Looking to build an outdoor kitchen and pool in NE Houston. Any recommendations on who to use or who NOT to use? Thanks!

Platinum Pools Scott Waldo

I hate to do this right after the poster above me but.....Platinum Pools treated me like crap.

The construction designer Mark, was great. Very professional and competent. The build process was a nightmare at about the half way point. My first project supervisor, who I liked, was fired. The second project supervisor's wife went into premature labor and I never saw him again. The third project supervisor, well, I never actually got one.

During the confusion with various supervisors, they made a mistake in payment calculations. They forgot to add a $300 tile upgrade to what I owed. Supervisor #2, told me how much I owed, which he came and picked up. That was the last I saw him. Two weeks of beautiful weather went by and nothing happened to my pool. I called Kristen, the scheduler, and she told me she would look into it.

When she called me back she told me I was $300 behind in my payments and the senior manager (who no longer works for Platinum) put a hold on my pool. When we went over the numbers we both realized the tile upgrade was missing and the mistake was the project managers. She apologized and promised me they would get going on the pool. Then the next day she tells me the manager said I was not to be put on the schedule until the $300 was paid. I was furious. I had thousands of dollars in payments, paid 100% promptly. I couldn't believe $300 was going to hold up the pool when it was their mistake.

I asked to speak to the manager. Kristen said she'd let him know. Nothing. The next day I called Kristen again, who said she spoke to the manager personally and would call him again. Nothing. I ended up calling the salesman Mark and he got things rolling fast. Kudos to Mark. Mark also said he'd get the manager to call me and apologize. Yeah...no.

In the end the pool was nicely done. But......I finished without a project supervisor, I never got a call from the manager, and nobody in management ever gave me an apology. The only person worth a damn was Mark, the designer/salesman.

Great pool.......miserable customer service.

A couple of helpful links for the OP.

Pools are Outdoors
I'm thinking of getting a pool
Houston Pool Builder Recs
Pool Builders

We're in the process of getting bids and have reached out to DownUnda, Triton Pools, Pulliam Pools, Splish Splash, Platinum Pools, AquaClean, Sundance Pools, Waterside, Pro Pool Consultants, Precision Pools, and Custom Outdoors.

We've only met with Platinum and Precision so far and they got 3D renderings back to us quickly. Meeting with two more this week and then we'll probably make a decision.

Great Escapes out of Cypress just built me an amazing pool. Family owned, great people. And at least a couple of the kids are Ags.

We used Cypress Custom Pools last year. Parents are also in the process of construction with them on their pool as well. Would recommend you check them out.

We used Supreme Pools when we did ours about 10 years ago. They were really easy to work with and did a great job. They seemed to be very quality driven. One thing I recall is that without any complaint from me, they made the made their crew rip out and redo the stone spillway out of the spa because they didn't think it was good enough.

We're meeting with our first contractor in a few hours. Thanks for the suggestions.

Talk with Brad at Pulliam Pools