RODRIGUEZ BROTHERS POOL INC

Bottom line is that this is a company that seems to have deteriorated in customer service. Apparently, things were much better when the company was run by Mr. Rodriquez senior and has deteriorated since management has been transferred to others.

This company was selected because a) they are long established in Sacramento; b) their bid was significantly lower than others; c) I had a very positive recommendation from a general contractor who used this company many years ago.  The initial contact was positive; the bid price was offered as "negotiable".  The contractor offered to include pouring an additional short walkway and to powerwash and seal existing walkways at no additional charge.  Because I considered this initial offer to be reasonable, I did not negotiate price, but agreed to the amount bid.

The contract specified "To be paid in full upon completion unless otherwise noted."  Nevertheless, the contractor asked for and I made progress payments of $3,750 and $2,500 before a final payment of $4,995.  On the evening before pouring the deck, I received a phone call saying that the $2,500 payment was needed the next morning as a cashier's check or personal check on a local bank, made out to the lead person, rather than to the company.  This was so that the contractor could cash the check nearby and pay the concrete supplier and workers on the spot the morning of the pour.   I was foolish to make the final payment at the time of refilling of the pool rather than waiting to see if it, in fact, held water, which it did not..  Some specifics:

-The contractor's truck backed into and broke a fence gate on the first day.  I repaired it.
-The crew many times did not appear on the dates scheduled and often gave no advance notice when they would or wouldn't show up.
-The forms for the deck were crudely set leaving uneven edges on the deck exterior edge and poolside edge.
-Contrary to instructions on the container for the deck sealing product, the deck was sealed shortly after washing it down, resulting in a milky, fogged finish.  
-The pool was improperly pressure-tested resulting in major leaking upon refilling.  After several weeks, the contractor had still not found the leak and an outside leak-finder company was called in.  The leak was caused because a water pipe from a skimmer had been crushed.  The contractor had to cut out a section of the new deck, replace a skimmer, line and valve, and patch the new deck.  The contractor did not reimburse me for the leak-finder costs until after many calls, emails and visits to their office.
-Pool valves were twice left by the contractor in incorrect positions after leak repair work.  As a result,  when the system started at midnight, the pool/spa once overflowed for about six hours, and once sucked the spa dry for about six hours.
-Communications with the contractor throughout the project were extremely difficult.
-The total project time was approximately five months from contract agreement to completion.

They seemed very good and came highly recommended. They arrived and seemed to be doing a good job, then they arrived very early on the holiday. I mentioned to them that our local area had an ordinance regarding how early a contractor can begin work. I spoke directly to Mr. Rodriguez and he took great offense. I was just trying to help him out so that he would not be hit with a fine levied by our local ordinances. They stopped working n our pool and did not return for over a week. When they did "finish" and we had water back in the pool we discovered that they had not reopened the bubbler vents on the spa end of the pool. Our spa no longer works because the pressure blew something in the system and we cannot fix it without tearing up the entire yard and spending another 15-20 thousand dollars, as the problem is underground. They were very reluctant to come out and remedy the problem. They also had been very misleading about the amount of maintenance required in the initial days before we could once again use the pool and as a result our pool has white areas on the charcoal-colored plaster. We would have used a different sort of surface material if they had been clear before the fact about what was needed.

These guys are the pros. Several people in my neighborhood have used them, and everybody agrees. This was a 32 year old pool, and the first re-plaster on it. They only charged $100 for tile cleaning which may be due to the fact that it really didn't have any heavy deposits on it. They came in with the heavy equipment to do the prep work. Took about half a day, and they cleaned everything up before they left. We had off and on rain for a couple of weeks, while waiting for the plastering to be done. But when the weather cleared, they came back out and did the plastering. Had a crew of about 5 working on it, which dwindled down to one doing the final finishing after a few hours. Left good instructions for initial fill, and brushing requirements. Again, they cleaned up everything before leaving. The pool has never looked better. Highly recommended.

They failed to communicate with each other, which caused problems for me. I asked them questions and they were not knowledgeable. I also had trouble because they were non-responsive and didn t show up. Sometimes they never came at all. They left splotches on the pool and I was supposed to use a special brush to remove them. They still didn't come out after the brush failed to remove the splotches. I thought they could have done a better job.

Once the pool was drained properly (we had a communication issue) the crew completed the job in timely manner (approx 1 week) and to our satisfaction. The office was helpful in explaining how to take care of our pool once the plastering and refilling was complete. The pool looks awesome.

This company did excellent work. They were always here when they said they would be and cleaned up completely after each phase of the work. The price was reasonable. Call in the winter for a discount!

THEY DO GREAT WORK AND THEY ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE WORK IS DONE WELL. MY POOL LOOKS BEAUTIFUL. I AM VERY HAPPY WITH THE WORK THAT THEY DID. I THINK THAT THE PRICE WAS FAIR.