A cavat for anyone buying a new pool

[waste]

If you are going to have a new pool installed, yes- price matters, but getting the right contractor will get you a better pool. Go with a contracter who specializes in the type of pool you are getting. When I worked for a company that specialized in 'shotcrete' pools, we also did a number of liner pools -our attitude was ' 'you're paying 1/2 for a pool, you get 1/2-a** job" I'm not proud of the 1/2 a**ed work I did on those pools, but that was how we handled the 'discount' pools. I'm saying this to let anyone who is buying a pool know to go with a company that specializes in whichever type pool they are buying, if you don't, you may get an inferior product.

[waterbear]

Go with a contracter who specializes in the type of pool you are getting.

I did exactly that when I decided I wanted fiberglass. There is only 1 fiberglass pool contractor in my area. I checked him out, looked at installations he had done, talked with previous customers. All seemed good.
My pool was supposed to be finished in June 2005. It is still not done. There have been a lot of problems and many are still not fixed althought the pool itself is operational. We have not passed inspection. Yes, he is licensed and insured. While Waste's suggestion is a good one in my experience building a pool is a craps shoot. If the dice are in your favor you win. Most of the problems with my pool stemmed from the fact that the contractor was NOT overseeing his work crews and subcontractors because he was too busy on other jobs. At least that is the excuse he gives me every time he apologizes for the the problems! He just discovered last week that my skimmer was never cemented in and that is why I keep losing water fast.
The right contractor is one that is actively involved in all phases of the pool construction....Just my 2 cents!

[waste]

Sorry that that was /is your experience. What I was trying to say is that if a shotcrete company says that they 'can' put in an above ground pool, go with the company that does all above grounds (or whichever type you're interested in). In your case, you may not have had the option of getting a fiberglass specialist, I've never installed one and have only worked on 4 in 18 years

[kaybinster]

What Waterbear says is oh so true. I was fortunate in that the company I used was a small one that I think did about 45 pools a year at the time. The owner was about 60 years old and was the salesman and head construction worker. He operated the backhoe and dug the entire pool himself in about 3 days. The entire project was done in less than 2 weeks for a 20 x 40 IG vinyl pool. This was done in the fall about 8 years ago. They filled the pool and closed it. In the spring they came back and poured the concrete decking around the pool, opened it and showed me how to run everything. It was the best dealing I ever had with a contractor. The told me what and when they would do things and did it better and faster than they said they would.

[waste]

When I worked for a company in Va., that specialized in 'shotcrete pools', we did install a number of liner pools. I currently work for a company that ONLY does in-ground liner pools. The difference in the product is amaing!

[Guido]

We build our pool with one of the biggest builders in VA and Maryland. Around 400 pools a year.
Everything went OK until the first bad contractor showed up. (Coping and Tile). I had them come out 6 times to replace tiles and coping. Now the pool is leaking and we are not very happy. Also they did not mount the pump correctly with the result that this thing is very loud. One thing after an other comes up and I’m getting very mad. The builder Forman only showed up when a check was to be collected the rest of the time I had to check everything. This is my first pool and I’m sure if I would have known more about it many things would not look like that. Now I have to fight for every little thing to get fixed.

BUT THE SUMMER COMES AND WE WILL SWIM NO MATTER WHAT!!!!!

Guido

[Phillbo]

The right contractor is one that is actively involved in all phases of the pool construction....Just my 2 cents!

Amen Sista'

[Luvtlee]

It is amazing to me, the differences two different people can have using the same pool company. We are in the process of having our first pool built and so far it isn't going very well at all. Three weeks in and the only thing that has been done is the excavation and steel. With everything they've been running behind schedule. We did not go into this lightly, did everything a person is supposed to do, ie: get several quotes, check BBB, make sure there's a super, check references, etc. We even checked their contractors license numbers out. The company we went with had glowing recommendations, people were so happy with this pool company they'd use em again....pools were done ahead of schedule and whatnot, never behind schedule. They don't even have any subcontracting, do everything in house. Yet, here we are, waiting and waiting for workers to show. It has been nearly two weeks since they finished the steel and have yet to start the plumbing. Whenever we talk to the lady who handles the office she tells us, "I am sorry but we got held up on another job, but you are next in line." They were nine days late starting the dig, and now they're a week late for plumbing. I can only cross my fingers and hope they show up next week. They are members of Aqua Tech, and we thought that would mean something, we thought we'd be getting quality. But now, we just can't help but wonder if we chose the right company.

Pretty ironic that others had such good experiences with them.

[Simmons99]

Luvtlee,

I don't think your pool company is all that bad - 9 days late to start the dig? That can happen really easily since they don't subcontract. You have a couple of people quit or get sick and it can put a small builder that does everything inhouse back a week and a half.

Personally - I have had friends that the pool builder wouldn't come out to start the plumbing without being paid another 20%, and then they wouldn't come out to do the electrical without another check - it took them 15 months to get done and they never came back to clean-up.

A few weeks late I would expect from any builder - even the best ones. Who knows maybe they ran into something unexpected during a dig for another customer - you wouldn't want them to run from your house if they hit a sewer line because they promised another customer they would be there tomorrow.

[Luvtlee]

This is true, Simmons, it is nice to know that they don't just leave behind their customers to get to the next on time. A few weeks behind schedule won't be bad, compared to the horror stories I've heard from some. We're just concerned that ours is going to turn into one of those horror stories. For instance, our designer highly recommended the Dichlor system and told us that it costs the same as the SWG. We went Dichlor since he so highly recommened it, and he told us that if we changed our minds and wanted to go back to the SWG that it would be no problem at all since they cost the same, approximately $1600. Well, now our super is telling us that if we want to switch to the SWG it's going to cost us an extra $1200. Where is the integrity any more? Why are we being told one thing from one person and something different from another? It's incredibly frustrating.