Back to One Star. We tried multiple times to reach out to Richard to help us with a warranty issue and we got no response. So I guess the next step is arbitration. So bad! read more

Dream Pools and Spas - Zero edge pool and spa - General Contractors Near Me - Carlsbad, California

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Dream pools built a beautiful pool, barbecue and concrete deck for our family. We got several bids, and their bid was very fair, and their work exceeded our expectations. Richard, the owner of Dream Pools, stayed in contact with us throughout the process, and his team was very professional. Despite supply chain issues we have all experienced during Covid, Rich provided us with everything needed to build our pool. I had not experienced that kind of careful management for the inside remodel we were doing at the same time. When choosing the right builder for your pool, it is vital to pick a company who will manage all stages of the project with exceptional customer service. Dream Pools meets the highest standards. Highly recommend. read more

These guys are a joke. Richard completely flaked on our initial meeting. I had to call him to find out if we were still on and was then told that he couldn't attend. Okay, strike one. He finally shows up and we discuss the project at which point I am told I would be receiving a bid in a few weeks. A few weeks go by with no correspondence and I am again the one to reach out, strike two. I am told it will be another few weeks and those weeks go by with no bid and I am again calling him. He then tells me that he is busy and it would be another month before I could get a bid. Hilarious. I'm also told to send him an email with what I need and that he would create the bid from that. Seriously? Strike three. I wouldn't trust this guy to mow my lawn. Good luck with your crappy customer service ethics moving forward. read more

I want to share what an excellent experience I had with Richard of Dream Pools as I reached out to pool contractors for my home project. In the end, I elected to go with a competitor, but Richard made it a difficult decision. His bid was detailed and very very competitively priced. He came out twice, on time, and listened to me while sharing his extensive experience. He then came through in only a couple days with a detailed diagram and the detailed project cost breakdown. Everything about my interaction with Richard made me confident Dream Pools would have done a fine job. If you're considering a pool, I strongly recommend contacting Dream pools. read more

Thank you very much, Richard! Richard and his team did a wonderful job. Armando, the foreman, listened to everything we wanted and did everything to our satisfaction. I think we had a happy outcome because we knew what we wanted. We watched everything closely and asked a lot of questions. Everything that we questioned, Richard fixed. We are very happy with our pool and can't believe we didn't do this a long time ago. We highly recommend Dream Pools. read more

Dream Pools and Spas - 14x23 pool with 9x9 Baja shelf. - General Contractors Near Me - Carlsbad, California

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We used Richard and Team about two years ago to build a pool and spa at our home in Carlsbad. I've had awesome experiences with his team both from an under construction standpoint and a warranty and maintenance standpoint. Richards initial sales presentation was top notch. He has vision, and knows Carlsbad. He based his design off of what we hoped for and honestly made it better. Armando, his foreman during the project was incredible. A truly hard worker, and always there supervising. I'll be honest, I've read some of these other reviews and I believe that some of these reviewers have no concept of construction. No project is flawless, and no construction company is going to go through the process of digging a giant hole in your back yard without something happening (scratches on concrete, irrigation lines?) Those things and more happened during the course of our construction and Richard handled and fixed and went over and beyond, to make things work. Reviewing a construction project and reviewing the individuals working through the issues are separate. Our project was not perfect. But ultimately, Richard and his team were. They responded to and provided work arounds to every issue that cropped up. (None of these issues were at the fault of the contractor) They delivered our pool, on time, to our satisfaction, and have continued for over two years to support us in our pool ownership. Good job Richard and Dream Pools. And thanks for a cool back yard! read more

IF I COULD GIVE NO STARS I WOULD! We are 4 months after the pool has been filled with water and work is still not done. This process goes back to October of last year. Richard Wagner is impossible to reason with. We put up with a lot including being called F*ing A**holes but more than just Richard's attitude, there were major mistakes with our pool. Below are examples of JUST A FEW examples: WRONG COLOR pebble coat. Not until the email was found confirming the mistake did he admit to it at which point we were told not to worry about because it is one of the top selling colors. We designed for a BEACH ENTRY but a baja shelf was built instead. Richard was rarely on-sight which is why attention to detail was so poor; this type of oversight was one of a few instances. Extreme DAMAGE to our side yard and driveway concrete due to dragging equipment over the concrete with no care or concern for the damage being caused. When mentioned to Richard, he tried to tell me that was there before he started work. Again, impossible to reason with. WATER LINE BROKE underneath our driveway and he never fixed it. ELECTRICITY still does not work properly in our house and the GFCI pops every day. His contractors ruined the breaker by hooking jackhammers up directly to the panel. STAIN on the BBQ is bubbling and discoloring. We've asked him to fix this for months now and he has not. DRAINAGE was not properly installed in the pool and algae is building in the water fall basins because it has nowhere to drain back to; water fills but never completely drains. Still has not been fixed. Unfortunately the list goes on and on including concrete company calling me for bills not being paid and threatening to put a lien on our property, Richard's early billing for work not completed, plans reflecting one thing and his construction being completely different. This was just a terrible experience for us and I wish we had used someone else. read more

Rich wagner and crew build us an amazing pool spa patio fireplace and outdoor kitchen to appropriate specs and were very flexible in some last minute changes of materials...issues and concerns were professionally addressed and support has continued after completed project .... very helpful in getting HOA approval and pulling permits for project..... we could not be any happy with the service, no hidden costs and a turn key system.... strongly recommend this company to transform your backyard into a family resort . U will not be disappointed read more

I am so done with Richard Wagner, Dream Pools and his incompetent subcontractors! I can't even express what a nightmare this company and his contractors have been. Chad's review from 12/27/2015 nailed it. So many redos I lost count and when we would call to discuss another mistake he or his workers did, Richard would go on a rant yelling at me and my husband about how much he hates this business and how (somehow) we were wrong. It was so unprofessional and scary. His contractors sent us countless emails telling us he would be at our house to resolve issues and wouldn't show for weeks, leaving us high and dry. Some issues are still not complete and we started this in December 2015. We felt stuck so ended up paying him in full before issues were resolved so they would leave our property without issue. Discussing taking legal action. Beware! read more

Richard and his team truly gave us the backyard of our dreams. From the design process through the finished product - we could not be happier. We will always be grateful to him for having a vision for our backyard that we never imagined possible. We would highly recommend that you consult Richard if you are considering building a pool - you will not regret the gift he has for offering up a variety of designs to meet your wants and needs! He did an unbelievable job and was consistently available, professional and pleasant to work with. We would not hesitate to use him again for other projects and would highly recommend his services to others. read more

Be very, very careful with this contractor. Better yet, find someone else. First, If you do contract with Dream Pools be sure to get every single item of the design put into the contract in writing. If it is a verbal promise, and it costs money, he will say it was not in his bid and he cannot remember any verbal promises. And he always interprets the drawing in his favor. Make everything extremely detailed. No item is too small to put in writing. Second, you must pay close attention to everything as the work unfolds. We caught several major design shortfalls and just plain errors during the process. They simply do not pay attention to the design as well as they should. We ended up with one major design flaw that should never have happened, but now is literally impossible to correct. Our pool is 2 feet shallower in the deep end than the plans call for. How can a quality contractor not have caught this? Of course, it is much cheaper to build a pool that is shallower than the plans. Less labor and less materials. Hmmm. Simply do not rely on the contractor or his subs to do it right. Verify and watch constantly as they build. Third, the workers will carelessly damage your existing systems and dump trash in areas you cannot see until later. Dream Pools cut my irrigation electrical line and did not repair it, they just covered it up with dirt. What a nightmare for me to find this break afterwards. They also severed my underground watering system in several places and did not make the easy repairs before filling in the trenches. I had to find the breaks after they were gone. We also found wheelbarrows full of excess gravel and pebbletech debris in our garden planters covered over with dirt So they were hidden. We had to dig out these planters, dump the debris and replace the soil. Finally, don't expect great product support after your money is paid to Dream Pools. Their warranty support is insincere and your past customer satisfaction is never a priority. They will do the minimum to solve an issue, and on their schedule. And these are issues that should never have become issues if quality control was as it should be. I wish I had seen some of these more recent reviews before I signed the contract! read more

Dream Pools is really a fantastic company. We did a huge project....pool, spa, fireplace, bbq, pavers around the whole property, landscaping etc. My wife had already worked with them years ago, and said that they had done a fantastic job in putting in a pool/spa/pavers. In fact, she said that based upon her previous experience, he was the only option she wanted to consider. In her previous experience, she had sought multiple bids, and found him to not only be very reasonable, but very honest. (I guess some of the bids were outrageous. She said once they see where you live, they try and gouge you.) In addition, his work was outstanding. We are now on the last leg of our project. What I can say, is that he has lived up to everything my wife told me. When you have a project as large as ours, it's critical to have good communication. Richard and I have been in constant communication about the different phases throughout. (When you do a project as large as ours, your property becomes a construction zone for a short period, so communication is critical.) He is easy to work with, and very personable. Just a great guy. He will guide you, but made sure that we made the decisions along the way. And the workmanship has been amazing. We did everything custom, and it's absolutely gorgeous. It's critical that you really take the time to look at all of the components, and how they all come together.....so for a pool, you need to make decisions about coping, tile, pool interior, etc..... If you add pavers, see how the colors all match in relation to your house. This is important, because how the work turns out depends a lot upon the work you put into the planning. As I said, Richard will guide you, but he wants you to make the final decisions on everything, which really is the way it should be. The bottom line, is that if you are looking for someone who is honest, fair priced, and does outstanding work, Dream Pools is the way to go! read more

I would also like to add that since the installation, whenever i have had any questions on equipment and operation, Dream Pools is extremely responsive and attentive to my questions. Great work, team and highly recommended. read more

We had Dream Pool in Carlsbad build our new pool, spa, and outdoor living areas this summer. We went with these guys because of a friends referral and the design was by far the best. The construction process went along with a few minor problems but that's the nature of construction. I was very please with the overall outcome and would highly recommend them to others. read more

$150k project completed 3 years ago. After several redos, total project satisfaction is 4 stars. Richard's hardscape subcontractor did poor work with no integrity. Price was good and Richard has the ability to do large projects with multiple facets (pool, bbq, hardscape, etc.), but he was rarely present and had an attitude when asked about his lack of presence. Wish I had used someone else. read more

Just completed our backyard pool project with Dream Pools.While planning and designing our project, Rich was extremley responsive and diligent. We are very pleased with the outcome and pleased with the professional and approachable nature of the building crew. The pool looks as beautiful as we hoped and so far seems to be running smoothly. We did have a couple of small issues, as would be expected in any significant construction project, but once we got through that, all went smoothly.....The foreman on our project, Armando, was amazing and a real problem solver. read more

I have worked on projects with Rich from San Diego Dream Pools and Spas for almost 10 years . I own Champion Permits a Permit Expediting company that does all of the building permits for Rich. I have seen the incredibly hard work that Rich does to make sure that his projects are permitted, inspected and finaled. This is a very important aspect when choosing a contractor. You want someone who is going to be there from the beginning to the end of the project. Rich ALWAYS has as his goal to make sure that his projects are done exactly as required by the City or County. Trust me, I have many contractors that are NOT as thorough as Rich. He cares for each and every one of his projects like he was putting a pool into his own backyard. When I am ready to put a pool in my backyard, Rich will be the one that I call, 100%. Thanks Rich for being so thorough on your projects! Tim Seaman Champion Permits read more

Dream Pools sells themselves as an honest, reputable and reasonably priced pool contractor, what they don't tell you is that once you sign the contract it's their way or no way! Richard is rude, unprofessional and threatened to walk off our $150K project several times when things got out of whack with his sub-contractor! Don't think for one minute that the expectations or promises will be kept. He was constantly trying to change our minds on materials we chose to less expensive options to his cookie cutter approach. His concrete sub was incompetent and poured some of the worse pool coping I've ever seen each poured in place piece is a different size, math is not their strong suit. Richard bites off more than he can handle with multiple projects going on simultaneously, he will stop by for a couple of minutes every few days and don't try to ask a question that's "not in the contract"! He is very attentive and personable when you first meet yet at the fist sign of a challenge he defaults to being rude and threatening. Our pool came out beautiful thanks to the relationship we cultivated on our own with one of his subs who was scared of Richard and told us so. Forget after sales service he sends one of his employees unannounced to repair issues and you'll have them with Dream Pools. Plenty of good pool contractors out there just not this one. read more