How this directory works
How we rank pool builders
Nobody pays us for a score. The highest score on this site is reachable by any business, for nothing — and no amount of money moves it. Here is what actually decides the number, how a request reaches a builder, and what happens to your details on the way.
How we score
Every listing carries one number, built from six things we can check. The bars show how much each one counts.
-
Activity 2.0 of 10
Recent signs of real work — the strongest single signal that a business is still building pools.
-
Work shown 2.0 of 10
Photographs of finished jobs. A builder who shows the work is easier to judge than one who describes it.
-
Reputation 1.5 of 10
Public ratings — volume first, then the stars, then what the reviews actually say.
-
Track record 1.5 of 10
How long they have held a license, and how long they have been trading. Seniority never stops counting.
-
Profile depth 1.5 of 10
How complete the record is — insurance, warranty, the things a buyer asks about.
-
Reachable 1.5 of 10
Whether the business has claimed its listing and keeps it current.
Published on a 4-10 scale. We know a very low number beside a real company doesn't look good, so the scale starts where the evidence starts. Consider 4 points simply a baseline for being in the trade.
No part of it is for sale
There is nothing in that list a business can buy. Paying changes where a listing is placed on a page and how it is treated when a request comes in — it never moves the number.
Being active beats having a lot of reviews
Recent, provable work is the heaviest thing in the model. Reviews count, but volume is read before the stars — a handful of perfect ratings says less than a long record of ordinary ones.
It moves on its own
A score is not a verdict anybody typed. It is recalculated from the evidence, so a business that goes quiet slides down without a decision being made about it, and one that starts working again climbs back.
The workings are on every profile
Open any listing and you can see which sources fed it and when we last checked them. If a number has no source behind it, it does not go on the site.
How we decide who gets in touch
We don't, really — you do. You pick a business and we send your request to that business. No homeowner has ever said they would like to be handed to ten companies at once, so we don't do that.
-
1
It goes to the one you chose first
Only them. They have an hour to open your contacts, and nobody else can see it in the meantime. The clock stops overnight — a request sent at 23:00 at night does not expire while everyone is asleep.
-
2
If they do not open it, it moves on
Not every business on a directory is still taking work. Rather than let a quiet inbox stall you for a week, the request may pass to another licensed builder who has put their hand up for that town — one builder, not a list. Unopened by the previous one.
-
3
And it stops
At no point are two businesses holding your details. It is always one, or it is nobody. It's better than getting spam calls for weeks after requesting one quote.
Putting a hand up for a town means a business has told us it wants work there. It must also build the kind of pool you asked about. Not simply the nearest pin on a map.
Paying can move a business nearer the front of that queue in the areas it covers. Payment orders the queue. It never touches the rating, and it never reorders the ranked list.
What happens to your details
The thing people fear about directories is being sold to everybody at once. That is the model we deliberately wanted to avoid (and did it!).
“Verified” on a listing means somebody at that business proved to us they are that business — from an email address on their own website, or by talking to us on the phone. It is a check on identity, not a recommendation.
- Exactly one business can see your details — or none at all. Never two, never a list, never an auction.
- A business we have not verified is never sent your name, your phone number or your email. Just an area and a rough scope.
- If a request moves on, the business that let it go keeps no readable copy of who you are.
- If you started from a photograph, the photograph does not travel with your request. Specs do. The photo belongs to the builder who took it.
- We, as FloridaPoolz, won't ever call you in the middle of the night with some marketing offer you never asked for. It's quite simple.
Questions people ask
Can a business pay to be ranked higher?
No. Nothing in the score can be bought, and we would have to change the software to make it possible. Paying affects where a listing is placed on a page — always inside a labelled section, above the ranked list rather than inside it — and the order businesses are offered work. It does not move the number.
Why is a paid listing shown above the others?
Because it is a separate, labelled section rather than a better position in the ranking. Mixing the two would let money buy a place in a list we say cannot be bought, so we keep them visibly apart.
Do you write the reviews?
No. Every rating on a listing belongs to the platform it came from, shown with its own count and the date we last checked it — we never blend them into a star rating of our own and pass it off as somebody else’s. Those ratings are one of the six things feeding our score, which is a separate number and labelled as ours.
What does “verified” mean on a listing?
That somebody at that business proved to us they are that business — either from an email address on their own website, or by talking to us. It is a check on identity, not a recommendation.
How many builders will contact me?
One. Only one business can see your details at any moment, so only one can be calling you. If they do not reply within the hour it may pass to another — but never to both, and never to a list. Most requests never leave the business you chose.
Does it cost me anything?
No. Asking for a quote is free and always will be. We are paid by businesses that subscribe, never by the people looking for one.
Now go and find yours
You have seen how the order is decided. Have a look at who builds in your area.
Find a builder near you