Blue Haven Pools & Spas Reviews

The design met the expectations. I made some changes toward the end and things like that once it started filling in, but for the most part, it’s exactly as what they described, the pictures they sent, the design that they came up with. I feel great. I love it. Also, the construction was right on target. They stayed on target the entire time through the process. There is a bit of calcium buildup from the water fountain so I’m trying to figure out how to maintain that. There are a bit of spots of rusting underneath some of the stones and I’m just trying to figure out that. But other than that, there have really been no issues. Everything has been running well and working as they guaranteed.

Even though they graded out some of the yard that was dug up, it was filled with chunks of concrete so I had to go through that. There was some overspray on some of the windows and I tried to get it off, but I couldn’t. So, I contacted the project manager that oversaw it and he just told me to take some more soap and water and try to do it again. That didn’t sit well with me, but since the whole rest of the experience was so incredible, I just chalked it up just let that one go.

But other than that, it's been a great experience. We just love the hot tub and having the Ozone. It’s less harsh on your skin from full chlorine. We just weren’t crazy about salt. but the pump is topnotch. They’ve made it like a brand-new pool, so no issues there. I’ve gotten referrals from them to people we have recommended, so I wouldn't stop recommending them.

The process took so long in the beginning. They had to get a license and they took a month to come for the excavation. It took a couple of weeks between work and work. They would work one day and we wouldn't see them again in two, three weeks. That was the only bad thing about it. It wasn’t as quick as we thought it was gonna be.

But when they finished, the pool was really nice. We found a contractor to make a floor around. We just wanted them to finish so we could work around the backyard. They finished and everything was okay after that. Everything was good and I like everything. We just started a couple of months ago so the pool is still new.

There were several special unique features that were included in the pool that we wanted to have because of the space that we were working in. We have colored lighting or decorative materials, smart features, and we also have one waterfall feature. I also liked the knowledge of the designer on how the pool would lay out in our particular spot. We have a small area, and we were very happy with the reasons of the equipment that they were recommending that made the pool maintenance much easier. They did a good job. The pool took a space that we very rarely use to a space that we'd spend quite a bit of time in. It's too hot to go outside and now we can go out and enjoy it.

We were like the first on the waiting list which was fine. Then, our next-door-neighbor had talked them into doing his pool at the same time. So, that delayed our pool being done because they would do one step with us, then go over there do one step with them, so it was extremely lengthy when it shouldn’t have been as much. We first met with Laura in January. Then, they started digging the end of April. We had a lot of rain, so I understand that has to be dry for a couple of weeks. So, that wasn’t their fault and I don’t hold that against them. But I would call and try to get answers of when they’re gonna start and Scott was never available. We couldn’t ever ask him questions. I spoke with the girl in the office that fields the calls for Scott. If I couldn’t get answers or if they were closed on Fridays, I would text Laura. I never was able to talk to Scott. And even when this whole disaster with the digging was wrong, it was Laura who came.

Also, we never had any date, and when we did, it was urgent, and my husband and I both work and so I had to cancel patients to come when they needed to have someone to come look or some county person had to be here. I had to cancel patients because of the short notice which doesn’t help my job. And then we found out that they were gonna dig two days before they came and someone had to be here. I had a flight I had to attend. The communication was horrible. It also seemed like the girl that worked in the office didn’t like Laura. So, it was awkward.

I've had a couple of people ask me about the pool recently and I tell them not to go with Blue Haven. It was not a pleasant experience. The pool is okay but it’s not magical, and the experience itself just reduced it. And the pool is not the way we designed it. It’s not what it was supposed to look like. But at that point, we’re just done.

Any issues that we had, Blue Haven came out and took care of under warranty. We had some issues with the floating pavers and they fixed that. The pool has the smart cleaning system. It's a whole second pump and jets that blow all of the dirt and debris to the bottom instead of having a Polaris along the bottom. We also have two spillways, which are like little waterfall things. It was painful to get the pool completed but now we are enjoying it very much. It looks beautiful now. We are happy with the finished product but would not recommend Blue Haven to anybody,

The whole experience was pretty positive. We already have three houses down and across the street from our neighbor who has a pool from them. They’re just waiting to get everything in place and they’re going with Blue Haven when they’re ready for it. Overall, we love our pool. Everybody that comes and looks at it is stunned by it.

When I asked for some assistance, the owner came in, brought me the tiles and the colors, and brought them outside to the light so that I could see what the colors would look in the sunlight. They were really good. We have the color lighting and a little fountain that spout the water out. We already had concrete poured to extend the patio area across the whole back of the house so that would have been a lot to pave. They suggested, to go ahead and do some cool decking. That is really nice 'cause it gives a little contrast between the two areas.

The heater cracked and the reps from Blue Haven came out and took pictures. Initially, they came out and bypassed it because it was leaking out of it, but they got everything resolved there. They just hadn't come back to fix that. I got a couple of issues with the liners, which needs restretching from the initial install. It's got a couple of nice creases in it. It's a liner pool but they poured concrete in there for steps. So I don't have that plastic, which is great. But where the liner goes over it, it’s almost like the concrete broke just a little bit. I addressed it with Blue Haven because my theory is it’s gonna poke a hole in my liner eventually. I'm just waiting on some replies from them.

Everything has been above board with John, my local guy, as far as the communications with him. I've hit him up week before last via text because it's much easier to text than it is to be on the phone except for weekends. He had to order the heater but I haven’t heard back from him as to when they're gonna finalize all that. So, I reached out to him to see when they were gonna get me all scheduled. Still,we're very satisfied. I just wanna get those few kinks worked out.

We had a lot of ladders coming out of our old pool but Blue Haven opted for the swim outs and stuff. My wife and I were pretty old and we decided we wanted to keep our ladders so we could get in and out safely. So, they bent to our demands. It wasn't totally modern and we also had to conform to the new regulations as far as depths of the pool and size of diving boards and all that, which wasn’t that big of a deal. The construction crew was great, especially the people who did the dirt work.

Other than that, I would suspect that most people's driveways get cracked, but Blue Haven made no acknowledgment of it. I even asked one of the guys if they cracked my driveway and he said they didn't. But it takes you about two weeks to hose all that mud off of that and it could stick on there. Then by that time, they're down the road and the driveway's cracked in two spots. But I kind of understand that as I asked for the pool.

So far, when you turn the lights out at nighttime, the pool looks beautiful. However, the bottom of the pool, which would be the plaster, is very lumpy in spots and and I don't think it's meant to be that way. In the daytime, you can't tell, but in the nighttime when you put lights on, it looks like a hammock. I called Robert a month ago and asked if it was supposed to be like that and he said no. They said they could fix it. I asked if they gotta drain the water for that and he said they didn't. Then, I took some pictures and sent them to him three separate times. After that, Robert said that he was gonna send Jose out here but he never did. When I talked to Robert again, he apologized and said that he would have Jose out here, which he did. So far, the pool is functional, so it's fine. But I have to wait for them to come out and fix the issues.

The brickwork around the hot tub is also horrible and whoever did it didn't know how to make a corner because both of the corners are terrible. They're a hazard with sharp edges. Plus, the grout lines are the size of my thumb and he can't keep his grout lines consistent. When Jose came out, he looked at it and said that he had to order some bricks and would come back and fix it. The order hasn't come in yet but it's still within a respectable time limit. We got this virus thing as well and I don't know how long it's gonna take him to get. He needs 20 or 30 bricks to do it and right now, I haven't gotten any update from him. But I assume they're having a little trouble getting the bricks at the moment.

I also spoke to him when he was here about the tiles they put on the pool. Those tiles came in four different patterns in the case and they were supposed to mix them. But they got one spot with five of the same tiles in a row and one spot with three in a row. They should take a little pride in their work and not put the exact same tiles five in a row. But that's not an issue on the quality of the craftsmanship. It's not gonna leak but it looks like garbage. And when we were looking at the pool a week ago, I started noticing that I'm losing water and I don't know if that's because of evaporation or I have a leak. I do plumbing and all too, and I watched how their guys put those pipes together. So, I would be shocked to hear that there was a leak there. But it's been about two weeks and we're stuck about on the tile line with a good inch of water.

There are also a few spots on the seat on the hot tub where there are little clumps of plaster. They are the size of a pencil eraser and I feel like I could scrape that off my fingernail. But I won't bother to do that because then it's gonna blister there in one, two, or three years. So, it's a bad job with that little eraser pimples. And every time a friend of mine gets in there, he puts his hand back and feels that. It's annoying as I paid 59,000 for this pool.

They were very honest and upfront about a lot of different things that most people don’t realize going into building a pool from scratch. We had had pools in the past but we had never built one. They were very informative about walking us through all the processes. I very much appreciated that. The construction guys did a great job. They were always very efficient and they did their best to keep the damage to surrounding areas to a minimum although there was only so much they could do. We’ve had the pool for just a year now and I feel like it’s been great. We haven’t had any major issues.

And then there was one piece of the pool equipment that was leaking, and it just needed an O-ring. Somebody had tried to put a bunch of clear silicone caulk in it. So, I cleaned out all the silicone caulk and went up to the hardware store, and for a grand total of 80 cents, I got a rubber gasket and put it on there, and it works fine. But for $90,000, you shouldn’t have to do all that.

Blue Haven is just a huge pain to deal with. You whine about things that they were supposed to fix to the point where you just say, “Screw it,” and go do it yourself. And when you try to get them to come back, it’s damn near impossible. But the pool construction is good. That’s why I’ve purchased two from them. And I’d recommended them to another person. They build a good pool. I would tell them, “Eventually, you’ll have to keep bugging them until, finally, you just get tired of bugging them and you just finish stuff yourself.” And the funny thing is, everybody that I’ve done that to told me the same thing. It was a friend of mine. And I told him, “They do build a good pool, but they won’t finish it. You’ll have to finish it, or spend all your time calling Blue Haven Pools.” Also, they promised me a referral fee that I never got.

The subs that Blue Haven use are usually here at the start time or a little before that, but the Blue Haven guys are not so good. They're not timekeepers. But they've all been fantastic. When they're here, they're hard workers and problem solvers. Somebody was supposed to be here at 2:30. They texted me, said, "Hey, are we still on for 2:30?" And I was at a doctor's visit so I didn't get it for an hour and a half. I said, "Absolutely. We'll be there just a few minutes before 2:30 or so.” He came with, "Um, I'm not gonna be able to do this. I won’t be there today." If it was the first time, that would be different but it was not the first time that that's happened.

Right now, we're having some issues. The filter is not running the way it's supposed to. And while they have come out several times to work on it, it's still not running like it's supposed to. The pump is running. I can see it, I can hear it, but my filters has got no movement. My little guy doesn't swing around the pool and clean. They upgraded us because the first two that they brought out didn't work. This one seemed to work, but now, it's not. Our pool is gorgeous, but I would really like to get things finished and have it working like it's supposed to be.

They've been great. They had some issues and stuff, and I've had some issues time-wise. They did give us information on the loan but we just paid for it ourselves. They did a good job. Anytime I had a question, they researched it and got back to me, then gave me their take on it but always with understanding that it was my decision. But all the information they gave me was good. All in all, I've been really happy with them. We're just trying to get the last few things done.

Yet even though the design went well and the build went well, I have not been very satisfied with the maintenance side of the program. It seems like they struggle a little bit with keeping me informed of when their person's gonna be out or keep me informed about the schedule. A couple of times, they're supposed to get back to us on some things, and I waited two or three days, but they never did. So to me, they struggle on their maintenance warranty side of the house and there's a little bit of lack of communication. Still, the quality of the pool is great. It meets our expectation as to what we're wanting as far as the pool itself so we have no complaints. It also has the remote that I can turn the pump on and off and turn the lights on and off.

Original Review: Jan. 19, 2020

I'm in real estate and I had no clue about pools. I was counting on the Blue Haven guy who came to our house but then he gave us a lot of bad recommendations. I wanted a good pool and money wasn't my issue. But then he kept talking us down and trying to get us to spend less money on things. For instance, he recommended just doing white lights but then I liked colors. Also, he was trying to convince my wife to put the pool system right against where the pool was when I wanted it on the other side of the house hidden away. He said that it would be cheaper as we don't have to run the pipes so far. If we listened to what he was telling us to do, my pump would've been halfway by my pool. So, I ended up making changes in the process.

The construction took a long time and there were a lot of delays. We had to stay on top of Blue Haven. The person who was managing the project was new to the business for them and he was barely there to check in on the workers to make sure they're doing everything the way it should be done. There were a lot of mistakes and a lot of adjustments needed.

I was dealing with Blue Haven for three years and the old manager who was there, Jim, was really bad. We had problem after problem and Blue Haven would say that they're gonna fix it. But, the issue would take another month. I would have to call Jim every two or three days to ask what was going on. He just blew us off forever. At one point, my jacuzzi drained out into the pool. It wouldn't stop and it overflowed down my driveway. These are stuff they could have checked after they hooked it up to see if it was running. But, no one ever did that. Another issue was that when they installed the saltwater pool, the stone they used around it was sandstone. Later on, the stone was deteriorating and my pool would have sand in it. I told this to Jim and he said that the contractor didn't seal the stone right but should be fine. They would up having to replace the stone and breaking it up completely.

The contractor who installed the second batch of stone did a horrible job. They were above the decking so we were kicking the ledges. Two months later, the stones were deteriorating again. When I did more research, I found that sandstone is probably the worst product to put around the pool that has saltwater and that the sealer would never stop the deterioration. The sealer costs $100 a gallon and it takes about four or five gallons to seal. I'm not doing that every month.

The new manager, Ken, came in and replaced the stone again. He was extremely helpful and saved us when it came to the pool that we had. but then the installer was the same contractor who did the stone the second time around. So, we had to fight with him 'cause he did a crappy job. While the new manager had them come back to fix the stones that were wrong. Even so, I still ended up spending $4,000 to put a whole new system in. I also ended up getting rid of the salt water and put the Ozone system in.

In the end, I found that Jim, the old manager, was one foot out the door. He didn't care about Blue Haven anymore. Also, he had a guy who was an ex-cop who did my pool as his first job. I feel grateful that Ken came and Blue Haven stepped up to make the repairs. Even so, I sell real estate and my property is all investment property. The condition of my pool before Ken came in was negative. So, I would’ve lost money if it stayed the way it was.

However, there are small issues their subcontractor needs to address such as the cracks in the sidewalk. I don’t feel like the project manager visited as much as he should. Also, Their subcontractors have to be followed on and Blue Haven does that. They don't have that much control over them though. They're a small company and if anyone has an issue with the project they have, they should not stop at their project manager. Instead, they should call Blue Haven's office and get the owner on the phone. Still, they addressed every issue that came up with my project. I would definitely recommend Blue Haven.

I was pleased with everything but the automatic cover. I was getting ready to close the pool and drain the equipment. Two guys had my pool down to about six inches of water and when they got ready to leave, one of the techs said that I can't use my automatic cover at that time. About five days later, I got a call from their office and their guy Steven who was so nice and knowledgeable told me that I can't use the cover as there was too much tension that it has to have water underneath it. I was so upset since why would I spend $10,000 or $12,000 on an automatic cover and not be able to use it. So, my pool is open and I have no cover on it whatsoever. Every day, I have to pull out weeds. The pool has dirt at the bottom as well. I hate to see it dirty because it's so pretty. Blue Haven made it absolutely beautiful. I should have listened better to them to know that I should have left water in. Next winter, I’ll leave the water in and the pump running.

Other than the time issue, the construction team was always professional. They did an excellent job and structurally, in terms of function, we’ve had zero problems at all. The pool is awesome and it works beautifully. It has all the bells and whistles. The remote control access where I can control features of the pool on my iPad or my mobile phone is the best feature.

The pump is not working properly and the pipe is leaking. I said that in my email that I sent to him and I sent a video. So, there would be no misunderstanding as to what is going on with the pool. It’s been going on for a couple of weeks. My pool guy came Friday and we weren’t here. But he could not clean the pool because there was no power on the pump. About two weeks prior to that, there was no power on the pool as well. The pool is not working, and Blue Haven is not being responsive. I asked Dave to send me an email but as of right now, I still don’t have an email from him.

I tell people asking me about Blue Haven that it's not a company that I would recommend to install their pool. Blue Haven should consider being more responsive to people that they have installed equipment in their homes and don’t tell me that they’re working on other jobs, and I will have to be on the back burner. Now that they have the funds, they have been paid, they don’t wanna be responsive to the work that they’ve done. So, that’s very inappropriate.

When the time came to do the next step, it took forever. By the time they did get to the next step, we got it taken care of. And when the time came for the concrete to go around the deck, that was a battle from the beginning. What we expected and what was drawn on the plan was different than what we received. And I finally gave up because it was too much of a hassle to deal with the argument. We made them aware of that several times. We went back and forth and by the time we got it done, I finally said, "I just want you out of here. Finish the pool and get the hell off my lawn."

When they finally did get around to pouring, the guys that were gonna pour ended up getting fired. Nobody told us why. So they had this other group of people come in and pour the concrete, and they did a good job. They did what they were supposed to do. The concrete took forever to get in. That was supposed to go in on one day, and they had planned it all out, and they wanted to charge us an extra for what was written on the plans. And then, the trash from all of the construction materials was left here even after it was done. It took them over two to finally pick the trash up after the pool was completed. They did a crappy job of taking care of it. After I got my own landscapers in and fixed everything that they had messed up, it looks great. But I had to do all the extra work. I had to pay for a landscaper because they ruined my yard so badly. There was no lawn left at all when they got done. So, we had it re-landscaped completely.

One other thing is the control panel that we got. We've had Hayward come out and replace the panel twice. I tried to get Blue Haven to come out here and fix it, and they said, "No. We're past the warranty, so we're not gonna go do it." So I ended up calling Hayward myself and get them to come out here and do it. The good thing is Hayward said, "You're under warranty, so you don't have to pay for it." But Blue Haven said we're not. So, I'm totally frustrated. I refuse to give anybody a recommendation to go to Blue Haven in New Orleans. We were told that they would charge us to replace the panel even though it was under warranty.

Also, the communication throughout this whole process was horrible. They said, "We'll be there on this day." And then, they wouldn't show up and nobody would call. And so, we ended up having to call and I'd say, "Are you coming out today?" They'd say, "No, we're not. We're in another house today." I'd say, "Okay. What about tomorrow?" And they'd say, "We're gonna try." And it was like that the whole time. Blue Haven also didn't arrange the loan at all. I had to take care of all that myself. As long as that guy is in charge, I would not use the local Blue Haven.

The designer, Dave, was good. He was right on time with everything. He stayed involved until the pool was done. He came over our house a couple different times, we modified the original pool design a couple of different times, so he had to go back to the drawing board to make us completely happy. He was willing to do all that. He did a great job.

I could definitely see who was working by the hour. And the actual guys who dug the pool out did it in four hours. I had a six-foot elevation from top to bottom. So they put in a three-foot reverse beam wall and all that bluestone tile, like the coping and the diving ledge is all blue stone. We have a diving ledge that doubles as a waterfall. It took them four days to do the tile, whereas everybody else seem to be hammering through it. But the only real disappointment was the concrete guys. For the amount of money I spent in concrete, I feel like I was really let down. Considering I spent like $13,000 in concrete and got very little concrete.We had some cracks already, not even a year into it. And we have not gotten any response back from Blue Haven on that deal yet. I would have rather gone with my own vendor locally. That's what I would have done if I had to do it over. But that would be my one hiccup on the whole process.

I've got four steps on either side of the pool and it drops down in the reverse beam wall area and I got a patio right there. Some of the concrete of the steps was knocked out. It was cut at an angle, it didn't have a nice roll like you're supposed to on your steps. And they finally just came back one week near towards the end of the summer, and all they did was just put a layer of concrete over top of it and fixed the steps and put a layer of concrete over top of a couple of cracks, and it really looks god-awful now. If that was the way they were gonna fix it, I would have rather them just left it alone the way it was. Now, I got a bright white patch on my concrete and the steps is like bright white. And there's no finish to it. It's rough. It's pretty nasty looking.

And the pool school needs to be a little longer and a little more in detail, especially for a homeowner who has no experience with pools, which is myself. They should have taken a bit more time to show the pool equipment -- what needed to be fixed and what not to be fixed. It's hard to remember all that, or they could create a brochure or a teaching manual for do's and don'ts with your pool maintenance. I try to get Blue Haven to come out and go over a couple of things with me, and they told me they don't do maintenance work. They just build the pools. I'm like, "Okay. Gotcha."

I didn't realize there was a drain at the bottom where you could've drained it out. Now, they very well told me that in pool school, but when you're talking 25, 30 minutes on pool school for somebody who's never owned a pool, that's asking a lot for somebody to retain all that, when they're just excited to have a brand new pool. And another good example is that when we started the pool up for the first year. I had an acid bath done at the beginning of the year. After you start these pools up, you're supposed to take your filters out and re-clean them again like a week or two after you get them up and running. And then after that, they're pretty well good for all summer. Nobody told me that so my filter was clogged up and it shut my heater off.

I had to spend an X amount of dollars getting my pool water heated up. Nevertheless, I would recommend them and I would use them again to build me another pool. I would not use their concrete vendor. I would go a different route for that. But as far as like the guys who built the pool, did the tile and all that stuff, I got no complaints at all. They met or exceeded all of our needs.

The only thing I would suggest that Blue Haven needs to work on would be their response time once they've closed on the pool and there was a problem. They should have a quicker response time when we need something fixed in the pool. I know they're really busy in the summer but it could have been better. Other than that, I would recommend Blue Haven to anyone.

We wanted privacy and they were able to achieve that by adding a bit of a wall, which was a waterfall. We did colored lighting with some tanning ledges and benches. Everything was perfectly cut. We built a whole outdoor system around it - TV, decks, etc. It’s the centerpiece of the whole yard and it worked out really well. And the stone facade on the back looks really nice from the walk-in path that we have. I thought it was gonna be a crazy process, but the pool part of it was the easiest part. The landscaping was the only difficult part, but they didn’t do that.

You gotta work with somebody reputable and somebody who’s gonna listen and work with you on design, and Blue Haven did all of that. It’s worth the investment. Others should definitely consider Blue Haven as a resource. We love the fact that they helped us decide granite versus fiber glass versus vinyl. Also, Blue Haven had a great idea because we knew we wanted to get an electric heater, but they told us not to get that because we'd have heat it over X degrees or over the ambient temperature. So, we got gas heater and it works out perfectly because when it’s 50 degrees outside, if we wanna swim, we can swim. If we had electric heater, we wouldn’t be able to do that. My daughter’s birthday is in October, and we knew we’d be having parties so we wanted to make sure that we'd be able to swim. Blue Haven listened to us and gave us everything we wanted.

Six months ago, I’ve got a situation where the tile is stained right where the water goes from the spa to the pool. The back of the tile has some checkerboard pattern and the rust marks looked like it. It's like a hard a material and looked like it might be glue, but it’s not glue. I’ve been working on that for months on getting that done, and that seems to be a little bit of a grind. I tried a bunch of things, it didn’t come off.

They came out and they were able to take a pumice stone and get some of it out. They did a method using some type of acid in addition to that pumice stone and it went away for a couple of weeks, but then it came back, and I have been trying to get them out. They were supposed to be out last Friday and supposedly they didn’t have the tile on order. Then they were supposed to be here yesterday and I didn’t see them yesterday, so I just have to keep following up with them. Other than that, the service guy who came out was always responsive and dealing with him was always very positive.

We have the colored features and the waterfall on our pool. I like the bar area because I’m on a slope so the pool goes down and you can go down to a lower area, sit at the bar area of the pool and sit either in the pool or outside the pool. The pool's smart features seem like they’re working well. The pool is staying clear no matter what and there's not a lot of maintenance to it. It’s pretty easy and simple to maintain. All in all, Blue Haven is a great company to work with. They do everything they say and they followed through with all their promises. I recommend them all the time.

Their construction team was good, too. They were always quick and when they went through everything, we didn’t have any delays. They also cleaned and stayed where we asked them to stay. They did not going outside of those areas and did not disturbing any other yards. At the time, we were doing another project on adding on to the house. So, there was no unexpected or weather delay at all. We had to get to a point on the construction of the rest of it once they had the granite installed before they plastered. Then we had get to a certain point on the additional build that was not included in the pool construction before they could plaster. So, we had to wait on that for about a month and a half once they got to the certain point.

Here's the timeline: Signed contract with deposit November 2018 - pool hopefully ready September 2019. First delay - didn't start project until April 2019 - 5 months after signing contract with deposit! During contract signing Blue Haven General Manager promised to start end of February early March to hit Memorial Day opening. This was important since work is being done at a summer home. Outright Lie! Blue Haven employee informed me that they get laid off during the winter and don't come back to work until end of March. Next delay - didn't realize they had to use smaller equipment to get in to yard - after several meetings at house taking pictures and measuring everything. Great delay excuse. Next delay - can't find smaller equipment (3 week delay).

Next delay - we hit ground water - need engineer to determine course of action (3 week delay for engineer to provide plan). I guess they NEVER built an in ground pool on the bay before - didn't even think to test soil after seeing the yard surrounded by the bay. Oh, and they were replacing an existing pool that was built in the exact same location. Next delay - Engineer's plan failed, didn't realize how much ground water there was - need another plan (3 week delay).

Next delay - Can't find SUBCONTRACTOR to do work (3 week delay). Asked if I knew anyone local! Seriously, what did we pay for, now I'm managing the project. Next Delay - Need to get you on the schedule for gunite (what, after 2 months of delays, no you're going to put me on the schedule?). Next delay - Need to get you on schedule to dig trench for plumbing (didn't think to do this during the first 6 week delay). Next delay - Need to get on schedule for plaster.

Finally, plaster arrives. But, we specifically asked for a dark plaster - all they showed us was 4 colors and we picked the darkest one. Come to find out from plaster subcontractor, they can add dye to the plaster to achieve darker color - too late, plaster already in. Morale of the story - waited 10 months for a final product that isn't what we wanted. And with a cost overrun of 50% of initial contract. Not sure how they even stay in business. Find another pool contractor, get numerous references, ask if the contractor has employees or subcontracts everything out. Don't pay until AFTER work is done.

One of the actual helpful employees could not believe plans were submitted without us ever seeing them, or the fact I had never seen a pre-plan of the pool. Personal debris was left at almost each stage of subcontracting (including a bucket. I had glass pieces in that I had been collecting in my yard from the digging process, they dumped it on the ground, and took the bucket as well). I spent every day after work was done cleaning my yard of something. I requested a gray coping, it is clearly red. Was told they could come look, but what were they going to do, take the pool back apart. I was told it would fade, fade to what? Lighter red? (Coping is uneven in some places which made the paving company, have to make a few adjustments.) My gray pavers look a little silly at this point, but I was so over them.

At one point I was dealing with one of the owners, but he discontinued communication with me even though he was cc'd on each and every issue. This was a very expensive project and I feel it was substandard at best. The fact that not one employees from Blue Haven actually came out to check on each stage of the process seemed odd. But they made sure they got their money before each stage. I was actually told by the one owner, Ray, if he himself lied to me about any other parts of the process I would end up with a new pool. That is probably why he never involved himself in any more of the communication. I would never expect that anyway, but don't solve the issue by ending personal communication. Never once was I apologized to for any of the issues I encountered. I actually kept a journal of each days experiences to never forget how frustrating this was. I would never recommend this company to anyone.

Everyone from Blue Haven has been very professional and very nice. Mike and all the guys on the team were awesome to work with, and they still are. If I call in and have a question, they always get back with me. Their customer service has been excellent. If I needed anything, they would just come by in a day or two. I had a question just the other day about something and they came over and fixed it. And then they told me, “Don’t worry. We’ll send an email out, tell you what to get for the pool.” ‘Cause I had a little bit of scale on it. But they always took care of me, so I’m happy. Almost everyone in our neighborhood used them.

We had to freeform the backside of the pool up, and that was the only thing that was out in left field that no one really expected. But that was something that I caused because I put some retaining walls on my property, and we dug. It’s a lot of loose field and it wasn’t structural enough, so we had to freeform the walls. But other than that, the people did a great job. It was a great experience. We’re still working with them, like coming out here and service us even though we’re an hour and a half away. I refer them to everyone.

Russell the maintenance Manager is absolutely the BEST! Always going above & beyond to accommodate with your situation as well as being extremely knowledgeable. We used him previously with our maintenance and were very pleased???? We were super thrilled to have had Russell on the team for our refinish and we did ask for him by name. Thank you Russell. The ** San Antonio, Texas

I’m a big dude. I'm 6 foot 1 and 300 pounds. I wanted a 4 and 4 1/2 foot pool. The area of the pool that I’m gonna sit in, drink beer, relax and visit with my guy friends, who are also big men, I wanted it to be a little deeper so that when I’m sitting there I’m not on my knees and it’s not awkward. The designer said that the average pool is 3 1/2 foot deep and I told him that I did not want a 3 1/2 foot deep pool. We went back and forth for about 30 minutes until finally I told him he wasn’t listening to me. I went and got a tape measure and marked my leg at 3 foot and said, “I don’t want this.” So he finally agreed to it and let me have a 4 1/2 foot deep pool.

After that conversation he continued with the drawing, but then he never came back to my house and never followed up. He passed the ball to someone else because I don’t think he liked my attitude. He passed it on to a project manager, and the guy did really well. The project manager was very personable and listened to all of our needs, and he bent over backwards. He picked up the ball and made it better.

And now, I have a very attractive pool. I’ve got all the boulders and the stones and everything done. It’s one of the prettier pools for backyards. The filters last for three months and then they need to be cleaned. I’ve also got the upgraded plaster as well as the remote control, which makes it easier for me to control the pool, like turning the slide on or turning the heater on. Everything can be done from my hand. I would definitely recommend Blue Haven and I have recommended them to five different families.

The construction team was wonderful and courteous but the project manager was horrible. He did not return phone calls and would not and could not answer questions. We were extremely frustrated. They ended up putting Ryan here and he ended up overseeing a good portion of the project. He was absolutely wonderful. He went above and beyond. It was not a good experience with the other guy but Ryan more than made up for it. He stepped up and took care of everything. He answered all of our questions even after the pool was installed. He followed up with “Are you all doing okay? Do you like the pool?” That smooths things out a lot. The pool is phenomenal. We love the cleaning system. It does a great job and it’s well worth the purchase of it. We picked out the tile and everything and we also had a spa put in. We have colored lighting and we did have two gas heaters installed. We’re very pleased with our final product. Blue Haven did an excellent job.

Blue Haven resolved anything. If I needed to get a hold of one of the guys, I’d call them right there at the drop of a hat. I didn't receive the little stand-in piece ‘cause we got the SmartPure Ozone which I call the UV chlorinator. I went up there to the office, and the guy made me one, came back 30 minutes later, it was ready, and gave it to me free of charge. The lighting is probably one of our favorite features of the pool and there is one thing about that UV chlorinator I need to call up there. I put it in about 3 weeks ago and the bulb’s not lighting up. I need to find out what kinda warranty Blue Haven offers on that thing or if I just need to replace the bulb.

So, I decided to do that. We also have an additional bond beam wall with a teared-up cascading waterfall coming off that in the center of the swimming pool. Additionally, we had pavers installed all around the pool instead of concrete. We also had a little trim tile added on the steps going into the pool and the hot tub, the seat and step in the hot tub as well as the swim out step in the deep end to help see where the steps were underwater. On top of that, we had multicolored LED lights put in both the hot tub and in the swimming pool.

During construction, we had a layout guy who was our main point of contact. Once the dirty work started to happen, then we got another guy who ended up being the main guy throughout the rest of the swimming pool build. We were dealing with Blue Haven often and with their landscape division called, Havenscapes. We did the pool, the patio pavers, huge pergola, and then additional landscaping sod, trees and shrubs, and lighting around that. So, we had a lot of different moving pieces going in and had typical weather delays.

However, it was disappointing that there were four, five or six days here and there when nothing was happening. During that time, they were waiting on the pavers and on the fireplace to get done. On top of that we had the pergola beams wrapped in concrete stone about 3 feet up to match the stone on the fireplace. They had two guys dealing with that. That took two or three weeks for them to build the fireplace and wrap the stone on the pergola.

We also had an extra 30-day delay because the month we were gonna get to meet with the Historic Board there was an ice storm in Oklahoma, and so, that meeting got canceled. The Historic Board meets just once a month and we went 30 days behind waiting on the next meeting to come around. Eventually, we got the approval and Blue Haven was gonna start the first part of April. However, we got delayed again because a teachers' strike made it impossible to get any kind of heavy equipment down the street to start evacuating the dirt for the pool.

As a whole, we were in a busy timeline. We signed the contract in November and they didn’t get started until April. We didn’t’ get the pool completely finished until the 4th of July. The aforementioned delays weren't in Blue Haven's control at all but then our pool build still went as well as it could have gone. They got all the issues handled and thus, I've referred them to several people already.

I don't mind eating the cost for busted sprinkler heads and cut lines but if we can't trust a schedule that we are told, what can we do. I was told in my so many words that we shouldn't go by when we are told something is scheduled. Well why schedule it if we shouldn't depend on it anyway. Very frustrated. The pool is great but after the design the customer is left hanging in the wind and at the mercy of the contractors.

The construction team was really helpful and did an excellent job. They were very well-spoken people. I was told it’d take six weeks, but they went over by four days. There were several rain events that put them behind schedule, but they worked through it. The pool is gorgeous and we love it. I put a tanning ledge in it with three loungers, and then I got a bench on the opposite side. I’ve had a couple of people come look at it and everybody loved it. I’ve recommended Blue Haven to others.

We had a hot tub with a waterfall into the pool. We had additional lights put in, a natural stone coating and everything else. The actual construction of the pool went fine. It was on time and on budget, and that was kinda my main concern. My major complaint is we have the Blue Haven smart features and we spent extra money on that, but I can't get it set up. That is the most frustrating part and Blue Haven is not helping me with it. It's one of those things that's kinda dropped to the side. Blue Haven was kind of an established brand and I've got such a high opinion of them but there was no follow through. They should just send someone to school and serve their customer. It is not my job to figure out how do I set up the smart pool thing and I'm not technically adverse, but I'm not able to sort it out. But they're following up on the basics and my experience was so good with them that I'm okay with it still.

The product manager communicated with me all along, told me what was going on, met with me, and through the whole process kept me updated as far as dates and timelines of what was being done. They even sent me everything for my homeowners that I needed to get it approved, then they had a separate thing. They were very reliable and they did a good job. Everything took six weeks, which was what the designer told me. I referred Blue Haven to my boss. He’s getting a pool put in by them right now.

They are probably used to sloping away from the pool. But the minute they started digging, a guy mentioned having gutters back there because the water was gonna run away from the pool. Obviously, they were acknowledging that it was gonna go up near the house. So I went and got gutters put in. I thought that would resolve the issue because that was what they said needed to happen. But lo and behold, that wasn't the end solution.

I told them from the beginning that I have a small little ravine that curves like a half moon shape. Basically when the water comes down from the house above me, it hits that little ravine and hooks around towards the back of the fence and down to the other yard. I didn't have an issue before the pool was put in. When I had it re-landscaped, I actually had someone come in and help me even fix that problem.

I think the problem is that design. There needs to be a little bit more attention to detail in the laying of concrete to figure out what would be the best angle to bring that water. They should be more engaged in that part. The price focused so much on getting a hole dug but to me, the water issue was the intricate part. I understand we're responsible for putting our yard back together, which I did. But at the same time, something that's gonna contribute more of a hazard that could be prevented should be prevented. But I'm also on the side of the hill. I'm not just on level ground so for what Blue Haven pulled off, they did an outstanding job.

We also had a little extra pad put in for our hot tub but they put the electrical outlet 2 feet in on the pad. I don't know why it wasn't closer to the back of the concrete. They were willing to work, drop it down and make it come over to the end of the concrete and go back up. But I don't understand why that wasn't done from the beginning. Still, those were my only two really big issues. Everything else was fine and the design was accurate. The construction also went smoothly, minus the rain. We had a lot of rains so those delayed the amount of time it took for them to be able to get it done. But other than that, I don't have any complaints.

I prefer the size of the pool and its depth. It only goes 6 feet and that helps with circulation. I've had no issues with keeping the pH or the chlorine levels correct. The pool also has lights that you can set. It also has the ozone system and it has the timers on there to be able to set it for however long you want. Those features are helpful for operating the pool on a day-to-day basis because I don't have to worry about it. I do also love the feature where if it's gets near freezing, the pump will automatically kick on. I don't have to go over there manually and turn on the device everyday. It's very convenient.

Our pool has the control panel that was put inside the house. And it also has LED changing light type of illumination. The pavers that we picked were a nice touch. They came out really nice. There were two sun shelves in the pool. So, we’re glad we went with two instead of just one, and getting an umbrella in each shelf put in as well. It helps out because we got a little one-year old. On the actual construction process, I was really impressed because my neighborhood had a bit of pools being put in around the same time. And for the most part, everybody has been consistent in the sense of getting their yards torn up to have the tractors drive through. I’ve seen some that tear up the sidewalks really bad, and then, from what I’ve heard, it’s up to the homeowners to repave it or re-cement it. But luckily, we didn’t have to worry about it or touch it or redo it. So, at least the construction process was nice and clean.

Everything went great. The only thing that took a little bit of time and I’m still waiting on is having a couple of these pavers replaced on the pool decking. I’ve been promised by one of their office ladies of what and when it's gonna happen. That timeframe came and passed and being busy with work, by the time I got back, they were like, “What are you talking about?” I even had one of the guys come out there to look at it. One of the project managers pointed out to me what they recommended being replaced and taped off. So, luckily, I finally was able to get a hold of someone who did come back out and looked at it. And then they agreed with me that they definitely will get replaced. It's just a matter of getting the pavers ordered and for them to ship, which I understand could take about three weeks.

I would recommend Blue Haven to make sure that someone like the lady who promised me a timeframe actually follows through with her promises and actions of what will be taken care of. Also, they could make sure she’s more informative with some of the customers in regards to construction. I got delayed about two to three weeks with the pool construction because when I called her and asked, “Hey, when can I get my fence installed?” And she said I should wait on that and she'd let me know when I could. When I called her to ask those questions, that would’ve been a great time for her to say, “Okay. We’ll let you know when. Just make sure you have your permit pulled, everything done, ready to go for the fencing.” I was under the impression that they already did it or had it taken care of. But they didn’t.

I got the quote and the work schedule, but it was just a matter of getting that permit which delayed us about two to three weeks. And that would’ve been helpful if she told me when I first called her. And I would’ve had that done, so that when she gave me the okay to have the fence installed before they could finish the pool build, that would’ve been very helpful. Other than those, I absolutely recommend Blue Haven.

Everything about the construction process went really smoothly. The workers were really good and they got things done really quickly up until the last stage of it. We had some trouble though with the final stage once they had everything done and there were several times they said the contractors were gonna come, but then didn't get them out there. It took a while to get someone out there. Other than that, we had a really pleasant experience with Blue Haven throughout and they did an excellent job. I also love the smart features with the pool that we use from our phone. Now, I don't have to walk across the grass over to the controls to do anything. It makes the operation of the pool so much easier. There are days when I'd start to turn the heater on from wherever I am so that it would be warm when I get home.

The construction experience went very well and there weren’t big issues. The project leader, Jacob, was on top of everything. He kept communication open with us very well. I cannot stress enough how important the role of the project leader as the guy who’s over all the contractors. We have a rectangle pool that goes from three to five feet with a tanning ledge. The tanning ledge is 5 feet x 16 feet and in the deep end of the back of the pool, we have two seating benches with a wall with a waterfall feature. I am very satisfied with the pool.

About a month ago, I went to the Blue Haven office because I was getting threats from the cement company. They were gonna put a lien on my house because Blue Haven wasn't paying them. I told Blue Haven that if they don't solve it, I will go to my lawyer and let him handle it. By the next day, they told me they were gonna take care of it and they did.

The design is different than most. We have a tanning ledge and we got the pool waterfall feature that acts as a bench as well, the lights, the LED lights that change colors, the jets, and the bubbler. We haven’t been able to really get in the pool because it’s been cold, but I like how the waterfall drowns out any kind of background noise. It makes me feel like we’re kinda at the beach. We also have the ozone, the smart control where the pump turns on and off automatically and the lights turn on and off automatically. We set them to turn off and on, so we don’t have to go out there everyday. Also, for times that we haven’t been home or we’ve been travelling, the pool is always clean because it’s on timer. And I feel like it keeps the water moving so it doesn’t get stagnant.

During the construction, the thing that stood out the most was how well-organized everything was. Everything was on schedule if not a little ahead of schedule. The installers cleaned up after themselves and kept everything nice and neat back there while they were doing work. If anything was wrong, if I went out there, then they would correct it immediately. There were no issues.

Jeff came out and said that the pool was fine and I said no. I was also building an addition onto the house and the other contractors told me that it was really bad. I didn't appreciate the fact that he designed the pool and he knew they were building it differently and he didn't object to it. So, we consistently said the workmanship is so bad and John said that they will take it down and put it back. I told him to take it all down and make it flat as I do not trust that it was gonna look good. So, we left the whole thing flat which I was fine with. Eventually, it was done correctly and we had somebody else come out and do it.

When I look at the pool now, it is beautiful but since then, the problem was that Jeff has not had any help that was worth a toot to come out and fix little things. And now, he has a gentleman who came out recently. I showed him a leak on the pool thing and there is a problem with the landscaper and my overflow valve isn't working. There are some issues between the landscaper and the pool people are trying to figure it out. But still, I haven't had anybody come out and fix that leak yet. It has something to do with the filter and it just leaks like a sieve that it's not supposed to. This has been going on for a couple of weeks at least. I called and then, Patrick came out and I showed it to him. He said he would bring a plumber to fix it but I was out there yesterday and it is still leaking.

Moreover, when the plasters came out of the pool, they left footprints in the plaster at my steps. And down at the very base of the pool, there is a very long intake for the water. There are also two slots that have been there the whole time that was rusty. I also have a little lounge deck thing where I can see where the plaster is all discolored and a mess. My neighbor behind us was not too happy that we had to go through her yard to get permission to go through with the trucks to get in my yard. She let us do it but it took forever to get the ruts and everything out of the yard. It was raining and sticky but even at the end, it was really tough to get the guys who were on those machines to understand that the yard needed to be flat, so the grass could grow where they tore it all up. Eventually, my neighbor said no and that we can't go back in the yard anymore. So, it just stayed the way it was.

Given my experience, I had two sets of contractors here. I had the Blue Haven and I had the other guys from another company that was adding a family room, a bathroom and a carport thing, storage and the difference was night and day. I had the best contracting company ever who was working on my house and I will not recommend Blue Haven. Despite that, Jeff is absolutely so personable and tries hard and works very hard. I like him a lot. But, I think a pool cannot be built by himself and he has to have people who care about the business just as much as he does and who can handle things as much as he can and I think that was what happened.

They sent someone out. The employee applied putty again 2 more times. When I said that it was still leaking, he said that there was nothing more that he could do and that I would need a Leak Test and that I would have to pay for it. We had the leak test and the leak was found. We had another company fix the pool because we have no faith in Blue Haven of Metairie, LA. We paid $500 for a leak test and $1200 to repair both skimmers. I sent the invoices and a letter to Robert ** and asked for a refund of $1700. He said he would not do that. I would prefer to get my money refunded and have trust and faith in the Blue Haven name than to post this complaint. Without compensation, I will pursue other remedies.

Our designer created the design for our pool. We love it and I never thought that it would look like that. Also, we got a little fountain and a deck on the pool. I watched during the whole process because I work from home, and the construction was excellent. I couldn't believe they were so precise with a big construction equipment. They told us that everything will be done in a month and a half. But I got a little worried because we've had some rain and we didn't know if it was gonna stall out. But the guy came out here and explained it to us. Whenever we had questions, we would call them, and they were great. Also, the problem we had was the pool was not gonna be as white as it is. It turned out to be fine, but we have lots of red dirt out here. And when it gets a little bit dirty, it sure shows. A darker color may have been better, but it's alright. Nevertheless, we would recommend Blue Haven to anybody.

We were looking for a decent-sized pool and we didn't need the diving board because it would restrict the area for the low ends, where the children and both grandchildren could spend some time. I wanted the spa too and it wasn't that difficult in that regard. The different subcontractors that came to the house were polite. However, in order to consummate the entire construction project, you gotta be almost a general contractor, which I thought was ridiculous. Fortunately, I built three restaurants, so I'm used to it, but I could see where someone was not in the position and would not be predisposed to do things like that. In other words, they were changing the people around when they should have done it from A to Z.

In the end, they told me to call the county for an inspection when in fact, it was the town of Middletown that was responsible for it. They were supposed to provide an as-built architectural depiction in order to get to final inspection, but they hadn't. The pool was completed by the end of August, and the document wasn't submitted to the town until December.

I really like the spa feature of the pool. We also have the remote and we have a plaster color we picked out. It is very reasonably sophisticated. The product itself is excellent and I have no complaints about it. There were the trials and tribulations of going from point A to point Z, but some of it wasn't Blue Haven's fault in the sense that there was some bad weather that created delays. However, there should be a site manager that would start and end the project and do the final certification from the town. I shouldn't be in the middle in any way, shape, or form other than be allowed to make certain situations with regard to the coloring of the deck and the size of the deck. I modified it to make it a little bigger.

Still, the important thing is that the product itself was very good and the pricing was competitive to other pool companies. I liked the people I dealt with. They were fine people and I didn't have to deal with anybody who didn't produce the bare portion of the product the way they should have or who was impolite. But, logistically speaking, I had to be involved with moving the thing along.

The pool was installed in December and the construction team stayed on top of everything. We got a pool and a gas firepit put in, and they had to do a little bit of modifications on the underground piping. They were awesome and very accommodating to our schedule. We went through a tropical storm and a hurricane at the time that we started the construction. They also didn't charge me any extra when I had to delay a little bit. They did well. Blue Haven is a very professional group. The pool is beautiful and everyone tells me it’s gorgeous. I'm very happy with the end product. If someone's specifically looking for a quality gunite pool and they're willing to spend the money, that’s 100% what Blue Haven will give.

Also, George, the supervisor that I had, was great. He was overseeing everything. One of the pipes broke on Christmas. I called Blue Haven the day after, and George sent somebody out right away even if it was pouring down rain. I’d tell others that the people from Blue Haven are very professional and knowledgeable and if others chose Blue Haven, they would have no worries.

It took about 8 months for them to complete the job at more than $10,000 over the contract price while destroying my driveway and yard. Be careful. They will go over the contract with you with all your options, which includes the decking, and you will sign off on the price. A short time later they will go over they decking with you and have you sign another document saying the included sq ft of decking included is 900 sq ft. Then a price will be shown which in my case was over $10,000. The salesman states this number is already included in the price and you are signing for the agreed upon sq ft.

During the insulation of the Gunite we received about 2 inches of rain which caused the deep end of the pool wall to collapse. While going over the build process the salesman noted our newly paved driveway and stated their truck would have to go through the yard so they do not damage the driveway. Due to the heavy rain Blue Haven Gunite trucks used the driveway instead of the yard. Their back tires sank into my asphalt driveway 3 or 4 inches. Blue Haven refused to fix it stating the contract relieves them of any damage costs. Then seven months and $60,000 into the build you will get a call saying they are ready to do the decking and need the $10,000. You will refuse to pay it and they will tell you it doesn’t matter what the salesman said the fine print on the bottom of the decking document states that the $10,000 is in addition to the $80,000 pool.

At that point you can either pay it or live with a big muddy $60,000 hole in your backyard. We paid it and they finished the decking. It took another 2 months after the pool was finished for them to get the electronic controls to work. The lights would never be in sync and every time the heater turned on the electrical line running from my house to the pool would buzz and vibrate the floor in my bedroom. The bottom line is Blue Haven is made up of a lot of small contractors and if you have problems the large company support you thought you had doesn’t exist. The local company here in Northern Virginia is made up of conman and they will cuss out your wife on the phone and dare you to sue them, stating they have been sued many times and never lost. Do not make the same mistake I did. I have videos and pictures of all the damaged and failed pool walls to prove it.

We have colored lighting for our pool and we also went with the UV and the Ozonator, which are supposed to help reduce the amount of chlorine that you have to use. The system that Blue Haven installed seems to be working really good. One of the things that came with the package was an automatic pool cleaner. I call it a robot. It roams the floor of the pool and that has been taking care of most of the leaves. So there hasn't been a whole lot of maintenance to do.

He was very professional and polite and he demonstrated everything like it’s today. A couple weeks later we met at their office in St. John’s bluff Jacksonville Florida. We sat down and discussed everything and closed on the deal. In the meantime we met with Mike the owner and Bob the field manager. After a short conversation we knew we were in a good hands. From start to finish it was less than 90 days as promised despite the weather conditions.

Our home was treated with respect and Bob made sure that everything was done properly and correctly. Anytime we called the office about any concern, staffs were very polite and answered any question we had. To make the story long short it was a pleasure dealing with Blue Haven and Mike the owner made his last stop to look at our pool and made sure we were very satisfied. Do yourself a favor and look no further if you decide to buy a pool. We can’t wait for the warm weather to enjoy it. Thank you again Blue Haven team of Jacksonville Florida!

Then the foreman who was out here was really great too. He listened to us and he kept in contact with me really well. I had his number so I could text and ask him questions anytime. He also gave us suggestions for the caulking, the colors and all that kind of stuff. He told us what he would do if it was his pool. Most of the delays we encountered were not Blue Haven’s issue either. It had to do with the HOA that we were in. But the foreman finished the pool really fast because we were on a deadline, and the pool looks perfect. We have the SmartPure Ozone and we colored the pool, in the plaster, then we had them build a very large deck. Blue Haven had that software to show what the pool would look like next to the house. And it all came up pretty close to what the designer had laid out.

The construction team was amazing and I would never hesitate to recommend them to anybody. All of the people who came out to do the work said that Scott builds a really good pool. Even the pool guy who cleans our pool has had Scott build two pools for him. He said Blue Haven is definitely a quality pool. Scott gets very busy though, which kinda sucks, and then we had a huge fire in the middle of the construction period. Some of the workers left, so that delayed some things. But for the most part, it was an amazing experience. They were there on time and they did the job they said they were gonna do. If I had questions, they answered them. We have a remote control pump and the LED lighting with five lights. Those features come basic. We also got the upgraded vacuum and we upgraded our pump. We've got an amazing pool, and I would tell my friends to definitely look into Blue Haven.

I called Gary, and he came out and told me he was gonna deal with it. He had the subcontractor come back out, and take that rock off. They got another batch of stones, put it in, and left. I went outside and called Gary, and told him that it was not the same stone. It was more of the same color, but the other stone was more square and flat, but this one was more rounded. You could tell where there was different stones. Gary told me they would get it done, and the third time was beautiful. But the pool was not finished. He kept telling us we would be swimming by Memorial Day. But last spring was very rainy, and we had some crappy weather. We weren’t in by Memorial Day, then it was to be in by the 4th of July. We weren’t in by the 4th of July, but we were in on the 5th of July.

The pool is free-form with two sheer descent off the rock wall, and then the spa has an overflow into it. It’s so relaxing and beautiful. It’s a heated pool, and when we turned the heater on for the first time in September, I had to call Gary on October 2nd because the heater was leaking. He told me that it was under warranty and gave me who I needed to call to come out and fix it. When I called that group out to come fix it, the guy said it was absolutely a malfunctioning piece of equipment and it’s got to be covered under warranty. When I took it back to Hayward to deal with the warranty, they said it was not covered because I had too much chlorine in the pool and it ruined the heater. But Gary said that was not right so he came out, and he worked on it.

He bought the new piece and got someone to install it so that I didn’t have to deal with anything, other than I had about a month where we were arguing with Hayward and trying to get my heater fixed. Gary said he would handle Hayward on his own. He did an amazing job with the pool. He’s gonna tell you what needs to be said, whether you wanted to hear it or not. He tells you exactly what’s gonna happen, what’s gonna work, and what’s not going to work, which I greatly appreciated. I would work with him again. I would recommend him.

Other than being very polite, the construction team didn’t speak a lot of English but there was one gentleman who did. I would offer them water and Gatorade and things but they brought their own things. The gentlemen arrived early in the morning and went about their work. They took their break at lunchtime and were gone by 4:00 in the afternoon. It took a while to get the removal of the remaining dirt taken care of and there was a small flower bed that was supposed to have the edging bricks come off the patio part from the edge of the pool. It was a miscommunication between the gentleman that helped us design the pool and his workers. Nevertheless, I have recommended Blue Haven Pools to people who saw it. The lady that I bank with saw the sign that was in the yard and asked who did our pool. She wanted to come over and see it.

By November 2017 the coping and flagstone was splitting from around the tile in the shallow end and the deck was turning white in many spots. Jorge had someone come out and patch the coping and repaint the deck in February. May 2018 the coping was split again around most of the pool and the deck around the filter was cracked right through the flagstone pieces. I will attach pictures. June 2018 the flagstone in the shallow end was taken off and redone. (To date the caulking has yet to be finished). Pictures and videos were sent to Jorge of the cracks and shifting of the filter. I was given the answer that it is all cosmetic because it was built on farmland. My two neighbors who also have Blue Haven pools have not had that issue. I was told that they would come and fix everything and repaint the deck for a second time the second week of July. No one came.

Jorge sent me an email July 12, 2018 stating that they would do the warranty work. July 23, 2018 the filter was leaking and Ab had to come out and fix it. July 24, 2018 I spoke with John ** at the San Antonio office and I received a text from Jorge that Sundek will be coming in the fall to fix the cracks and paint the discolorations and do the mastic. July 28, 2018 Jorge came and took pictures. September 15, 2018 I called John ** to check on the timeline for the repairs. He stated that they have another build in Uvalde so they will come and do the repairs. I emailed John ** pictures with descriptions at that time.

November 5, 2018 I sent another email to John ** to check the status and again there has not been any response. I am at a loss for what to do as the repairs are certainly not a priority. Seeing the quality of my last pool and seeing the quality of this pool it is so disheartening to think that I spent more money on this. I am hoping that someone will contact me and get this resolved as it does not seem to be a priority at the San Antonio office to even return calls or emails.

We got a modified kidney shape pool with a hot tub at one end and a waterfall that flows over into the pool. It's 33 x 17 x 6 1/2-foot deep. It's nice. I also have the Ozone. I don't have the remote yet but I have the variable speed pump. I also have the infrared and the 600-yard quad cartridge filter. We ran a little bit behind with the installation initially, trying to break through a rock. But they had to stand eight days straight with a jackhammer, much to my neighbors' despair, in order to make the pool deep enough to set the deep end of the pool. Apparently, there were 18 inches of soil, and the rest was solid bedrock.

We also had some rain intermittently. Getting the plumbers in and getting it all done in the right order was the difficult part with the weather at that time. But it was all done in the way they planned it. The whole project took about two months. Other than the electricity to run the pump, the maintenance is minimal. Blue Haven did a great job. We had a good experience with them. I would recommend them to anyone that asks me.

The installation went smoothly. The person who was in-charge of it came by every day to make sure everything was going the way it should be. The workers were very polite and kept the area clean. They came at the right time, too. They came in the morning and finished at 9:30 in the evenings. We were very satisfied with them. Our pool was completed in three and a half weeks, which was quick. We'll highly recommend Blue Haven. We had two friends who built pools with them already, and they had the same experience. So, if we would build a pool again, we would use Blue Haven again. They were very helpful. When we had questions, they answered them quickly.

Also, they pitched like we were going to have the Blue Haven Smart Features but then we went over the evaluation and it turned out that we weren't. They talked about how the pool was going to be automated and it would have an automatic fill-up feature but those did not happen. Moreover, we were paying for the extra according to them so if we wanted to put a heater in, we'd have room already on the pad. That wasn't there either. They spread everything out so we still have to pay somebody to do that. When I wasn't completely done being humiliated by them, we talked about getting a heater and they never got us a quote.

The subcontractors and the overall manager of the pool did pretty well. The same could be said of the people who did the decking. While I'm satisfied with the pool that was built, Blue Haven's customer support was horrible. Getting a hold of them or having them call back was hard. I really believe they strove to ignore me and hoped I would go away. Also, financing was fine but Blue Haven was charging us before the pool was built. After they took the pool in, the light went out and they never fixed that either. Once we signed the contract, they acted like they had me and that my happiness is secondary.

The installation wasn't bad. However, they never mentioned that there was a potential to screw up my sprinkler system. They just said, "Hey, if we break a sprinkler, we're not responsible for it." I told them it was not a problem. But then when they were done with the pool, my sprinkler system didn't work on the front yard. The whole thing was gone. I think they severed some of the wires that go to the control box. When the landscaper guy from Blue Haven came, he said it was gonna cost me 1,700 bucks. I was kinda pissed off about that because I just paid for the pool, and they were telling me I gotta pay almost two grand to get it fixed. I ended up fixing it myself, which I wasn't too happy about. They've been doing this for a while. So, they know some of the things to look out for, and they didn't warn me. Also, the landscaper wasn't very good. He didn't put things back right and there were a couple of things that he didn't do very well.

The whole project was completed after a few months, which was fine because it was winter and it was raining. Inspectors had to come out. There were certain things they couldn't do like laying cement because of the rain. I really like my pool. It's great having it in the summertime. The only thing is the decking seems to have faded a little too quickly and there are some cracks. I called Blue Haven and they said, "Yeah, we're gonna take a look at it and come and fix it. Blah, blah, blah." They also explained that that happens with cement and with paint. So, I gotta call them back and have them come out and redo the deck. Overall, Blue Haven is good and I'm glad the project was over.

Peter, the foreman, kept me informed on what’s happening. He came and marked the project off, then a few days later, came back and dug the hole, which took longer than one full day. Then we got a lot of rain for a week. They came once it dried up a little bit and pumped out whatever remaining water was in the hole. Then they went ahead and did all the rebar work in it, and then sprayed the gunite which had to cure for seven days. Once that was finished, they came and started doing the plaster, then they did the tile work which went on for three days. They then did the stonework around the edge and the decking. The whole thing took 27 days to be 100% complete.

We can program the pool’s pump to run on high during the day and low at night, also program the lights to turn on when it’s dark and off when the sun comes up. We also ended up getting a robot that cleans the pool, and I will never be without one because I don’t wanna do it. Also, we were surprised because we didn’t realize how big and deep it was actually gonna be once it was sitting in the ground. So, it was better than what we originally had imagined.

Considering that they extended my patio and the pool, the price I paid for it wasn’t bad. I have a second patio now and a sidewalk completely around. Other places just wanted to drop a pool in the ground with no patio and it was $2,000 more than what I paid for this one (including the robot). So, for the value, I don’t think you could really do any better. They were great, I’ve told other people about them and I’d use them again.

The owner was to stop by and review the property etc. We get an email today stating they “can’t” get their equipment through and they are voiding the contract. Just like that. The owner, never walked the property. Nothing was discussed. Of course we are taking this to our lawyers. Glad to see other have had a good experience. We didn’t get the same. It’s a shame.

They built the sides up from around there, did a rebarred frame, then the gunite. And then, they added the jets and finally, the water. We also have colored lighting that I can change with a remote that we got extra, a tanning ledge that was built into the pool, a fountain jet type thing on the tanning ledge and a hole for an umbrella. The construction team was fantastic. The project manager was great. He responded to text really quickly or called if I needed anything. The team themselves were also friendly if I had any questions. Blue Haven is easy to maintain. It's great and I would recommend them to a neighbor.

I just went with the most basic design - a rectangle, deep in the middle, shallow on the ends, a hot tub that’s level with the ground, centered on the corner of the pool. And, it’s salt water. The construction was quicker than they estimated it. They came in, had a ninja with a bobcat and cut the whole hole without overcutting anything. It was done in a day and they came out and re-barred it. Then they shot it and let it cure a little while. And then, they came out and run the plumbing and the electrical. The whole process was painless and it exceeded my expectations.

We were hoping to have it ready for my oldest daughter’s birthday. They broke ground early March and they finished right around the end of March or early April. And then it sat there running with water, curing and getting right of the breaking in period for a month before her birthday. So, it all timed up well. They did everything well. However, their electrical contractor wasn’t as good as the rest of their contractors but they remedied the situation. They ended up installing a panel on the far side of my equipment making it hard to get to. In order to fix that, they gave me a little touch panel to control it. So, no harm, no foul.

Jacob, their construction manager was very accommodating. However, there was some miscommunication between me and the design team, and the construction team as far as where the hot tub was. I watched them and I said, “Hey, you need to move that about a foot this way.” And they did it. I had them do a brick coping because it was cheaper than doing bullnose concrete. And then, I had two and a half feet of deck. It all looks like one piece of deck. They were gonna short me about a half foot of deck but I noticed it and they had no issues with it. They were very professional.

I’d recommend Blue Haven and I’d insist that they request Jacob as their construction manager. Out of everybody I worked with, he was my favorite. The sales guy was accommodating but after he sells the pool and it went to construction, he was hands off. But the construction manager was very upfront and helped out when he could.

The design consultant was a really nice guy. But when it came down to selecting the fixtures like the tiles and colors, they left it completely up to me. I understand that but they could have given me some guidance as to what they typically see with what customers pick or what makes a pool look refreshing or the kind of combination people will go with if they want more of a darker looking pool. I had to pry that information out of the designer to the point where I had to tell him that I’m not in the pool business. I don’t know what works or what’s customary and what's the best combination in terms of color of the pool with the color of the side tiles. I needed a pool built and whatever color combinations they think work and don't work well, I wanna know.

The financing team told us what they are accustomed to doing and how they set up. We found a better financing option outside of Blue Haven and the other company that we went with for financing changed their policy to fit Blue Haven a little bit better. But Blue Haven helped arrange approval and they took care of all of it.

Also, the contractors that they hired to do the excavation were pretty quick. But they showed up ahead of schedule and we weren't prepared to receive them. All the paperwork with the association was fine and they knew they were coming, though. We just didn’t know the particular day they showed up and Blue Haven didn’t know either. I know the construction game is kind of crazy, but we’re paying a lot of money and we have to arrange our personal schedule to let guys come in and do their thing. Blue Haven could have better control of updating and letting us know who was coming when and who needed permission to get in our gate. The guys would just show up and I would have to ask what was going on. It was a little bit challenging on that side.

Coming on to the end when it was time for inspection, that was when we got an idea. We were told the inspector was gonna come and what he was gonna do and what he looks for. The guy that did that with us was pretty good. I just wish he was confident telling us that each step along the way. It might have been a hassle on their part or more energy for them on their side but it would have made a world of a difference for us being the homeowner knowing what was coming next. But in terms of coordinating the progress of it, Blue Haven did a pretty good job. After the excavators, the rebar guys came in and did their thing quickly and then, the concrete guys blasted all around and did their testing. I was really pleased with the coordination of who came one after the other. There was never a mix-up.

We had a hurricane came through in the middle of our construction but Blue Haven got the project done. It was delayed by a couple of days with getting the contractors to get the equipment back out on site. But we didn’t sweat it at all and it wasn't much compared to what I've heard other people experience when a storm comes through. When I shared that experience with a couple other friends, they were shocked because everybody else in construction felt significant delays. I was pretty impressed that Blue Haven was all ready to get back on site and continue and keeping the project going as quickly as possible. The construction process took 9 weeks and everything was according to schedule. And the pool absolutely met our expectations. It's a custom, freeform design which is a hybrid of a bean shape but not a complete bean shape. Also, we added the LED colored light and the heater.

I have a rectangular pool with an automatic cover. It has a hot tub spa in the front where you walk in and steps on the half of the pool to go in and then there’s a hot tub on the other half. I have a salt generator and we have those lights that change colors that I can control it from my phone. When you look online, the reviews for Blue Haven as a whole, suck, at least in the south, like Texas and those states. But this guy, Dominic, has been in the pool business for his whole life and has been in Blue Haven for like 15 years and it has been great. So maybe it’s franchise issue that people have issues with Blue Haven. I didn’t have one problem with anybody or with corporate in Pennsylvania. Everything was perfect. I don’t think I could have gotten a better pool experience.

There were countless of people coming back in our backyard in various stages of our pool construction and everybody was friendly and scheduling was on-point. We started with the construction before the big storm Harvey and finished it up a month after Harvey. We were at the gunite stage when the storm hit but everything went well. Jacob, the project manager, did a phenomenal job of keeping me in the loop with scheduling, walking me through all the process as it was happening and addressed any and all concerns. My experience couldn't have been any better and Jacob had a lot to do with that. He was really great to work with.

We have one water feature coming up the hot tub and into the pool. It was a pretty design and it works in our backyard. I also have one smart feature wherein it runs the pool on my phone. However, I've changed internet provider and I had trouble setting that up so I haven't messed with that again, but everything's electronic through the board and we have a hand-held Hayward unit and it all seems to be working fine. If a really good friend or a family member would ask me about Blue Haven, I would be real honest with them on what they need to know to possibly get a better job done.

I've had the pool for about a year now and it has been a daily thing to take care of. And it cost a lot more every month to take care of it and it requires a lot of time which is a lot more than I ever expected. I don't regret putting the pool back there, but you gotta realize you're calling somebody after their first year of reality. Nevertheless, it was a good experience. I'd recommend Blue Haven as a pool company, but you'd get what you paid for. The price was good compared to other folks but I wonder sometimes if the quality suffered a bit because of it.

Their prices are unbelievable for a gunite pool with stone coving, pavers for decking and beautiful tile work to top it off. What was unbelievable to us were how they always responded immediately to keep us informed of what was being done next. They finished the pool in 3 1/2 weeks, we were lucky the weather was really great so that helped. I would definitely recommend Blue Haven Pools to anyone interested in putting a pool. You will not be sorry you did. Hats off go everyone at Blue Haven Pools for a job well done!

While I was talking to Gary, I could tell that he builds pools and has for a long time. He came out of Texas originally as far as building pools and it was easy to relate to a man you knew you were getting the straight scoop on everything. It was the same way through the whole experience, too. He was very upfront, very easy to get along with, and he did what he said he was gonna do, which in this portion of Alabama where I live is a rare stone. He's not a salesman and he gives you a quote and he stood by the quote even though they ran into some difficulties down the road. Nothing that was extensive, though, and it was just that you never know what you're gonna do until you start digging in some places. So, he was fabulous.

I paid Blue Haven in cash for the pool and it was laid out by contract that the payments would be made in quarters based on where things were at a particular point in time. Gary stayed right in the contract as far as when things were due and not until such work was completed. Then, the first part of the construction process was getting it scheduled. Like everybody else, Blue Haven depended on other parties to do things and it was related to weather conditions as well. We signed a contract in May and even if we agreed on when the work would start, they started later than they indicated. But there were reasons for it and it never was a problem. Gary gave us a rough five to eight weeks and the actual time they began the work was within what I consider reasonable timing.

Our pool is a regular one that is 6-feet deep and is approximately 30 x 15. They estimated it to be around 12,000 gallons based on where we hand the chemicals and it has stone coping that they cut here. It also has a swim-out and stairs in one end. Other than that, we didn't go for anything fancy. It's all Haywood stuff through Blue Haven but we looked at saltwater versus fresh water and Gary moved us right into where we needed to be focused which was the pool that we got which has fresh water. A salesman would have talked you into whatever he thought you were after. But Gary was not like that. He's also available to us at all times and he was even here last week. When there's a problem, he's the one we talk to.

I've had the pool for about a year now and I've been recommending Blue Haven to folks. We opted to go for the cement pool and they did a great job. When they were building it, I was worried because they brought in a bunch of different specialty people. I thought maybe it would be the same crew who comes and builds the pool but there was a bunch of different people who came. But every single one of them knew what they were doing and got on it. And Manny, the owner of Blue Haven here in Kansas City, was very good.

The construction was really quick too. 47 days after groundbreaking, we were putting water in the pool. They had the perfect weather and we were also in a good location. We weren’t too far from their main offices so it was really fast. They broke our sprinkler lines in the front of the house a few times but that was just a part of construction and they ultimately got those fixed.

We love the pool. It's exactly what we had in mind. We've got the LED lights in the hot tub and in the pool. We've got the Hayward system so we have the app on our phone to control everything. We also have a waterfall off of the hot tub. It still got pretty hot but it helps in cooling it down a little. We also did a really dark plaster finish that we like a lot.

Some of the warranty items could have been more clear though. But it could be that there was an overload and we missed it. I've read more things that I wasn't planning on reading beforehand and it turned out that some of the warranty items were covered for the first year and it just barely lapsed. Nonetheless, we had a great experience with Blue Haven and we now have a beautiful pool. We have colored lights and my favorites are the bubblers and the waterfall.

The construction team they used was fine. They obviously used an experienced team of subcontractors in the past because they all worked very well together. They all collaborated exactly as you would expect an in-house team to do. Even though we had a sub out getting dirt brought into the yard which was not in my scope, Dominick was able to facilitate that through his network of people. We had no issues at all. We had a Jacuzzi installed as well as water jets that squirt up in the air. Additionally, we have a hand-held remote that controls everything. It controls the lighting, the water, the Jacuzzi, the heater, the whole shebang. It does it. We got all sorts of crazy stuff done and everything was done perfectly. I've already referred Blue Haven to 30 of my friends. I highly recommend them.

So, I told them to finish it. They said, "Are you sure? Are your neighbors gonna be upset?" Because all of our houses got flooded. I said, "No, just go ahead and finish it, so we have at least one thing done in our house." So, they came back and finished that. Dwayne, the owner of the Certified Pools & Spas in Corpus, came out the day that they let people onto the island where we live. He was at our house checking on us, and not just the pool, but checking on us to make sure everything was okay. So, they were awesome.

If it was not for the hurricane, the pool would have been done in six weeks. But since the hurricane, they had it done by September. The pool is kidney shaped and it's 25 x 9.5. We have the shower end that has little bubblers that come up. They're two bubblers and it has two umbrella holders as well. We never really use our backyard 'cause it's just so hot. But now, we have a pool, almost every single day we're in it. We are outside 75% of the time now. My kids are swimming like crazy. They're five, so they swim constantly.

When we decided get a pool, one of the builders we were interested in talking with was Blue Haven. I actually spoke with the same salesman on the phone in the Fall 2016 and he gave me a quick run-down of the process of him coming out and sketching out the design and then going back and developing a detailed precise drawing with all the specifics annotated on it (just like the other pool companies I contacted). Unfortunately, the salesman required both my husband and I to be present and we weren’t able to meet with the salesman until early Feb 2018. At that meeting, he walked us outside to discuss where the pool would be located (he stated it would start at 14’ from the back porch) and to obtain some quick measurements for his conceptual design he sketched out and provided to us on engineering drawing paper.

He stated that a detailed drawing would be provided for our review before the project started (website called it a 3D drawing). The price for a 16’ x 32’ pool with a 3’ to 5’ depth was $32K. We asked for a 3’ x 6’ depth which added $900 more ($450 per ½ foot). I asked if I could take 5’ from the length and make it a 6’ wide sun shelf with a smaller length without adding cost and he said yes. We understood that the pool would now be 16’ x 27’ with a sun shelf on the side (i.e. the sun shelf would not be part of the 16’ x 27’ pool dimensions as we were moving it from the end of the pool to the side of the pool upon his suggestion - otherwise I would have left it on the end).

When he was done, I approved the “conceptual drawing” and took a picture of it so I would know what it was going to look like and would be able to match it up to the detailed drawing. We also discussed a 7’ spa with circular seating (which I specifically wanted) for $12.9K with a waterfall; decking $1690; Ozone water system $995; smart bot $750; and three shooters/sprayers $750 for a total price of $49,985.

When I signed the original contract, it was understood that the sketch provided by the salesman was not a precise drawing and the follow-on 3-D drawing would be the print-to-build document (there were no dimensions on the sketched design; the tic marks didn’t represent/match up to the dimensions he said and there was no “scale-to-drawing” information so I had no reason to believe this was the “final” drawing and the final dimensions would differ from what he had said). We never discussed the grade of the pool... he just said they’d make sure it looked nice and would blend in with the rest of the backyard (note to everyone, make sure “blend in with the rest of the backyard” is accurately defined and drawn. Otherwise what you think “blend in” means and what he thinks “blend in” means may be two entirely different things; there’s about a 2-3’ drop off).

Meetings at work prevented me from being able to be present at the initial layout/start of the pool and my husband’s schedule allowed him to take my place. I thought he would be presented with the detailed drawing (since no one went over one with me prior to the layout), but since the PM did not go over a detailed drawing with my husband, he thought that it had already been presented to me and that they were working from the detailed drawing. So, needless to say, the PM did not provide nor discuss a detailed drawing with my husband during the initial start of building the pool. We were told later that because the salesman was the number one salesman, he was not required to provide a 3-D drawing.

At the initial meeting with the PM, the proper tools were not available to layout the pool. It was decided by the PM and his crew to use a tape measure to mark and then spray paint the outline of the pool. After the outline of the pool was drawn, my husband discussed with the PM the sun deck width and pushing out the width of the pool as it did not look like it was large enough to be a 16’ wide pool (length was ok). My husband informed the PM that I would make the final decision on the sun deck and width when I was able to review it when I got home that evening (give final go-ahead). At that time, my husband signed/initialed the “Pool Layout and Excavation Checklist & Acceptance” (in good faith) with the verbal understanding that there may be an adjustment after I reviewed the layout that evening.

My husband was also informed by the PM that we needed to remove any tools, equipment, chairs, etc. in the backyard in order to prevent the workers from using them and possibly breaking them or losing them as they weren’t responsible if that happened. My husband requested a schedule/timeline for the project (when each step would occur), but was only given a time of 6 to 8 weeks. The “Pool Layout and Excavation Checklist & Acceptance” form referenced an “Advisory Booklet” of which a note was made that it would be sent to us. It said “PLEASE READ as it contains VERY IMPORTANT information.” I had to request it twice before it was finally emailed to us on 7 May, just prior to plaster application. This document referenced was actually titled “Steps to Your New Blue Haven Swimming Pool” – it would have been helpful to have had it prior to the start of the project even though it contained events w/ no dates.

Since my husband had signed the paperwork, and the excavation crew hadn’t shown up, the PM said he did not have to be present so my husband was not home during the excavation phase of the project that took place that initial day. When I arrived home I was surprised to see the excavation had taken place as I had understood the PM would check with me to make sure the layout was indeed correct. I reasoned that the PM had probably already gotten the excavation crew scheduled so he went ahead and dug it up thinking that if it wasn’t correct, they could come back and redo it the next day. I quickly noticed the sun deck was not the appropriate size and the pool was not the appropriate width (my husband noticed the equipment location did not appear to be where it had been sprayed and the spa looked as if it was closer to the porch than where it was sprayed).

No one took pictures of “the before” so we had no proof – a mistake I did not make again. Take before and after pictures of EVERY phase. The pool was actually 11’ from the back porch vs. the 14’ we were told by the salesman. So, I waited for the PM’s call that evening to check with me to make sure it was indeed the correct size. He never called so I reasoned that he would call the next day for sure; however, when I got home the next day, the crew had already put in the rebar and by that time, I had a sinking feeling that my 16’ x 27’ pool was now a ~12’ x 27’ pool (first check was due at layout so I now had no leverage). This is when I started attempting to get in contact with the PM to discuss the issues before anything further was done.

Multiple attempts for a week to contact the PM and have him stop the process long enough for him to meet me at the job-site to take a look were not successful, and needless to say, the workers continued working on the project without the issues being resolved. The PM was in south Florida for the first 5 days and then possibly in the hospital for the next 3-4 days during this time. Either way, the PM clearly wasn’t present on the job-site and therefore unavailable to discuss the issues in a timely manner. As this was “THE most important step” you would think he would want to make sure it was done right prior to anything else taking place but the PM, by his actions of rushing the rebar, etc. and not just double-checking with me, clearly did not do his job... and that’s how the nightmare started.

I finally decided to contact the Construction Manager via email (after the gunite was sprayed) and requested compensation for the smaller size pool and he came out to take a look at it. I expressed my disappointment at the fact that what the salesman told me I was going to get, what he sketched out, and what actually was constructed was different and the response was “you approved the layout” so the pool size and shape is “as is”. He informed me that the pool width included the width of the sun shelf. I disagreed with him, but his mind was made up and he was not open to any more discussions as far as the size of the pool was concerned. I kept my emotions intact and did not argue with him any further. I discussed with him other issues that we noticed after the plumbing was installed and the gunite was sprayed.

According to the sketched “design that we approved”: 1) the lights were not in the correct place; 2) two of the shooters were not in the correct place (salesman never drew out the third shooter); 3) the loveseat was not the correct shape; 4) the equipment was not located in the right place and it was ~ 1’ below the pool level; and 5) the spa did not have seating all around which is what I wanted. One item that was not shown on the sketched “design that we approved” was the existence of a promised waterfall.

I was told that: 1-2) the lights and shooters were in a better spot; 3) the loveseat shape was such that it allowed for easier cleaning; 4) he agreed to raise the plumbing but it was never placed/moved to where the sketched “design that we approved” showed it was supposed to be located (and where my husband thought it had been sprayed - where the heater sits is not level and the PVC pipes are a little wonky - not straight); and 5) having seating all the way around in a 7’ spa was illegal - you had to have two drains in the spa and they had to be so far apart and seating all the way around would not allow for the correct distance between the drains, so the seating had to be stopped on each side of the waterfall (the question is: did the salesman not know the law concerning spas when he drew a 7’ spa with around-the-spa seating or did he make a mistake or did he do it on purpose to make the sale to me?

Or did he think the PM would catch it and correct it on a 3D drawing? who knows? ); they did add a waterfall but I think it was because they realized that they cheated me but wouldn’t admit it, so it was an attempt to appease me (by the way, it took three times for them to get it done right). The Construction Manager basically was telling us why they did it the way they did it, but all of those items were deviations from the sketched “design that we approved” and we never approved them. I listened to his explanation nodding; however, my acknowledgement of his explanation as to why they deviated from the “design that we approved” should not have been interpreted as my approval of the deviations after the fact…

According to the contract any changes were supposed to be in writing and approved by both parties prior to the changes. That never happened so asking forgiveness instead of permission is not the proper way to do business. It would not have made any difference if I had told him flat out that it was not acceptable as they were not going to break up the gunite and redo the electrical wiring and plumbing and tear up the spa and make it an 8’ spa (the PM had already told me they couldn’t change it so I knew no matter what the Construction Manager said, they weren’t going to change it). So, while I did not ask them to, I believe I was well within my legal right to do so as technically, the pool was not constructed according to the “design that we approved” and there are no approved change orders.

However, having to go through a legal battle that could be tied up in court for who knows how long was not something neither my husband nor I wanted to have to go through so we took the higher road and did not force the issue. We had another issue with the decking (was not placed according to the “design that we approved” – took them six times to correct as they had to correct it), so with one more feeble attempt, I sent an email to the Construction Manager requesting that they correct the pavers and again, provide equitable compensation for not fulfilling their promise of building a pool with the appropriate dimensions and design features. The Construction Manager replied standing by his comments that we approved the layout and about why they did what they did and that he thought I had understood and was ok with it and he could not understand why I would be entitled to any compensation.

At that point, my husband said it wasn’t worth suing over; he just wanted to get it finished so we could be done with them and end the nightmare. My husband and I each have over 30 years in Program Management/Engineering (retired 30-yr AF/Civilian), so we are well aware that no project is perfectly run; however, coming home and wondering what was done incorrectly every day the workers came is not acceptable. While their paperwork says that “There is no reason to take vacation days while your pool is being constructed. We adequately supervise our work. It is not necessary for you to supervise our work or even be home during most of the construction process!”, that was not the case with us and our PM. I shudder to think what it would have looked like had I not only noticed the issues but took an active role and forced the corrections.

It is interesting to note that the PM never saw anything was wrong until I pointed it out to him. How he did not notice the equipment being one foot below the pool level is beyond me (erosion would have washed it away). It appeared that he was waiting to see if I “caught” anything otherwise, he said nothing about things being done wrong. It appeared that the only time I saw him was when he came to get the check. Towards the end of the process, he showed up a little more often when I told him the “corrections” (and there were quite a few others that I did not mention) were still not “corrected”. One of the most irritating habits he had was “just showing up unannounced”.

I missed two of my online classes because he showed up unannounced at 5:00 instead of calling to set up an appointment or arranging to meet with my husband. There were numerous times that he would say a crew was going to be there on such and such a date and three days later, they showed up. Unless I texted him, he would never let me know that they weren’t coming as scheduled. Sometimes I believe he knew they weren’t coming but most days, I don’t even think he knew they never showed up until I told him. We have a dog and we pinned him up so it was very irritating to have to pin him up for days when it wasn’t necessary.

All of these issues could have been avoided with a 3D detailed drawing and a PM that did his job went over the detailed drawing with exact dimensions and design features annotated with us prior to layout. Had the PM done his job and checked with me to see if the sprayed layout was indeed correct (like he did with the other steps afterwards, of course, I did not give him the other checks until he had contacted me and everything was corrected), the nightmare could have been avoided.

I realize that I paid $50K for a 16’ x 27’ pool with a ~ 6’ x 14’ sun shelf but received a ~12’ x 27’ pool with a 5.5’ (at the widest width – average width is 4’) x 14’ sun shelf and I am not going to get any refund on it; however, if I can prevent anyone else from having to go through the nightmare we had to go through, and be cheated out of 4’ of pool width, then this review was worth all the trouble. I don’t know if it was just negligence on the part of the PM or if it was the ‘ol bait and switch con, but I will use the analogy of “paying $50K and expecting to get a “long bed truck” and getting a “short-bed truck”, that’s just plain bad business.

I believe we did due diligence from the get-go but when the PM was informed by my husband that there was a problem and he in good faith signed the layout approval with the verbal stipulation to contact me as he thought there was a problem, and the PM did nothing about it/to correct it, that is an unethical business practice. EVEN IF my husband didn’t say anything, it was the PM’s responsibility to clear what was done with me prior to going onto the next step (at least that’s what the brochure said they would do), since from the time they sprayed to the time they dug could have rendered an issue.

Using a drawing layout with no dimensions or scale annotated on it, especially after promising a 3-D drawing, in my humble opinion, is also unethical (I liken it to a drawing on a napkin) while using it as a conceptual design is ok, you wouldn’t build a house with that kind of drawing. Whether these are illegal actions, well, that is for lawyers to decide.

While it “looks” pretty, I’m not impressed with quality of workmanship and most importantly, it was not what I paid for. Only time will tell if it is indeed built to last. While it’s a “pretty new short bed truck”, it’s not the “pretty long bed truck” I paid for. Needless to say, I would not recommend Blue Haven Pools but if someone insists on going with them, insist on a 3-D drawing with dimensions and features clearly annotated and go over it with a fine-tooth comb PRIOR to any money changing hands.

Original Review: July 11, 2018

We chose Blue Haven for the ability to build the pool in 2 Phases, so we would be swimming Memorial Day weekend. We signed our contract and gave a deposit on 8/21/17, today is 7/11/18 and we are not swimming. Jeff, the head of construction can never give a straight answer. We have been asking for weeks when our blue stone capping for the spa and wall would be done. We get one answer saying, "We need to have it templated. The guy will be out Thursday or Friday." No one shows. Call Monday. Ask again. No response.

Call again Tuesday and they get back to me saying, "Oh it doesn’t have to be templated. We can get it in a day or two, however the installer isn’t available until the 18th." Mind you I’ve already told Jeff and their team that we had the stamped concrete guy lined up as well as fencing install scheduled for that date. This is totally UNACCEPTABLE! We are approaching a year from contract signing. Meanwhile I have my landscaper and lawn restoration men waiting, and rearranging their schedules. At this point I will never recommend Blue Haven to anyone.

However, we had an issue when the guys went to go dig. They ended up hitting an electricity line, so it knocked out power to our house. We were without power for five hours. But Adam was all over it. He came back. He drove 30-40 miles away 'cause he was at another construction site. And we didn't pay any expense. They paid Gulf Power. They paid for everything and had everything reinstalled. Adam was pretty much like, "this is our fault." It also seemed like every Thursday, we'd make even more progress. They also said the construction process would take six to eight weeks, but it was done in four. So we were very happy and we are in the pool every day. My dog is also obsessed with the pool. She's in it four times a day.

Our pool is a free-form pool that's kidney-shaped, with a couple of extra curves. It's an 800-gallon pool and it's 42 feet long and 24 feet wide at its widest. We have a sun shelf, which is the only extra feature that we have. I love the tile that I picked. They did the tile on the stairs and I like that part of it too. We did the upgraded quartz. I also love the color which is blue speckled.

We've recommended Blue Haven to two friends. One has backed out of what they were gonna do previously because they had a bad experience with another pool company. Another friend went through with their pool company, but their experience was a nightmare. On the other hand, we've had a really great and easy experience with Blue Haven. They did exactly what they said they were gonna do and they were here when they said they were gonna be here. Plus, all the prices stayed exactly the same as what they told us these would be.

We have the color-changing lights, which is my favorite feature, and a fountain in our pool. We also have the SmarPure and the UV. So far, maintaining the pool has been easy and it doesn’t smell like chlorine, so that’s good. All in all, everything went really well. They prepared us through each step and the timeline. When they finished the pool, they came out, gave us a kind of pool school, and went over everything. At that time, it seemed to make sense, but when it was time to do it ourselves, like when it was time to close the pool at the end of the season or to change the chlorine, it was a little mismatched. So they need to do that differently. Other than that, we'd recommend them.

However, they did hit a sewer line. And every time I'd flush the toilet it would squirt out through the bottom of the pool before they finished the inside. And when you'd go take a shower, the water would empty into the bottom of the pool, and so that had to be fixed. So we had to get some other people in. But we told them that they could still use the lines we have. I have six sewer lines and so they cut through two of them and they said we didn't need all of them. And I was like, "What do you mean we don't need all of them?" "We just cut through them all the time." And I said, "You just cut through them and put the pool down and you don't close them up and, therefore, they still leak through?" That didn't make sense. So, that part I didn't agree with. So my husband just dug. They helped him to dig a hole. He finished it up and cut some stuff down to where it wouldn't leak. And they got it stopped.

We got the smart features in our pool and we absolutely love them. I also love my Jacuzzi. I got the whole pool covered too. They contacted some people from Pensacola, Florida, not far, and they came and did the screen enclosure. And it keeps the leech from getting in there, and so I don't have that much maintenance to do, which is really wonderful with the smart features. And the cover is amazingly low maintenance too. I'd recommend Blue Haven.

My experience with the financing team was quick and easy. It was a very fast process. Once everything was designed, financing was in place. The construction was a fast process too. They kept me in the loop on what was happening and when it was gonna happen. I was foreseeing quite a bit of delays in the beginning, but everything panned out well, weather permitting. I'm in the construction field as well, so I understand the weather has a big impact. The pool was a 100% in 30 days. There were a couple of cracked rocks, missing grout, but they were corrected within a couple of days. The freeform pool has a little waterfall that comes off the spa and a little 6 x 4 foot swim ledge, 3 foot deep, which is great for the kiddos. Blue Haven was a little pricey compared to some, but with the experience I've had and the end product I got, it was worth it.

So we called them to come out to give us an idea of what we wanted and how it would look in our backyard. Their design consultant was great. We showed him a couple of pictures we've seen on the internet and he sketched out a couple of things. He made sure that we didn't have a pool that was too small or too big for the type of house and property that we have. After we said okay to the design, he took it back to the office. He sent an AutoCAD drawing and once we approved it, we moved forward with the process of building it. We bought a pool and hot tub and the only upgrade we asked for was the tile coping which was an extra charge. We went with chlorine.

They then told us to expect the construction to be about four to six weeks mainly because of weather issues. They came out and spray painted the area where they were going to dig. They told us in the beginning that they use a thicker type of rebar and use a lot more than other pool companies do. They didn't have any problems excavating and we were comfortable with the way they dug it. They were very careful about digging the lines for the pool and where our yard's sprinklers were. We were impressed with their electrical people as well. And throughout our anticipation, they understood and were patient with us. We were very happy and have suggested Blue Haven to a couple of our friends, one of which has just finished their pool with Blue Haven.

Everything was supposed to start before Harvey but because of the rain, it was backed up for about two weeks. But after the digging started, it took about six weeks to complete the pool. I also met up with the supervisor before the construction started and he was always there every single time they had the construction team come over. He made sure that the whole process was going great and he always sent me pictures. If I ever had a question, I could text or call him and he was always able to answer the phone. Also, the construction team all seemed nice and they showed up on time on the day they said they were going to show up. They also cleaned up the whole yard whenever they do the digging.

Bruce, the construction superintendent, was good. But there was a couple subs that missed the appointments that bothered me. I'm in the construction business, so I tend to get upset about things like that. Subs in Texas are a little different in subs in Idaho. The salesman was fantastic, though. They need more communications between the construction guy and the head office. The communication seemed to be a little bit poor. But when I called the salesman, he got things moving almost immediately. They didn’t really like me calling the salesman. They preferred me to call the job superintendent. But it got done a lot quicker when I called the salesman.

When they broke ground, I thought we'd be able to get in it that first year, but it didn’t get finished until October. We signed the contract when my second granddaughter was born in the end of May, and then it was the first week in October when it was finished. It was built reasonably quick. And it was especially good because I wasn’t there to supervise the whole thing but they did a good job keeping it going when nobody was there. When the pool was finished, it came out exactly the way I wanted it and exactly the way the original design pictures looked. The smart features work great, too. I control it off of my iPhone.

I'd recommend them. If someone wants to build a yard project, Blue Haven is a great company to do it. They know how to do it, and they gave me the right landscape for the deal that I got. I even told Blue Haven that if they had customers who want to come look at our pool, they could feel free to come. It's got all the lights, the night lights and all the landscaping lights. It looks like a hotel resort.

The workers who did the construction were awesome. We got months of rain, but that’s nobody’s fault. And they let us know where they were, and they answered the phone every time we called. They broke ground in May, and we had our pool first July 30. We didn’t really have a lot of expectations, so it was good that they kept us informed. We tell everybody about how good they were.

Our pool looks like what the design consultants drew. They exceeded our expectations. We have colored lighting changes in the pool, two fountains on a waiting deck, and then we have three jets, but we didn’t put colors in them. We also have a heater and a cooler, which is awesome. I really like the whole thing. We really like having a cooler because by August, it would've been too hot. Other people couldn’t use their pools, so having a cooler was definitely a bonus for us. We like the ozone, too. We don’t have a lot of chlorine. Our dogs drink the water, and they're fine. A stuffed hedgehog went into our skimmer and so our pump was running really weak in the winter. So I videotaped it, and Blue Haven came right over, and they were gonna replace the pump, but then I found the hedgehog and that was raking up on it. It went back to normal, but it was still warrantied for three years, so it's fantastic.

We were gonna build our entire yard a pool, and they figured out that our development has an easement around it, so we would've built our pool into an easement that anytime the city could come and then we would've handed that up. They were the only one that researched it and figured it out, so we figured that was a clincher. They were so nice, and their customer service is good. They might not be the cheapest, but they're definitely competitive. For the value that we got out of it, it was worth it. I'd definitely recommend Blue Haven.

Original Review: May 14, 2018

We had them put in a large hot tub, that some might also classify as a small dipping pool. Amazingly enough from start to finish it took a little over a year. Yes a full year. There were so many problems that we ended up giving up having them fix them. I would definitely steer clear of this company.

Original Review: May 11, 2018

We had the son of Blue Haven's owner sat down with me and my wife and we put together the pool and the accessories that we wanted with him. We were told the construction was gonna take six weeks, but it ended up being three and a half months. There were some rainy days that caused the delay, but the crew had a big issue with being able to make communications with their superiors and bosses. As a whole, they were only able to be here for a little short period of time, and then they had to go to another location where they had another pool. They were jumping from little bit of work here, and then a little bit work there. We also got times that no one would show up, but Blue Haven was always quick to say, “Okay. At this point, you owe this money and we follow 100% into the commitment that was set up.” The pool was about three-quarters finished when we've already paid the full amount.

The kids, my family, and my friends enjoy the pool though. But, what was put on the computer screen during the design process was a little bit different than what was actually put into the ground and once it was put together. The biggest part was the decking around the pool and it was much smaller. Our swimming pool has a slide and a waterfall too. In the diagrams from what was shown on the computer screen at their business, it looked like there was all kind of room and everything to move about behind the slide for a person to get in and many other things. But once it was put down, it was also much smaller.

We just had the pool in since December and then right now, I'm having running cracks on the deck of the pool. I have other friends that we have spoken with, and they had people that came out after the pool was finally finished. I tried to find out from these people what I could do about it. They said my ground shifted and what they could do is put Elmer’s glue all the way in the crack. But, the crack goes all the way from one of the cleanout filter locations to the end of the deal and they're gonna fill that with Elmer’s glue and won't paint it. All that is is putting a band-aid on.

We also had an area that was built with a fire pit and the fire pit rock is already cracked. I've mentioned it to them, texted it to them and sent pictures to them. I had employees who've come out too. Then, I've had a main motor seal that’s already gone bad, and they had to come out and replace it. That shouldn’t happen for five years, six years down the line. If Blue Haven cared, they would have done a lot more follow-ups in coming, seeing, wanting to complete and having a person who's really satisfied with their product.

The small RicoRock waterfall that I had them install had also more leak that was running all through the bottom and flooding out through the bottom of this fountain that was put out there with the swimming pool. I sent them a video and Blue Haven gave every excuse in the world as to why that was happening. And I was the one who was having to do everything instead of having someone come out and take charge.

After me calling and calling them, even almost threatening them, they finally came out. They went in there and then we had to go through everything in the world to finally get it fixed. It had a white calcium buildup on the waterfall and it could be the product that they were putting in the pool did not work with the RicoRock. I was the one who had to call one of the manufacturers of that rock and they got with them. Then they got the product sent down. The people from Blue Haven didn’t even know what to do, though.

On Mother’s Day, we have friends over and they were asking what was all that white chalk stuff on the waterfall. Three weeks before that, we were getting right on that and I got so much documentation. It's unbelievable on them and their “We're gonna do this. We're gonna do that.” Also this deal here, it was almost like no one ever knew who was in charge or who was whatever with the deal. Everything has been like pulling teeth with Blue Haven to get any type of response as well. If we had to do it all over again with the whole project, I'd be a lot more agitated. For people interested in doing business with Blue Haven, they should research all aspects and should write down specific deadlines in which things were to be done.

However, they had accessed my yard through my neighbor's land and when that was done, they said that everything would be put back the exact way that it was. But the fence wasn't put back the way it needed to be. They totally screwed up my whole fence. The runner boards were all crooked and nails weren't put back in. We have a rectangle pool where we've got a shelf on each side and you can enter from each side. They started March and it was done June 4th, which was fine. Everything is just as I wanted it. But I was having several problems and the lady I spoke to was rude. She basically hung up on me. I called her back but she wouldn't answer my calls. When my wife called from her phone, she answered. I was put on the phone and then she hung up on me again.

Overall I wouldn't recommend Blue Haven to anybody. The building process was great and Jerry was awesome. But the sales guy at the beginning was only nice and understanding 'til I gave 'em a check, and then he wouldn't answer my calls and he'd pawn me off to other people. It wasn't a pleasant experience. The back end stuff, the business and the customer service were utterly unacceptable.

The construction took about two and a half months tops and I didn't expect it to be done as quick as it did. I was afraid at first and had to ask if the pool is gonna hold water. Nonetheless, our pool has the lights, the vacuum system, the heater, and my favorite feature which is the waterfall. I also got all of Blue Haven's SmartFeatures and my husband does the maintaining. Moreover, I already referred someone to Blue Haven and so I'm waiting for my $250 referral.

Other than that, Blue Haven's on-site manager, Allen, would come by daily and that was where we would speak through. I don't know Spanish very well, so, I was not able to communicate to their construction team very well. Our lot was very constrained due to utility easements here in Broken Arrow and they were able to fit the pool within the easements. The one special area that we had on the pool was of a layout deck that's got about three inches of water in. So, you put your lounge chair on that.

We also got pretty much everything imaginable. We got the auto turn-on and auto turn off, the heater, and the automatic refill that I had tied into our sprinkler system. Then we had three waterfall features added to it and the colored lighting. Our favorite feature that we purchased outside of the pool is the Pool Vac by Shark. We purchased it through Blue Haven and it's a Hayward, which is the brand that they use. We turn the thing on and it keeps our pool vacuum nice and clean. Then I got a chemical guy that comes once a week and I net it every so often.