I was looking for a reliable contractor to build my pool I have come a cross Modul. they have been amazing from the start to the end. specially my project manager Ulises is a great guy and very helpful

Extremely disappointing experience with Modul by OC Poolscapes (formerly/also operating as OC Poolscapes), located at 15020 Desman Rd., La Mirada, CA 90638. We started this backyard pool project in June 2025. The contract estimated approximately 18 weeks from excavation to interior finish, subject to reasonable inspection and City delays. It is now August 2026, more than a year later, and the project is still unfinished. The biggest issue has not simply been the delay, but the project management and construction sequence. Serious problems developed around the excavation and retaining-wall area, requiring involvement from the City of Tustin, additional engineering, inspections, and corrective work. City inspectors have repeatedly followed up on required corrections, yet progress has continued to be extremely slow. Because of the ongoing problems and lack of satisfactory progress, I also filed a complaint with the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB). CSLB has been involved in following up on this matter. Throughout this project, I have repeatedly had to contact the contractor myself to ask when workers would return, when corrections would be completed, when plans would be submitted, and when inspections would occur. There have been long periods with little meaningful progress. As of today, my backyard is still an active construction site with exposed soil, unfinished retaining-wall work, construction debris, and an incomplete pool. I am attaching current photos the actual condition after more than a year. Construction delays can happen, and I understand that inspections and engineering take time. But after more than a year, the repeated delays, corrective work, lack of consistent progress, and the need for City and CSLB involvement have made this experience extremely frustrating. I hope Modul by OC Poolscapes will finally complete the required corrections and finish the project professionally. I will update this review if meaningful progress is made and the project is properly completed.

Review of Modul Pools, by OC Poolscapes 4 1/2 Stars Overall, Modul substantially delivered on its "6 Weeks or Less" promise. I intentionally waited until the project was complete before updating this review because I wanted it to reflect the entire experience. Sales - 5 Stars Jaiden was outstanding throughout the process--transparent, responsive, friendly, and never pushy. We negotiated flexible pricing and several upgrades, and I always felt he treated me fairly. Five stars to Jaiden. Permitting - 5 Stars The permitting team knew my city's requirements, handled everything professionally, and moved quickly. I never had to chase anyone down. Five stars to the permitting team. Construction - Beautiful Pool, Minor Project Management Issues The finished product is beautiful. My family absolutely loves it, and Modul and their subcontractors did quality work throughout the project. Modul also handled several things well. They replaced a porcelain coping tile that my hardscape contractor accidentally cracked and rebuilt a brick planter that had to be demolished when excavator access proved tighter than expected. My only meaningful criticism relates to project management and communication. During the major construction milestones--excavation, plumbing, electrical, shotcrete, tile, and pebble--communication and scheduling were excellent. However, when the work shifted to punch-list items, cleanup, warranty coordination, or other items that didn't require another payment from me, responsiveness became less consistent and often required additional follow-up on my part. Construction projects are rarely perfect, and I never expected this one to be. My expectation was simply that the same sense of urgency shown during the primary construction phases would continue through project closeout. I also want to recognize Sam, the project manager's assistant, who was consistently responsive and instrumental in helping move many outstanding items forward. Five stars to Sam. Chemical Startup The startup process was probably the weakest part of my experience. I would have appreciated a more thorough startup walkthrough or pool school, and there were a couple of missed startup appointments that resulted in some unnecessary frustration. Salt System The most significant issue on my project was that the salt cell had inadvertently not been installed. Fortunately, my independent pool professional discovered the omission during a routine visit. Initially, the replacement part was backordered through the distributor. To Modul's credit, management ultimately stepped in, sourced the salt cell through a different distributor, and completed the installation rather than continuing to wait on the original backorder. I appreciated that they took ownership of the issue and found a solution. Automation & Warranty We also experienced an issue with communication between the AquaLink automation system and the Jandy VersaTemp heat pump. The only frustration was determining who would ultimately handle the repair, as there was some back-and-forth over whether it was an installation issue or a manufacturer warranty issue. Once it was routed through Jandy's warranty process, the problem was resolved and everything is now functioning properly. Final Thoughts No construction project is perfect, and this one certainly had its share of punch-list items and follow-up. That said, Modul delivered a beautiful pool at what I believe was a competitive price. My family has already created incredible memories and that's ultimately what this project was about. I genuinely believe Modul has talented people throughout the company. While I think there is room to improve communication and follow-through on punch-list and warranty items, management ultimately stepped in, addressed the significant issues, and delivered a finished product that we're extremely happy with. If I had one piece of advice for future customers, it would simply be to negotiate a reasonable punch-list retention and not release it until every remaining item has been completed and verified. It's a simple way to ensure the final details receive the same attention as the major phases of construction.

Ramon D.

Highly recommend the amazing and professional service Ulises and Lochlin provided for me. Timeless design and efficient work times. Great team to work with!

Anonymous W.

If you're reading this, you obviously are looking or considering putting in a new pool. Outside of buying a house, this is most likely the largest purchase of our lives. It's scary, and exciting all at the same time. We hear horror stories about pool builders digging a hole and then disappearing for months. I first contacted a smaller builder who recently did a friends pool that turned out nice. The rendering came back and asked to make a few changes and all of the sudden the builder went quiet. I'm blessed I never signed and after about 3 weeks of trying to chase down the contractor I came across OC Poolscapes. Jose came out within a day, talked me through my options, as well as keeping my expectations in reality. Within a week, we went to their office to review a 3D rendering. It was sleek, and worked in our wants and needs. We signed within a day and the process was underway. Throughout the whole process, the entire team kept us up to speed and stayed on schedule. When choosing OC Poolscapes, they are a team of professionals with a reputation. You may be able to find a contractor for 10% less, but let me tell you that the extra 10% is worth every penny. They have a full team for permitting, design changes, and project management. This 10% expedites the entire project, ensures quality work, and ensures the job gets done right. They will not disappear on you and you can ensure the project will be completed correctly and on time. Even when we had a software glitch with Hayward, they were on top of everything and made sure Hayward fixed the issue. The experience has been nothing but 5 stars all around. (BTW- They already had all the checks for the milestones) Once again, this is a massive investment in your home. Don't cut corners, get the right company for the job with a reputation that means something to them.

Oscar A.

We had our backyard and front yard completely done by OC Poolscapes and the results are amazing! The owner, Malkiel, was very hands-on throughout the entire process, making sure every detail was done right. He addressed all my concerns immediately. Ask for Jimmy for project design, we scouted other designers but his was the best. He truly transformed our space into something both beautiful and functional. He listened carefully to our ideas, added creative touches we never would have thought of, and made sure every detail was perfect. Get Jose as your project manager. He kept everything on schedule and communicated clearly. He is always available to answer questions, checked in often, and made the whole process stress-free. The crew worked hard -- dependable and professional. If you have Dario and Markus in your team, I guarantee that the work will be done efficiently. They both did an amazing job on our backyard! They were hardworking, respectful, and detail-oriented every single day. You could tell they took pride in their work -- everything was done with care and precision. They always showed up on time, cleaned up after themselves, and worked efficiently. We're so impressed with the quality of their craftsmanship and how beautiful our yard looks now! Our front and backyard now look better than we imagined! We couldn't be happier with how everything turned out!

Tawfic S.

We went thru 3 contractors for our back yard / pool project and neither one of them were attentive to the look and design we wanted then they had a cost in mind and refused anything we tried to do to make it more affordable for us. We kept looking and found this OC pool scapes company on Instagram. Being a bit tentative with social media we asked for them to come and see the yard. The team showed up led by Jose and immediately we knew they were exactly what we were looking for! At tentative, professional and mentioned they would do everything in their power to not only make sure we loved the vision but also promised he would make it afford Before we even asked! My wife and I thought it was too good to be true but after visiting their office, meeting with the team and seeing the design and contract we were blown away!! They folllwed thru with their timeline and all the promises of great customer support and communication. We can't be more happy with OC poolsxapes, they gave us our dream back yard!! I would highly recommend these guys and if you have any concerns just ask and Jose will take care of you!! 5 stars without a doubt !

Amber H.

UPDATE (2 years after pool): Since this original review was posted, we have needed a few things covered under warranty to be addressed. Malkiel and his team have come out and been absolute professionals, timely, and helpful with fixing anything that was needed. Our pool/jacuzzi works wonderfully and we are enjoying it every day! I am adjusting our review to four stars due to how much effort Malkiel has put forth to make things right.

Dan P.

I'm writing this to try to help people because I got burned by my housing and pool contractor initially and never got any good advice. If I first used OC Poolscapes from the start I probably would have given them less than 5 stars because there are so many aspects that take time and coordination I wouldn't have realized. If you don't want to read all this, make sure you get a pool company that has over 50 employees, has been in business for 3+ years and they have many active jobs. Many smaller contractors just shut down the business if something goes wrong and open up a new one. Long story short, my housing contractor 5 starts yelp and houzz took off on me, 1st pool contractor lied about who they were, didn't call dig alert, hit an electrical wire, stole 70k and bailed on the project also 5 stars on houzz. I didn't think someone 70 years old would lie about their contracting license. A large company can cover losses if something happens. First off, I see people trying to get someone local. The city inspector who checked our house said we should hire a local pool builder. I'm in Palos Verdes and while we were doing the engineering design, revisions, plans, the city even told me they were very impressed with OC as most pool companies couldn't do turn arounds on plans as quickly and as well. They also passed everything on the first inspection with the hardest inspector of the city. This was a complex design with many slopes. A smaller pool company probably wouldn't have been able to do the job. The city told me they tried to explain to the previous contractor like 10 times what had to be done, but she couldn't understand the complexity of the retaining wall and the slope. OC has their own engineers and if something is super complex they have engineers, soil specialists they can contract and lawyers if there are issues with the city. We faced a lot of hurdles with the city and engineering plans and after interviewing and working with about 10 other contractors, none of them could have done this. Before OC, we've personally met with the city at least 50 times on construction items (house and pool) and inspections, so we can really appreciate the job they did. Every GC will say they can do it for less, they'll say anything to get a large contract and try to figure it out later, after getting ripped off we talked with about 10 contractors, when we pressed, most didn't have the civil engineers to do the job. Also many of these smaller companies can't make your pool and backyard pop. The coping, equipment, lighting, tiles... Look at their instagram page, make sure it pops and it's not a pool from the 90s. If your contractor says they're so busy they don't have time for an IG page, move on, with large contracts they need to know how to run a business. OC did things like make a flush transition from family room to outside, other contractors couldn't do and said the city wouldn't allow, they just didn't know how to make a linear drain. The wait time between crews is a pain, but they send 20-30 people and actually it's a little better to have the concrete settle and find possible issues. My housing contractor was super impressed by the way they did it and the size of their crew. While I waited for Edison to move my electrical line I interviewed many other companies, I thought I might go with another large one, but they took 2 months to finalize the design and doubled the original estimate. With OC pools I was always able to contact them, even after hours. Anytime I wanted a call, they get back to me soon, even after the sales process and after hours. There are some things they could have improved on and with anyone you do need to follow what they're doing and make sure everything is going as planned. You need to make sure anything said verbally is reflected on the plans and the plans are updated. They're working on a lot of projects and they'll forget. Any contracting company will be like that Lighting and Landscaping I wish they would have pushed me to get that done and planned instead of last minute. They would good on the suggestions on the lights we needed though. Also wish they would have written instructions on how to adjust the pool/spa water levels. We did mini-pebble - even after the sanding it's a bit rough to walk and sit on for the kids. For me it wasn't much of an issue, but for some people it is rough. There are many other options. The arch and swing are well worth it, I'd add that if you can. The tiles they budget for are great, I thought I'd go over the allowance for tiles from the quote because we're very picky, but no. I'd suggest doing tiles. Also the turf they use is top quality and you can pick the style. Overall Jose got the pool ready for the summer, still some things left, but any other company wouldn't have gotten it done. They have a problem with too many customers and they'll probably figure it out, but it's better than working with a company that could go bankrupt on a mistake.

We hired OC Poolscapes to build our dream pool, and they brought it to life beautifully. The design process was professional and collaborative, and both HOA and city approvals went through quickly. There were a few bumps along the way -- communication could've been better at times -- and I recommend including automation from the start (managing multiple valves and lights manually can be a hassle). That said, the final result is stunning. Jose also came through months after completion to handle a warranty issue without hesitation. That kind of follow-through goes a long way.

Ryan T.

Loved a few aspects of our backyard remodel. Upfront discussions on design with Jose were great...nice guy, great designs, open to feedback and making changes. We are very happy with the finished product. These guys know how to build pools. They worked quickly to demo and get concrete in there. All aspects of the pool build were fast and high quality. I appreciate all of the post-startup support from them and Hayward. Turf selection was easy, looks amazing, installed well. Patio cover and free-standing wall were delayed due to permits, inspections, and 3rd party scheduling. Great quality, looks amazing, 4K and alumawood. We signed in January, pool complete July, islands and cover in August. Suggestions: Perform a detailed design on patio cover and outdoor kitchen. Be very detailed with your desires, including where you need water lines and electrical capability (before pouring concrete). Be prepared to monitor progress and make any decisions that are not explicitly called out in the plans.