Blue Haven Pools & Spas Reviews

We originally wanted the hot tub. We ended up doing a waterfall and no hot tub. We decided against the hot tub just because we knew we wouldn't use it a lot. We decided to go with the water feature instead. After the final look of it, I wish I had done either a ledge that you could sit on and expanded it just a bit more and added some reflector type things on steps so we could see them better. But the lights are cool. I can set my schedule with the lights and the pump, so we don't have to go outside if it's pouring rain or cold. We keep our waterfall on all the time anyway because we like the sound of it.

Go for it. We're in that pool every day. My daughter and husband got in it when it was 60 degrees in that pool. We have our own oasis and we got to design it. We got to pick out what we wanted, from the tile to the stone around it. We ended up going with concrete around the pool instead of the brick. A lot of people that I know that has gone with Blue Haven did the pavers. I'm we did concrete. It gives it a smoother look. And that way, the pool stands out more.

Our designer said, “Do 3 to 5 foot.” Going from 3 to 5 foot, I decided to add that additional foot for 6 feet. I'm honestly glad I did. That's something that I would let people know. And when they draw out the pool, not to think that it would look smaller. Our pool is small but big enough for our family. We have a cleaner that comes out weekly. At the beginning of summer, pollen was bad. We didn't have somebody come out weekly, so the pool messed up. We had pollen stains. But now, we have somebody come out every Friday. Spend the money to have a pool cleaner because you don't have to keep up with anything.

We have a tall screened-in porch so it was next to impossible for us to do the sheeting that would be necessary for whenever they spray gunite in a pool. You wanna have windows and screens plastic sheeted off because that gunite is terribly difficult to remove once it's been sprayed and it depends too on how good a subcontractor you have on the gunite. They also had to put plastic over the solar panels.

The other part of the coordination is not only do they work with subcontractors, but you have to have a separate contract with a landscaper. If you don't have them come in, then you're dead in the water until the landscaper can get to you to do all the things and put the fence back up. We have a dog and our neighbors have dogs as well. It was a cacophony for a couple of months, trying to time when we were gonna let dogs out and supervising dogs that were used to having a fence perimeter, and us used to being able to open the door and let the dog out.

They had an understanding with the landscaper that worked in our favor. But the morning that the gunite guys got here was the morning that the landscaper couldn't get here until 8:00. He was the one that was crawling up on the roof. The gunite night crew arrived at 6:00 a.m. and one of them crawled up on the roof and put the sheeting on the solar panels for us. But there was only one English speaker in the group. His English wasn't terrific either so I was standing there with my phone on Google translate and trying to be sure that I was communicating correctly what we wanted.

But it was amazing that they got anything done during that intense heat. I had a blank backyard and it looks gorgeous now. I've been very pleased. We had great tile people. The people who did the pavers are very skilled craftsmen. The planning and workmanship were well done. Nobody else that I've talked to has had any kind of experience that was better than ours. The pool is beautiful. It's a 9,240-gallon free form pool. It's 3 feet at one end and 5 feet at the other. I would have made it deeper and longer though. I've got a spa on one end of it. I thought my husband wanted the spa, but it turned out he wasn't as hot on it as he thought he would be so it doesn't get that much use. But it makes a beautiful feature because the water overflows like a waterfall out of the spa into the pool.

They first drafted the design then they came and put in the structure. They poured the foundation in the granite. It's an incredible process where they get up on these shoes that look like mini stilts and walk around and smooth it out before they fire the stone in. It was phenomenal. They also did a very intricate tile work. I picked out an expensive stone and upgraded everything 'cause I figured I'm here for the long haul. They would also point out features I might want or might look nice and also some of the downfalls. They also gave me some names of landscapers and told me the pluses and the minuses. They were very honest people.

The project manager, Zach, was there every day throughout the entire course, from November through April. They had everything lined up for the construction and Zach coordinated everything. There was never much lag time and that's a big problem here in the Mount Pleasant South Carolina area. There were a couple snafus at the end, but that's because Mount Pleasant has a boom in buildings that we might have had to wait a day or two for the building inspector. Zach had to be here for that building inspector to be on site when they showed up or they wouldn't inspect it. That was for the gas, the wiring, and the other connections.

I love the pool. I have a backyard oasis. I put in a very large area for sunbathing with the bubblers. I wanted something that would serve two purposes for the kids to play that was a very large platform on a very shallow surface for years to come and an area when there are adults here that we could put sunbathing chairs in. I also had them put the spa on the side, attached to the pool that had the constant water flow. I had them put in a waterfall and ledges around the pool where you can sit. It's also a tool where kids could grab on to that part instead of just grabbing for the side of the pool. I tried to think about safety and they told me how to place them, where to place them, who would go on this side and who wouldn't go on that side because one side is close to a landscaping.

One thing I didn't put on that I wish I had put on was a cooler. I didn't realize that the pool can get up to 90 degrees. But I incorporated the smart features in terms of the Hayward component, where you can control it from your home on your cellphone. From start to finish, Blue Haven was unbelievable. They were very respectful of my property and cleaned up every single day. They tested for leakage and gave me tips on the first time I filled it up. There was a form with the water department and they told me about how to go about doing that. They walked me through every step of the process. I love them. When I call them a year and a half later, they still call me right back. If I were to move from this house, I would use Blue Haven again.

We already sketched where the concrete was gonna go, and when Don was looking it over, he said, "That's not gonna flow good." The concrete guys were there already. They were forming it out. He said, "Mike, what do you think if you and Sherry would want this as far as an extension off of the one side of your pool? It's gonna flow better. But I'm not trying to oversell nothing. But if you wanna do that, this is how it's gonna look." I'm glad he did that because it would have looked like we placed a pool in our backyard and it's a little bit something going on to it. It flows off of our back patio.

The designer of that was more in-tuned to making my backyard look good instead of looking at what a bottom line would be for the company, which made me feel really good. I said, "Well, that's gonna cost me a lot more." He said, "We're gonna work that out. Let's just see if that's gonna work for you on the design phase of it." I said, "Okay, all right. Let's try it." The layout was so much and the cost of the concrete was so much and he said, "We'll split that, We'll just cut that in half and let's just roll that out. Because really, I think you're gonna be much more happier with that." I'm glad he did because he turned around and, when that was all totally done, it just flows off of our back patio, which was a true vision that he saw that I didn't see. So, with that, my hat's off to him. It was something that was useful within our family and his design was spot on.

We like the design of the concrete around the pool itself. We like the heated pool. The patio surface is cool to the touch. He said, "This is going to keep your concrete probably about 80 to 82, 85 degrees at the most. Once this layer is on and they treat it, you can walk on this -- doesn't matter how hot it is, it's not gonna get hot." So, that was another feature that we've talked through our conversation. We've gone to pools, we've gone to resorts and the pools. It was so refreshing, yet you have to walk from the pool to the lounger and your feet will burn by the time you get there. He said, "I got something that we can suggest if you want something like that really. And it'll actually look good because it's gonna come from your existing patio onto the new concrete and it'll just flow into where the pool is." Don is very creative and helpful. He makes oasis in the backyards of people's properties. It's amazing.

Everyone was also great during the construction process. All the teams that came knew how to do their jobs. They did their job efficiently, and upon conversing with them, everyone was polite and nice. They were able to answer questions, too. Communication-wise, some of them spoke different languages, which was fine because I just use the translator app on my phone and they were able to understand what I wanted. I had a good time visiting with them, and they didn't mind me being around the construction zone. But I was very careful where I walked and made sure I was aware of what they were doing so I didn't get in their way.

One of my favorite things is the pool system because my family has a German Shepherd who sheds tons of hair and she likes to go swimming in the pool. So I made sure I had the best of the best pumping system so that it would turn over every bit of the water either once a day or twice within a 24-hour period because I know her hair is going to be in that swimming pool. So, my pool stays relatively clean even though she gets in there. And a lot of the hair gets trapped in the skimmers, so that means the suction power of the pump is pulling that water through the skimmers and the hair is getting caught in the baskets. So far, my husband and I had to clean our filtration system out twice since they put the pool in just because that first initial startup sucks out all the rest of the loose plaster that's still coming off and everything that’s setting.

Blue Haven worked out for us and we love them. As for the price, everything was disclosed to us in detail. When I added on a few feet more of concrete and the concrete was expensive, we paid a little extra for that. But otherwise, everything was priced within a reasonable range. When we told Blue Haven that we were interested in building a pool, they came out and asked us what we were interested in, then they didn't bother us. They waited for us to make the move. They left materials for us to look at and that was satisfying to me because I'm one who doesn't like to be bothered a whole lot.

For my friends who are looking into getting a pool, I would suggest that they do their research but I would also tell them that Blue Haven did an exceptionally well job on our swimming pool. I'm ready to enjoy it when it warms up to the perfect temp. My brave children who can stand the cold have already been swimming in it this year.

We have a gunite pool, and I'm happy about that versus a vinyl liner type of pool. It's expensive, but it's a fair price. It was more than I was expecting when I got into it, but that was because I was basing it on some other people we knew that got pools a few years ago. The prices had gone up since that time. I also checked other two places and Blue Haven's price is better. Plus, I know somebody else who got a pool and spent quite a bit more. I would definitely recommend Blue Haven.

I've never had a pool before, but if I ever have another one, I'll call that guy first. I have recommended Blue Haven as well. The workmanship was amazing and the pool looks great today. I have a big light in there and it shows different colors, like red, green, or blue. We love our pool. I use it for a cold plunge in the middle of winter.