We've used our Texas Tiny Pool for 5 months and we love it so far! It's a small pool--13 X 25--and…read moreI'm delighted to share that it hasn't gotten too hot even after many, many weeks of 100+ degree heat.
If the design + planning process was as great as the construction/final product, we'd offer 5-star review. In short: If you're executing an exceedingly simple project, maybe this company is fine for you. After all, the construction went well and we love our pool so far! If you care about a stellar & rigorous design process with great mockups, and fast, thorough communication--then find a company that offers a dedicated design/planning project manager for Pre-construction (not just a Construction-Phase project manager). We had multiple generous onsite visits up front, so that we could ask lots of questions. After we signed a contract, the process worsened. Instead of being supported by a dedicated Project Manager for the massive pre-construction/design phase, we were communicating directly with one of the company's super-busy owners.
No hard feelings and we wish everyone at TTP well! Their operation needs more support for planning, design, communication, and pre-construction phases. Here's where we struggled with our project:
1) Communication: When we first contacted the company, they told us they couldn't offer a built-in hot tub. At an onsite visit months later (5/22) they said the same--and suggested we just buy a heater and heat the entire pool. We declined. Weeks later, we signed a contract, and right after that, we randomly saw on their social media a project with a built-in hot tub. Which required a re-design process.
2) Planning and pricing info:
* In July, we agreed to a final pool + deck design. In August, we asked if we could make the pool 1 foot longer, and 1 foot deeper--and asked how that would impact the project. In all the communications during August, no one responded with a cost or cost-estimate. Three months passed. No mention of an estimate.
* Months later, in mid November--right before construction and in a hurry to begin--they revealed that the size change increased the price by more than $9,000 dollars :/
* Simultaneously, the deck portion of our project was canceled. Because during that same week--just before construction--we luckily met with a random landscaper that had worked with Texas Tiny Pools. We showed the landscaper the plans and they flagged that the deck would conflict with a key walkway on our property.
* When we expressed worry and concern about the late-game communication on pricing, enlarged overall cost, and problematic deck plan--Texas Tiny Pools offered a short apology, a lengthy defense, and said that they'd waive their design-change fee and allow us to cancel the deck without a fee. It helped bring the cost back down, but the sliding deck was literally the only reason we worked with them to begin with, so that was disappointing.
3) Design details: The third and last issue was just a minor design disappointment. We paid extra for a tiled accent wall. The installers did a nice job laying all the tile... but when we asked how they planned to conceal the less-finished looking edges of the accent tile--they said they had no plan of concealing those edges, because we didn't buy the special "edging pieces." As customers who've never built or designed a hot tub, I can't imagine why we'd be expected to know that a special finishing/edging type of tile should have been included in the tile order. TTP should develop some design "intake forms" to catch details like that.
