Bumped for more input!

What is the name of the concrete guy that poured your deck?

Tucker

anyway to contact him

Tucker Construction
google

Thanks to all for the feedback. Our plan is to utilize a landscape architect to develop exactly what we want with our backyard and then have these companies provide bids. We will then use your feedback to develop a matrix of pros and cons. Will post pics within the next year, hopefully...

I would only caution that you ought to find a LA that has experience with pool construction. They will often draw something that looks amazing but bids significantly higher than you might expect.

It's a good idea to figure out what sort of budget you'd like to spend for each part of the project, then have the companies bid into your range.

I like the idea of having a concept but know that they'll draw to fit the space and not necessarily what might be practical from a budget standpoint.

Good luck with your project! I hope it turns out beautifully!

Thanks Panduh!

Bumping this again. Any more anecdotes/experiences are appreciated. We're talking to 4: Mobley, Sunshine, Pool Guy and Polar Bear. All positive interactions so far, which has made the process more difficult than we expected.

Polar Bear is definitely the most "green" in terms of length of time they've been building pools under that company name, but they seem to have their stuff together. Mobley is definitely the most old school, but his reputation is well documented. Really nice gentleman. Pool Guy is bristly, but responsive and creative. Sunshine's sales rep was impressive, but some of their negative feedback (I understand most of it is under previous owner, but....) is worriesome.

Got no dog in the hunt .... but looking at your post, do you really understand how bad a bad pool job can go? I've had friends who have had issues that ended up costing multiples of the pool cost with visits to the courtroom and many years of problems. So if you feel uncertain just say no.

EBrazosAg said:

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Got no dog in the hunt .... but looking at your post, do you really understand how bad a bad pool job can go? I've had friends who have had issues that ended up costing multiples of the pool cost with visits to the courtroom and many years of problems. So if you feel uncertain just say no.

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I guess this was in response to my post. I don't. This is our first build. Which is why I'm here asking for more input.

I like all of them but have read a couple of negatives on this thread, but some are dated and more input is welcome. Do you know who did your friends pool that had so many issues?

I know it wasn't Mobley. This was probably 15 yr ago. But it was sobering. Pool leaking into space between pool and house, floating house foundation, forensic engineering... it goes on. May have been over 4 years and +200k by the end if not more. Convinced me by aversion to pools was wise. And that building one right in the first place was key !

Ask each one to take you to a pool they are doing in the different stages. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples on the structure of the pool.

Bump...for update. Also, Panduh, you were right on the LA...I quit counting when the cost of their design got above $150K and climbing. So, we paused our project prior to this year, but I'm looking for the super reliable pool builders and personal experiences again... Mobley is definitely on my list, and his reputation is clearly tops on this thread. Curious if anyone has tried PolarBearPools and Patios. Also, anyone have any experiences with the Pool Guy? Looking to launch in January...TIA again...

Swimming Pool Solutions is reliable and builds top notch pools with over 15 years experience. Will build it right the first time and stands by his work.

We have used Swimming Pool Solutions for years to maintain our pool. We have never had a problem. They come weekly and our pool always looks amazing. It is nice to not have to worry about keeping it "balanced" and I love not having the chemicals in my garage.

We did a big remodel this spring. After a lot of research, we found that the "local's" sub-out the gunite/plaster work to companies out of the Houston area.

We went with Xtreme Pool Plaster/Azteca Gunite out of Houston. Their cost was 50-75% less than the estimates that we received from local companies. They were fast, easy to work with and did a great job on our pool.

Slocum on a mobile said:

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We have used Clear Water Pools for our maintenance and repair work and we have been very happy with them.

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+1

MeKnowNot, does XtremePoolPlaster stand behind their work? My biggest concern is that when companies from Houston build here, they leave figuring that you will never see them. What companies stand behind their pools. Obviously, with such a large investment, lifetime shell warranty or something would be a nice to have.

Mobley completed our pool last May (2019) and did an excellent job. No issues during construction or since completion.

JR, I believe that the length of the warranty depends upon the type of finish that you choose. Our finish came with a 10 year warranty.

I found them via the Nextdoor app, it seems that the do quite a few pools in south College Station.

Seems like XtremePoolPlaster folks are an option. I'm shocked they are 50% lower on cost though. Are local contractors not competitive due to volume or quality?

Xtreme/Azteca are primarily a dig/steel/gunite/plaster company.

I don't think they will do a full new build in the College Station area.

I would not be the general contractor on a pool


you can't come after yourself

No, I'm not an idiot (as far as you know)...I would NOT try that...but I do want to maximize the pool area and build an enclosed structure...I'm clearly in the investigation phase...

Since this got bumped I'll say this about Sunshine... they just got named a national top 50 builder for the third consecutive year. I know a lot of local home builders that use them exclusively for design/build. You don't achieve that level of success and stay in business over 15 years without doing something right.

I don't think anyone has knocked Sunshine by any means. I understand they are under new ownership? Anyone have insight into the new ownership/recent experiencing building? My BIL built a pool with them a couple years ago and had a great experience, but that was under the previous ownership...

I have personal connections to the pool builders in BCS but I do not work for any of them.

Sunshine has a specific problem that none of the other builders can sniff around here and that is sheer volume.

Volume can breed some issues but under the current management, they have brought those issues to heel.

But like any business that does any larger scale of service, there will be complaints. Consider that these guys build over 120 pools per year and you hear from the one or two disgruntled customers that, in most cases, were served under the previous ownership.

At the end of the day, they do a heck of a job building in this area. They don't do cookie cutter pools, they do custom work for every client.

Also a little inside baseball, Azteca used to be the primary contractor for Sunshine and The Pool Guy. That has changed.

Quality of pool builds in BCS has risen after that change.

Sorry for the wall of text. Just wanted to say my piece.

We are currently building with The Pool Guy. We looked at a ton of pools prior of friends and neighbors. 100% positive feedback from those who built with the pool guys (1-5 year old pools), 75% positive feedback from Funshine builds, 100% for mobley builds (1 person).

The process has been amazingly simple. Sean is easy to work with and will tell you what works and what doesn't point blank. No surprises.

His foreman, Felipe, is awesome!

They dug the whole in one day (the guy on the bobcat has some precision skills)
They rebared the pool thursday afternoon. (those guys have some precision bending rebar with their hands!)

Gunnite to spray tomm or wednesday.

OP, Hit me up if you want to check it out shane dot lechler at gmail dot com