I regret hiring California Pools Claremont and I will have to live with what is likely the worst…read morefinancial decision in my life. Rick is friendly and seems knowledgeable while having a very nice/fancy showroom.... but.....
Out of 7 quotes I received, California pools was the highest. I received bids ranging from $21k to $40k to have my existing pool refinished with pebble, new coping, new heater and water line tile. I also added a baja shelf where my existing steps were. Nothing too extravagant, but what's funny is that Rick mentioned a couple of times that "with your limited budget"... excuse me? My limited budget? I spent double with you to have the same work done and I would have gotten a better finished product if I would have chosen a different company.
Here are the details:
Demolition began in February/beginning of March, the project was completed according to California Pools in July/August. Demolition went smooth. So far so good... but then the problems began... Yes, it rained more than we usually get in our area and I understand that will delay any project, but this was more than just rain delays..... Then, the next step of installing the travertine coping and tiles. Two months later by May 9, the coping and tiles were installed. We chose a nice glass tile around the spa and deep end of our pool to accent the water line tiles. Took two weeks to install the tile... which seemed like a long time. I had my doubts of the experience of this team, not to mention if these were even employees of California Pools (while I can't fully confirm, i have come to a conclusion that every team from demo, tiles, pebble were all subcontracted) I know for sure the tile and pebble teams were not California Pools employees as I saw other company names on their trucks. The tiles were installed incorrectly and almost every glass tile had giant air pockets between the tile mastic/mortar which would not have been acceptable to anyone (pictures shown) When I mentioned this to Rick, he said his team installed them correctly and initially he tried to say it was out fault for choosing glass tile? LOL He said he believes the tiles were installed correctly but after some back and forth he agreed to take a look for himself even though I sent pictures to him after the install. Immediately upon inspection, he admitted that this tile team messed up. We ended up tearing out all the glass tile and they did it over. June 7, the tiles were reinstalled. Noticed two pieces of cracked coping, Rick brushed it off saying there is no way these guys installed broken pieces. They obviously messed up the glass tiles, but no way installed cracked coping? hmmm...
2 weeks later, the pebble install begins. I met with Rick in my backyard in the morning before leaving for work. I stood next to him watching the crew apply the pebble mix into the pool, I told Rick how anxious we are to see the glass pebble option that we contracted and purchased extra for originally.... There aren't samples of the pebble with glass option this so being able to see it for the first time would be nice... He looks at me and says what glass pebble option? I was in shock at this response, I told him, we chose to add the glass pebbles for an extra $800 or so... He immediately left to pick up the glass and said he hopes it's not too late to add. As he was walking out of my backyard, he said to me, "if it's not on the contract, you are paying extra for the glass pebble and we will add it to the total." I replied to him telling him, I know it's on the agreement and we are already paying for the "option" and for what ever reason its not contracted, I will pay for it.
Received a text an hour and a half later saying that they got the glass in the mix on time (I have my doubts about this as I will explain later). Also, a text shortly after saying that he also checked the contract and the glass pebble option was on the original agreement. (Looking back at this, I wish I would have never mentioned it)
June 23... finally the pool is full with water, the first round of chemicals were done as we paid around $500 to have Rick complete the start up, which is "crucial". What I thought would take around 3 to 4 weeks once a week to "start up" the pool, there were only 2 visits afterwards.
My biggest issue, the finish of the pebble is rougher than any concrete at my house. The 3 or 4 times my kids tried the pool, they were constantly scraping and cutting themselves. I even drew blood on my knees the couple times I tried, but according to Rick, this is normal and brushing the pool will eventually smooth it out? LOL Not according to the pebble mfg or the National Plasterers Council. Now I'm being ignored even after Rick agreed to come out and polish out the rough areas. Since they are now non responsive, I hope others see this.... I will be hiring another company to fix their mess.