Custom Outdoor Trends built ours, although it came with the house.

Mojave said:

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Avoid Paul Miller in Keller, at all cost

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I had an interesting experience with them. They're family owned. I called and talked to (I believe) the son of Paul Miller, gave him my info and he said no problem my mom does the scheduling and she'll give you a call back later today for consult. When she called they said they don't service my area. I totally get not every company is going everywhere in DFW, just thought it was odd for a family owned business they weren't on the same page with that.

benMath08 said:

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LHIOB said:

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Who else are you talking to?

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Custom Outdoor Trends, Riverbend, and Gold Medal. All based on recommendations from the metroplex forum.

So far we've like the design and discussion from the first two. Our initial design consult with Gold Medal is scheduled for Tuesday so we'll see how that one goes.

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have a buddy that used Gold Medal. He said he couldn't be more happy with them.

We are starting the process and talking to these two based on referrals from family friends: Blue Lagoon and Southerwind Pools.

Also received referral for Sunstone Pools from neighbor but haven't been able to connect with them yet.

I find myself looking for a pool builder as well. Contacted Riverbend, Gold Medal, Pool Quest, and Cullen, on the referrals. Have an appointment with Riverbend next week, Cullen this week. Haven't heard back from Pool Quest, but I'm in Allen, so they may not service this area, which is a bummer, because it would be cool to deal with an Aggie owned company.

We have a Cullen pool and had a great experience. He won't try to upsale you and if you ask about some fancy option he will tell you it's not needed. He won't do a 3D model but he is very good at what he does. My wife is extremely picky and he is the only contractor we have ever used over the years and two home builds that my wife was completely happy with their work.

My wife was against pools forever, but now that the kids are older we want to add a pool. I hear from most people its cheaper to buy a house with a pool than build a pool. What kind of prices are we talking to build a free form pool in the backyard. I am sure its all over the map with all the extra pergolas, kitchens etc... I don't want to waste a pool builders time if its out of budget right now.

If you want to dig a hole in the ground, fill it with concrete, and keep it clean enough to swim in, it probably starts around 30k.

I'm guessing just about everyone in this thread is doing a lot more than that. Some combination of bigger pool, water features, spa, good decking (quality and square footage), outdoor kitchens, covered patios, landscaping, more private fencing, etc. A lot of us here probably live on bad soil so you need helical piers beneath the pool as well.

All of the above can easily get you over 100k.

Sister and brother in law are using Reber and Co for theirs in Lucas. Apparently he's an old man that's been doing it for years and my BIL was blown away by his ideas and service so far.

https://www.reberandco.com/

I was on the mind that it was better to buy a house with a pool. The problem is that you get their pool. And most of the homes I looked at had around $15k in work that needed to be done to the pool. I wont get my $$ back dollar for dollar but I think Ill use it enought to justify the $200/month its going to cost me.

Plus I dont have to move and deal with that crap. I also get pissed when I see what agents get on a sale. Nothing against the agents, its just a chunk!

I built with riverbend a little over 4 years ago. Above average size (20k gallons), sizable retaining walls with 3 sheer descents, pebble tech plaster, good lighting, and about 800 soft of pavers for $52k. No hot tub, which they estimated at another $10k.
They aren't cheap, but I'm moving in a couple weeks and we'll bite the bullet again around November and build a pat the new crib.

aggiec05 said:

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My wife was against pools forever, but now that the kids are older we want to add a pool. I hear from most people its cheaper to buy a house with a pool than build a pool. What kind of prices are we talking to build a free form pool in the backyard. I am sure its all over the map with all the extra pergolas, kitchens etc... I don't want to waste a pool builders time if its out of budget right now.

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For something that doesn't look like crap, be prepared to spend no less than 50k.

If You want a Spa, heated, features, pergola, get ready for 80-90k

We are budgeting 110k and hoping we come in closer to 100k leaving some spending for furniture and accessories for pool/patio.

Our current project includes:

• Pool/Spa
• Covered, attached patio (fireplace, kitchen, tvs)
• Artificial turf with putting green

Live in Prosper and sent out requests this morning. Our neighborhood page recommended Hobert, Gold Medal and Hauk. I have seen Prestige building in our neighborhood as well. We looked at Southernwind but on their website it notes a $500 charge to come out which I didn't feel was right.

26'x14 pool with a spa and an outdoor kitchen for about $72k

We got quotes for up to $82k

We already have a pretty large covered patio so not a ton of extra decking.

It's amazing how different people's experience with the same pool builder can be. Not sure if it's dependent on the foreman doing the job or what. For what it's worth, we used Gold Medal and it was terrible. Would never use them again.

Who did you end up going with?

Baba Ganoush said:

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It's amazing how different people's experience with the same pool builder can be. Not sure if it's dependent on the foreman doing the job or what. For what it's worth, we used Gold Medal and it was terrible. Would never use them again.

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I suspect it really comes down to the individual designer and project manager you get assigned. We chose not to select Gold Medal based on being really unimpressed with the designer that we were in contact with, even though it's pretty clear that the company has built some absolutely amazing pools.

Similar thread from 2 years ago.
https://texags.com/forums/37/topics/2953698

Joy Pools

We picked Foley over Riverbend and Gold Medal. Couldn't be happier. You need to talk to Cole at Foley. Excellent designer.

Very nice pool. That wasn't cheap.

Comeby! said:

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Very nice pool. That wasn't cheap.

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We had a budget, and they tried to make everything fit within that budget. I really do think it helped that I signed the contract right at the time they were slowing down for the winter and wanting to fill the months with jobs. I cut costs by sourcing grill stuff myself, fans, etc. I also bought all of the river rock myself and laid it myself which put my back out of commission for a solid 2 weeks after lol

Yep, that's smart. We signed ours in early Feb before the demand kicked in and also went line by line and evaluated each upgrade on its own.

ILikeTacos said:

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Gold Medal executed exactly what we wanted. The timeline took a little bit longer than originally expected but that was because i waited to have them quote the job and to start building in October and do construction over the winter. Ended up pouring close to 2200 sq ft of concrete, two pergolas, outdoor cooking area, in pool bar stools, massive tanning deck, etc. etc.

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What color did you choose for you Plaster?

ILikeTacos said:

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Gold Medal executed exactly what we wanted. The timeline took a little bit longer than originally expected but that was because i waited to have them quote the job and to start building in October and do construction over the winter. Ended up pouring close to 2200 sq ft of concrete, two pergolas, outdoor cooking area, in pool bar stools, massive tanning deck, etc. etc.

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What color did you choose for you Plaster?

We used DFW Custom Pools - out of NRH. Pricing was much better than Claffey, Gold Medal, Prestige, Riverbend, etc. It's a racket. They all sub out the following contractors:

(1) Escavation
(2) Rebar/forming of pool
(3) Gunite
(4) Decking
(5) Plastering

They also have other subs for rock features/retaining walls, electrical, and gas (for fire niches).

Thanks

Southlake Ag said:

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What color did you choose for you Plaster?

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I honestly don't remember, and I pulled my construction agreement and it doesn't have a color listed just "mini pebble". Sorry!

What are the dimensions of the main part of the pool (hot tub to far wall and side wall to side wall)? Is it big enough, too big, etc?

Would love to see the profit on a custom pool build. Sounds like a business I should be in.

My wife and I live in the Prosper/Celina area and have been discussing putting in a pool over the last few months. I've owned a house with a pool before, but pretty clueless about the process in putting one in.

Our backyard isn't big, so we're looking at putting in a smaller "cocktail" pool. We've been looking at examples of them and picked a few styles we like. Other possible additions are a fire pit and small outdoor kitchen (built-in grill and smoker only).

- I've been recommended Hauk, Foley, and Gold Medal from neighbors. Hauk is here in Celina, but seeing they aren't well thought of in here. Any thoughts on Prestige in Prosper?
- We're looking to start building possibly a year from now. Is it too early to discuss with pool companies to get design and pricing ideas? If so, when is it ideal?
- When financing, where would you recommend? How many months is standard?
- what months are best to start a build? (Assume Oct - Feb?)

Thank you!

We live in the Prosper area as well and are going thru this right now. We have narrowed our choices down to Foley, Joy and TLC in Sherman. Joy and TLC are a little cheaper than Foley but Foley seems to be a little more turn key. Many people in our neighborhood have used Prestige but I only received an automated response from them. They have all told me that this is the busiest they have ever been so I don't think when you choose to build matters right now. Most are predicting 4 months but Foley guaranteed 90 days from the time dirt is moved.

We are looking at a 30x14 size, so nothing big either. We are probably going to finance 50% and the timeframe we have mostly seen is 10 or 15yrs.

I also called Gold Medal and they asked for my budget right away(the others came out and listened to what I wanted before I asked them what it would cost). GM told me I would need to add 10k-15k because my community is old farmland and it needs support. I had 7 companies come out and all of them said that wasn't needed but they are so busy right now they can get away with saying that.