about this will be appreciated.

Thanks --

FA

I have a 35,000 gallon pool at a house in Las Vegas. During the time
I spent there and cared for the pool, I learned the following:

A pool needs more frequent care than a person coming once a week and
vacuuming and tossing in some chemicals.

A Hayward pool vacuum robot will save you a lot of work.

Understanding the pool and what is going on is key to keep it in
consistent shape and avoid either using too much chemicals and
wasting money, or using not enough and getting algae and related
nuisance problems.

Getting the water stabilized is the key. This involves buying a
cyanuric acid test kit for about $25, which will have a tester and
enough chemicals to last about five years. If your cyanuric acid
level is right, the chlorine you put in there doesn't dissipate
through the surface of the water and into the air above, needing to
add chlorine almost daily.

Keep track of the ph, but where I lived, I did not even check it.
You are asking advice, and I am giving it for where I lived, but that
may vary where you live. ph is important, because a level above or
below the safe range will cause corrosion of everything metal.

Pool guys come in all flavors, costs, and reliability factors.
Remember, it ain't rocket surgery, and like landscapers, anyone with
a pickup and a license is in business. Some of them are good, and
some are clueless. Pool service is around $50 a month, and that's
coming once a week, and if you want anything done inbetween, you have
to do it.

Doing said work between pool guy days is cost effective because if
you get a wind and a bushel of leaves in the pool the day after the
pool guy comes, it ferments for a week. So, you cleaning it out will
keep all that gook from going into the filter, and causing you to
have to backflush, or change or replace expensive cartridges.

If you have the time, and learn how to do it, I would recommend doing
it yourself. BUT, get a Hayward robot, and it will save you a lot of
work. Put it on, go to work, come home, and the pool will be mostly
clean. You will still have to do some things, as it is not totally
automatic, and there are places it misses, or other maintenance
chores.

Once you learn how to do it, yes, it takes constant attention, and if
it gets ahead of you, it takes a couple of hours to clean, or let the
robot do it for you. But you will have a better pool than someone
only coming once a week.

What SteveB said....

I take care of a couple of pools for $40 a month, with the client
buying the chemicals. During the middle of the summer and winter, it's
a 10-minute job once a week to get the junk out and check the chemical
levels. During the Spring and Fall, it's more like 30-45 minutes
chasing all the leaves. I know I price myself low, but it's an easy job
most of the time.

What kills you is when the pump seizes, or the motor fails, or the pipe
springs a leak under the pool, or the underwater light shorts out, or
any of a hundred other things.

--
Steve Bell
New Life Home Improvement
Arlington, TX USA