Cost Of Leveling Ground For Above Ground Pool

by Marco
(Atlanta)

What would be a good price to charge someone to level a 15 by 30 area in order to place an above the ground pool?

Hi Marco.

Back when I was installing pools I would get asked this question at least a half a dozen times a year. It's a pretty loaded question. The majority of my jobs were set up in the evening hours over the phone. My days were spent in the field installing pools. I seldom had time for on site estimates so I tried doing everything over the phone.

My total price to install a 15 x 30 was about seven hundred dollars. This would include leveling up to about six inches. Over six inches may, or may not, bring an extra leveling charge. I seldom used this clause but if I showed up to install a pool that was on the side of a mountain, and this did happen occasionally, I had an escape clause. I might break out the jackhammer and get to it, or I might bid the job with the extra leveling charges included. This seldom happened, but when it did it was well justified.

I would try to protect myself the same way when it came to bidding leveling only jobs. Normal leveling would be a couple hundred dollars out of that seven hundred dollar job. So for a normal backyard, I would come in and remove the grass and laser level the pool area. I was, however, very careful about bidding these jobs. If the ground was not just as described over the phone, or was not watered correctly, I had a talk with my customer before the work was started.

So, I'm not sure if you are a pool builder looking for bidding advice, or a homeowner looking for advice on a leveling estimate.

As an installer your best bet is to look at the yard and try to determine how long it will take. Decide how much you want to make in an hour and bid accordingly. If looking at the yard is not an option this might help. Removing sod and leveling the pool area would take us between 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. I would bid it at two hours or two hundred dollars. That's for me and my two or three man crew. We would normally do 3-5 jobs a day so when we arrived at the job site it was all business. We got it done, collected a check, and were off to the next job.

If you are a homeowner looking at estimates you could get a few and see how the prices range. The most important factor in my mind is will they laser level the area to within one inch. This is important for the base of an above ground pool.

Cost Of Ground Prep For Pool

by Cindy
(Montgomery AL)

I am considering getting an above ground pool; probably 18' to 24' oval at 42" deep. What is the best way to prepare the ground and what can I expect the base preparation to cost? Thanks - Cindy

Hi Cindy.

All these pages show an above ground pool being installed. As you can see, the base preparations are all different.

Above Ground Pool, Deck and Awning

Above Ground Pool Installation

Diamond Star Pool Installation

Atlantic Pool Installation

You want a base of smooth compact dirt. To obtain this you may have sod to remove, or a mountain to move, or 10 tons of fill dirt to smooth and pack. No two yards are the same. After the ground is level you will want to treat it for weeds and grass. If you have nut grass the treatment might run a hundred dollars, if it's just a few weeds about ten dollars worth of weed killer would work.

If you already have smooth level dirt you may just need to rent a transit to fine tune the leveling and make it perfect.