Pool service in Texas

The prices below are national HomeGuide figures from a page dated September 2025, with no Texas breakdown. Use them to judge Texas quotes, and ask each company what its monthly price includes.

What a pool service visit should cover

The Texas Comptroller describes pool maintenance as testing, acid washing, adding and balancing chemicals, cleaning and changing filters, and vacuuming. That list makes a good checklist for a quote: ask which of those tasks the monthly price covers, whether chemicals are included or billed on top, and whether the technician leaves a record of the readings after each visit.

Sales tax on Texas pool service

The Comptroller says pool maintenance is a taxable real property service whether it's done at a home or a business. The household-services exemption doesn't cover it either: pool cleaning done at a home by a self-employed person is still taxable.

Ask any pool company what licenses or registrations it holds and check each one with the agency that issued it. For the electrical side, TDLR's guidance on pool-related electrical devices (January 2019) sets out three levels of work.

• Residential Appliance Installer License (RAIL): a RAIL holder may install, uninstall or replace pool electrical devices, including underwater lights, GFCIs, pumps, motors, heaters and automation systems, on the load side of the control center while keeping to the National Electrical Code. They may also add devices that don't need more amperage or access to the main breaker panel, such as salt systems, time clocks, variable-speed motors and UV or ozone equipment.
• New or upgraded line circuit: only a licensed electrical contractor with a designated master electrician may offer to do that work.
• Dealer and manufacturer repairs: a residential appliance dealer or manufacturer, or someone it authorizes, may maintain and repair pool electrical devices, using only components of the same type and ampacity as the originals.

How to check a TDLR license for pool equipment work

Before a pump, heater or automation swap, ask for the name and TDLR license number of the person doing the electrical work, and look it up on TDLR's site. If the job needs a new circuit or panel work, ask which licensed electrical contractor will do it. Our electricians guide explains Texas electrician licensing in more detail.

Texas's pool yard enclosure law, Health and Safety Code Chapter 757, applies only to pools owned or run by a multiunit rental complex or a property owners association, and to doors and windows of rental units opening onto those pool yards. It doesn't cover an ordinary single-family backyard pool, so check your city's code for backyard pool rules.

• The enclosure must completely surround the pool yard and be at least 48 inches high, measured on the side away from the pool.
• Gaps under the enclosure must not let a 4-inch sphere pass, and decorative cutouts can't have openings over 1-3/4 inches.
• Chain link is prohibited for new enclosures built after January 1, 1994, and so are diagonal members lower than 49 inches.
• Where the building or pool first got electrical service on or after January 1, 1994, a door may not open directly into the pool yard. Older doors that do need self-closing, self-latching hardware and keyless bolts set 36 to 48 inches above the floor.

If you manage or live at a complex or HOA pool, ask the pool service to report broken gate latches and anything stacked against the fence; the law also bars permanent equipment placed where it's readily available for climbing over.

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) rules for public swimming pools and spas, 25 TAC Ch. 265, Subch. L, took effect January 1, 2021. They cover how public pools and spas are built, operated and managed.

Under them, every Class A, B and C pool and spa must be maintained under the supervision of a trained, certified operator. DSHS accepts the PHTA Certified Pool Operator, the NRPA Aquatic Facility Operator, the ASPSA Licensed Aquatic Facility Technician, or an equivalent the local regulator approves. The operator doesn't have to be on site and may oversee several pools. An HOA board should ask DSHS or the local health department whether its pool is a Class A, B or C pool before applying the rule.

Federal law adds a drain rule. Under the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, public pools and spas have had to use anti-entrapment drain covers since December 19, 2008, and the CPSC says one with a single drain that can be blocked needs a secondary anti-entrapment device or system.

Pool service questions for HOA boards and managers

If your pool falls in one of those classes, ask the company which certified operator will supervise it and for a copy of that person's certificate. Ask when the drain covers were last checked, and keep the answer in writing with your pool records.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services counted 88 child drownings in Texas in 2025. Its 2025 table records locations including backyard pools, apartment pools, community pools and bathtubs. DFPS says drowning is a leading cause of accidental death for children under five, that it can happen in almost any amount of water, and that a child should never be left unsupervised around water, inside or outside the house.

A weekly pool service is a second set of eyes on the yard. Ask the technician to tell you about a gate that won't latch, a damaged drain cover or a broken safety cover, and fix those before the next swim.

Drought rules come from your water utility, and draining or refilling a pool can run into them. Two examples:

San Antonio pool refills and SAWS surcharges

San Antonio Water System sets drought stages by Edwards Aquifer levels: Stage 1 at 660 feet, Stage 2 at 650 feet and Stage 3 at 640 feet, on a 10-day average, with Stage 4 declared by the City Manager. Single-family customers pay a surcharge of $10.37 per 1,000 gallons on use above 20,000 gallons a month in Stage 3, and above 12,000 gallons in Stage 4. In October 2024, during Stage 3, SAWS said it would not grant variances to let customers who refill pools avoid those surcharges.

Austin pool owners and Conservation Stage

Austin Water said that, as of September 2, 2025, Austin was under Conservation Stage restrictions, with variances available case by case. Its watering page doesn't list a pool-filling rule, so ask Austin Water before you drain.

Before you approve an acid wash or any job that means draining the pool, ask the company how many gallons the refill will take and check your utility's current stage.

Get the service in writing: visit frequency, the tasks each visit covers, whether chemicals are included, how repairs are quoted and approved, and how either side ends the agreement. Ask for repair quotes in writing before work on pumps, heaters or filters.

If a seller comes to your home and you agree there to buy services over $25, Texas Business and Commerce Code Chapter 601 generally lets you cancel by midnight of the third business day after you sign. That right doesn't cover service you book yourself by phone or online.

If a dispute doesn't resolve with the company, you can file a consumer complaint with the Texas Attorney General. The office says complaints are public under Texas law and that filing one doesn't mean it has opened a case.

1. Ask which licenses or registrations the company holds and check each with the issuer.
2. For pump, heater, light or automation work, get the TDLR license number of the person doing it.
3. For a new or upgraded circuit, confirm a licensed electrical contractor will do the work.
4. Get the visit tasks, chemical costs and sales tax in writing.
5. Ask for a record of the water readings after each visit.
6. At a Class A, B or C pool, ask for the certified operator's certificate.
7. Before draining, check your water utility's drought stage.
8. Ask the technician to report gate, drain cover and safety cover problems.

Read our terms of service for how the city lists are ordered. The ranking doesn't check licenses, so run these checks yourself. If your deck or patio needs cleaning too, see the pressure washing guide.

Each city page lists local pool service companies with ratings, review counts and contact details, along with the checks that apply in that city.

Pool service in Dallas-Fort Worth

• Dallas
• Fort Worth
• Plano
• McKinney
• Arlington
• Frisco
• Flower Mound
• Rockwall

Pool service in Houston and the Gulf Coast

• Houston
• Katy
• The Woodlands
• Conroe
• Sugar Land
• Cypress
• League City

Pool service in Austin and the Hill Country corridor

• Austin

Pool service in San Antonio and the Hill Country

• San Antonio
• New Braunfels

Pool service in West Texas

• El Paso