On 5/8/17 I contracted w/Pools n Spas by Strong to refinish pool & do a paver deck. A few days later, we also asked for some yard enhancements. I was told it would take 2-3 wks if I ordered materials already in stock which I did. Tiles not Ordered til 5/20, pavers came 6/26. A 5 day rain was blamed for the delay but the family took a trip to the Keys & another to Ireland during this time. I have since learned that they are a Contracting company & used my $ to pay for "previous contract" materials, etc & needed new contracts to pay for My job... While away, no chance to sign up new contracts...
Many problems w/the schedule & subs from the get go for which my concerns were first put into writing 5/30. Garden wall left unfinished & I had to complete myself. Company reimbursed me $500 for that. Since the pavers were mine to begin with, this project cost was WAY too high... Pavers around fire pit not symmetrical & fire pit itself consists of a circular structure 3 pavers high. Thankfully, 3 additional pavers were left behind so that I could REconfigure the "pit" in order to accomodate my preexisitng grate. This is NOT what I expected at all based on the high price (I was envisioning a gas lit pit) but figured it was partly my fault for not having this work put into writing And time was becoming a real problem...
The Company knew I was planning an 80th bday party for my mother 7/29, I was beyond stressed that the yard still looked like a construction zone so I cleaned it up myself. As for the pool, it was ready 7/26 although we noticed trouble w/the pump action. Turns out they left the pastic covering on the new skimmer!
I ordered a muli color pool Light & twice they tried to give me a light Bulb. Diff of like 350$ of what I paid!
Pool color was not right--they put in the same exact light color that I had for 18 years despite the fact that I had been saying I wanted a "lagoon look" many times & we even viewed online depictions of this darker look prior to signing contract. I was told that it would "get darker"... Amazingly, after more complaining of the color, I was told that in the POOL WORLD, lagoon is a light color? Perhaps so much time had elapsed that they had Forgotten all conversations concerning my color preference?
Company finally agreed to refinish the pool w/the darker color that I wanted & hired a Different group of subs to do this work the week of 9/17. I received a phone call while I was at work the DAY OF the new plaster being adhered, was told if I did NOT have the final payment of $500 available to remit to the subs, it would be another month or so before my refinish could be scheduled. Based on many scheduling issues in the past, I called my non-traumatic brain injured husband & asked him to write the check, being sure to put what I told him into the memo line. I then decided, based on what happened with the pool Color in July, to come home from work & stayed the entire 3 hrs to watch them put on the new plaster coating. The new foreman was to come by, pick up the final check & give me the waiver of lien that I demanded. He came by but not to talk or see me--he texted a sub who met him at the road & gave him the check while I went inside for something. In fairness, I Did receive the waiver of lien & it turned out that my husband neglected to actually sign the check.. In retrospect, prob a Good thing since my out of pocket expenses have since come to nearly double that amount!
As I said, I watched the guys do the refinish, saw that their sump pump wasn't working properly, even witnessed one yelling at another for even Bringing the "bad" pump.. Anyway, the bad pump tripped the outside breaker. So it was tried in the diningroom receptable & seemed to work better. Within a day or so I noticed a burning smell & saw black on the ceiling by diningroom ceiling fan. I hired an electrician to fix & replace the burned out ceiling fan ($135). Coincidence?
After the pool was full of water, I texted the contractor "owner" & his foreman son to find out when they would put in the initial chemicals, fill in the missing grout above the skimmer & remove the pallet of extra supplies from my driveway. I also advised them that I had another check ready for them to pick up. They never responded or came to do any of the above. All I knew to do was to brush the pool, not use salt for 30 days & take water samples to Pinch A Penny (in fact at one point when the FIRST finish was done, the salesman --also a son--responded to one of my queries related to chemicals by texting that they "were in the Islands" & I should "go to Pinch A Penny" to find out what to do).
To our further dismay, the subcontracting group also neglected to put in a main drain seal so pool started leaking & I hired Leak Squad to come fix this ($320). AS for the mess left in the driveway, we had to rent a trailer w/a lift, put the heavy bags of mix into it & then unload it at the local dump ($142).
The trouble now continues...the pool has calcium and scale deposits all over it. In the last 6 months we have had the water tested many times & hardness has NEVER been an issue. As it is black pool, I was not even initially worried when I saw some white coming thru the finish as the subcontractors told me that specs should come out into the color & the contractor/owner had told me that dark pools sometimes look mottled. My concern came when about a week of using the robotic pool vac 2-3 times/day & yet what I thought was paver sand was not coming up. So I hired a pool pro to do an old fashioned vac. He told me to FEEL the wall. UPon closer look, it looks like coarse salt imbedded into the pool finish & is rough to the touch.
To date, not only are we having to scrub brush the pool several times/day, we have spent over $300 in chemicals & man hours & are told that the process could take 2-3 MONTHS.... Looks like nearly a year later, I am still being ripped off by Pools n Spas by Strong!
Pools N' Spas by Strong, Inc. Reviews
On 5/8/17 I contracted w/Pools n Spas by Strong to refinish pool & do a paver deck. A few days later, we also asked for some yard enhancements. I was told it would take 2-3 wks if I ordered materials already in stock which I did. Tiles not Ordered til 5/20, pavers came 6/26. A 5 day rain was blamed for the delay but the family took a trip to the Keys & another to Ireland during this time. I have since learned that they are a Contracting company & used my $ to pay for "previous contract" materials, etc & needed new contracts to pay for My job... While away, no chance to sign up new contracts...
Many problems w/the schedule & subs from the get go for which my concerns were first put into writing 5/30. Garden wall left unfinished & I had to complete myself. Company reimbursed me $500 for that. Since the pavers were mine to begin with, this project cost was WAY too high... Pavers around fire pit not symmetrical & fire pit itself consists of a circular structure 3 pavers high. Thankfully, 3 additional pavers were left behind so that I could REconfigure the "pit" in order to accomodate my preexisitng grate. This is NOT what I expected at all based on the high price (I was envisioning a gas lit pit) but figured it was partly my fault for not having this work put into writing And time was becoming a real problem...
The Company knew I was planning an 80th bday party for my mother 7/29, I was beyond stressed that the yard still looked like a construction zone so I cleaned it up myself. As for the pool, it was ready 7/26 although we noticed trouble w/the pump action. Turns out they left the pastic covering on the new skimmer!
I ordered a muli color pool Light & twice they tried to give me a light Bulb. Diff of like 350$ of what I paid!
Pool color was not right--they put in the same exact light color that I had for 18 years despite the fact that I had been saying I wanted a "lagoon look" many times & we even viewed online depictions of this darker look prior to signing contract. I was told that it would "get darker"... Amazingly, after more complaining of the color, I was told that in the POOL WORLD, lagoon is a light color? Perhaps so much time had elapsed that they had Forgotten all conversations concerning my color preference?
Company finally agreed to refinish the pool w/the darker color that I wanted & hired a Different group of subs to do this work the week of 9/17. I received a phone call while I was at work the DAY OF the new plaster being adhered, was told if I did NOT have the final payment of $500 available to remit to the subs, it would be another month or so before my refinish could be scheduled. Based on many scheduling issues in the past, I called my non-traumatic brain injured husband & asked him to write the check, being sure to put what I told him into the memo line. I then decided, based on what happened with the pool Color in July, to come home from work & stayed the entire 3 hrs to watch them put on the new plaster coating. The new foreman was to come by, pick up the final check & give me the waiver of lien that I demanded. He came by but not to talk or see me--he texted a sub who met him at the road & gave him the check while I went inside for something. In fairness, I Did receive the waiver of lien & it turned out that my husband neglected to actually sign the check.. In retrospect, prob a Good thing since my out of pocket expenses have since come to nearly double that amount!
As I said, I watched the guys do the refinish, saw that their sump pump wasn't working properly, even witnessed one yelling at another for even Bringing the "bad" pump.. Anyway, the bad pump tripped the outside breaker. So it was tried in the diningroom receptable & seemed to work better. Within a day or so I noticed a burning smell & saw black on the ceiling by diningroom ceiling fan. I hired an electrician to fix & replace the burned out ceiling fan ($135). Coincidence?
After the pool was full of water, I texted the contractor "owner" & his foreman son to find out when they would put in the initial chemicals, fill in the missing grout above the skimmer & remove the pallet of extra supplies from my driveway. I also advised them that I had another check ready for them to pick up. They never responded or came to do any of the above. All I knew to do was to brush the pool, not use salt for 30 days & take water samples to Pinch A Penny (in fact at one point when the FIRST finish was done, the salesman --also a son--responded to one of my queries related to chemicals by texting that they "were in the Islands" & I should "go to Pinch A Penny" to find out what to do).
To our further dismay, the subcontracting group also neglected to put in a main drain seal so pool started leaking & I hired Leak Squad to come fix this ($320). AS for the mess left in the driveway, we had to rent a trailer w/a lift, put the heavy bags of mix into it & then unload it at the local dump ($142).
The trouble now continues...the pool has calcium and scale deposits all over it. In the last 6 months we have had the water tested many times & hardness has NEVER been an issue. As it is black pool, I was not even initially worried when I saw some white coming thru the finish as the subcontractors told me that specs should come out into the color & the contractor/owner had told me that dark pools sometimes look mottled. My concern came when about a week of using the robotic pool vac 2-3 times/day & yet what I thought was paver sand was not coming up. So I hired a pool pro to do an old fashioned vac. He told me to FEEL the wall. UPon closer look, it looks like coarse salt imbedded into the pool finish & is rough to the touch.
To date, not only are we having to scrub brush the pool several times/day, we have spent over $300 in chemicals & man hours & are told that the process could take 2-3 MONTHS.... Looks like nearly a year later, I am still being ripped off by Pools n Spas by Strong!