Both my sister and I have used Nicolas Pools (Toms River, NJ) for our vinyl pools. We are very happy with the work and service.

We're building right now in the area with Anthony & Sylvan. We've been aggravated with the pace of the work and communication. Of course, given that everyone wants their pool done before summer I think that's a common complaint with most pool builders.

We have been happy with the quality of the work. They only do gunnite.

We had a good experience with Valley pools and spas in Hamilton NJ they did a very good job for us on our vinyl pool. Also The pool and spa place in Cranbury has a good reputation. Both of them are in Mercer county but these pool builders travel all over.Good Luck.

We have encountered various problems with Anthony & Sylvan. They talk a good game at the beginning. Then...incorrectly drawn plans, unsatisfactory work, poor customer service, now delays and excuses. Three months and there is no end in sight. Thinking of a gunnite pool in Monmouth County NJ? I cannot recommend Anthony and Sylvan.

No matter who you use, get at least 3 written quotes, and make sure everything you talked about is on the contract. Then, --read over-- all the contracts!

Next, look up 'extras' on the internet (lights, SWG's, etc) to see what they cost. If the PB tells you he is giving it to you for a good price, you will know.

Don't let them say 'oh, that's no problem, don't worry about it' or make you feel that you are an evil person because 'you don't trust me?'. When it's on the contract, it's on the contract. And if it's not on the contract, believe me, they 'don't remember that!'

Also, do not make your final payment til the final permit approval of your pool, this is NJ law. It will say this on the upper left corner of your pool permit when it is issued. It doesn't matter what his contract says, he has to wait for final payment til your pool has final inspection.

In my experience, contractors are fine as long as you are agreeing with them. When there is 'disagreement', it is inevitably your fault, so get it on the contract.

I'm in Bucks County PA, and have to add my 2 cents about Anthony & Sylvan. We chose A&S by elimination - all the others seemed terrible for one reason or another. We're not-so-patiently awaiting our permit, but I have to say that our sales guy has been absolutely wonderful. He's going above and beyond to help us through this part, at least. When he goes away his voice mail includes his assistant's number.. whereas the last time we built, there was no way to reach anyone.. no one at that (highly regarded) company ever answered the phone or returned calls - it was that way when we signed, and until we moved 4 years later. SO the fact that we can actually reach someone at A&S is a huge plus for us, and for them to answer questions and help us -- well, I never expected that!

We just built a Gunite pool in Freehold Twsp. (filled with water in mid May) The company we used is called Swim-Mor. They are family owned and have been building pools since the 1960's. They are based in Mt. Ephriam but just opened a storefront on Rt. 33 in Manalapan. I have to say that I've been nothing but impressed. The sales guy we used was ultra responsive (Bob Lang) and even after construction had started he still returned our calls and helped answer questions to make sure we were happy. The reason we chose this company over some others (including A&S) was because all phases of the building process (except gas line and electric) are done in-house so they are not at the mercy of subcontractors. They started when promised and finished earlier then expected. They worked with our landscaper who did our decking. Post startup, we had some minor glitches (expected) but they came right out and fixed it without having to threaten them or make repeated calls. Given all of the horror stories I've read in this forum, I think we had the dream install.

FYI, no financial interest, just a thrilled first time pool owner!!!

Here's their finished work:

Not sure if you have gotten your pool or not but figured i would post this. I live in Monmouth County also and just had a pool installed. I shopped about 15 companies large and small. Found a company in Jackson called Aqualife Pools. THey are family owned and operated. They have a Civil Engineer on site from start to finish I was amazed. Heres the best part...... They were like 3,000 cheaper than all the others and used better products. I lucked oout and happened to be home on disability during installation and they took zero shortcuts. They guareented me on my contract pool would be complete including concrete in 30 days I had a pool party in 28 it was great. There was not one problem the entire time. I told the owner of the company i would tell the world because hos company did a fantastic job. You want a great pool at a great price call them 732-833-2777

Ianmd68 - Thanks very much for your info on Swimmor. We happen to be talking to them right now, and the design we're mostly interested in is actually very similar to yours as shown in the photo - a very very lovely pool! If you don't mind, can you give me some advice on a couple technical issue?

1. We're thinking about running a 850 sf pool and a 8 jets spa on a single 2hp, one-speed Jandy pump. But I'm not sure if it provides enough pressure for the jets. What's your experience? Also, is the pump quiet enough to locate it close to the house (so to improve the pressure and reduce the length of the gas line)?
2. Given the raised stone wall, what kind of pool cover do you choose? Is a solid cover suitable for this kind of pool? If it's a mesh, is the "tea bag" effect a concern?
3. What type of coping you used? Is it paver or brick? Are you happy with the choice? (They look great in the photo.)
4. What are some other design/technical ideas you would suggest/avoid?

Greatly appreciate your reply!

Charles- Thanks for the compliments on the pool. We can't wait for summer to arrive. In response to your questions..

1. Our pool is just over 700sqft and the spa has 6 jets. We are running a 2HP single speed jandy and have plenty of power. I think you should be okay as long as you don't have a rediculously long run from the pump to the spa, or too many turns. Also, in order to have real pressure from the jets, you need to have a blower. This works great, almost too good as sometimes the water bubbles over the coping onto the patio. If you are using the blower, it is LOUD!! I would strongly advise you keep the equipment away from any place where noise would be a problem. We opted to put the equipment behind the pool and then landscape around it to block the noice. We can still hear it when the blower is on, but it's not bad.

Our cover is a mesh safety cover. I've been checking it throughout the season and there is some debris in the pool, but not too bad. This is our first year so I'll have a better idea when we open the pool.

The coping is a bullnose paver and we are very happy with it. Complements the paver patio perfectly.

Things I would recommend:
If you have a long raised bond beam, don't be stingy with the descents. Our original contract called for just one and on the advice of another customer we added 2 additional and it makes a world of difference aesthetically. One descent on a 40' long wall looks silly.

Consider an autofiller and overflow drain. We didn't do this and depending on your schedule, filling the pool could be a hassle and having to runout in a rainstorm to drain off water is even worse.

We love our Jandy remote system, but I would recommend getting the 4 way spa switch also. The remote automatically turns off after about 10 minutes and then takes another minute or 2 to power back on. Makes quick adjustments a hassle. The remote is also very slow to respond to commands, hopefully Jandy will fix this in a future firmware release.

That's all I can think of right now, but if something else comes to mind, I'll amend the post. Good luck and I'm sure you'll be happy with Swim Mor. Tell Tiki Bob I send my regards.

Hi,

I live in Howell, we also dealt with Bob Lang,from swim mor nice guy, very patient. Our 800sf pool was ready this past weekend, we are very happy with swim-mor, and love the pool. There were some problems, however they handled all except the 30 ft wall, it was supposed to be 56 sq ft and they made a mistake so they say. Its 40 sq ft and they gave us a $570.00 credit. We are ok with it because it looks really nice, and the job was great with no aggravation. We made the hottub 60sf instead of the 40. Thought the 40 was a little tight, we have 6 jets on top and 4 below on a 1hp booster pump, its like a joke, way too weak. Charlie is correct the blower on the spa , really fires things up on top, however I will need to complain regarding the booster. We did get the auto fill. to be hooked up a later date. The Jandy colored lights are great.The Jandy remote works now, my friend has it for 1 yr and he is miserable, not very reliable. The Jandy rep still hasnt called back after 3 days. The thermal ledge is really different also. Its a great place to put an umbrella or a lounge chair. The quality doesnt compare to sylvan, they have all sub contractors and they are more expensive. I would go Swim-mor than Blue haven before Sylvan. The pool equipment is super quiet except for the blower, however you will need to backwash, it would be much more convienant for the equipment to be behind the pool, or on the side. The 2hp with the 8 jets should be fine, with the blower ask Bob how much to supersize the tub. A woman knocked on my door that used swim-mor to complain about the concrete sub that they use! Get your own guy I used Bomanite stamped, pavers are great too. The coping I had swim-mor install its there man made travertine, actually very nice and easy for the kids to grab onto inside the pool. Sorry no picture. Oh as far as a cover swim-mor doesnt offer the solid cover which is the better than mesh, it keeps the water just like when you closed it.

Good Luck

Paul

Now that we have the pool opened and running I can comment more on the mesh cover. Paul is right. When we opened our pool it was like a science experiment gone awry!!! It took over a week and three visits from the company who opened the pool (not to mention more backwashing then I can remember) to get it up to snuff. Next time around I'm definately going for the solid cover.

Last thing, we are having trouble with the town demanding rails on the pool steps. SwimMor tells us they have never heard of this and none of their pools have rails. Has anyone else had this problem and how did you solve it? They are still fighting with the inspectors.

Charlest.... Did you ever make a decision on a builder????

Whatever you do-- do not use National Pools and Spas for either gunite or vinyl. They are horrible. They talk a good selling game, but once they have your signature and money, they act as if it was FAVOR that they accepted your money . After signing the contract-- every step of our pool process was a disaster-- from the plans, to the permits, to the layout, to the building, to the filling (and the leaking), to the grading and backfilling, to the deck, to the cover measurements. National Pools general contracts the whole job, yet they do not meet the subcontractors to make sure the subcontractors know what you want. We literally had to take time off our jobs to meet with every subcontractor to make sure things were done as we wanted and even then 80% of the time it was not done as we wanted. After the whole proces, the pool took 11 months to finish. Do yourself a favor and RUN FAR AWAY from National Pools.

Barncorvette, your story sounds much like ours, with our first pool (Maryland Pools). From the moment we signed the contract they couldn't be bothered. They actually moved the location of the pool without confirming with us - and the build went downhill from there. But worse.. we had nothing but problems with that pool, and they truly walk away once the pool is "done". I feel your pain - this is too much money to spend on a crappy job.

Don't use Kinney Pools on Route 88 in Brick. Just like all pool builders they promise the world and deliver barely acceptable.

Im also in Howell(ramtown)and talked with Kinny, they blew! promised everything yet never returned my Phone calls. there pool center was also a dump. I sent them packing!

went with Nicholas and they were wonderful and never missed a beat.

http://www.nicholaspools.com/Templates/E03/1049/949/index.aspx

Don't use Kinney pools. We hired them and had nothing but trouble. They did install the pool but it took 6 1/2 months from the time we signed the contract and the time they put water in it. They never finished back filling. We had to take care of it. Below are some of the details if you would like to read:

The entire installation was one problem after another. First they did not know we needed a soil boring test (the township said every pool in our county needs this test). This was an additional cost of $800. We had figured there would be some additional cost so we didn't make a big deal about it. It took 4 months to start the installation (14 days after the contract date). There equipment leaked oil all over our driveway and in the street. They never even attempted to clean it up. Next, the Cement truck used to pour the cement for the collar of the pool left tire marks and cement stains all over the driveway. Next, two and half months after they started the pool was installed but they never finished backfilling the pool. All calls to them to finish the job were not responded to. I had to get someone else to finish the backfill so the cement work could be done before the winter. From the time we signed the contract to the time they had water in the pool was six and half months.
Other items not completed were: (1) They never came to do the final clean up. They left the yard a mess and I had to remove 7 pallets and all the boxes from when they delivered the pool supplies. (2) Never received and indoc (they were supposed to show us how to operate the pool).
Lessons learned. (1) Read the contract carefully. There is fine print that states that they are not responsible for any damage they cause (which is why they never addressed our concerns about the damage they caused to our driveway). (2) in the contract do not agree to pay them the bulk of money until the job is complete. On another note, the salesman
(Ed Kinney) will brag about all the Judges who bought pools from them to try and gain your confidence. DONÂT fall for it. There is much more to this story but I tried to keep it somewhat brief.

We had a 800 SF built by National Pools last year and everything went just great! From start to finish it was a joy to work with them. My township was a little slow but they started the pool 4 days after the permit was in. We can't wait to open the pool!
I recieved quotes from two other companies, SEASONAL WORLD in Ocean County and VALLEY POOLS in Hamilton. Thank God I didn't go with either of them as their both filed for bankruptcy!!

I think this forum can be a great help for those who are thinking about having a pool built. Although there seems to be some wrong information in some of the posts. My wife and I are currently on our fourth inground swimming pool. Thus far we have used three different companies and the first two companies were quite unpleasant and at times a grueling experience.

When we purchased our third pool four years ago, we choose SEASONAL WORLD to build the pool and although the experience right upfront was much different. We stilled prepared for the worst. Nevertheless, the experience was "WONDERFUL". The owner worked with us and the pool was not only started early, but it was finished 15 days ahead of schedule. Not only, was the sales and install experience wonderful. But SEASONAL WORLDÂs service after the fact was great!!! They open and close our pool and turnaround time on some of the minor issues we had was less than 24 hours.

My wife and I have had a wonderful experience with SEASONAL WORLD. In fact we just bought our fourth home and we shopped around to check what was out in the market. In any event we choose SEASONAL WORLD again. The pricing was fair and the value was unmatched. Most of all they cater to the customer unlike anyone else I have dealt with.

I seen in a post from another person that they also shopped SEASONAL WORLD, I signed contract last night and by no means are they bankrupted or have intentions to do so. We signed contract in there showroom near six flags and they have performed massive upgrades to the pools out front and their office areas. Meeting with the owner for my second SEASONAL WORLD pool was a nice feeling and made my wife and I feel that are monies are well spent and we are in good hands.

I would HIGHLY, recommend SEASONAL WORLD to anyone who is concerned about quality and safety and looking to deal with a large company that still has family roots.

I will be sure to post pictures of our finished product.

Hmm, I smell TROLL. S.W. does usually build an ok but I have had worked with so many customer who don't want anything to do with them because the service was lame and communications were worse.

I know they closed their RT.9 Howell store. Are you sure they filed for bankruptcy?

I just used Pool Town in Howell, NJ and they rocked. I played hard to get in the beginning, but I really dont think they put me through the ringer. It was a fair price for honest work. I used the form on the website , they called me right away with no-hassle internet pricing.

Ive heard good things about other places in the area and some real awful stuff about others. My suggestion is just lay it all out in the beginning, get it on paper, and stick to your guns. I really had no problem though - so my vote goes to Pooltown. I dropped the link in the box below, not sure if it will work but if you need it. If you ask them for "Alex" in Freehold, they can show you pictures of my pool , its in their referral book.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pooltown - howell nj

Used Seasonal World for pool install. First they damaged may yard and did not fix or try to prevent any damage from the excavator. Second they had me mark out my sprinkler lines to avoid hitting them, instead they dug them up for me to repair. Third they damaged trees in my back yard leaving the branches hanging that were in danger of falling, that I had to get removed. Fourth they sent me a $300 fuel bill for increased gas cost. Fifth, upon completion they left several items in the yard for me to dispose of and not to mention they splashed concrete on my basement windows and siding that I had to pay to get removed. As well the pool was not built according to the contract specs. It was installed in 2006 and now my heater broke last year and my concrete deck has several cracks. The concrete contractor they used never sealed the concrete and it stained in the first year, to which I had to pay over $1000 to have it painted/stained. Seasonal World will not even come out and assess the cracks. When I called them for the heater, they sent out the manufacturer of the heater. The manufacturer told me it would be $1800 to repair and left me with a broken heater. They are also over priced for their service and equipment in comparison to other pool stores. Shop around!

Dear ianmd68,

If you don't mind me asking. How much was the pool you had pictured? I'm currently looking into a swim-mor pool and your pool is pretty close to what we want. Thank you!

Vk