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.

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!

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 !

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.

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.

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.

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.

Stay away from this business!! We contracted with OC Pools one year ago to have two areas of our backyard remodeled. In the beginning the communication was great, however after the initial large progress payments were made, they disappeared and completely left the job site. They would not respond to our emails or text messages even though the owner Makiel was on the group text. We were given excuse after excuse as to why there were delays - city permits, scope change or weather were not factors in the delays. The initial timeline was five months for the complete backyard, only half was partially completed. After nearly nine months, they finally sent a crew to finish the extensive list of open items. Initially we were left with: chipped tiles, uneven transitions between flooring materials, sinking decks, pool leak, non-functioning water heater, a fountain leak, malfunctioning lights, a dying palm, large trash pile, stained fence railings, deck boards that were damaged or scratched and inoperable LED candles, no safety cover on the suction line and no weir flap to prevent debris from flowing back into the pool. It took nearly three months to determine the caused of the pol and fountain leaks. The pool leak was due to someone putting duct tape on a water line before the cement was poured and the fountain leak was due to them not waterproofing the basin and cement. In the middle of their work, they crashed into one of our cars which we have not been reimbursed for although we submitted the body shop estimate to them. They also broke our fascia boards, broke our mailbox and damaged our metal railings which nobody seemed to have knowledge about- these were only repaired after it was brought to their attention multiple times. We had to continually reach out to them to get someone to come out and see all of the remaining issues. The owner Makiel came out as well to see the problems. Only some of the issues were ultimately fixed. It has been one year, and we still have significant issues that have not been addressed - several pool drains do not function, pool pump cycles on and off, exposed electrical wires, pool lights flicker and change color and the water fountain feature shoots water out onto the tile at initial start-up. The last communication we received from Johnny was at the beginning of June 2025 acknowledging that there were open issues and was supposedly working on a plan to correct them. We have patiently given OC Poolscapes plenty of opportunities to correct these issues to no avail.

We had Jose and team redo our entire backyard in 2023. Though they came in higher in price to other estimates, we went with them ultimately due to confidence we had in them to deliver on the "promise". Further their contract was much more thorough and detailed so we had greater confidence there would be fewer unexpected "expenses" which there were none. I would break out the review across: Build: The ultimate build itself had a few stops and starts - understandably due to scheduling but they could have had better communication at points. At times it felt like we had to "push" to be next in line which I think they will improve on how to communicate/manage flow. That said they were always responsive to me when I was frustrated. Further there were some mistakes (which they corrected) but I believe these could have been avoided w better communication between their working teams. I attribute some of this to "growth pains" of the company but good to inquire on. Quality: The final product is excellent. We are extremely pleased with the overall quality. I think this is a testament to them doing most of the work all in house. They have a foreman named German who is a clear ace and commands his entire team well, he also was able to improvise on small design decisions when they came up and always had a great attitude. He was the clear MVP throughout. Design: The design also was excellent which while we had a few ideas, Jose and his brother came up with a design that really leverages our yard and space well. The others that bid didn't suggest what they did and I'm really glad Jose and his brother recognized how to use the space best. Do not underestimate this part of the bidding process. Service: The team was always responsive and always made things "right" correcting any small mistakes and repairs. They never took shortcuts and always wanted us to be happy. Construction inevitably has curveballs and I think they do a good job dealing with those and being there for customer. Overall, we went with them because I had confidence in them and believe they are building out a long term business focused on customer and quality long term, along with clear passion to create a great company. While on the more expensive side vs others, we are happy with the outcome and confident in the product going forward.

OC Poolscapes rules. We interviewed a lot of builders and got a lot of quotes and OC Poolscapes was head and shoulders better than anyone else. Their design was phenomenal and matched our vision for our backyard. They were reliable and responsive during the whole building process. Johnny the project manager is awesome. We went through some headaches with our neighbors and the team was with us every step of the way. Construction was efficient and quality is high. Would highly recommend for building the pool if your dreams.

Absolutely the best pool building experience I have had. Okay, Okay, it's my only experience but it was awesome! Top 5 reasons. 1. Hassle Free! they took care of all the permits, HOA, etc. 2. Honest and Transparent Pricing 3. Timely, My pool was done in 2 months! 4. Attention to detail 5. Amazing customer service Throughout this process, we have become friends with Jose and Malkiel who have been so supportive and helpful throughout the entire process. Even understanding our financial situation and being accommodating to our individual needs. They created a pool that we can't wait to use everyday!