Updated June 20, 2024
Pool cleaning services are vital to communities—pools in homeowners’ backyards, municipal complexes, and resort spaces all require maintenance, and pool cleaning service providers fill that niche.
But, if you’re starting a pool cleaning business, you might not know how to price pool services. Pool cleaning service prices vary widely depending on the tasks completed, your geographic location, pool size, and so much more.
In this guide, we’ll outline everything you need to know about how to price pool services, breaking down rate considerations step-by-step. This guide will equip you with the tools you need to build a competitive pricing model.
Weekly pool maintenance, including tasks like skimming debris, testing water chemistry, and adding pool chemicals, typically costs between $50 and $150. This is essential for maintaining the water quality and overall condition of your clients' pools.
Monthly maintenance services, such as detailed cleaning and equipment checks, range from $150 to $300. Regular attention to pool equipment like pumps and heaters ensures optimal performance and longevity.
Annual maintenance involves significant tasks like deep cleaning, filter changes, and comprehensive equipment inspections, costing around $1,000 to $1,500. This is crucial for preventing major issues and maintaining the pool's value.
Whether you are helping homeowners check off their home maintenance checklist or working with more commercial clients, how you price each job depends on the types of services involved. Some common pool cleaning services include the following:
During pool vacuuming, technicians connect a removable hose and suction device to a pool’s built-in water return valve to clear sand, dirt, leaves, and other debris from the pool surface.
Vacuuming is crucial to pool maintenance plans—when vacuuming, pool service technicians take a detailed look beneath the surface, identifying issues before they escalate, including:
In addition, vacuuming is likely to be one of your most highly requested services. So, developing a vacuuming pricing guide should be one of your first steps when starting a pool cleaning business.
While likely less familiar to your client base, pool surface brushing is part and parcel of any maintenance plan. Why should you offer pool brushing to your clients?
Pool brushing can be laborious and time-consuming, and your pricing should reflect your efforts.
Pool netting—also known as skimming—removes debris floating on top of the water. Leaves and grass clippings are common targets for netting.
Proactive netting can decrease your pool vacuuming efforts by intercepting debris before it sinks to the bottom. In turn, effective netting can prevent surface staining and algal growth.
Pool cleaners offering netting services are also likely to encounter insects, amphibians, or other animals who have found their way into swimming pools. While they’re typically easy to remove with a skimming tool, unwelcome visitors can carry viruses and bacteria that can make people sick. Thus, netting services should occupy a space on your pricing list.
Aside from cleaning inside of the pool via vacuuming, brushing, and netting, pool cleaning service technicians sometimes offer basic pool maintenance services, including:
Different materials have unique maintenance needs:
Preparing your clients' pools for winter involves draining water, adding winter chemicals, and covering the pool to prevent damage from freezing temperatures. This is vital for inground pools and above-ground pools alike.
Spring maintenance includes removing the cover, refilling the pool, and balancing chemicals to prepare for the swimming season. Ensuring the water level is correct and the pool pump is functional is crucial during this time.
Offering pool maintenance services to your customers in addition to cleaning services can help you become a one-stop shop for pool owners. As always, pool maintenance cost can also depend on its own factors, like if it needs a chemical water treatment, filter cleaning, etc.
If you have other skills aside from pool maintenance, consider offering additional services, like:
By offering turnkey pool services at an affordable price, you can achieve a larger client base and secure larger contracts per customer.
Before you advertise your pool business, you should develop at least a preliminary pricing guide to provide to your first clients. While determining pool cleaning costs and service pricing can take time, it helps to look at the factors that impact it. Let’s explore some elements to consider when determining pool maintenance cost for your services.
Charging for services based on the total size of the pool is a simple way to produce estimates for your clients and charge a reasonable rate. But, how do you determine pool size, and how do you establish a unit rate for service areas and size-based pricing? Let's explore a few methods:
If you’re providing pool area maintenance in addition to pool cleaning services, consider developing a price that accounts for the entire pool area. Why?
For turnkey packages, consider building a price based on the square footage of the entire pool area to ensure that you’re being paid for the full extent of your labor.
Instead of size-based pricing, consider charging a flat rate for a la carte services. For clients who only need one-time service or who want to purchase a test clean before committing to a continuing services contract, flat-rate pricing for each service provided can make it easy to provide timely estimates.
Consider the following method for establishing flat-rate pricing:
While we’ve touched on turnkey services, consider other possible bundles for clients seeking numerous services. Some example bundles could include:
In addition, consider how you’ll implement routine maintenance contracts if you plan to offer them. Consider integrating a discount system for routine customers, a rewards program for repeat customers, or another incentive for potential repeat clients.
When determining how the location will factor into your pricing, consider two factors:
Prices for services will differ across the country—pool cleaners in Los Angeles are likely charging different rates than service providers in Washington, DC.
To determine the going rate for pool cleaning services in your area, do some research for the rates in your local market. This is a critical element of pricing pool services, and you want to make sure that your estimates reflect local market values. Look into different ads for pool services in your area to get a feel for the types of services your competitors offer and potentially gauge their price point.
Speaking of market research, let’s take a look at two examples of small pool cleaning businesses and explore their services:
Researching your local market is one of the best ways to competitively determine your pool service cost. Local market research can also give you insight into any other swimming pool cleaning service offered by local competitors.
Pool cleaning services prices vary based on the services offered, pool size, service location, and many other factors, and determining the pricing isn’t always simple.
If you’re starting a pool business or drafting up a pool cleaning business plan, Nextdoor is here to help. Your neighbors want to shop local, and as a small business owner, you can help your community’s economy thrive. Advertise your business on Nextdoor to jumpstart your journey to market recognition.