7 Things Every Prospective Swimming Pool Buyer Should Know About Their Builder
Their Experience & Reputation
Why It Matters
This is a large investment for you and your family. Proceed carefully and research your prospective partners thoroughly. Becoming a Pool Builder is easy, and many companies pop up because the work is largely subcontracted. Becoming a great Pool Builder is incredibly hard. It takes years of experience and knowledge about local conditions, what works and doesn’t work in your neighborhood, and which subcontractors adhere to the highest quality standards.
What To Research
In order to be confident in your builder, you should research the following:
Years In Business: Do not select a builder without years of history and a portfolio of quality pools to show you.
Website: Does their website show pools they have actually built or are they just using stock imagery from the internet. Why would a builder showcase a swimming pool with mountains and pine trees in the background if they build in North Texas? Ask them if they built every pool on their website. If not, that may be a good indication they don’t have enough experience and history to build your project successfully!
Online Reputation: This one is tricky. Reviews from the general public need to be analyzed but also taken into context. You are seeing only one side of a story when reading online reviews, and generally speaking, people are more likely to leave a negative review in a bad situation than a positive one in a good situation. Reviews are important, but not the ultimate source of truth.
Partner Referrals: All pool builders use large distributors for their equipment and materials. These include SCP for equipment and plaster providers such as WetEdge and PebbleTec. You can reach out to these vendors and ask for their opinions on which builders are quality providers.
Payment & Draw Schedules
Why It Matters
You should never pay your builder too much too fast during the construction of your pool. Many builders have draw schedules that require you to pay more than 95% of the total contract within just a few weeks of construction. It is not uncommon to be fully invested in your project leading up to final plaster, but builders can definitely take your money and use it to pay for other customer project costs. Be careful!
What To Research
Understand the draw schedule completely. If you are financing your pool, make sure your lender also knows this schedule in detail. Draw schedules vary, but they should generally reflect the percentage of completion on the project. Avoid making any significant down payments prior to the first day of construction or dig day.
Insurance
Why It Matters
You want to be 100% confident your builder has adequate coverage in the unfortunate event they damage your home during construction, have an employee or contractor get injured during construction, or any number of issues during the build process.
What To Research
Both General Liability and Workers' Compensation insurance are absolute minimums. Reputable pool companies will have specific riders in their policies to cover situations like ground movement and shifting of the pool structure during construction. Make sure your builder is properly covered! Ask for a copy of these policies to review! Since it is not required to be licensed in Texas to build a swimming pool, some builders carry NO insurance, which is very dangerous.
Proper Construction Management
Why It Matters
Your sales rep will do a lot to earn your business. You want to make sure the person who is actually going to build your pool understands the process and has worked with the sales team. In many situations, what is promised by the sales rep may not be fully understood by the construction team.
What To Research
Ask what tools your company uses for construction management, design plans, and construction drawings. Make sure you have seen a full set of blueprints that both you and the sales rep/partner company sign and agree with. Many projects go south simply because of poor expectation management. A good construction management tool should allow you to see notes and communicate easily with the builder. Take plenty of photos during the construction process so that you are familiar with what is being built. If you need to engage a service company after construction, those photos may prove invaluable.
Ask About Piers
Why It Matters
We live in Texas—the ground shifts! There is no way around that. However, there are ways to properly construct and secure your pool structure so that you do not have issues long term with your swimming pool.
What To Research
Find out if your builder has constructed pools in your specific area—not just in the D/FW area, but your specific neighborhood. Many neighborhoods have challenging soil conditions, and a good company WILL NOT construct a pool without properly addressing these conditions. Piers do add costs to a swimming pool. They are not always required, but if your builder is advocating for piers, do not underestimate their importance. They add no visible value or increased enjoyment to the pool when it is complete, but they are a huge benefit long term, when needed.
Get Multiple Bids but Understand Each One Independently
Why It Matters
Cost is a huge part of this process. Some costs are unavoidable, but there are many ways you can add/remove costs with a great design.
What To Research
Get as much detail as you can on your bids. This includes the pool/pump equipment, the type of concrete used, the square footage of decking, water features, plaster and tile types, etc. Different companies use vastly different methods to generate their final contract price. If you find a builder you trust, you can show them bids from other providers, and they should give you an honest comparison. A good company will tell you if they can work towards a price. Be open about your budget with the sales rep, and don’t over-build beyond your budget. Typically, there is not much variance between bids of reputable builders, so if you receive a bid that is 20 or 30% lower than others, make sure you are doing a true apples-to-apples comparison.
Ask for a Construction Timeline
Why It Matters
Building a pool will effectively destroy your current backyard during construction. Be prepared for that. The best way to overcome the pain of construction is to get your project done as quickly as possible without compromising quality.
What To Research
Ask your builder for a typical construction schedule/calendar. Factors like weather can affect the schedule, but a typical pool should not take longer than 75 days to complete from dig to plaster. Don’t let a project drag out, as those are the ones that typically face problems. Hold your builder accountable to a schedule and stay in good communication with your construction/project manager throughout each step.
Want To Learn More?
While we hope you will let Foley Pools have an opportunity to partner with you on your upcoming swimming pool project, we feel it is important to share this knowledge with our neighbors given the time and money spent on a swimming pool project. Please reach out to us at 972-423-7178 with any additional questions and we will be happy to assist in any way we can.
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