Finding A Good Pool Builder
SwimmingPoolSteve.com is user-supported. In order to keep this resource about pools and spas available for free to all readers I earn commissions for purchases made through links on this page. For more information see the full disclaimer page. By using this website you are agreeing to the terms and conditions.
If you are a home owner who is struggling to find a good pool builder to install a swimming pool for you, rest assured you are not alone. Right now, more than any time in the past 30 years it is hard to find a good pool builder. This, at least at first, was largely due to the pandemic causing people (essentially everywhere) to cancel all travel, vacation and entertainment plans. Literally the only thing you were allowed to do was stay at home. If you have a swimming pool during a lockdown you are basically a king among men. What could be better than your own private oasis when you can not do all of the fun and entertaining things that you would normally be doing? If you agree with this line of thinking then you would be part of a huge group of people all attempting to have swimming pools installed right now.
I have been active in the pool industry for 30 years now and during this time I have seen feast and I have seen famine. I have not, I am quite sure, seen anything to this degree in terms of raw demand for pools and pool services. There have been many times in my career where pool installations start to back up. The boom of the late 80's was big. The boom from building pools in Vancouver and Whistler pre-Olympics was pretty crazy. However in each of these circumstances regardless of how busy I was I could still go to the pool equipment supply store and buy whatever I needed on a daily basis. This is the first time that I have experienced the pool equipment supply shelves picked bare with virtually every product and every brand experiencing significant backorder of stock. Finished goods aside even the white goods, skimmers, PVC plumbing parts etc. all are in short supply and have been for over a year now. This alone is grinding the normally smooth flow of new pool installations to a halt since many pools have to wait for products to become available in order to finish them. This is the landscape that you are stepping into if you are trying to have a pool built in 2022.
Why is it so hard to find a good pool builder? - The most direct answer is simply that good pool builders are all busy already. When you are good at what you do it does not take long for word to spread. Most of the highest quality pool installers I know of have absolutely no advertising or marketing budget at all. This is because they get enough business from word of mouth so as to never need to advertise. They already get more requests for work than they can handle so they pick and choose the jobs, and the clients, that they want the most. So you have two things working against you here. First you need to find a good builder, and since they are not advertising your opportunities to find them are very limited. You will not find them online. You have to go out to "the streets" and knock on doors, speak to people who have recently had pools built and find out who they used and whether they were happy or not. This is probably the biggest reason it is hard to find a good builder. The best ones do not bother to advertise, but the worst ones almost always do (advertise) so you will most likely find them. I do not want to be a fearmonger and tell you that you have to have your back up when hiring a pool builder...but this is an awful lot of money we are talking about for a modern day pool installation, plus you are attaching it permanently to your home. You definitely want to find the right pool builder. Not just a pool builder.
So is that just it? The best builders are taken so I should just give up on my dream of owning a swimming pool? Well, no, not really. More that you need to manage your expectations in a time of such extreme demand. Perhaps it is best said that right now is not a time where you can "have it all". You can probably find a good builder, but you will certainly have to pay top dollar. Also you might have to wait. If you have it cheap, and you want it fast then there is basically no chance it is going to be a quality swimming pool. So let's look at what you have to do to find a good pool builder right now:
Tip #1 for finding a good pool builder is to wait longer - I know this might not be the answer that you want to hear, especially when pool builders can be booked up to years in advance right now. You need to appreciate that building a pool is not all that different from building a house when you look at the technical complexity of the project and the different trades and stages required for the build. You would never consider to hire a bad house builder just because the one you want is busy, would you? I wouldn't. If I could find the company that I deemed to be "the right builder" for my project then I would just get in line and wait as long as it takes to have them be the one that builds my pool. Having a pool built is special. It is not something that you will do over and over again in your life. It is definitely worth it to wait for the right pool builder even if it means waiting a little longer than you want to. You will probably not remember waiting an extra swimming season to have your pool installed in the long term, but if you hire a bad pool builder then you will remember that forever.
Tip #2 for finding a good pool builder is to change your plans - Something that I would encounter often as a swimming pool contractor is that there would be parts of a job I am interested in, like the pool, and parts of the job I am not interested in as much, like retaining walls or vast expanses of concrete, wood or stone decking. While I am able to offer these services as a pool builder, it is hard work with relatively low profit margins. At least compared to what I charge to build you a swimming pool. So the pool is my bread and butter so to speak, and I will do some decking work in order to get the pool job. Usually. Sometimes I do not feel like grinding my crew into hamburger doing hundreds or thousands of square feet of concrete removal and replacement. Hard work, low profit, high risk for warranty issues for workmanship etc. are all good reasons for me to pass on your project if it includes a bunch of work which is outside the scope of my ideal project or ideal customer. If you have a large project that includes hardscaping, large areas of decking as well as a pool installation you might want to consider breaking these up into three smaller projects. Or at least two smaller projects. This might attract some builders who did not return your calls the first time around due to your initial project details including things they did not feel they wanted to take on right now. On this note, if you struggle for a call back from pool builders, plus (or) you want a good laugh, then read this article I wrote about how to actually get a pool builder to call you back.
Tip #3 for finding a good pool builder is to interview more builders - When it comes to hiring a swimming pool builder it would normally come down to three quotes, or estimates, and that would probably be enough to make a sound decision. Sure it might take more than three phone calls in order to get three estimates from three pool builders, but once you have three estimates in hand you probably have enough information to pick a good pool builder. during periods of high demand like we are experiencing right now due to the pandemic I would say that three estimates is no longer enough. In fact three estimates is not even close to enough information to make a sound decision about a new swimming pool installation. The pool industry is so busy right now we are experiencing an influx of newer and lesser experienced companies bidding on pool work. More than ever a homeowner needs to be aware of this and vetting their potential contractors very carefully. Where normally 3 estimates might be enough I would say 5 to 10 estimates is the minimum that I would work with right now. It is also worth noting that it would be exceedingly difficult to get five estimates or 10 estimates for a swimming pool build. This would be expected to take a very long time however you will notice over time that the more people you interview the better of a sense you will get for who is worth doing business with and who is not. You will also get a much better understanding of the local price index for the type of work you are hiring for. It is not uncommon to have some swimming pool estimates be wildly different than the rest whether that be too high or too low in either case you definitely want to avoid the price outliers with your estimates.
Tip #4 for finding a good pool builder is to increase your budget - building a swimming pool is expensive anytime but right now I can tell you that building a swimming pool is more expensive than ever. The number of product price increases that I have seen in the past two years are greater then the previous 28 years combined. The cost of products, materials and even labor needed in order to install swimming pools are quite literally going through the roof right now. What might have been a reasonable budget for your project two years ago would definitely be well under the amount that you need for that same project today. It might be worthwhile for you to reconsider your budget for this swimming pool installation to see if you can find a little more money to help attract the right builder. At absolute minimum it is 20% more expensive to build you a swimming pool today than it was just two years ago in some areas would experience price increases even greater than this if you live in a high demand area. Nobody wants to work for free and building swimming pools is hard work so if you want somebody who is really good at their job you really do need to spend more to get that than even just a few years ago. This is putting the cost of swimming pools even further out of reach for many people. It is a massive luxury purchase after all. This in turn drives more people to explore things like tiny pools / endless pools / swim spas, or even looking to save money by installing the pool themselves which sounds good on the surface but is often more than people bargained for.
More than ever people are looking to build their own DIY swimming pool due to the difficulty, and cost, of hiring a professional pool builder right now. I can definitely understand the motivations of a home owner who is trying to save a giant pile of money by installing their own swimming pool however I can only get behind a plan like this if you happen to have extensive construction experience to draw from. While it would be possible, technically, to hire out subcontractors for every stage of your swimming pool construction what you will probably find is that these subcontractors are also very busy right now. If you have enough technical skill or trades experience to build a house, for example, then building a swimming pool can actually be a really great project to take on.
If you were to decide to build your own pool there will be challenges right now due to product supply issues and constant price increases however you probably can save a huge amount of money if you install your pool yourself. If you did decide to build a swimming pool yourself you would be well advised to build a basic swimming pool. Choose a design that is simple with a high likelihood for success. For most homeowners building your own swimming pool is just not realistic. Swimming pool installations are far more technically challenging than most people understand them to be.
If you need help with the design of an efficient swimming pool system then you might want to consider signing up for the Swimming Pool Steve new pool installation consulting service. If you are just looking for more suggestions as to ways you can improve the quality and value of your new pool installation then you might be interested in the value shopping guide written by Swimming Pool Steve. Learn how to interview and hire the right pool builder and make smart design improvements that will provide long term value for your pool: New pool value guide.
Top content from www.SwimmingPoolSteve.com
Pool and spa chemistry crash course
New pool owner guide
The Swimming Pool Steve blog
Have a question - ask Steve
Swimming Pool Steve is an award winning, second generation swimming pool specialist from Ontario Canada and one of the most trusted voices in the swimming pool industry. With over 20,000,000 views on the Swimming Pool Steve YouTube Channel, winner of the Pleatco Pool & Spa Industry Leadership award and author of hundreds of pool and spa articles both online and in print. Steve is committed to helping pool and spa owners as well as pool and spa industry workers learn more about the technical side of building, renovating, repairing and maintaining all types of swimming pools and spas. Follow Swimming Pool Steve on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Paid PDF Books From Swimming Pool Steve
Steve's Pool Survival Guide
The Swimming Pool Steve Pool Survival Guide is intended to help pool owners understand their pool and pool equipment better, understand water chemistry, water testing and chemical corrections to the water, troubleshoot the most common pool problems and have confidence in interacting and caring for their pool in the fastest possible frame of time. Also covers pool safety, things to avoid and how to operate your pool more efficiently.
Salt Water Recommendations
Are you considering upgrading to salt water in your pool? In this paid PDF Steve talks about which pools should avoid using salt water. Find out concerns about using salt in your pool but also the potential benefits of salt water. Finally hear which specific brand and model of salt chlorine generator Steve thinks is the best option currently available to pool owners and how to choose the right size salt system for your pool.
New Pool Heater Buyer's Guide
In this guide Swimming Pool Steve will help you to better understand your heater options as well as which would be best suited for your pool. Learn about BTU output and sizing of both gas/propane heaters as well as electric heat pumps for residential swimming pools. You will also learn about which specific brands and models of currently available pool heaters Steve likes to recommend. If you are thinking of adding a new pool heater to your equipment pad this buyer's guide would be a useful resource to help you make a more informed buying decision.
New Pool Installation Value Guide
This is a value shopping guide written by Swimming Pool Steve to help home owners hiring for a new pool installation to get the maximum value for their investment with tips about how to protect your interests during the vetting, hiring and pool installation process. Anyone serious about having a pool installed will find value in this guide. Pool installers will sell the pool package that is best for them - not for you! Become an informed value shopper with this PDF guide.
Endorsed Brands From Swimming Pool Steve
The following links and products are to affiliates of the Swimming Pool Steve website. These are brands, products and services hand selected by Steve for endorsement. Please note that these endorsements can include monetary compensation, affiliate links and referral fees to Swimming Pool Steve, however there is zero additional cost to you should you use one of these products or services. Income generated from these links helps to keep this pool and spa resource available for everyone. To have your product or service considered for listing here as an endorsed brand email SwimmingPoolSteve@gmail.com.
Amazon Disclosure Statement - As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
www.PoolPartsToGo.com
New Black + Decker variable speed pumps are available online from www.PoolPartsToGo.com and they are a drop in replacement for many popular pump models including Pentair Superflo and Hayward Super Pumps. With an adjustable platform base, union connections included and a very strong warranty these pumps offer an impressive value to pool owners.
- Swimming Pool Steve