Pool service for STR’s in FL twice a week?

Question

New pool this year for our STR here in the Panhandle. Looking at pool companies for service. I’m hearing it needs to be serviced at least twice a week as a rental? Is this correct? If so, my budget for pool cleaning was way off ($150/mth vs $400/mth). How often are you having your pool checked and cleaned for your STR? Any other tips or advice on this would be great.

John Underwood · Answer

I own a pool at my house and once a pool water gets out of wack it can take multiple days to get it clear again.

The 2x per week price seems pretty reasonable for that peace of mind.

I bought a gizmo that will constantly monitor pool chemistry and send me alerts if things get out of whack. I'll install this spring. It sits in the skimmer area.

Chai Xiong · Answer

I'm in Disney World area and manage multiple homes with houses.. we only do once a week.  What would be the reason why you need to do it 2x a week.  Maybe two checkin, but your property manager should be able to handle any pool issue too thats my guess, its rare that water will get bad in a week.

Dan Slaughter · Answer

I have two in the panhandle.  Each is $225/mo for twice a week service.

Eric Hetland · Answer

In the Panhandle, you want twice per week service March through October with once per week service in the off season. Prices should be $300-$400 per month ($225 is crazy but if the guy is doing a good job, good for you) depending on the size of the pool. If it is a cartridge filter, the prices will be higher assuming filter cleaning is baked in to the price.

A couple things to consider:

1-STR pools get abused. If your place sleeps 16 but only has a 7000 gallon pool, it'll turn quickly. Or if it rains everyday for 3-4 days in a row. As someone else mentioned, once a pool has lost its chemistry, it can be hard to get it back, especially if it grows a bunch of algae.

2-You want a report after every visit. If you aren't getting photos and chemical balances, you can't be sure the job is getting done. Photos also help if there is ever damage to anything in the pool area.

3-If you have a salt cell, it'll be running more in an STR pool than in a private pool. Expect to be changing it out every two years or so. Same with filter sand or filter cartridge replacements.

4-Try to find a pool guy who will help you manage heat requests. You don't want to be running your heater all winter through vacancies. You should 100% be charging guests for pool heat.

www.hetlandpools.com

Calvin Baughman · Answer

Hey, have you ever tried Turno? It's mostly for cleaning the house, but there are lots of different professionals in the app with specialized services, including the maintenance of the pool.

Andrew Steffens · Answer

We learned this lesson the hard way for sure.  Twice a week is needed in the hotter months most of the time.  It also depends on rainfall and humidity.  From a PM standpoint what we did was have the professional pool company service 1x per week and then have our in house technicians check and service if needed.  What happens is chlorine burns off and other chemical levels go lopsided in the hot months.  Pair that with the summer is busy and we have 10+ guests slathered with oils and god knows what else happens and the pools get cloudy or worse green.  You will also want to invest in good equipment.

Wesley Myers · Answer

I’m totally good with twice a week but I need to call around for a more reasonable price. $400/mth isn’t in the budget. Should I be shooting for certain days/times of the week for service visits? Thank you all for the info.

Alex F. · Answer

Hi @Wesley Myers  We have 3 houses with pools in FLorida and have the pool cleaned once a week.  All properties have a lanai.  If they did NOT have a lanai then i think we would need twice a week.

Bill B. · Answer

What causes the need for twice a week? It’s can’t be the heat.  I’ve never heard of anyone in Vegas even offering twice a week. Is it the humidity, bugs, rain?

Just asking so I know in the future.

Michael Baum · Answer

We have a lake. I kinda cleans itself.

Plus cool stuff rolls in from the lake to our beach.

Got a neat single person kayak a couple of years ago. Plus a crap ton of logs...

Pool service for STR’s in FL twice a week?

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