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

On Oct 18, 7:20*pm, FenderAxe wrote:
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

In SoCal...

I paid (in 2005) ~$100 / month (the pool guy supplies all the chems)

if you develop a rhythm & keep a handle on the water chemistry its
easy

add extra chlorine if it rains, a wind storm blows in a bunch of
leaves or if the pool gets heavy use

cheers
Bob

"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.

MHO, YMMV

Steve

"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

Assuming it's a chlorine pool it's pretty easy. Go to a pool supply store
and develop a relationship with them. Have them test your water for you and
they will tell you what to do.

I have a Polaris which makes mine very easy to maintain. Hopefully yours
will too. You need a pool vacuum at least.

Keep your chlorinator full and shock about once a week.

My pool is pretty small and I run the filter 12 hours a day. The cost to run
isn't very much. I get away with about $200/year on chemicals. In the winter
I turn it off and put the cover on. Water here is pretty expensive and that
is probably my highest cost.

If you have problems post here. There is lots of advice here. Beware of
supply guys. Some will sell you anything. I don't like to talk to the store
owner. I think it's best to find someone who doesn't care as much about
selling and just getting you what you need. You'll be able to tell.

I was nervous when I bought my house with a pool but it turned out okay.

Jim

On Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:20:22 GMT, FenderAxe wrote:

Hi there --

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


The cost isn't so bad--- but it takes time.

Is it difficult to maintain a pool's chemical balance yourself?

No-- but you need to keep at it. 15 minutes a day will save you
spending a whole day/weekend, draining and refilling. I second
the robo-vac suggestion.

If you hire
someone to maintain the pool, what is the amount you normally pay per
month?

Did you ask the homeowner all these questions? If they had a pool
guy, talk to him. If not- ask where they got their supplies.

Jim

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

Jim Elbrecht wrote in
:

On Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:20:22 GMT, FenderAxe wrote:

Hi there --

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


The cost isn't so bad--- but it takes time.

Is it difficult to maintain a pool's chemical balance yourself?

No-- but you need to keep at it. 15 minutes a day will save you
spending a whole day/weekend, draining and refilling. I second
the robo-vac suggestion.

If you hire
someone to maintain the pool, what is the amount you normally pay per
month?

Did you ask the homeowner all these questions? If they had a pool
guy, talk to him. If not- ask where they got their supplies.

Jim


Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all of these fantastic,
informative posts. I really appreciate your assistance and feel a lot more
comfortable moving forward with getting a home with a pool.

Thanks again --

FA

"FenderAxe" wrote in message
...
Jim Elbrecht wrote in
:

On Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:20:22 GMT, FenderAxe wrote:

Hi there --

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


The cost isn't so bad--- but it takes time.

Is it difficult to maintain a pool's chemical balance yourself?

No-- but you need to keep at it. 15 minutes a day will save you
spending a whole day/weekend, draining and refilling. I second
the robo-vac suggestion.

If you hire
someone to maintain the pool, what is the amount you normally pay per
month?

Did you ask the homeowner all these questions? If they had a pool
guy, talk to him. If not- ask where they got their supplies.

Jim


Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all of these fantastic,
informative posts. I really appreciate your assistance and feel a lot more
comfortable moving forward with getting a home with a pool.

Thanks again --

FA

It's just like a yard. You can keep it up week to week or let it go to
hell, and then have big problems every few months, and an unusable space.

Steve