Oasis Pools Inc

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I contracted Oasis Pools to put in a pretty high-end 24K gallon salt water pool with a 5-ft elevated spa and a "weeping wall" water feature with flagstone decking. In the end, it took 7 months from start to finish, as we redid some things. But at the end of the day, even though there were some hiccups (which seem to be par for the course for any custom project like a pool build), Oasis never left me out to dry and worked closely with me to correct all the issues that were correctable, and I appreciate that. We have a very nice pool, and the mechanicals, electrical and plumbing seem to work very well. The pool "works" well in terms of the chemistry and the pool overall being easy to maintain. The drainless feature is a huge benefit - I just think it looks so much cleaner aesthetically than having a big drain plug in your pool.


The designer/salesman was responsive upfront and put together a design using 3D computer aided design tools that eventually we were satisfied with. He contributed a lot of practical ideas to the design. We went through multiple re-designs to arrive at something we were satisfied with. I competed two other well known pool builders and their designs and their design process was not nearly as good or as good a value. In the middle of our project our guy was let go by Oasis, which was a little frustrating because they never gave us another person to act as our advocate for the remainder of the project. 


I will say that the Oasis construction employees were very good to work with and took the time time to explain everything to my wife and I, from the construction process to pool operation. They also did a nice job with tidyness on the construction site and didn't damage my property or trees, etc. On the other hand, Oasis subs needed extra management, and Oasis could have been on site more to manage them properly. I would recommend you insist that Oasis has representatives on site to oversee the masonry and plaster, as we had some issues there.


A major fatal flaw in the pool's design build was the depth. We specified a shallow end at chest height (4.5 ft) and a deep end of 7 feet and a distribution of depth that would give a relatively constant shallow end depth until the drop off. Instead, once the gunite was dry, we discovered that they built a shallow end that was way too deep. Rather than admitting to their mistake and covering the cost of fixing it, I had to pay an extra $4,000 to re-do the gunite to fix the depth,  adding several weeks to the pool project. The root cause here was poor documentation of this design aspect and communication of it to the build crew. 


We paid a premium for flagstone decking, but found Oasis' stone masons cutting the rock into much smaller pieces so it would be easier for them to fit the pieces together. Before they got too far along, and I made them pull up what they had laid and start over using larger pieces.  We had specified a natural edge for the flagstone around the pool coping. Instead of taking the time to break the stones naturally, they used a saw which gave a smooth edge. To make it look natural, they pulled out their chisels and gouged up and down the side of the rocks. I don't like the look of it but eventually you stop noticing, and no one has brought it up. As the masons started to build my water feature wall, they used the wrong stone and were building something which looked nothing like the photos included in our specifications. I was able to stop them in time so they could take it down and start over. Oasis did the right thing by starting over with the right stones and worked with me to select the right colors. The water feature was supposed to pour water down the stone into a trough that drained into the pool. The design of the trough was only 6 inches wide, so as water pours, or even trickles, down the rocks it overshoots the trough and lands on my decking resulting in a huge puddle whenever I run the water feature. This was too hard to retrofit, so I guess I'm losing some water to overspray.


Then we got to the plaster. First of all, the plaster contractor left a mess in our and our neighbor's yard. But the main problem was that the color installed was very "blotchy" and uneven. Oasis said it would "even out" over time once water was in the pool. But it never did. So Oasis' owner came out and looked at it and realized it was a major problem. He made sure the plaster company re-did the plaster at their charge. So, we had to drain the pool and replaster the entire thing. This whole process added a couple more months to the project, but thank goodness it was winter time, and we did lose any swim time.

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Pre-Build:

Bill’s charisma won us over.  He was able to sit down at our table and design our pool on the fly…what a skill!  Bill sold us on the key differentiator of Oasis (they do most of the work in house and we’d receive a better level of customer service that way).  Although this is not entirely true (they outsource 1 or 2 pieces they can’t do in house), our experience was as promised…excellent.

Phase I – Layout

Exciting!  Chris worked into my tight schedule, and had a layout in the yard within an hour.  They called him Professor Chris, and I know why.

Phase II - Digging/Forming

Entire dig team was very nice.  Eric and crew were top-notch and friendly in talking with us about what they had done the previous weekend.  Great customer facing team!

Phase III - Steel

Carlos was very professional keeping his guys on task.  He kept an eye on his apprentice to make sure everything was completed perfectly, and if it wasn’t he’d assist where needed.  The way incremental payments were collected could have been a bit more formal/organized.

Phase IV - Plumbing

Clean/professional job running pipes from pool to equipment.  No necessary mess in the yard after the work was completed.

Phase V - Concrete

Oasis kept their mess confined to the pool, limiting impact to surrounding grass/landscaping.  They were very thorough in explaining the process of concrete curing.

Cons: None

Phase VI - Electrical

We had some issues with the installation of lighting and converter box, but Oasis corrected the issue within a day.  I stopped Chris one day to ask, and he was completely straightforward, saying the electrician would come out until he fixed it.

Phase VII – Decking and Coping

The rock guys are artists.  Everything looks great.  At this point, we trusted Oasis enough to go on a week-long vacation while they did the decking, tile and plaster prep.  Upon our return, our satisfaction only reinforced our confidence with the pool builder.

Phase VIII – Tile and Plaster Prep

See above.

Phase IX – Plaster

Plaster was done over 2 days.  The new plaster requires some TLC which is a pain, but it looks amazing.  We opted for the pebble product, and initial thoughts are mixed.  We love the look (haven’t seen a better looking pool), but the wear and tear on knees, feet, etc. is still to be seen.

Phase X – Clean-up and Start-up

The backyard is in much better shape than we expected, but we’re also on a corner lot.  I could imagine you’d want to level your expectations some and budget for some yard repair once everything is complete.  Oasis, as promised, cleaned after themselves daily, so besides the sandy loam to fill in the equipment damage, there isn’t much clean-up.  Start-up went smoothly, and we look forward to pool school with Chris.