Houston area members

[Newdude]

Hey Mike !!! Sorry I’m late to the party but saw some things that jumped out to me.

He mentioned something about online reviews only being left by people who were unhappy with their pools and the ones who loved them never posted

This can be mostly true for anything. 1.3 million fridges are humming along great from any manufacturer. Very few happy people ever care to revisit the purchase. The overwhelming majority of people with problems seek online answers and complain.

I was looking up fridge filters recently and almost all of the bad reviews were user error. They bought the rectangle one and not the square, so the rectangle didn’t fit. Or they didn’t shut off the water when they replaced it and it leaked. Soooooo many idiots.

Any reviews anywhere need to be taken with a grain of salt. It’s difficult to navigate at the very least.

This is a local Spring, TX storefront of a huge national PB and there is no bbb accreditations at all.

The BBB is a joke. It makes businesses pay a membership fee to be accredited. Many balk at that and I naturally have suspect those businesses that do pay for their ‘favorable status’. I had a dispute that I didn’t even want them to agree/disagree. It was legit enough that the car dealer, me and the car manufacturer were involved. I didn’t want to be ‘right’. I wanted them to publish it for others to decide for themselves. After a massive email chain with the BBB and the dealer they closed the complaint without posting anything about it.

So, more grains of salt needed here.

 

[Indeeph2o]

Oh....i forgot to mention that according to the saleswoman we would void warranties on our pool furniture if we went with saltwater.

Run away from that sales person and the builder, RUN.

 

[tclayton10]

My pool in Cypress, with an Intellichlor SWG, was completed in August of 2006. The only issue we've had was some pitting (pretty significant) on the flagstone next to the spa spillway and a little pitting on the flagstone around some of the pool perimeter. We've had no staining or other issues. The SWG did fail about 5-6 years after installation, so I converted to a tablet feeder. That was the biggest mistake of my life. Constant issues with CYA saturation, enough powdered shock to fill a dump truck, and TWO drain and fills. either 2 or 3 years ago I converted back to an Intellichlor, added the Intelliph last summer, and I could not be more pleased. While I don't test as often as I should, I have not had any significant issues with water balance, and I have seen no additional evidence of flagstone pitting. I'm thinking it was just the cheap stone they used, and the top "layer" eroded away. I actually think the way this pitted gives the flagstone some character that would not be present with perfectly flat stones. I'll try to grab some photos this weekend and post.

And if you're anywhere near Cypress and want to see my pool, drop me a PM and I'd be happy to show you in person.

Tracy

 

[Poolmichael]

Run away from that sales person and the builder, RUN.

I would normally agree with you 100%
The only thing is, this builder comes highly recommended from many pool owners in Tomball, Cypress and surrounding areas, and on this forum. I think it's just a lack of knowledge on the part of the saleswoman.

 

[texasAUtiger]

So for those that have had SWCG for a while, talk to me about corrosion. Is there an issue with the furniture or other items around your pool corroding? If so, after how long?

 

[Newdude]

. Is there an issue with the furniture or other items around your pool corroding

There is an issue with poor quality materials being exposed to the elements. Pool or no pool. The average liquid chlorine based pool reaches 5% or seawater. A ‘salt pool’ reaches 10% of seawater. The entire argument against SWG hinges on that extra 5% which is completely negligible.

 

[zea3]

Perhaps any of our members that live in Galveston or any other beach town near the sea can tell us how their patio furniture and pool equipment hold up in the constant exposure to salty sea air?

 

[JJ_Tex]

Salt water pool owner for 2 years, and I have zero corrosion signs from the equipment, decking, etc. Even our metal 10-year old patio furniture is doing fine.

The only thing I have noticed was a screwdriver that I used to work on my robotic cleaner started showing signs of rust after I left it outside for all of last season. Maybe that was from the salt, or maybe just leaving it outside for months did the trick.

 

[zea3]

I'm a couple of miles from Johnson Space Center, which is across from Clear Lake, a brakish, saltwater lake that leads into Galveston Bay. We are far enough away that you don't smell salty air, but anything metal left outside is going to rust.

 

[Poolmichael]

Hey Mike !!! Sorry I’m late to the party but saw some things that jumped out to me.

This can be mostly true for anything. 1.3 million fridges are humming along great from any manufacturer. Very few happy people ever care to revisit the purchase. The overwhelming majority of people with problems seek online answers and complain.

I was looking up fridge filters recently and almost all of the bad reviews were user error. They bought the rectangle one and not the square, so the rectangle didn’t fit. Or they didn’t shut off the water when they replaced it and it leaked. Soooooo many idiots.

Any reviews anywhere need to be taken with a grain of salt. It’s difficult to navigate at the very least.

The BBB is a joke. It makes businesses pay a membership fee to be accredited. Many balk at that and I naturally have suspect those businesses that do pay for their ‘favorable status’. I had a dispute that I didn’t even want them to agree/disagree. It was legit enough that the car dealer, me and the car manufacturer were involved. I didn’t want to be ‘right’. I wanted them to publish it for others to decide for themselves. After a massive email chain with the BBB and the dealer they closed the complaint without posting anything about it.

So, more grains of salt needed here.

No I totally get it. There is a lot of truth to what he said.
I also agree that for the most part the bbb is a joke. I've had dealings with them before with a carpet company. Don't even get me started.
Grains of salt indeed.

 

[jjbradley]

We met with our third PB salesman yesterday evening. It was an amazingly positive experience. They designed exactly what we didn't know we wanted and after seeing his creation were blown away with the shape size and depth as well as all the drains to the street etc. Other builders left out.
He tried very hard to talk us out of saltwater pool. He claimed it was equipment replacement cost and just the salt residue left on everything around the pool causing rust etc.
He mentioned something about online reviews only being left by people who were unhappy with their pools and the ones who loved them never posted.
So naturally the first thing I did was look up these reviews.
Some loved their pools. The troubling thing is I couldn't find many reviews for many years after installation. One went back to 2016 and that particular reviewers pool was basically cracking and sinking everywhere.
The even more troubling things was... This is a local Spring, TX storefront of a huge national PB and there is no bbb accreditations at all.
Should I run away from this builder?
Are we allowed to share pool builders names on this forum because it looks like there are a lot of Houston area members and I would love some recommendations.

Use the initials of the PB.