Summerhill Pools

Wow. Terrible experience & refusal to honor warranty. I’m happy to share my notebook full of mistakes, problems & issues during and after the 11-month long process from signing the contract until my pool and patio were “complete” in 2021-2022. I was given an estimated pool start in March with max build timeline of 12 weeks. After the start, I would have to reach out to Summerhill after weeks of waiting to see when the next step would be done or an issue I’d brought up would be addressed; later when I started asking about fixes more frequently AFTER NO RESPONSE, I was labeled as badgering. Many issues to be fixed never were addressed at all—repositioning a control box off a fence to be torn down, fixing extremely uneven step & bench in spa, painting all steps, evening out astroturf dip, etc. The pool was never marked prior to the dig, so after discovering immediately during digging it was too close to the house, I had to pay thousands extra for a re-dig. My steps in and around the pool and patio are all noticeably different heights, unlike the blueprints. The original steps from the pool ledge to pool were so steep and shallow, you’d have to turn sideways and step down 14+”. A third step added after the fact to fix that issue is now invisible and the cause of stubbed toes from every visitor. A pool tile falls out every few weeks and the tile job is extremely messy in several areas. It’s not picky stuff (like Summerhill says), it big stuff that everyone notices. I’m also happy to let anyone come see my pool install with missing tiles, cracked sides and large black streaks & many leaves in the concrete. “That’s just how concrete is” per Summerhill. But that’s not how every other patio I’ve ever seen is; it may help you to see what they consider acceptable. There is paint on the Astro-turf after painting, there are chips in the surrounding tiles never fixed. My pool equipment would shut down or misread temp for the first 3 months and had to be manually controlled or rebooted constantly during that time. On my sixth complaint about the equipment, I dared to call the equipment “second-rate” in an email. That issue was fixed from walking through 4 steps sent by email. Not sure which issue I tried fixed it (adding water, rebooting, etc.), but i was then charged for a visit for the first time—I had requested someone come out before they sent all the troubleshooting options, but I was never informed of a service charge. The company owner, Mark, was so offended by my “second-rate” terminology & request not to pay the service charge I wasn’t informed of (and likely not wanting to have to fix any more Summerhill mistakes), he said we should part ways and Summerhill would not honor my warranty anymore! I had a final payment I was to use and figure out how to get help from other companies. So my well over 6-figure investment got me a $0 warranty! Also, many other companies won’t guarantee their work on another company’s install-especially when they see all these mistakes. I have built homes and done major reno projects and never had a bad or worse experience with so little support or understanding from a company. The designer, Bryce, washes his hands of any responsibility early on and is extremely insulted about any problems found with his designs. Jacob (PM) also lied to the owner stating he’d answered questions or given dates for repairs he had not (I have the texts to prove my side). I also spoke with a couple other customers while viewing Summerhill pools that had complaints. I think this company has just been lucky that the complaints don’t get shared online like the few positive reviews do. The owner actually asked me to sign something stating I wouldn’t post a negative review if they refunded some money! A very small number of positive reviews (and many are from employees) for such a large amount of pools done. I understand why now. Poor design, poor execution, outright lies & they completely bail instead of standing by their work. This was my highest of four quotes and the most disappointing experience i could imagine. More expensive definitely does not always mean better. ONE CAVEAT: Michelle & Carrie (Administrative) and Chris (service calls/support) are exceptions to this and are the only employees that consistently acted nicely, professionally and provided real help instead of excuses or no responses at all.

Came out but no follow through

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A smaller builder, which probably means better quality, but price range was well outside what I was willing to spend. I also would have appreciated a bit more detail and perhaps a mock up of the pool itself, which the two other companies I contacted did during their first meeting with me. I sort of felt as though they didn't much need my business. Haven't decided yet exactly what to do, but don't feel like Summerhill is in my cost range.

A nightmare!!   Had to deal with multiple sales people.   I think they use roving contract pool crews and not employees.  I came home to find they were applying the wrong plaster color then I what I ordered.  I had them stop half way.  When I left, they took the plaster and dumped it into my sanitary sewer line.  A few days after the pool was plastered my toilet drains backed up.  They refused to respond and denied everything.  I had to cut my driveway to get to the drain which was filled with pool plaster.  They refused to fix my driveway for almost a year.  I had to call the BBB to get they to fix the driveway.   AVOID Summerhill pools they are a scam.  They also did not honor my Diamond Brite warranty when my plaster started to deteriorate.   Terrible company and owner.       

Guys were great to work with from David on down.  Good team, they said when they would be here and always punctual.  They always let me know when they wouldn't be here (if something need to cure or things like that).   Liked them so much we continued to use their cleaning service.

Have had them out on a couple of service issues and they were right here and fixed the problem.

Very comfortable people to work with and I would recommend them without hesitation.

We agreed on the scope of repairs that were set out in detail on a line-by-line form that included each repair?s price (along with a grand total).  The form included guaranty language, a change-by-work-order provision, a proposed release from Summerhill from any ?damage to pool, deck, underground plumbing, and etc. while drained for repair or improvement,? and an authorization to begin work once signed.  We signed the form and sent it in, expecting to get a call for scheduling the work.  Instead, we received a 3+ page, 8-point type contract that I had several questions about.  First, the contract included a very broad release, a very small cap, and a very short window for bringing up any damages caused by Summerhill.  Second, Summerhill wanted a provision saying they were not responsible for any damage they caused when ?removing existing decking, lines for underground utilities and plumbing? or ?damage to the access area.?  Third, they included a no-assignability clause, meaning if we sold the house, any warranty would not run to the new homeowner.  I noted these questions and asked my sales rep, Robert, to get back with me to discuss these provisions.  Several days later, I received an email from my sales rep saying he ?ran this by the owner of the company and, unfortunately, he will not approve the job.?  I received no other explanation.  I tried a couple of times to get the ?owner? to call me back, with no luck.  As it turns out, Dallas County public records show that Summerhill has been sued before, including by a homeowner who alleges Summerhill damaged his backyard during pool repairs.

They came out and gave me an estimate on redoing the decking and then did a short repair job.

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Made a good referral.  Do not provide leak detection service themselves.

Summerhill Pools’ was too high. They didn’t present any ideas that we wanted to grasp. They just said if we wanted the work, it will cost you this much. It took them a while to come up with references and some other things that didn’t speak their process along. They were on time and we got a quick response.

Summerhill Pools Inc came out twice, once to look at the pool and then the owner of the company came t to discuss it with my husband. I liked everything about them. We had seen several ads in which they talked about the experience in redoing the pool and one of the things that I liked about the owner of the company was that I felt that we could trust him. We have old equipment and we just want to redo what we have, he didn't try to sell me anything that I didn't need, he was very understanding about what we needed and he was understanding about it. He understood that we wanted to save the coping that we have. My husband and I then went to their office a couple of weeks ago and the owner sat down and helped us choose the color of the plaster and the tile choice. He had told me that he had done another pool in the area, so I talked to them and they really liked him also. I felt like he was very honest, helpful, it is his company and they have a lot of experience in redoing old pools.He was very thorough and he told us what we could do, what we needed to do and what we didn't need to do, I thought he was expensive but as a home owner, you don't save money by going for the cheapest bid. I asked the real estate person who had sold us our house and she recommended them to us.

After "letting it go" for 15 years, our pool was in desperate need of repair because tiles were falling off daily, plaster was wearing away, the water chemistry was a disaster, etc.  We had no previous experience with this kind of project, so we talked to several companies and chose Summerhill because they were nearby and local, and seemed to be the most willing to guide us on how to go about the job. We met with Mark several times, and he helped us to find what we wanted, but we never felt that he was trying to sell us stuff that we didn't need.  In fact, he even made a few suggestions which actually reduced the price a little.  We appreciated his patience in realizing that although Summerhill does pool work every day it was all new to us and there is a bit of a learning curve.
The work took about 3 weeks, and went pretty much as predicted.  The various workers who came to the job were all courteous and friendly.  Our only minor frustration was that on a few occasions we wouldn't know at the end of one day what to expect the next (which effects whether someone would need to be home to open gates, etc.)  That was a communication problem between the office, the workers and us.  But it was only a minor inconvenience.  Also, some of that is weather-related and is to be expected.
The quality of the work was just fine, and now instead of an algae farm we have a very nice pool in the backyard.

Contacted builder initially in June 2012 for a bid.  They met with us and have several pictures and examples of their work.  Answered all our questions and their bid was very reasonable.  Family owned. No high pressure sales
Had ongoing emails from Summerhill and went over original bid. It was difficult for us to schedule appointments as they don't have Saturday or after 4pm weekday appts.  We had a couple of issues with their workers, but nothing they didnt resolve or basically had any control over.  The work was beautiful and better than we imagined. 

They did a great job! They were very responsive. They provided plenty of options and the follow up was also really good.

The estimate amount was about $4000.  We liked that they brought by the whole portfolio of the work that they had done.  We liked the type of product that they were offering.  They were prompt coming out for the free estimate that they gave us.  We thought that they were very well priced.  They were very knowledgeable about the different types of resurfacing that we could have had done.

I've used Summerhill before with no issues.  This time the work was good but they left a mess and overfilled the pool.  They came back and cleaned up after we called about the issue and credited our account.

they were quick, professional and the cost was right were others were.

Summerhill Pools estimate was in line with a couple of other estimates we got. We visited their show room (nice that they have a show room) and Mark walked us through the process. We upgraded both the plaster finish and the tiles we were going to use and Mark provided an updated price while we waited.
Due to some major storms that moved through the DFW area, his crew was delayed due to clean-up work that they had to perform at some new pool construction sites - and Mark and staff were very good about keeping us informed of the delays. Once they got started, the planned schedule pretty much stayed on track.  There were a couple of issues with plugs being left in place that resulted in blown PVC connections at the equipment but Summerhill made everything right with no additional charges.
Overall a very painless experience.

They were between the other two in price but had better BBB rating.  Also there was discussion about "after care" and they had the most logical answers.
First of all, we kept getting the start date pushed out.  We even asked for a start date later than offered because of travel plans and they still didn't keep it.  The job was supposed to take 3 days but it took almost a week between prep and completion.  We tried to keep our neighbors informed since we have rear entry driveways but it became impossible.  The tile work was excellent but the plastering was horrible.  Also they told us they would replace the bulbs and gaskets on the lights.  Our spa light was disconnected but the pool light worked fine.  Now neither light works and they told us it is an electrical problem and they can't fix the one that was working before they started the job. We were told by the office staff that if we didn't use their after-care program that we could void the warrenty if aftercare was handled incorrectly so we used them for that too.  When they refilled the pool, the water streamed from one of the hoses in the shallow end and it appears to have resulted in stained plaster.  The top step also developed some pretty deep cracks.  Then we had large calcuim deposits start to grow even though the PH tested fine. Our regular pool maintenance guy tells us it is due to etching.  David Reed has been the contact for our problems.  He repeatedly told us that "it was normal" or "it is an easy fix" .  David sent a crew out and they "sanded" the cracks down some.  They appeared to go away but then reappeared.  The stains on the plaster were not addressed by that crew. Then another crew came out and worked on the cracks again and put more acid in to try to remove the stains.  After that didn't work, David said he would come and fix things.  He came out and agreed that the staining and cracks weren't right.  He said he would come back the next day.  We waited for him all day and then I called the office.  I was told that he was out on a job and would come the next day.  This is typical and the reason we rate them badly on professionalism.  If someone says they will be at our house on a certain day, we expect a call or an appearance.  Now the plaster guy has determined that they will have to drain the pool and probably acid wash it.  They wanted a check for each step of the work on the day that the work was completed but 3 months later we have a pool that in no way looks like it was just replastered.  We are hoping for a satisfactory resolution.  IF we are satisfied, we will revise our ratings.

They send out North Texas Pools to service the pool. They are very prompt and do a great job. We are very happy with them. When we first moved in Summerhill came and emptied the pool and did all the repairs.

I called Summerhill Pools to come out and look at an issue I was having.  I scheduled the appointment for the following day.  The latest appointment they could provide was 4:00.  I get off of work at 5:00 so I actually had to take off some time at work to meet them.  I arrived to my home promptly at 4:00 to have them NEVER show up.  I called them around 5:00 and just had to leave a message on their voicemail.  The next day the repair man called me and did apologize but said, "I'm sorry, I just forgot".  I do not do business with people that "just forget".  Summerhill Pools inconvenienced me and I feel their lack of service is highly unprofessional.

They were good. I got three different reports from three different companies. I compared notes and sent them a check list back. I do still plan to use them but it won't be till next year. They were more detailed and timely and did follow-up and called back when they said they would. They had very good references as well and were professional.