Monthly Pool Servicing Rates Exploding

Anyone else get hit recently with a 31.25% increase in monthly pool service charges.  
This supposedly is because chlorine prices have risen.  Seems exhorbitant to me.  Please share who tends your "good sized" pool and what their rates are.  And, of course, whether they are "Good" :-) and dependable. Thanks.

We need more information. How big is you pool, how many times per week is it cleaned?

I have not had any increase. I pay $700 pesos per month which includes twice a week cleaning/maintenance and all chemicals.

I'm not quite sure why you would need the size of MY pool, to relate whether you have had a large increase recently. But, anyway ...............

I'm not there right now, so just guessing. Size about 25'X60'

Maybe your pool dude just wants to make more money.

our gardner takes care of the pool so no extra cost.

By the way, the pool has been used by No One in the last 4 years. Therefore requires no extra chemicals to combat human bacteria, oils, pee etc. It is serviced twice/wk for about 10-15 min a visit

Unless covered, the rain changes the pH and levels of chemicals used. And there is the dust factor blowing in along with the greenery bringing in algae. Since it hasn't been used in 4 years why not fill it in with dirt and plant a garden?

I do realize that rain and dust does affect the balances. The Seasons are balanced out by these two factors. However, that has been the case for this pool for the last 10 years. Nothing new. Except, I guess, for chlorine & labor prices.

Doesn't anyone other than CBob have pricing input (even personal experience with buying their own chemicals)?

Jaja..... as usual you get everything except a simple answer. Welcome to the Jungle.

My pool is approx. 16,000 gallons.   When we installed it in 2006 we had pool maint., and even then he cleaned once per week for around 1000 pesos per month.  

We had our gardener/Jack of all trades trained on pool maintenance.  He cleans it twice per week, including back flushing filter when needed and chemical balance.   He has been with us since 2006.   We also purchased maintenance equipment.   

I believe part of the increase you might be experiencing is increase in chemical costs.   Chlorine in Arizona has increased approx. 50% over the past year.  Not sure in Chapala as our tenant sends the the bill and I've never checked.

brigitte wrote:our gardner takes care of the pool so no extra cost.

Just so you don't think you're being ignored....same as Brigitte.

Thanks Sainte for your input.  Yes, I was getting a little "Sad" that my topic was not resulting in more input. Considering how many people must have pools here, with and without outside maint., they all deal with chemical costs, one way or another, so I am surprised by the lack of usable info. input.  

JimW, thanks for your input.  Glad you found a cheaper/better way to deal with your pool maint. after '06, because 1000ps in 2006 was way-over-the-top!  Many come here with NOB cost mentalities ...... buy, and then realize "hey, this guy is getting 25ps/hr, not $20.USD".  You say chlorine has gone up 50% in AZ in the last year.  What do you attribute that to?  Are we going thru a world wide shortage of Hypoclorite?

MCoons, Gosh, was anxiously waiting for your input...  You asking such detailed questions of My situation, prior to Your supplying any kind of useful information, led me to believe you had an interest in the subject, and some valuable personal input. Si?, No?, Hello?

Vandre wrote:Thanks Sainte for your input.  Yes, I was getting a little "Sad" that my topic was not resulting in more input. Considering how many people must have pools here, with and without outside maint., they all deal with chemical costs, one way or another, so I am surprised by the lack of usable info. input.  

JimW, thanks for your input.  Glad you found a cheaper/better way to deal with your pool maint. after '06, because 1000ps in 2006 was way-over-the-top!  Many come here with NOB cost mentalities ...... buy, and then realize "hey, this guy is getting 25ps/hr, not $20.USD".  You say chlorine has gone up 50% in AZ in the last year.  What do you attribute that to?  Are we going thru a world wide shortage of Hypoclorite?

MCoons, Gosh, was anxiously waiting for your input...  You asking such detailed questions of My situation, prior to Your supplying any kind of useful information, led me to believe you had an interest in the subject, and some valuable personal input. Si?, No?, Hello?

Vandre,  We gave our gardener a 200 pesos raise for the added responsibility....big wow!  We have had the same housekeeper and gardener since 2006.    Before I got stuck with this cancer BS, Deb and I would leave for a month and our gardener would stay inour home @ NC.   He had the pool, pool table and a great vacation.   We gave him full range.  When it rained, he worked inside patching or painting.  He has created his own master piece in our home.   Painted rooms to his creative taste!  It has always been fun to return to his creativity.  Once a week he prepared a floral arrangement for Deb.

I look after my own pool. Chemicals cost me about 100 per month. I haven't noticed a big increase in prices of chemicals yet.

Vandre, you could get estimates from a couple of other maintenance people and see if your guy is in line. He may have discovered he was undercharging you. Of course, he could have decided you were good for another 31%.

I pay 750 per month, serviced twice per week including chemicals. Pool is 14 x 32 feet. Our service is provided by Carlos Taylor and we are very satisfied. He also supplies salt for our water softener and delivers it, a nice convenience.

We used to have our gardener maintain our pool but we were not satisfied with his cleaning so we have hired a company. They come twice a week and the cost is 400 pesos/month. Our pool is 9' x 27'. We provide our own chemicals which are minimal, an algicide and muriatic acid as we have a pure water filtration system.
If your pool is 25' x 60', I don't think that is average; it seems large to me.

25' x 60' would be one of the biggest residential pools I have ever seen. Usually they max out at 20' x 40'.

Thanks to those that provided data.

I did say I was guessing on my pool size, however, it did seem "big", so I used the ruler on Goggle Earth and it looks like it is more like 20 X 40 (I don't know if altitude distorts the results - but, close enough)  (boy,was I off)!!


My impetus for posting  was frankly, the huge %age increase in charge.  I was just interested to see if others' mo/maint. had risen or if you are the buyer of the chems, whether you had noticed increases.

Vandre wrote:Thanks to those that provided data.

I did say I was guessing on my pool size, however, it did seem "big", so I used the ruler on Goggle Earth and it looks like it is more like 20 X 40 (I don't know if altitude distorts the results - but, close enough)  (boy,was I off)!!

You used Google Earth to measure your pool?
As far as providing data goes,you might have stated what you were paying before the increase,that would have been pertinent data...

Yes, tell us what you were paying and what they want to charge you now.

I've been paying 800/mo and they want to raise it another 250/mo.

Since my original post was asking, simply, about increases noticed by others, there was no need to go into size nor current/proposed costs.

I'm happy to share, just didn't think it was part of the current thread.  Now that everything is defined, I hope we get more people to post: their pool size;  # times/wk;  chems yes-no;  currently paying What$/mo;  have had What% increase in last year?

Thanks

I  know of two people that have pools about the size of yours...one in Chula Vista, they pay $1,100 p/mo. and another in Riberas, and they pay $1,000 p/mo., both by the same well known pool servicing company, located in SAT.  Don't know how many times a week they come but they do provide the chemicals. The home owners said the rate hadn't change for over a year or more. I believe the pool servicer is Alfredo Espinosa.

Just checked my invoices over past year for chlorine.  I buy here in larger quantity than Chapala.   Previous purchase for 25 pounds was $49.95, this year $74.95 for 25 pounds, bought 50 pounds of 3 inch tablets for $104.95