Sunshine Pools, Inc.

I started the pool construction process by requesting referrals from my friends and neighbors. Probably asked about 20 people. Surprisingly, every single person I asked had a bad experience with their pool contractor and would not recommend them. I finally ran into someone that recommended Randy at Sunshine Pools. Randy has been running his company for 35 years or so, and his two sons are now taking lead roles in helping to run the company. I interviewed 5 or 6 contractors. Had bids as low as $35,000 and up to $110,000. Pool was about 15 feet by 30 feet with spa, heater, colored plaster (some competitor product to Pebbletech), minimal decking, and Pentair pool filter that crawls around the bottom of the pool. I had three benches in the pool. No rockwalls or water features, very basic pool. Here's a nightmare story about a contractor I did not hire but interviewed. I researched the contractor that gave me the low offer (this was not Sunshine, who's offer was about $60k). He had a few lawsuits filed against him. My neighbor who hired the lowball contractor (again, not Sunshine) a month before I interviewed him told me later on that he stopped showing up about halfway through the project and wouldn't return calls. Then his subcontractors called and said they hadn't been paid, even though my neighbor paid a large chunk of the pool contract up front. So they ended up paying close to 2 to 3 times the cost of the original estimate by the time they were done, as they had to pay off subcontractors (who they thought they already paid), then hired another contractor to come in and finish the job. So more evidence that it's not best to hire the lowest bid just because it's the lowest bid. Of course, the whole nightmare process for my neighbor took like 9 months, when the contractor estimated the pool would be done in 6 weeks. Randy and his sons, on the other hand, returned every call and text promptly. They are very professional. They finished the job ahead of schedule and on budget, there were no surprises. After the pool was done, we had a couple hiccups (some cracking in the plaster and a pool light that didn't work) that they agreed to come fix right away -- like within 2 days of our call. I've heard stories from friends of pool contractors that never return calls regarding warranty issues. They are a little more pricey than several in the industry, but I found quite a bit of peace of mind through their professionalism. I would hire Randy again if I built another pool, and have recommended him to several friends.