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I have a 20,000 gallon pool with a heat pump and a clormatic salt chlorinator. My pool guy charged $320 to remove the cover and open the pool plus the following charges for chemicals (Baltimore, MD.) Do the prices and amounts of chemicals look reasonable? Total price $521
15 lbs. calcium hardness increaser $22.90
15 lbs. alkalinity increaser $25.10
DE - 25 lbs. $30.85
240 lbs. salt - $50.70
20 lb. cyanuric acid $40.00
4 gallon liquid chlorine $22.00
Calcium Hardness increaser runs about $15 for 50 lbs as ice melter.Quote:
Originally Posted by DanS
Alkalinity increaser is baking soda: $5.42 for 12lb at Sam's Club.
Cyanuric Acid- 25 pounds???? I hope they didn't put it all in the pool.
Liquid Chlorine equivalent of 4 gallons as 8 gallons of ultra bleach from Walmart: $10.24
DE $20 for 20 lbs anywhere. Even cheaper at Walmart.
Salt $4.49 for 40lb at Lowes
my PB charges about $330 to open (take cover off, power wash, vacuum, reinstall SWG, take out plugs etc etc. and dumps about 4 gallons of Chlorine) the rest of the chemical balancing is up to me, which is good since you usually have left over stuff from last year... 20lbs of CYA, wow! I only had to put in about 1.5 lbs to get it up to speed this year. I guess you will have chemicals for the next 2 years, so at least you won't have to pay for it next time.
I have a 20,000 gallon pool with a heat pump and a clormatic salt chlorinator. My pool guy charged $320 to remove the cover and open the pool plus the following charges for chemicals (Baltimore, MD.) Do the prices and amounts of chemicals look reasonable? Total price $521
Yowch! Did he see YOU coming! My friend, you have been pool-stored, big time. I have a 20,000 gallon pool and I do all the opening my self--my 12 year old gives me all the help I need. Taking off my safety cover takes all of ten minutes, if that. Drying it, folding it, and putting it away takes another 15 minutes of labor (drying is the sun's job). Reconnecting hoses? Maybe another 30 minutes. Setting up my heat? Well, I had a lot of maintenance on my solar heating this year so that took a few hours, but since I do it, I know it's done right.
Before he threw in all these chemicals did he bother to TEST the water? Did he give you the test results? Can you post them?
15 lbs. calcium hardness increaser $22.90
Was your CH low? Do you have a vinyl pool? If it's a vinyl liner, you probably didn't need this. If it's plaster/concrete/tile, you should only have CH in the 200-400ppm range. If it was there, he shouldnt have added any---and 15# seems like a lot. Plus he charged you a premium price.
15 lbs. alkalinity increaser $25.10
This is truly a disgusting rip-off. This chemical is nothing other than Arm&Hammer baking soda in a fancy bottle, and 15 # is an EXCESSIVE amount for your pool. CostCo near me sells 12# bags (far more than you need) for $3.50. I usually add 1 # at a time, test and then another until my Total Alkalinity is in the 80-125 range. Do you have test results? I'll bet it's gone way, WAY above where it should be.
DE - 25 lbs. $30.85
I find this amazing. The most expensive pool store I frequent sold me a 10# box for $8. He overcharged you by at least $10.
240 lbs. salt - $50.70
Just the other day I bought solar salt at Home Depot for $4.50 per 40# bag. That's $36, total. You aren't paying $14.70 for delivery because THAT'S BUILT INTO THE POOL OPENING LABOR!
20 lb. cyanuric acid $40.00
20 POUNDS???? I NEVER add anything CLOSE to that! Have the water checked--you probably find that the CYA is well over 100ppm---far, FAR too high. You may well have troubles keeping algae out of your pool all summer with that! And the ONLY way to lower it is to drain and refill, flushing all this crook's expensive chemicals down the drain. I'd demand my money back for the chemicals! This is some crook!
4 gallon liquid chlorine $22.00
Yet again, a HUGE ripoff. The local Namco/Branch Brook pools charges $3.99 a gallon for 12.5%--that's $16, but they put it on sale and I got a card that lets me buy it all summer for $2.99/gal--or $12.00. Another $10 this crook lifted from your pocket. A 5 gal carboy of 12.5% runs between $12 and $15. Remember: 1 gallon of LC (assuming it's 12.5%) is exactly the same as 2 gallons of Ultra Bleach--so you can figure that cost too!
I suggest you invest in a good test kit, like the Taylor 2006C or the Leslie's FAS-DPD Service Test kit, spend the $60 to $80 on that, and learn just what you need. I can run my pool for several years on just what he charged you to open. I hope you watched how he closed it last year so you can close it yourself. The only things you'll need are a shop vac, (probably) pool plumbing anti-freeze, and Polyquat and liquid chlorine (bleach).
It's characters like this, who take people's money in large quantities, and don't even return QUALITY that make me so angry I start to sputter! It's one of the reasons I come here to PoolForum and am willing to be a moderator--to counteract crooks like this!
I don't think the PB necessarily put all the the chemicals into the pool that he was charged for... now that being said, the PB should have just opened and you should have the option to get your water tested and balanced yourself.
Hold on everyone...
You can argue that he didn't need all those chemicals and I would agree (in fact I'd like to know where the leftover chemicals are). But the PB is running a business. If you're going to hire someone to go to the store for you then you are going to pay more for it. Yes, those prices are high, but not when you consider that they're delivered to your doorstep and put into your pool for you.
Next year let them open the pool for a set pre-negotiated price and then handle the water balancing on your own.
Your point is well-taken, but that delivery charge should be built into the pool-opening charge, not by charging like a hospital--$10 for an aspirin. You don't build a good reputation by padding the bill by 20% (approx what the added premium/surcharge for the chemicals stuck on the bill--over $100 extra from what those chems can be purchased at.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffski
I also think that a service would test the water before adding chemicals they charge for, and will show those tests to their customer, too. Not to do the former is irresponsible, possibly criminal, and not do the latter is bad business.
I also think, with an IG pool, closing is more worth the investment than opening--getting the lines blown out, plugged and full of anti-freeze has got to be trickier than removing the cover, pulling the plugs, and turning on the pump, then vacuuming.
For me, I cannot fathom allowing someone to open or close my pool. When I open, while I have lots of dirt on the bottom, the water is always clear, with no green.
Even more so, though, I cannot see why our denizens here should ever allow a "professional" to add any chems to their pool.
But to each his own, and I think if you choose to have a service open and close your pool, you should still handle all the testing and chemicals yourself. We TRY to make understanding pool chemistry easy for our fellow home-owners.
I moved part of the posts from this thread into a different forum. The coffee discussion that was taking place in this thread is now in the "off topic and general interest" forum if anybody is wondering where it went!
Thanks.
Watermom: I moved part of the posts from this thread into a different forum. The coffee discussion that was taking place in this thread is now in the "off topic and general interest" forum if anybody is wondering where it went!
Thanks.
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Dang!
CarlD: "Dang!"
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Hey, is 'Mom' gonna have to wash your mouth out with soap, young man? :p :p