Pools By John Clarkson

Pools by John Clarkson is a high-quality organization that provides great reliable services. They are hardworking, honest and fully transparent during the entire process. I contracted PBJC to build a commercial size pool inside a building to include a state of art mechanical room. This was a complex project. From Michael's project oversight to Emily's technical oversight and Don's operations oversight, the project was a huge success. We have been open for 4 months. We have approximately 800 children for which we currently are teaching water safety and swim lessons. With this type of volume, it requires that the pool is highly functional. I am happy to report, we have had no issues keeping up with the demand. PBJC listened to us and advised us as to best pool and equipment for our needs. Our parents who trust in us to teach their children in a safe, healthy environment, are very happy with our pool and facility. I will definitely use PBJC on our next Goldfish Swim School. Sincerely, Pat Murphy

There is not enough room on this site to write how thankful and appreciative we are to Shannon at PBJC! Upon our initial meeting with Shannon and Erich in June 2020, we were immediately impressed by the level of expertise, knowledge and professionalism they displayed,. They took a lot of time to sit and talk with us about our swimming pool needs and how we envisioned our new pool, and how we'd use it - including asking us about our "must have" list. They discussed line item by line item with us so we could weigh all the options to make our decision. After weeks of thoughtful consideration, input from family members and taking into account the potential for cost savings, we decided to hire another pool company who came in with lots of promises and a bid just under what PBJC proposed. WE'RE STILL REGRETTING THE DECISION to not hire PBJC!!! What a NIGHTMARE it's turned out to be with the OTHER pool company. We are now 12+ months into the pool project (yes you read that correctly, 12 months) with "the other guy" and are still not done. The other guy left off so many details from his estimate that we're now at the same price as what PBJC originally quoted us. (Top of the list of what wasn't included with "the other guy" : no electrical for the equipment, no footer, no water sanitization system?! Aren't these things a requirement to operate a pool? We have learned so much from this horrible experience.) We have buyer's remorse 100%. However, to our amazement when we contacted Shannon at PBJC in hopes of gaining a little advice, he went above and beyond with his expertise and his generosity of time and talent to help bail us out of this disastrous situation. There is something truly remarkable about a team who epitomize professionalism, have an affinity for their craft, and who consistently demonstrate overall integrity and kindness. THANK YOU, SHANNON and your crew at PBJC...your benevolence and professionalism have not, and will not, go unnoticed. With kindest regards and thanks, K.B.

Clarkson wanted $395 to get a preliminary design / cost proposal - rolls up into overall cost of pool IF you choose them. If you don’t, money gone. I’ve received 4 other design / cost proposals from other highly reputable builders, they actually come out to your home and do not charge for the consultation. Advantage discriminating consumer. Don’t waste your time with them unless money is no object!

These guys are true professionals. Our pool looks amazing. Building a pool is a huge process, you must be patient. PBJC followed up and took care of every issue we had. Kyle our representative was amazing and always available to help answer all questions and concerns. Our backyard feel like a hotel oasis. Excellent work, thank you so much!

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Before going with Pools by John Clarkson (PBJC), we met with three pool contractors (PBJC plus two others).  We were between PBJC and one other.  The other one had the slightly better price, but we initially felt right about working with PBJC.  From the moment we met Jordan Clarkson, we felt at ease.
After our initial meeting, he presented us with a plan that seemed to have come straight from our own heads.  We gave the other contractors the same information, but they provided us with ordinary designs that just didn't speak to us.  PBJC's design was original and perfect.  In addition, he agreed to subcontract the services we did not want to have to deal with on our own....tree removal, landscaping, irrigation, plumbing, etc.
From the first meeting to the first shovel of sand to the final training of us on operation and maintenance, everything was handled with professionalism, attention to detail, and conscientiousness.  PBJC did everything they said they would do, when they said they would do it, and for the price they said they would do it.
Every person that they employed, be it their own employee or a subcontractor, was expert at their job and a pleasure to work with. From PBJC we worked with Jordan, Terry, Jim, Gary, Johnny, Luke, Derrick, Debbi, and probably others I don't remember or who I didn't catch their name.  I was never disappointed.
The one very small issue that arose was due to a box of tile with a bad lot.  It did not match the other tiles.  As soon as I saw it, I called Jordan.  He came out quickly, agreed that it was wrong, and put the gears in motion to have the incorrect tiles removed and new ones ordered.  PBJC's customer service was outstanding.
If I had to do this again, I would hire PBJC every time.  I will recommend them highly in the future.

Better than we had hoped. They did our pool in 2012 and we were so impressed that we hired them to come back and do the driveway with a path to the side of the house leading to the back yard. Jordan, Judd and their team did an amazing job! We have and would recommend them to anyone wanting to get a quality pool or deck done. I can't say enough good things about them and their team. Our backyard is a show stopper! Great job!

We spoke with a few companies in the area and the only one we felt comfortable with was PBJC. They are a family business (which I love) and you can tell they love what they do and enjoy working with their patrons. Other companies danced around price and timelines. PBJC was very frank about both things. Guess what everyone- building a pool is expensive. And there are other costs...fencing/screening, heating, alarms, features ...that you don't even think about until you're sitting there going through designs. They were very good about breaking everything down with us and really working with our budget. We did have to scale back our original plan because the costs of other necessities (fencing, gas line installation for fire pit, etc.) but could not be happier with the results.

Judson (our contact) answered EVERY single question and concern I had within the same business day. They went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable with everything. They blew their original timeline (10-12 weeks) out of the water and finished our job (from day of dig) in 5 weeks- thanks to good weather and availability they say. They connected us with other trustworthy companies and worked with all outside contractors wonderfully. We added a heater mid-way through the project and while I don't recommend you change things during the process, we were lucky that it did not push our time line back. They would have been just as gracious about the add-on regardless. The workers who were at our house were extremely polite, kept the area clean, and worked tirelessly.

If I could build another pool and hire them to do it, I would.

They don't always do a really clean job. I am going to take this pool out and put another one in and I will use someone else at that point.

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This is a company that many told us is well known for quality construction and that is what we experienced. We interviewed 4 companies, and this one was not the cheapest, but we wanted a quality finished product. The sales process was amazing, and they have an incredible design and concept. The sub contractors they use are professional and courteous too.
Again I want to say, the final product looks great. What didn't go well in our construction was timeliness of the project, communication, and doing what they said they would do at the end (unless we reminded them or the more extreme measure needed was we held the last 5% check - that was an attention grabber). Communication was the worst part of the process, I rarely knew what would happen when until I got the owners involved on a Cc email about my frustrations. Then it was better for awhile, and slowly slipped back to the way it was at the beginning. It shouldn't have gotten to that point, they had my phone numbers, emails, and I'm a stay at home parent they could have talked to me at the house.
The low point of the project happened at the end, when they asked for final payment half a dozen times before the project was complete. The project manager copied the owner and his son on emails asking for payment before the job was done, and neither one of them ever replied about our concerns (like we paid $65k can you show us how to maintain it before we pay you last check) - they wanted the check and didn't care how low our perception of PBJC has now fallen in the process. When they started asking they had many open items such as grading the yard, putting our fence back in, pool school, hauling away excess materials on side of house, cleaning coping and fixing loose pavers. So we had to hold off on the final payment until the job was truly 100% complete. They put on a lot of pressure here at end of December, it didn't matter to us if the check missed month end / year end accounting, etc. I saved emails, as I preferred having documentation, versus a phone conversation for these issues.
They made the biggest fuss over the last 5% check even though we had no problems stroking the 50% check and others along the way all on time. We are good for the payment, and all we wanted was them to get the job completely done. For earlier payments per the contract, there was a step that was completed (like shooting the pool wall) and when done they got their 50% check. Yet at end they were not completely done but wanted the last check. They even insisted I give them the last check without letting my wife do a final walk through first! It was her walk through that found a dozen or more loose / squeaky pavers. She is the breadwinner and I was not handing over a check before she could see the final product and it's a good thing she did or we are not sure how the loose pavers would have been handled.
My actual pool has been done for about a month now, but little and quot;punch itemsand quot; as they call them have taken the last 5 weeks now to get done (thanksgiving and Christmas haven't helped as well as an employee injury at another job short staffed them) When I look back I can say I didn't enjoy the building process. But when we look out at the backyard it is impressive the work that they did and it's our own little paradise.
We have a 3 yr warranty on the equipment and hope we don't have issues because we are concerned about timeliness of getting warranty work. When you pay this much for a service / product you expect to have a high level of communication and attention to detail, it wasn't a $25k pool. We didn't experience that at end of project as I had to list open items by email so they didn't miss obvious tasks (like missing stucco above a step). The way it has ended left a negative impression of PBJC and even when people come over and say it looks amazing, we can't help but to mention some of the problems we experienced getting it done.

Update 1/3/13:
The company sent out someone twice now, who checked chemicals, with the 'Blue Book' which has details about filter model numbers, how to get a JEA credit on water costs, etc. And again asked for money before our agreed upon 1/3/13 'Pool School' instruction. They even asked my sister who was in from OH and happened to be home babysitting my kids for a check. Today is the day for Pool School in an hour or two and I have a check with the memo line filled out and quot;Job Completedand quot;. All contractors should realize the final payment comes when the job is COMPLETED.

They were a referral. They have not finished it up. I have been wrestling with them for the past four months. For awhile they would not answer my calls. I finally got in touch with the pool company who referred them, and they lit a fire under their butt, because they want to keep getting those referrals coming. So, they finally came out and are trying to kiss my butt to get it right. They are still giving me the runaround. I am very, very disappointed. I even told the owner of the company that I could have some boy scouts come out and do a better job than them. I have had a bad experience every step of the way. I would definitely not use these people again. They are supposed to come back next week to finish up. I don't want to make them mad before they finish the fence.