Pool & Patio Center

Who they are

Pool & Patio Center works from Cypress Gardens Boulevard in Winter Haven, Polk County, on two current Florida pool contractor licenses — CPC1458343 from February 2013 and CPC1458700 from June 2015. They are a shop as well as a contractor: there is a counter, chlorine to be collected and equipment to buy, alongside new pool construction, repair, servicing, spas and outdoor living. Their own headline says they are now offering new pool construction, which suggests the building side is the newer half.

What the reviews say

Google has them at 4.4 from 81 reviews — about a tenth below the Florida average of 4.52 across the 346 builders on this directory, on a decent record. Five reviewers name their professionalism, and the fullest positive account describes a heat pump and a variable-speed pump installed well enough that the customer moved the rest of their business across.

The critical reviews are about the shop rather than the building work, and that distinction matters when you are choosing a contractor. One customer describes the staff as rude and unhelpful over several visits, saying the location is the convenient thing about the place. Another describes buying chlorine twice in a fortnight and finding it weak enough to suspect it had been watered down.

Neither says anything about how they build or repair a pool. If you are hiring them for construction, read the counter complaints as what they are — a description of the retail side — and judge the contracting on its own references.

What they build

New pool construction, repair, routine servicing, spas and hot tubs and outdoor living, plus the retail counter in Winter Haven. Two current licenses, the older running since 2013.

Before you sign

Because the building side reads as the newer half of the business, ask how many new pools they completed in the last two years and for two addresses you can look at. Ask which of the two licenses covers your job. If you are only buying chemicals, the reviews about the counter are the relevant ones and they are mixed. Get the scope, exclusions and a completion date in writing, and ask for the insurance certificate, which Florida does not publish.