POOL BUILDERS INC

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How did it go?  We could not be more pleased.  Larry, the salesperson, was extremely helpful and fair in pricing our custom pool.  They were very prompt and kept us in the loop all the way during the process.  The sub contractors they used were excellent craftsman.  They were very upfront and honest in timelines, and were on the work site when weather allowed.   We decided to wait to write this review to see how the pool worked for a while, and to examine the quality.  It has been 5 months, and we could nbot be happier with the quality of the pool and its construction.  We constantly get compliments on the functionality and beauty of the entire pool area.  Certainly not the cheapest, but that is not a bad thing.  We felt we got an extremely fair price for the extremely high quality.  The people across the street went cheaper, and they continued to have quality issues like leaking for over a year.   Thanks PBI, we will definitely recommend you to everyone.

Pool Builders did a spectacular job remodeling my pool.
They originally built my pool 25 years ago and have just finished resurfacing and remodeling my pool. When I asked around all those years ago, everyone I spoke to said to go with Pool Builders.
They are not the cheapest but they are the best value for a well-built and reliable pool. With so many companies that come and go in the business, Pool Builders have been around and will be around because they are known for their quality.
One of my neighbors went with another company that went out of business half way through building his pool, and a co-worker had a pool shell crack and leak with no warranty from the company that built his pool. I know with Pool Builders I will never have these issues, and they stand behind their pools 100%.

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Went with Pool Builders because I loved the design of the pool. Essig pools was also a top contender. They claimed that the pool would take 3 months. They actually took twice as long. When I would call for an update they were very rude and wouldn't return my phone calls. At the end the pool looks great but it was a huge headache. One of my neighbors did their pool with Essig and it was done 3 months later. Wish I would have gone with them.

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Even changes that were post-permit approval were not a
problem. And, we had a few. They kept us informed during every step of the
process. They coordinated every phase of the project. They completed the pool
on time. There were no budget over runs and they completed all the work at the
contract price.
Everyone who comes over is very impressed by the design the
quality of workmanship, and find it hard to believe how quickly it was
completed.

We choose Pool Builders to construct our pool even though they were the highest bid because of their reputation and guarantee. Now several years later the pool is falling apart and they refuse to fix it. We hired a lawyer and forced them to fix a previous provlem but they did a half way job and its falling apart again. We can sue, but the cost of lawyers fees might be higher then hiring someone else to do the work and I'm sure we will get a better quality fix. The extra money we spent hiring Pool Builders was wasted money, don't make the same mistake, find someone else. Our neighbors had their pools put in by other companies and are not having this kind of trouble.

Overall, it was a great experience. We had just built
a new home and after much research and many estimates, we chose Pool Builders
to design and build our pool. We had signed with VanKirk, but we had a very
disappointing experience and had to get our deposit back. A friend had just
built with Pool Builders and had a positive experience, so we decided to try
them.
They came out and met with us to design the pool and had a drawing within a
day. Their prices were very competitive, so we signed a contract. The day after
our permits were approved, Pool Builders was out at our house marking out the
pool and they starting digging the day after that.
The whole process from start to finish took approximately seven weeks, which
was right on point from what we were told and much faster than the average pool
company. They were out at our house working on the pool almost every day.
Pool Builders has been around for 40 years and outsource very little of the
process, so there is no blame it on the sub-contractor game. The final product
came out beautiful. It is a very high quality pool and it cost approximately
20% less than VanKirk's estimate. We are extremely happy with our pool and
would recommend this company to everyone.

UPDATED REVIEW OF POOL BUILDERS, INC.: PBI stepped up to address our concerns to the best of their ability, and for that we are changing our review and endorsing their services. While we still have a few concerns (the diamond brite is still a sore spot for us), they have been an active partner even after the closing all permits. We had a small glitch with our salt machine (not PBI's issue, rather the manufacturer) and the same with our pool light. Both handled. We are now working with them on a few concerns about the condition of our waterline tile and they have been very, very responsive. More to come on that.
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We anxiously waited quite some time for the value in our home to creep back up to have enough equity to put in a pool. The time had finally come and we excitedly interviewed several companies, both those referred to us by family and friends and companies we researched independently. We signed with Pool Builders Inc. (PBI) because our salesman was knowledgeable - albeit a bit old school - they offered strong references, and had been in business for many years. PBI's bid fell in the middle range. The pool we designed with PBI is a 15X30 rectangular pool with a five foot sun shelf on one end. It is salt chlorinated and heated. The construction process had several snags along the way. Our dissatisfaction with PBI is based on three factors:

First, communication and responsiveness from the company was flat out poor. Multiple emails and phone calls were required from our end to get simple information. And we felt we had to stay on top of them to keep the process moving. In fact, we were the ones who had to pick up the permit at city hall. $45,000 is a boat load of money and we expected much more flow of information in our direction. We were told on multiple occasions that this project or that install would be done on day X, but come day Y, we were still calling. The pool is and quot;doneand quot; and we're still calling!
Second, attention to detail was mediocre. Example: We came home one day expecting to see the trenches dug around the pool for the plumbing - a big step - and we did come home to trenches....but on the WRONG side of the house. The reason this is significant is because two years earlier, we pit in a sprinkler system and designed it carefully knowing we were going to have a pool in the future. We put the sprinkler mechanics on one side of the house knowing the other side near the carport would be a better spot for the pool equipment and heater since it's not near any bedrooms. Guess what, they dug right where our entire sprinkler lines ran to – destroyed – even though the engineering plans indicated the correct layout for the plumbing! Another example, the day the back fill was completed to prep for the decking, I noticed only one deck jet plumbing line was visible above the level ground. The second was not extended high enough to stick out of the dirt. I thought to myself certainly they know this and won't overlook it. Silly me. I had to call to get it fixed after they moved on to the next step and buried the plumbing line. And this is just one of several examples where attention to detail and quality assurance was poor.
Third and by far the most significant, now that they have our money (of course) and the pool is (from their point of view) and quot;completedand quot;, we are experiencing challenges that are not being addressed with the level of urgency we expected, and were assured we would receive, if issues arose after the final inspection. After filling the pool the first time, we were dissatisfied with the diamond brite outcome. There were streaks and obvious areas of over- and under-application. And we're talking obvious variances in color tones. We chose midnight blue because we wanted a darker finish than the common Florida pool. PBI agreed to drain the pool then acid wash the pool to help even out the color. (This was all before final inspections by the way.) Once it was refilled, it was an improvement, but the dark blue color was noticeably lighter. It was acid, after all. We were told the color would continue evening out as the diamond brite cured. It’s been several weeks and there are still unacceptable areas of concern, and some areas seem to be getting worse. Many dark blotches the size of a Frisbee, streaking on the sun deck, areas of dark and light shadows, areas with no texture aggregate at all. Again more calls and emails. Again, ignored. In fact, this comment you are reading is a revised version of our original because the blatant disregard for our satisfaction is worsening.
Finally after one of our emails (for paper trail) mentioned that we would share our frustrations about our experience online (i.e. Angie's List and Better Business Bureau), we got some traction. We met at the house with the PBI construction supervisor who acknowledged the discoloration. However, he was very dismissive of 90% of the areas we were dissatisfied with. Making excuses for why one area was a certain way, etc. He even said they would only attempt to even out the discoloration in one area. His actual comment, and quot;that spot is my only concern.and quot; In reference to point 1 above, we were told the process would be scheduled this week for and quot;next week.and quot; It's Friday afternoon, no call. Can't say we're surprised. I also stressed I expected to be called to schedule the time in advance so I could make arrangements to leave work and be home.
Overall, we enjoy our pool. We are not the types of consumers who thought everything would be roses. In fact, if that were the truth this comment would be three times as long as there were many things we overlooked. Don't get me started on the screen enclosure company PBI endorsed. That's another catastrophe (Hammond Screen, by the way, still waiting for our handles). The issues that led us to putting together this Angie's List post is to share our story, but to also hold PBI accountable to us and all future clients. We do not think our requests are unrealistic. We do not have crazy demands. We want the dark blue pool we paid for and signed a contract for. We don't want to keep acid etching it away until we have a uniform looking, sky blue pool that has probably lost half its structural life because of the barrage of high-speed chemicals. Is that too much to ask? We will happily update this rating if PBI makes good on their word and their warranty, because we are not satisfied. If not, we will continue sharing our experience and reach out to the BBB next.
At this time we would not endorse Pool Builders Inc. and we are certainly not referring them to anyone. Photos coming soon!

I decided to go with Pool Builders because they have been around for a long time and had a reasonable price.

Good final product but like pulling teeth to complete and non-responsive. There was a problem with the tiles while under warranty. Pool Builders was with me every step of the way to complete the work. All though the responsiveness was poor while building the pool I couldn't be happier with the way they resolved my tile issues when they arose. Still needing to work on communication but I would recommend them.

When they built the pool back in 1994, they were responsive to small repair issues that needed tweaking. They are a first rate, quality- oriented company, and their employees are honest and helpful. I would not hesitate to give them my highest recommendation.

Awful.!!! I would not recommend this company.