Pool Bid - Houston TX

[nalai]

First off - We looked at 9 companies, 4 of which come highly recommended and with no complaints on the BBB, angie's list and are raved about on many forums. Of those 9 bids 3 companies did not submit a bid. All bids came within 6k of each other. In the end we are thinking about going with the following bid. The owner came out and looked over the property (he was the first and only bidder that mentioned I needed to call the gas company to upgrade my meter). He was highly approachable and down to earth. And considering other pool builders recommend him and he's been building pools for 30 years. It seems a good fit.

So please tell me if there is anything missing in this quote.

14'x28' inground pool
4'-5'-4.5' depths
Raised bond wall along length height 6"-12"-6"
7' spa centered opposite raised bond wall level with pool
sunshelf bench shelf to the right (south) of Spa
3-4 stairs to the left (north) of the Spa
3-4 volleyball umbrella holders
White marble plaster
800 sq ft of decking - choice of peagravel or brushed concrete with 4" drains
12" bullnose brick coping
Water line tile
2 skimmers - 2" sch40 lines from the skimmer
3/4 fan sprayers off the bond wall
Over flow and area drains plumbed to the street

Removal and replacement of Fence
Removal of existing 10'x10' deck
Skimmer and main drain lines run separately.
weather proof junction box
French drain to the street - to deal with my yard not draining properly

8" oc for rebar #3
pneumatically applied concrete - per code
All Electrical run
Continuous run poly gas line to the heater
3/4" sch 40 fill line
2 Main Drains - 2" suction
2 - 300 watt lights in the pool
1 - 100 watt light in the spa
light conduit - 3/4" sch40
Aqualink PDA PS 6 Radio Remote
460 Jandy cartridge filter
PHPM 2hp Jandy plus HP pump
400k LXi Jandy heater
All Jandy Valves
Rainbow 320 3" tablet Erosion clorinator (though I'm going to try the BBB method)
1.5 qt 240v commercial grade blower
8 hydroair jets

Polaris 280 w/ booster
Initial Startup service and instructions
Cleaning kit - leaf skimmer, test kit, thermometer
16' telescoping pole

So what are some things I need written into the contract?
The payment schedule is a little skewed his way and we're going to dicker about that.

 

[257WbyMag]

Welcome to TFP!

Bid amounts are largely regional things. Good thing though is that we have lots of members in the H-town area to give their $0.02.

If you have a good feeling about this particular PB, that's a good thing. What was the total quote and what are the payment terms that you were questioning?

 

[nalai]

Total bid is about 40K

payment terms are
35% at dig
35% at gunite
25% at deck
5% at plaster

I'd like something more like:

30% dig
35% gunite
25% deck
5% plaster
5% after pool school / punch list done

 

[Bluegrassman]

Sounds very nice. I can tell you that you positively could not get anywhere near that good of a deal around my area!

Sent From My Inspire 4G Using Tapatalk

 

[Melt In The Sun]

I would insist on some payment made after the punch list is completed, like you said above.

 

[HouTex]

I would try to back end the payments more than the current proposal. They could do the decking very soon after the gunite and before the equipment, electrical and plaster are installed in which case they'd owe you about 10k if they walked the job. Even worse, if he only stub plumbed and walked after the gunite your damages would be far greater.

That payment schedule was similar to mine and my PB quit my job and I had to finish the pool myself. My damages were about 10k.

 

[bg22]

I'd definitely make the last payment after punch list is done.

 

[march2012]

Total bid is about 40K

payment terms are
35% at dig
35% at gunite
25% at deck
5% at plaster

I'd like something more like:

30% dig
35% gunite
25% deck
5% plaster
5% after pool school / punch list done

we had about
10% deposit
26% at dig
23% at gunite
16% at tile and coping
19% at deck, equipment setup, plaster
5% after startup

It doesnt add up to 100% because of rounding

We originally agreed to pay for each phase up front, but got them to switch payments to end of phase.

 

[Keven]

If your in the city limits you need to find out who is going to pull you permits.. I have seen lots of guys not pull Hoa or city permits lately..Also I would go with a DE filter, the cost going to a DE is very little...

 

[neuro0]

Can I ask who do you use and are you happy about it?

 

[nalai]

We're almost done with the build now, plaster was done yesterday and it's about 2/3 full of water right now. all that remains is finishing touches and final yard cleanup.

The PB we ended up choosing was Atlantis Pools & Spa. We've been very happy with Kelly and the work he's done, and would highly recommend him to anyone in the area looking to build.

We ended up keeping the same payment terms, but our PB agreed to shift the final 5% to after pool school and final cleanup, which seemed fair to us.

 

[ErikU19]

Can you post of pictures of the finished pool? Are you happy with everything about it?

 

[nalai]

Here is the best picture of the finished pool.


IMAG0891 by Nalai Nalai, on Flickr

we still have a few things left on our punch list. But otherwise they are done.

Over all we are very happy.