# Above ground pool removal



## cfp (Jan 30, 2015)

Received a bid request today to remove an above ground pool. Never had one of these in all my years in the business? Has anyone else had one of these before? How did you bid it?


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## Craigslist Hack (Jun 14, 2012)

cfp said:


> Received a bid request today to remove an above ground pool. Never had one of these in all my years in the business? Has anyone else had one of these before? How did you bid it?


$350.00 is about all I can get for them. I've bid them as high as $600.00 but they never get approved at least by our clients. We use a cut off tool slice them into sections and throw them on the trailer wad the liner up and toss it on top and we are out in about 45mins.


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## Wannabe (Oct 1, 2012)

Did many in my day. Just be SURE to bid the depression in the ground being leveled with dirt and sod installed.


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## GTX63 (Apr 12, 2012)

$385 to remove a 21' pool last month. 
The pool was on a remote farm that we were doing a trashout, ltree trimming, etc so we already had a skidsteer on site and trailers. Pushed it over cut it up and had it loaded within 45 minutes. It was just an add on to work already being done.

Most any other time, we start out at $550 for that same 21' and go up according to size, access and whether there is a deck. We bill $250 for back filling the depression.

Those prices are for human beings and pay 15-30 days out. That does not include discounts or kickbacks to third parties. We will take 6-8 before pics, a couple durings and an equal number of after photos. 

A 40% upcharge to a national should cover their discount, a couple callbacks, possible an invoice or bid adjustment and the pia of dealing with them.


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## cfp (Jan 30, 2015)

Wannabe said:


> Did many in my day. Just be SURE to bid the depression in the ground being leveled with dirt and sod installed.


I know to bid for depression but didn't think about sod so thank you for that. Its just such a fine line between approval and denial of bids now a days. But anyways, thanks for the help everyone. I'll keep y'all updated.


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## ezdayman (Jan 7, 2014)

*350*

350 never covered the cost.. if the pool is empty and its on leval ground then yes its a 40 mins or less job. if there lame field qc person goes there and says ohhh you need 8 yards of dirt and 30 rolls of sod and a bob cat to leval it out for 350 there is no money..

i bid every time on a pool to cover myself. i would bring out my bob cat, 4 yards of dirt, level it out and grass seed.. i did sod it just died from not being watered. most i ever got was 1500 on a bid


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## Craigslist Hack (Jun 14, 2012)

ezdayman said:


> 350 never covered the cost.. if the pool is empty and its on leval ground then yes its a 40 mins or less job. if there lame field qc person goes there and says ohhh you need 8 yards of dirt and 30 rolls of sod and a bob cat to leval it out for 350 there is no money..
> 
> i bid every time on a pool to cover myself. i would bring out my bob cat, 4 yards of dirt, level it out and grass seed.. i did sod it just died from not being watered. most i ever got was 1500 on a bid


We always bid to cover them no less than 600.00 then water accumulates on the cover and pulls the sides in. Then we bid to remove the pool for the $350.00 if it isn't on level ground we would then bid to fill the depression etc. I was assuming it is on level ground?

The sod thing is a nice adder though I had never bid that before. I am adding that to my program!


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## Wannabe (Oct 1, 2012)

I found out the usual way..... A freebie. Filled depression then a big rainstorm washed a bit of the dirt away along with seed thus a trip/fall hazard developed. Sod was the way to go IMO.


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## cfp (Jan 30, 2015)

Well here is what we ended up with. Here is what I bid. What do you think? 

Remove Large deck surrounding pool. Deck is extremely rooted and appears to have termite damage. Deck poses serious trip/fall hazard. Termite damage also poses threat to structure. Deck Removal will generate approximately 45 CYD $1350

Remove 21 ft round buried pool. Removal will included pool frame and liner. $375

Pool is buried approximately 4 feet and is 21 ft in diameter. Removing will leave an empty hole. Will need approximately 52 yards of fill dirt to fill and level out hole. Hole cannot be filled in with deck in place. $975


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## cfm (Apr 20, 2014)

I did 3 last year, I 600,600 and 500. One was really rusty, had to sawzall it apart. The other two I did with a razor knife and my impact. Just bust off the plastic caps for the supports, there's usually #3 phillips holding it together. 
I did them alone, no real need for a hand, except if you can't cut the liner up small enough. Two took me 1 hour. The other one, substantially longer, but that was because of the yard set up. Pool down hill from driveway, about 200' away. Extra time was lugging it all back to the truck. I kinda didn't factor that in (DOH!)

None of them had a deck to remove, though I did secure it (one deck had sides and gates) for an extra charge. 

None of them wanted the yard filled or seeded, just the crappy pool gone.



Personally, I think your bid is on the low side, but I don't know your resources, area, etc. Did you account for any footings for the deck aswell? Might be an extra cost.


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## cfp (Jan 30, 2015)

cfm said:


> I did 3 last year, I 600,600 and 500. One was really rusty, had to sawzall it apart. The other two I did with a razor knife and my impact. Just bust off the plastic caps for the supports, there's usually #3 phillips holding it together.
> I did them alone, no real need for a hand, except if you can't cut the liner up small enough. Two took me 1 hour. The other one, substantially longer, but that was because of the yard set up. Pool down hill from driveway, about 200' away. Extra time was lugging it all back to the truck. I kinda didn't factor that in (DOH!)
> 
> None of them had a deck to remove, though I did secure it (one deck had sides and gates) for an extra charge.
> ...


If I didn't have awesome resources it would have been a lot higher. 
Fill dirt costs me $4-$6 a yard
paid my bobcat guy $150
Dump fees are $26 a ton
you do the calculations. Lol


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## Maxwell10/4 (Apr 17, 2015)

Hello everyone - I am new to the forum and 1 year into property preservation in my area. I received my first opportunity to bid to remove an above ground pool. Any suggestions on what this would cost (based on your areas would suffice - worst case scenario I get a range - which would be good actually. I have attached pictures . Thank you in advance! I hope to be back often.


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## Yeah (Feb 9, 2015)

Based off of your pictures, I might be bidding in the $350-$450 range.


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## Maxwell10/4 (Apr 17, 2015)

this is helpful, thank you! - I am trying to find that balance - with bids if it is declined you have no idea - if its approved you all of a sudden get the work order. Its a crap shoot I am finding - don't want to under value my time or quality whilst still trying to be competitive. 

I couldnt imagine this would take more than an hour, razor slice - wad it- truck it ( very short distance to the bed of my truck) then pry up the boards around the perimeter.


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## hammerhead (Apr 26, 2012)

Maxwell10/4 said:


> I couldnt imagine this would take more than an hour, razor slice - wad it- truck it ( very short distance to the bed of my truck) then pry up the boards around the perimeter.


they are NEVER that easy. Something always goes wrong on easy looking jobs like that


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## Maxwell10/4 (Apr 17, 2015)

hammerhead said:


> they are NEVER that easy. Something always goes wrong on easy looking jobs like that



Hammerhead - ya know what I agree with you. That is completely real, it could very easily turn into a huge pain in the butt...what would you bid on something like this? I was thinking 500-550. I got 400 to cover an above ground pool, but the banks are weird about approvals.


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## BRADSConst (Oct 2, 2012)

This is going to sound like I'm being a dick, but what does it cost YOU to remove the pool? What any of us here charges is pretty irrelevant. Now if you asked what does a cost estimator allow, that's a different question.

How many man hours do you estimate? What is your labor rate? What are your overheads and profit requirements? Do you have to rent equipment to backfill the hole? What are your payment terms with your client? What are your material and disposal costs?

I've been out of the national and regional rat race for quite a while. I bid what I need to cover all my variables (labor, material, profit, overhead and PITA). When asked to do P&P work (which I still do), it is at my price and terms. Do I land every job? No. Do I care? Not really. I market toward people who will pay my rates. 

The one of the best things I've done in business is to stop letting others dictate how I run my business. Think about that for a second. When you (and I mean anyone) hits up Craiglist and asks for a price sheet, you are letting someone else dictate your business.

I spoke with a potential customer this afternoon regarding a composite deck. After a couple minutes I asked his budget. He answered with none of my business. I told him that I couldn't help and he'd need to find someone else. He was taken back by that and started back peddling. Moral of the story: Customers (clients) are not always right. They also will not dictate to me how I need to run my business.

Best of Luck to you :thumbsup:


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