First time to GC pool and need referrals- Houston area

[grhein19]

Anyone have referrals for a plumber and electrician. I've received quotes from 3 gunite companies (includes dig, rebar and gunite) and 2 plaster company's (plan to get another one this week), I have a good tile/stone guy, and several bids to do the decking but really struggling on the plumber and electrician. I got the quote from the electrician today and almost fell off my chair. Generally we know the hourly rates so I would be curious what the average time the electrician spends on the job. Our breaker panel is 2 feet from the pool equipment, we aren't doing anything complicated. Here's the spec on the electric bid for $6495
                  1) Furnish and install electrical connection for new pool which includes: 
                        -2- pool lights, switched at equipment.
                        -2- 1-1/2hp pump motor connections
                        -1- connection to spa blower
                        -1- 20 amp GFCI duplex receptacle at outside kitchen area
                        -1- properly ground and bond the pool and pool equipment.
Maybe I'm just in for a rude awakening that we were going to save money this way.

 

[bigdav160]

New guy here.

Sorry I'm not going to be much help with the subs but I am curious what led you down the path of doing your own GC.

My own experience with the pool builder/turn-key bidding process hasn't been going well. I'm considering doing it myself. (although my wife is against it). I have some utility issues I want dealt with first and not after the build (which is typically the way it's done here)

I'm also interested in your dig/steel/gunite/finish contact. I think I could easily do the the plumbing/electrical myself. I'm seriously considering pavers for my decking choice.

 

[grhein19]

Sorry was offline couple days, this will be our third pool and in each build we asked a lot of questions, caught many mistakes and generally managed the project when the pool builder wasn't there. After getting three quotes ranging from 55-70k for the same apples to apples pool it was pretty clear there is more markup than we thought.

We also built our own home and remodeled/renovated 2 flip houses doing it the same process. This is not rocket science but you do need to be organized and patient because not everything will go smooth! But we haved saved a lot of money which more than made up for the headaches.

I haven't gotten all the estimates back just yet but I'm estimating a 30% savings on the lowest quote based on what I know so far. If I don't see the savings I may rethink...hopefully will get remaining quotes by end of week and make a final decision.