**Beware of long review on why not to hirer Backyard Innovation**
On 12/20/2020 I signed a pool construction contract with Backyard Innovation Pool Company owned by Kris and Christy Macri. What I thought would be exciting 2-3 month constructions project became an expensive year long nightmare. During the first week in March they had the gas, internet and electric companies come out to survey my backyard and mark the location of lines. Excavation commenced on April 3, 2021 but was halted same day because Kris and Christy failed to properly locate the electrical line prior to excavation and a line was almost damaged by the digging. This was red flag number one. Excavation was completed on April 20, 2021 after having line re-routed. Then for the next 8 months there were multiple delays, excuses and request for more money above the contract price. Red flag number two came during the months of late April through August 2021. During May we possibly had above seasonal rain fall which delayed progress but my problem with Kris and Christy was how they prepared and managed for it. They did not properly cover the site nor continually pump out the water to keep the area dry. It led to a cave-in where the electric line was re-routed and left the re-routed line exposed. They didn't actually come out until I sent a video of frogs using my cave-in mud pond as their singing grounds throughout the night. Afterwards they came out to evaluate the dig site and pump out the water. Not much happen after this point except mid-June I met with the Kris and Christy to discuss the lack of progress and my concern for the integrity of my pool. At this point they stated it would cost me additional $12,000 to fix the cave-in but they were willing to pay half. I agreed to this because I just wanted my electric line protected, the contract did not address this explicitly and I wanted to expedite this process. They boarded up the side wall of the pool about a week later, but minimal work was done on my pool for the next month in half. I sent multiple text to Kris and Christy about the lack of work on the steel frame and plumbing. I got multiple excuses on why no crew was working on my project. Also complained that the recently fixed cave-in seemed to be worsening again along with what little steel and plumbing work that was done was now floating in water from rain. Again excuses. I was told things would move more smoothly once the gunite was poured. Red flag number three occurred on August 20, 2021 when they started pouring the gunite. What should have been an one day task turn into a 12 day project. It led to gunite on my patio roof and the end protect was poorly done with uneven walls (see pic). Red flag number four, during the September and October not much progress occurred but got multiple excuses. Though they requested more money, stating the cost of the tile and decking material had gone up due to COVID. Also they inform me, my pool equipment/pumps were still on backordered. At this time, I asked why my material and equipment hadn't already been ordered at the time I signed my contract and selected my material back in December 2020 and January 2021 which should have locked in the prices. You guess correctly more excuses and blame placed on COVID. Like an idiot, I agreed to the price increase in material because I just wanted this to be over. Mid November they started tiling my pool. I was told they would complete tiling, the plumbing (without the equipment) and electrical portion over the next week. Of course, this did not happen. Final red flag, it took 2 weeks to complete the tile. The plumbing was completed a couple days before Christmas which left by backyard and front yard a mess and the electric portion was never completed. I sent a text to Chris and Christy stating how my front and backyard was left. For a couple days I received no replies but then receive a text on December 17 from Kris that all of his crews are off till the 2nd week in January and he would have the cleanup done in the 2nd week in January. I replied it wasn't acceptable but never received a reply. I decided not to let this ruin my first Christmas with my family since the COVID pandemic and will deal with it after Christmas. The next time I got reply from Kris and Christy wasn't until January 12, 2022 after sending two text for updates after the New Year. Surprise, again they asked for more money to complete my pool. It would have been a 32.9% mark up from the contract stated price. I would like to point out the fact that on my same street another house had started building a pool in earlier November 2021 and completed it by Christmas. At this time, I reach my endpoint. I decided to fire them and involve a lawyer. A little late I know. It took me a while to find a company willing to take over the project for liability reasons. Luckily a pool renovation company was willing to take over my pool project and started work mid-March 2022. Since then, they have found read more