Completed Project!!!!

We are visiting in a couple of weeks then I can take some professional pictures and upload them.  Stephen just sent these over so I thought I would post them.  We will do a walkthrough of the final project when we visit.  From the photo’s it appears that everything looks beautiful.  Can’t wait to use the pool it’s 72 and sunny in Phoenix today and 55 and rainy in Portland, OR. Although I’ve not done the final walk through my experience with California Pools was very professional and responsive.  As I mentioned in the beginning of this project I’m a hard to please client and my husband is all about the details.  I would strongly recommend this company to anyone but particularly to out of state individuals because they do not need to be micromanaged.  I noticed in our community Estrella Mountain that most of the homes do not have a backyard.  Most of our neighbors are waiting for the market to turn around.  I hope my blog has been helpful and I would be happy to answer any of your comments or questions.   

Hard Dig!!!!

We selected California Pools for our pool project.  David was Johnny on the spot with every question or change that we had.  His design was great and he educated us during the bid process. We are still under construction so I will start from the beginning.  After sending all of my attachments including a sketch that my husband did on 06/27/11 he had a conceptual back the same day. During the process we upgraded and changed things such as making the waterfall higher, adding a Baja pool entry, and enlarging the putting green for starters.  David upgraded the conceptual immediately with every change. We continued back and forth making changes until we closed on the house which was 07/22/11.  We continued changing and upgrading the design with all of the companies that participated.  Finally at the end of September we decided to go with California Pools.  Then we needed to figure out how to pay for it.  Refinancing on a home is Arizona we were required to wait 6 months before we could pull out equity.  We decided to just pay cash for the project and refinance after the 6 months.  We signed all of the contracts and excavation started 10/10/11 with the first payment of $24,705.30.  We were then called the next day letting us know that they had encountered a hard dig which would require additional money to dig the hole.  Just as you might of imagined we were not happy with the start.  David understood our frustration and sent pictures of the hole.  California Pools did bid out the hard dig for the best bid.  It was $2,523 and we were warned that it could run from $1,500 to $3,000.  We paid the check for the hard dig day one and not too happy.  David was assuring us that this was unusual and at the end we would be completely satisfied.  We apprehensively calmed down and moved forward with the project. 

Cameo Pools

Cameo Pools

Dale was a great guy and apparently lives in the same subdivision.  This company was very responsive to all of my questions.  We exchanged tons of emails back and forth.  It really came down to the conceptual drawings and my overall gut with this company and California Pools.  I liked that Dale lived in the community but I liked the California pool design much more. 

Rondo Pools

Rondo Pools

This was another short lived relationship.  I received an email from Bryan on 06/25/11 saying that he would be helping me.  On 7/3/11 I sent him an email asking about the status of conceptual drawing. On 7/19/11 I received an email back from him saying that he’s sorry he’s been in and out of town lately. He tried to contact me by phone and wanted to talk but it was really just too late for me.   I live in Oregon and trying to micromanage a major project was not going to work for me.  I never received a conceptual drawing so no pictures.  

Paddock Pools and Spas

Paddock Pools and Spas

On 6/16/11 I received an email back from Tammy apologizing for not responding sooner something with the phone system. On 6/20/11 I received an email from Russ saying that he received my email and will be answering my questions.  We sent emails back and forth.  I received Russ’s conceptual drawings. 

Several issues:

1. No putting green
2. I did not want a fire place I wanted a fire pit because of the golf course view.
3. We wanted decking all the way up to the patio and on the patio
4. We did not want any trees it obstructs the view.

I requested that Russ make all of these changes which were on my original email with a drawing that my husband did. Russ was accommodating and got back to me immediately however we have several revisions.  Then I noticed that he left out the BBQ. 

My thoughts about Paddock:

Very nice people and they respond immediately my main issue was that they were not getting what we wanted.  I thought that we communicated our needs in the original email so I could not understand why they were putting a spin on the plan.  The last thing I wanted was a fire place to obstruct the view.  The plan was just different and did not match our taste.  I know that they are one of the larger companies in AZ but I really wanted to work with a company that understood what we wanted. 

 

Dolphin Pools

Dolphin Pools

On 6/20/11 I sent Adam the bid solicitation.  Then I received an email back from Chris on 6/28/11 saying that Adam had pursued another opportunity and he would be handing the project.  On 7/3/11 I sent an email to Chris following up. 7/3/11 Chris emailed me back and said that he was sorry that he had a medical situation and was in the office.  He said that he is working on two other projects and that we were after that. On 7/16/11 Chris emailed me the 2D drawing and bid and said that he had sent the conceptual drawings earlier.  I could not find any drawings in my email. Chris continued to send me emails following up. On 9/6/11 Chris sent conceptual drawings. 9/23/11 Chris sent an email wanting to talk about the project. 12/1/11 Chris sent an email saying that he had seen the construction going on and was confused. Please see my response to Chris:

Hi Chris,

We changed the parameters during the process. Both my husband and I have an extensive purchasing background and we bid out the pool to 10 pool providers in AZ.  The company we selected was based on the following criteria.

1) Responsiveness

2) Depth of detail

3) Design

4) Price

5) Feedback and research on the internet

We planned on spending $100K that was our budget to do the yard.  We were not in AZ until just recently moving my father so communication was key.  The company we selected was XXXXXXX and so far we have not been disappointed in the project. 

I really appreciate your effort and your time in providing a bid and design.  You were the runner up on our project out of the 10 providers. I will be doing a website and discussing purchasing a home in AZ and my pool project.

Thank you,

Melissa

We did not go with Dolphin Pools because again I lost interest between the time delays.  I had already accomplished so much with the other companies before I received the conceptual drawings from Chris.  He seemed very nice however if the service was the same as the construction it would take months to get the backyard done.