Family Pools of Florida

I have been waiting to write this review for almost a year. I’ve given the company every reasonable opportunity to come through and prove themselves. In fairness, the design and first few steps of the construction process were fine and pretty standard. The project manager, Andrew, was also very straightforward about the construction process getting “worse before it gets better.” That’s fair- you dig a huge hole in your yard, it’s muddy, it rains, etc. Construction was a pain, but that’s part of the deal. However, most of the steps after that were a communication nightmare. After every major phase (digging the hole, etc.), I always would wait a day or two to give them a chance, but I still had to call and ask what the next step was and the timeline. They had no concept of keeping the customer informed to ease our concerns. Then, we began dealing with the “experts.” The small glass tile company that covered the water feature didn’t bother to ensure that all the grout in between the tiles was completed, and no one from the company came out to check their work. We had to do that. We also had to tell one of the “experts” that regular sand grout wouldn’t stick well to smooth plastic. He disagreed and was disrespectful to my wife while doing so. Of course, the grout has been falling off ever since. They couldn’t install the heater correctly. This took WEEKS to figure out. The reason for the delay from the company was that the unit was defective, and they were waiting for a warranty repair so that they OR I would not be charged. I was livid at that one. THERE WAS NO SCENARIO where I should pay because they couldn’t install a working heater. Found out from a Pinch-a-Penny tech that the voltage was hooked up incorrectly, and it worked fine all along. This took half the winter to figure out. Then came the tile floor drama. The tile we decided upon in the design sessions wasn’t available, so they suggested a “natural” stone, which they almost charged us extra for. After installing it, they didn’t seal the tiles or apply grout between and on the sides where it meets the house. Not only did it look unfinished and amateurish for those reasons, but soon algae appeared on the unsealed tiles. Maybe normal, maybe not, but eventually, after much more drama, they had someone come out and both seal and grout (to some degree) the tiles. Then, reddish stains began to appear on the tiles. Not all, but on some. We went back and forth on this one forever. Everybody was an expert but couldn’t tell us what was happening. Supposedly, the experts installed the wrong sand (red instead of white) underneath the tiles. I was told, “I’ve been doing this a long time, and it is 100% the sand.” This is from the same folks that were arguing with us about it for a few days. If we are so confident it is the sand now, why the hell was it not applied correctly the first time??? Isn’t that important enough to check on during installation? Now, we are in a situation where we are talking about how many tiles we have to rip up and re-install. The company thinks it is only a few. However, wasn’t the red sand applied under every single tile?? So, how many times over the years am I going to have to try and call them back to keep replacing tiles over and over again when they can rip up the entire floor and finally do it correctly? Well, they don’t want to do that. We may head to litigation on that one. Once we filled the pool, the company said we would do “pool school,” but we didn't. As a result, I didn’t run the filter pump enough for a few weeks after we filled it, allowing algae to build up in the pool—as well as calcium deposits. Algae is pretty easy to take care of, but we are still scraping calcium out. Again, I had to ask about it and Andrew told me, “Oh yeah, you have to run the pump between 4-6 hours a day.” Would have been nice to know. I still don’t know anything about chemicals, but at this point, I just hired someone else to take care of it. I want to end this business relationship as soon as possible.

I will start off with the positive. Upon glancing at my pool, it looks nice. I see why there are many positive reviews on here and great pictures, however, I believe things have changed for this company during my pool construction. We are now over a year past my initial deposit, and the pool is still not signed off. There has been a persistent leak, none of the corners are square, and they damaged both of my brand new A/C units, two corners of my brand new siding, and have re-dug up my backyard for endless fixes so many times my landscaping is ruined. There is also concrete splatter on my brand new deck and backyard walls. The Owners son Paul seems like a very nice guy, but it seems he is completely incapable of actually running a customer service related business. My pool was “completed” 3 months ago, and I mistakenly paid him the balance due. From the moment I paid them until now, there has been endless “permit” delays on getting the gas hooked up, and the pool signed off. Numerous 3rd party gas companies have been out and have all told me it looks as if Family Pools are installing it wrong. Because I am not an expert, I can only co by what I am told, but the consensus seems to be that they are cutting a lot of corners and it isn’t being installed correctly. I am absolutely lost here. A project that should have taken 3 months has turned into a year and there is no end in sight. At this point of being lied to with 18 re-schedules (yes I counted), I have no choice but to kick them off the job and finish with another pool company tomorrow. If you do use this pool company, DO NOT pay the final balance until your pool is signed off. Once your leverage is gone, you go to the VERY back of the line.