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This is not like hiring someone to paint your fence. This is going to be a major construction project that will change your property for decades. Honestly, the difference between a good builder and a mediocre builder becomes clear only when it’s almost too late, in other words, at the reveal.
Experience That Counts
Experience, years in business, may be 20 years down the line, but most people tout a company that states it’s been around for twenty years. However, that doesn’t mean anything if they have a ton of bad projects under their belt. Getting the job done is one thing. Getting the job done with an aesthetic quality as time goes on means there’s real experience involved. It’ll come down to having ten pools done in the last five years, all looking great, and a builder showing you homes from days past ten or fifteen years ago to prove its worth.
This is also a builder with a comprehensive portfolio of actual projects, not marketing pictures, and anecdotes of obstacles overcome aesthetically (what they had to change on-site versus the design challenge you might present) and why they did what they did construction-wise to appeal to you. When interviewing your builders, ask to see a pool similar to what you’re looking for. Their answer will tell you a lot about how knowledgeable they are about what they’re doing.
How They Approach the Design Process
There shouldn’t be any red flags. A reputable company will not rush you through a design process or say, “I can give you an estimate in ten minutes!” Instead, they should ask questions about your yard, budget, and how you would realistically use the pool. For them to give you an accurate quote initially, they should survey your site.
Good builders will spend time looking at your site, discussing drainage, soil quality, accessibility for machinery, and all potential obstacles. If someone gives you a price without even stepping foot in your backyard, your problems are about to get so much worse.
Quality pool builders like Pacific Pools know that the more prepared they are now, the less they’ll have to do down the line, all at an expense. They’ll also break down what’s included in the price and what’s not for clarity; vague estimates with the possibilities of overspending in add-ons do not belong to reputable companies.
How They Communicate
You will be living with your builder for weeks or months at a time. You should not have to worry about an answer. They don’t have to call you every single day or send an email blow-by-blow; they need to keep you in the loop and have structured ways of doing so while being receptive when you need information.
Note how effectively they communicate with you during your hiring process. If they’re not quick with call returns or have vague and sloppy emails, good luck getting them when you’re at a standstill during construction.
Unfortunately, these builders tend to go radio-silent because something has gone wrong. The last thing they want to admit is that they were negligent. Quality builders understand there are surprises along the way and stay in contact because they’d much rather get it over with than worry their clients.
Their Quality Control Over Materials and Construction
Not all pools are built the same! Quality construction should not be heavy on materials or a stamp-and-go operation where everything is done as easily, fast, and cheapest for the greatest profit margin. These plans suck for clients within a few years of construction, chipped surfaces, leaks, cracks; it all goes back to how well something was made and installed.
What materials do they use, and why? They should be able to explain it in layman’s terms without sounding like they’re just out for the best deal. Steel reinforcements, better filtration systems, surface treatment, you do not want someone cutting corners where it might take years before it shows on your expense report.
A pool built the right way requires you to get the best bang for your buck on day one, or you’ll pay dearly on years two through ten every time something goes wrong. A pool built cheaply will not cut it, you’ll wonder why things went wrong so soon yet forget that you’ve been penny-pinching since day one.
Their Warranties and Follow-Up
What’s their warranty after construction? Quality companies stand behind their work, and stand behind their work, in addition to quality materials within the options we discussed above. What happens if there’s a problem weeks or months after construction? We want the pool company to be there for us.
Some pool companies drive away like they’re done in checkmate; quality ones think about how you’re going to feel about recommending them to your neighbor on day one because they want your business again.
What’s the warranty, they should have something to back them up; what happens if there’s an issue, are there separate service teams, or are the people who built it still involved? How does this builder function?
How You Choose
The person who gets your business needs to mesh well with someone who possesses good technical knowledge but also reliability with honest communication. The lowest quote is not always great; neither is someone with a fancy website. You need to find someone credible who’s legitimately interested in your project and take notes.
This means connecting with various builders before getting one who’s right for you, someone who gets along well with appeals who understands what your backyard wants it needs over a complicated three- to four-month process because this is not going anywhere.