Favian was WONDERFUL! I chose him because of all the outstanding reviews on Angie's List, and because he was the least expensive out of at least five contractors who gave me estimates.
I was not the easiest client to deal with. My pool was in very bad shape. I had cantilevered concrete coping, which had completely failed. And, the concrete decking adjacent to the pool had major cracks in it. Because of the coping failure, the tile had begun to pop off. And, the pool was badly in need of re-plastering, after over 30 years. There was also a built-in pool cover, which had to be removed, and a large recessed box for the pool cover had to be filled with concrete. And, the diving board had to be removed, which meant that the concrete below and surrounding the diving board had to be re-poured.
I decided to use Bellecrete pre-cast coping, because I was concerned that if I replaced the cantilevered concrete coping, it was just going to fail again. The problem was that the pre-cast coping was not as thick as the concrete coping, so Favian had to build up the surface underneath where the pre-cast coping was going to be installed, so that the pre-cast coping was level with the existing concrete deck. And, getting the correct amount of overhang of the pre-cast coping was tricky, as well.
At every step of the way, Favian consulted with me, to make sure that the work he was going to do would meet my needs and desires. And, at every step of the way, I was worried about how it was going to look. If you check out the YouTube videos on the re-plastering process, it's pretty scary. It looks like there is no possible way that it could ever result in a smooth finished plaster pool. But, Favian was at the site, actually working side-by-side his crew, every day. And, everything turned out beautifully.
During the process, Favian discovered that my pool pump had gone bad. (I think I was told this by a prior pool service man, but didn't have the money to do anything about it.) He also discovered that my old pool man had done some work on the pool and spa valves that he did not tell me about, and that had been done incorrectly. (We found parts on the ground by the pool equipment, which should have been in the valves!) Favian replaced everything that needed to be repaired.
Now, not only does my pool look beautiful, but it actually works the way it's supposed to. I swim laps, and I love the way the rounded edge and thickness of the coping feels, when I grab onto it. I bought a wetsuit (Synergy Endorphin) from Amazon.com, and I'm now able to use my pool (hopefully) year-round.
In conclusion, I would recommend Favian and Gonzalez Pools without hesitation. If I could be his sales representative, I would! read more