Pool Building Sub-Contractors (foreclosed, credit, house)

jwcarguy · 02-10-2008, 10:08 PM

My wife and recently bought a foreclosed home that the previous owner/ investor had started building a inground pool, before he stiffed all his creditors. So now we have the excavation done with pool outline and the rebar in, but it has been like that for over 18 months. There is no mechanical (plumbing or electric) started yet. We have the plans redone, approved and permits from the city for "owner builder".
So now we are looking for reliable, good sub contractors to complete this project.
We still are thinking of approaching a licensed pool builder and just see what they have to say. I am in the construction business. I realize that we all have to make a profit, but I Don't want a bulder to "retire" off my job, due to a real slow market, because of the housing situation.
I would think that they would be more willing to "deal" in this market, along with the subs.
Any input would be welcomed !
Thanks, Jeff

AA702 · 02-10-2008, 10:36 PM

Some guys might not want to touch a job like that. All i can suggest is to call around and see who is willing to take over, or try to find out who was going to do the work in the first place. Wow, thats a real bind!

Daddys///M3 · 02-10-2008, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwcarguy

My wife and recently bought a foreclosed home that the previous owner/ investor had started building a inground pool, before he stiffed all his creditors. So now we have the excavation done with pool outline and the rebar in, but it has been like that for over 18 months. There is no mechanical (plumbing or electric) started yet. We have the plans redone, approved and permits from the city for "owner builder".
So now we are looking for reliable, good sub contractors to complete this project.
We still are thinking of approaching a licensed pool builder and just see what they have to say. I am in the construction business. I realize that we all have to make a profit, but I Don't want a bulder to "retire" off my job, due to a real slow market, because of the housing situation.
I would think that they would be more willing to "deal" in this market, along with the subs.
Any input would be welcomed !
Thanks, Jeff

I used to dig swimming pools, so I have some connections in the industry. I can turn you on to a very honest licensed pool builder. It's been a few years so I couldn't even tell you which subs are still in business and which are not.

FWIW, the electrical and plumbing should have been done before the steel, so that may need to come out.

da jammer · 02-10-2008, 10:59 PM

I was in the swimming pool business for 10 years in southern CA.

Terry Tamminen (do an amazon search) has a pretty good book out that details every aspect of building and maintaining swimming pools. I see no reason why you couldn't GC the job yourself to keep the costs down and keep a close eye on every stage of the process. Personally I'm not liking that steel sitting for so long so that may be an issue you want to take into consideration.

Good luck with you project.

jwcarguy · 02-10-2008, 11:05 PM

AA
We actually did find the original prints, down inside the pool "hole" in a plastic pouch when we first bought the house. I called the Pool Builder, gave him the story of the house being foreclosed on, then the bank went bankrupt, then had to wait until another bank picked up all the titles, then submited a offer and got the house. He proceeded to tell me (in not a nice way) how he was screwed by the previous owner and that it was going to be a extremely large amount of money (approx. $20-25K above were it should be) to finish the job.
So we have explored that option. We have even addressed the "Project Manager" route also, (FYI, I run subs every day in my construction field, I am just to busy on some projects to be at my house, to keep on top of the subs) Anyway, the "project Managers" were telling us that their "Fee" would be a additional $10K above any sub price and mark up from him, since they are " his subs" !! And if that wasn't enough, they tried "Telling" us what we were going to get, rather than listening to our requests and giving us informed answers, so that we can decide. They said that we should never use a Salt System for example, along with brand of equipment. We asked for Pentair and they said no, and told us of a generic brand (that they probably get"kick backs" for, which is ok, that is how it works, but we want the better equipment !
Sorry to go on, but this is why we're looking at all possibilities and we have the option to handle it ourselves.
thanks for the input.

AA702 · 02-10-2008, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwcarguy

AA
We actually did find the original prints, down inside the pool "hole" in a plastic pouch when we first bought the house. I called the Pool Builder, gave him the story of the house being foreclosed on, then the bank went bankrupt, then had to wait until another bank picked up all the titles, then submited a offer and got the house. He proceeded to tell me (in not a nice way) how he was screwed by the previous owner and that it was going to be a extremely large amount of money (approx. $20-25K above were it should be) to finish the job.
So we have explored that option. We have even addressed the "Project Manager" route also, (FYI, I run subs every day in my construction field, I am just to busy on some projects to be at my house, to keep on top of the subs) Anyway, the "project Managers" were telling us that their "Fee" would be a additional $10K above any sub price and mark up from him, since they are " his subs" !! And if that wasn't enough, they tried "Telling" us what we were going to get, rather than listening to our requests and giving us informed answers, so that we can decide. They said that we should never use a Salt System for example, along with brand of equipment. We asked for Pentair and they said no, and told us of a generic brand (that they probably get"kick backs" for, which is ok, that is how it works, but we want the better equipment !
Sorry to go on, but this is why we're looking at all possibilities and we have the option to handle it ourselves.
thanks for the input.

Sometimes I hate the way the biz works. Pentair and Starite are the best out there when it comes to equipment (pentair bought starite recently). I personally only like 1 brand of Salt system and the rest is junk. I hope you get everything worked out.. I really dont know what to say since I only work with a few pool builders and they refer me to do startups and monthly service or warranty work. I would suggest getting an in-floor cleaning system (pentair caretaker is the best in my opinion). Good luck ..

Kabrasco LaFonz · 02-11-2008, 12:14 AM

I think I saw that house when it was on market, was it in the 89148 zip? That was an odd place, I remember it had a bunch of stange landscaping and fixup issues but that the price was right. I actually took pics and sent them to a pool builder buddy of mine in Milwaukee, but he didn't want to give any advice cause he said he had no idea what differences building in the desert as apposed to midwest are, and I had my eye on a couple other props anyway. Anyway, good luck, I have your fixup costs don't end up pushing the true cost of that place up by $25/sqft.

jfkIII · 02-11-2008, 10:14 AM

This investment may literally turn out be an 'underwater' one! Why not just fill in the hole with desert sand?

jwcarguy · 02-11-2008, 01:47 PM

Kabrasco, it is located in the 89123 zip code. We bought it right ( at the time, prices came down to lower than we paid) but this is our last house for awhile, so we don't mind making it what we and our kids want. Plus it has a huge lot with RV access.

PoolSuperVegas · 02-28-2008, 08:50 PM

[quote=jwcarguy;2788164]My wife and recently bought a foreclosed home that the previous owner/ investor had started building a inground pool, before he stiffed all his creditors. So now we have the excavation done with pool outline and the rebar in, but it has been like that for over 18 months. There is no mechanical (plumbing or electric) started yet. We have the plans redone, approved and permits from the city for "owner builder".
So now we are looking for reliable, good sub contractors to complete this project.

Jeff,

Your description of your pool sounds like one I know of that the company I worked for then could not finish. I do not work for them now, but I did manage all of their pools, this one sounds real familiar to me (we had two like this), you are welcome to e-mail me, and I will see if I can help if you would like.!!!