I have had pools installed at my last 3 homes over the past 30 years and have maintained all of them myself.
I had an estimate from T&D. They were $20K more than the company we went with, and all of the equipment they speced out was out of date (not what was being currently sold by Hayward), and undersized for my pool. By that I mean it was sized for the minimum requirements for the pool, but the FL sun is hard on pools. You really want an oversized filter and SWG.
When I asked for similar sized equipment to the company I eventually went with they acted insulted, and the difference became $30K. My pool installation was delayed over 2 months while I waited on an estimate from them.
I did my pool project backwards... we installed the bird cage (1,300 sq ft) and poured concrete. A year later we decided we wanted a pool. Out of the list below, only the top 3 would even provide a quote that didn't involve them taking down the bird cage and putting up a new one. Between the cage and the canvas covering, I had over $40K tied up and didn't want to do that.
If I had to do it over again, I would do it all at once - it's way cheaper. The pool company doesn't have to use special equipment for excavation and removal, and they don't charge nearly as much for the cage - they've already made their profit on the pool. Premier does do cages, and the ones I have seen they did a great job on. I would go with one company to do everything.
Here is my list of installers, listed in groups of what I call Tier One and Tier Two:
Tier One
1 Premier Pools of Central FL (Garret Trefcer 407-718-0132)
2 Waterman Home Construction (352-669-1033)
3 T&D (They had a long wait even for estimates, and came in at $30K over #1)
Tier Two
1 Yandles Splash Time Pools
2 Outback Pools
3 All Seasons Pool
4 Fiesta Pools Fiesta Pools of Ocala, Inc.
Two installers I would stay away from are Wiseman and Staycations Pools... and honestly anyone not on the list above. I researched these companies heavily on reviews and the BBB. Wiseman takes forever and has been known to leave folks in the lurch with issues from the installation. Staycation takes forever as well. I know of a pool near us that was started when ours was. Ours was finished in 14 weeks, theirs was still in process a year later. I have a friend in the Fenny area that just put in a pool from Premier, and their neighbor went with Staycation. My friends was finished 6 months ago - Staycation is still working on the neighbors pool. In addition, the slab was not poured square, and the infinity edge is not level - I have no idea how they could address these issues without starting over.
The top 2 are far better rated than the other 5. I almost went with Waterman, but Premier suggested the use of pavers to hide the old concrete, and their cost was a little lower than Waterman. T&D builds a good pool, but tends to use minimal sized equipment, uses older automation, and was a lot more $$'s than either 1 or 2.
Do's and Don'ts when looking at a pool from ANY builder.
Do's
Do Get autofill/drain (This is a must have here in FL)
Do Replace dual drains with Channel Drain
Do Install handrail at build time
Do Get a robot to clean pool and sidewalls (Buy on your own after install)
Do Ensure salt cell is rated for 2x pool size
Do get largest available heat pump (140K) (if going with heat pump)
Do Get a water line run near equipment pad
Do Get a light installed over the equipment pad
Do Get full automation
Do Make sure pump is Variable Speed
Do Go with a larger filter (300-400 sq ft)
Don'ts
Don't Give final payment until pool is operational (If you can get builder to agree - most won't)
Don't install suction return line
While your pool is being installed, check out the TroubleFree pool site. This site provides great info on how to care for your pool - even if you don't want to maintain it, it helps to understand what should be checked and why.
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