Quote:
Originally Posted by jchase
We will be building in Buttonwood next year and are planning on adding a swimming pool/hot tub/summer kitchen. Does anyone have recommedations as to having The Villages complete during construction or having an outside contractor complete? Is there a big cost savings with going with an outsider? If so, who would you recommend? Any information would be appreciated.
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You would chuckle if you knew how many hundred posts have been written on this subject. Trouble is sometimes the best info is not easy to find in using the TOTV search engine.
Let me summarize some of the points which have been made repeatedly:
Don't have The Villages build your pool as part of the house project. It will be more expensive and most importantly, you will have little input or control of the project.
There are a few reputable pool builders in the area, and some not so much. I have read literally dozens of glowing recommendations of T&D Concrete's pools. I have read no more than one or two positive reports about any other company. There are many "nightmare" stories out there. T&D built my pool/ spa in 2005. it was, and still is, a beautiful job. Of the scores of companies and contractors I've hired over the years, T&D still is the best I've ever dealt with.
If there is any knock on T&D, it is that they are big and busy, and might not give you the most personal, immediate service. The solution is simply to ask for one of their construction supervisors, Randy Martin. Tell Randy you were told that if he does your job it will be a great job. Then tell him you'd like his wife Vera to design the project.
The pool isn't a tub of water. It can be a focal point of your living area and might have three diverse functions: endless swim exercise area, 85 degree pleasant swim and soak, and 100 degree spa. There will be a birdcage and a surrounding floor area which should fit naturally with the rest of your living space. That's why you need a good builder, and a good designer. In our case, we ended up building a smaller pool/spa than we thought we would. Within a few months we decided it was perfect for all we wanted and simple to care for. The leading complaint I've heard from folks with pools is that theirs is too big and too much work to maintain.
Good luck! Take your time with this project! You can send me a pm if you'd like to see our pool.