Advice on Pool Company (Tampa: sales, HOA, how much)

[CaseyWilkening]

For those of you who recently put in a pool in the TB area:

1. What pool company did you contrct with?, and
2. Were you happy with end-result? (y/n)
3. If no, what "gripes" did you have?
4. Knowing now what you didn't know before putting in a pool, what would you do differently?
5. Did you buy a heater, and if so, was it solar or electric/gas
6. How much more is your electric bill per month?
7. Did you buy a salt system?
8. What about a pump?
9. How about pool deck/lanai? What type of material did you use for decking? Are you happy with it? Any cracking? We are thinking about pavers just to avoid the possibility of cracking. Thoughts?
10. Outdoor kitchen?

What else should I be thinking about?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[annesg]

We used Tampa Bay pools and were impressed with the salesman, the installers, and the finished product. We LOVE our pool. We did an 18x30 Roman pool with salt chlorinator and pebble-tec finish. We have a brick paver lanai, which was only minimally more expensive than ugly old cool-deck. We didn't do a heater, but wish we had splurged for solar.

The only gripe was that someone involved with installation took our shovel!! I'm sure it was a mistake--my husband had left it in the backyard.

I love the pebble-tec finish, not only for the lifetime warranty but for the look and feel. Regular concrete interiors (marcite) can be REALLY rough--at one friend's pool my kids had to wear socks so their feet didn't get torn up!!!

The electric goes up a lot when we have to run the pump a lot--it can add $50-75 a month or more.

We got started in the fall so we weren't impatient for it to be done. They ALWAYS take longer--a lot longer--than they say they will--but they started probably in November and were done by April and we were swimming in May when it warmed up. My kids were in that pool every single day they could be. SO worth it. And the combination of the pebble tec and the paver deck makes for a really, really beautiful pool. No regrets here!

[CaseyWilkening]

As a RE agent I've heard a lot of stories from Sellers who had a pool, and from Buyers who previously had a pool - but don't want one now. And of course, I've normally tried to steer Buyers away from a pool/home in our community because it has 3 community pools and homeowners are paying to belong/use the community pools in the HOA dues.

So its beens 4 years or so of trying to stave off the idea of putting in a pool from my wife - who's also a RE sales associate - because a pool only adds about 12-15K to the value of a house. But... we have since decided that our kids (6 & 8), who love to swim, would benefit, and we would too with a tropical, relaxing backyard setting.

Plus, interest rates may be stabilizing and so now is the time when they may be at their lowest to get a HELOC.