Encore Group

I spoke with Mike and we set up an appt. for March 7, 2017 at 1:00pm. I waited the entire day assuming he might just be running late. He was a no show. I called on March 8th leaving a message indicating I understood that sometimes things happen but desired to reschedule. After not hearing from him, I called again on March 10th, left a message with my phone number and email and once again received no response. I assume our business was not wanted but even a note or call to let us know that would have been the professional thing to do. This was my first time using Angie's List and it's got me a little concerned regarding businesses advertised on the site.

Through the sales and design process Encore was very responsive, which along with a recommendation from our neighbor made us feel comfortable to contract with them on the construction of our pool. There was a bit of a delay getting the design approved by the HOA, which we initially attributed to the HOA. The dig started promptly and the gunite went in maybe a day later. A month passed and no work was done on the pool. It was an especially rainy month so we waited patiently. Finally at the end of the month, tile and coping were installed. Two weeks passed again and the decking was installed. As we were now on week 6 of the projected 6-8 week project, we asked when the plaster and punch out were scheduled to be completed and were told they would be done by the end of the following week. That week came and went and we did not hear a word from Encore. We followed up and were told our project manager was no longer with the company. Our new project manager was unable to tell us when the plaster would be installed except to tell us that Encore was having a problem with their sub and they were having a big meeting that week and we would know the schedule by the end of the week. Again, we never heard back from Encore. We followed up again to find out when plaster would be done and when our sprinkler system would be fixed. Our new project manager said he didn't think the sprinkler repair was covered in the contract, so we sent him the page and paragraph that specifically said that Encore would repair the sprinkler system. Two more weeks went by without a word from Encore. When I called to escalate our concern with the delays and lack of communication to the scheduling director, I was told our new project manager was no longer with Encore. Apparently Encore is still having issues with their plaster sub and best estimate is that we will be done in another two weeks. That would make a total of almost 14 weeks with absolutely no work done on our pool for over 6 continuous weeks. To make matters worse, I received a letter from a sub-contractor saying that they would be putting a lien on my property because they were not paid by Encore. We promptly paid Encore according to the payment schedule. There's no excuse for them not to pay their sub. I called the project director at Encore for an explanation and left six voice mails and two messages with reception over a one week period and did not get a return phone call. A voice mail I left with the owner has also been ignored. We have done several large home projects and remodels of similar size and scope as this, and we have never worked with a less professional contractor. All signs point to a company in financial trouble and they are probably having cash flow issues. Do yourself a favor and avoid Encore at all cost!

The process of having a pool installed is a complex one, made difficult because most people only go through it once in a life time, and thus cannot learn from their own experiences.

The whole process can be a bit intimidating.

In addition to a salt water pool, we wanted to extend our patio, build a new roof over the patio, install an outdoor kitchen, fire pit, and redo the landscaping of the garden. This was a big project.

After speaking with, and getting designs and prices from five different local companies, we chose Encore Pools, then out of Richmond, Texas. (They have since moved to the northern part of Houston)

Encore was not the lowest bid, but we were impressed that during the design process, they actually listened to what we had to say. Most of the other companies that bid on the job wanted to build pools that they had built before, not the one that we wanted. Encore was the only company whose design matched what we wanted.

Encore also did a good amount of commercial work, which we assumes meant that they were generally able to meet the higher standards that commercial projects usually require.

Lastly Encore did landscaping work as well, and we figured that they would better and more efficiently handle a project that also had significant landscaping elements.

After 2 months of discussions and design changes, we signed the contract on March 31st 2015.

After some issues with permits, construction actually started in June. The pool was finished in April 2016, a year later. Overall I would have to give them grades as follows: 

Patio Addition: B

Outdoor Kitchen: C-

Fire Pit: C-

Pool: F

Landscaping: A

Overall Grade: D-

What went wrong?

Right from the start, it became clear that Encore did very little of the work themselves, and relied heavily on sub-contractors. This means that oversight of the subcontractors was the primary value that Encore was adding to the project. This was also where encore failed most completely.

Encore produced only small drawings of the project, which were all overhead drawings, with detail only on the location of the features of the pool, rock wall, slide, outdoor kitchen and porch. These drawings were not very detailed, with no elevation data, and no detail about the side faces of the outdoor kitchen, stone wall, and fire pit. This would not have been such a big problem, but Encore personnel did not spend much time at the job site directing the subcontractors, and answering their questions. With little guidance from drawings or Encore staff, the subcontractors made significant mistakes, which I would catch, call Encore, who would eventually direct the contractors to re-do the work.

Encore personnel themselves did not read the drawings closely, and thus made significant errors in the basic structure of the pool itself. These errors required that after the concrete was poured, portions of the pool had to be jack hammered out, rebuilt and the concrete re-poured.

Encore personnel did not always show up on site at critical junctures to ensure that everything was correct before contractors either started, or completed work.

Encore did not schedule the subcontractors efficiently. Work would proceed for one or two weeks, and then there would be a two or three week period where nothing would happen. At one point we had a five week period where essentially no progress was made, we simply fixed existing problems. It took about a year to complete the project.

Encore used poor quality subcontractors. Some of the contractors Encore used were fine, including the Roofing, Patio Cover, and Electrical who all did great work. The Masonry and Stone people they used were awful. During the project Encore personnel would lament with me that the quality of the masonry and stone work was poor, and how their chosen sub-contractor had been better in the past, but they didn’t do anything about it. The stone work could have been art, at best, you could call it industrial, at worst, clumsy.

Encore had poor attention to detail. Often it’s the little details that are the mark of quality work: seams that meet evenly, equal sized stones and coping etc… see the attached pictures for places where Encore failed to pay attention to the details

Encore accepts poor quality work from subcontractors. In looking at large gaps between the stonework and the appliances in the outdoor kitchen, it was only my pushing that forced encore to have the work re-done. They did not take this initiative on their own, when the gap was clearly unprofessional, and simply wrong. Things were fixed at my insistence, seldom because Encore found the work inferior.

Encore did not communicate well. I would send emails just about every week asking what was going on, and why nothing was happening, or what was going to happen next.

During the building of the pool and patio, there were endless rounds of “it’s got to be re-done” eventually wearing me down , until I started to accept the lower standards that Encore delivered as the best I was going to get out of these people.

When the pool was completed, I got an hour of “pool school”, no paperwork, no manual for the equipment, just a thank you and goodbye. A year after I signed the original contract, I wrote the last check.

The process was long, painful and unpleasant, when it didn’t have to be.

In the end, I have a pool, rock wall/waterfall, patio, outdoor kitchen, fire pit and new landscaping. For the most part, when you stand back and look at it from a distance, it looks good. We have been using the pool and enjoying it. It really is great to have a pool.

Sometimes when my eye lands on the in-artfully arranged stones, the mismatched coping, the unevenly filled joints, I grimace and shake my head, thinking about how much better it could have been, and trying unsuccessfully to ignore it.

Like I said, the process of having a pool installed is a complex one, made difficult because most people only go through it once in a life time, and thus cannot learn from their experiences. Learn from mine.

After multiple calls to even get an appointment, a designer arrived to our house on an early weekday.  We went over what I wanted in a landscape and mentioned that even our last home was an Encore pool build.  He was on time and professional in his description and the planning process.  I was told he would draw up a 3D concept design and present it to us before preparing a detailed estimate so everyone was on the same page.  So far so good.

Later that day, I get a design proposal to do the estimate work.  Um, what?  So you want money to perform an estimate?  Clarification was yes.  That was never mentioned when I called, and certainly never mentioned in the face to face appointment.  I got the message, you didn't want the job.  You could have just stated that up front and not wasted my time.  I had to take off a couple hours from work to make that appointment.

I know for a fact, that Encore has performed the 3D design services for several folks in my neighborhood to build a pool estimate and not charged a dime. 

It went very well.