There are a lot of seasonal costs associated with owning a pool. And if your pool needs any work, that work comes at a cost too. Always get a bid when you need pool work. All pool bids should be well-detailed, thorough and complete.
All pool bids should contain at least these 3 inclusions:
- A notice of all legal parties – this will detail who is doing the work (the pool company) and who the work is being done for (you).
- The scope of work – this will detail all of the materials and all of the labor (in-house and sub-contracted) that is provided.
- The cost – this will detail the overall price for the job as well as a payment schedule to note when payments are due.
This will provide you with clarification, information and costs to make an informed decision.
If you request a bid and receive a hand-written cost with little-to-no information about the pool work, then buyer beware.
Some alarming news about pool bids
The unfortunate truth is that many pool companies practice unethical bidding practices. They secure sales – and more importantly for them, upfront down-payment money – with the “lowest bid” approach.
Too many pool owners too many times have encountered two primary problems when accepting the lowest bid:
- Once the pool company has your down-payment money they are hard to reach to schedule a start date. That pool company knowingly secured your sale with a low bid just because they needed your down-payment to provide some much-needed cash flow. Now, they have no interest in your job because they know it is not a money-maker.
- Once they do start on your job – which will only be when no other business revenue is coming in – they tend to execute change-orders (plural) with price increases (plural) to secure the money that they need – that they always knew they needed – so that it is now worthwhile for them to work on your pool.
Excuses, delays, and pre-planned change orders are not fair to you. But they are often the result of accepting the lowest bid.
And way more often than you think, these low bids often become the fair-market price (if not a higher price) than the other original bids once the change orders (plural) are executed and added.
Do your homework when collecting pool bids.
Stop looking at stock images or staged photos. Read. Do research. Contact pool companies. Take advantage of free onsite consultation to ask questions and listen to answers. The poolside meeting is not only the best way to get a bid, but its also a nice meet-and-greet opportunity. But don’t just meet the company owner or a salesperson for that company. Also meet the jobsite coordinator or the jobsite foreman. You need to make sure you’re entrusting your pool work to a trusted pool professional. Do some homework. Then request a bid.
We hope this helps.
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We submit thorough and complete bids.
We know you have choices. We’d simply like the opportunity to meet with you and prove that we are the best choice. Therefore, all onsite consultation is free.
Meeting poolside is the best method to bid your work. It gives me the opportunity to see you pool. It gives you the opportunity to meet me, Mike Loftus, the company owner, salesperson, jobsite coordinator, jobsite foreman, one of the physical laborers on your job, and your direct contact for customer service and communication. I am also a Registered Contractor in Nebraska. It also gives you the opportunity to best convey the reason(s) you need pool work. And it allows for questions to be asked and answered. While there, I can also write notes, get all of the required measurements, take pictures, and do whatever else is need so we can submit a bid.
After meeting with you, we will have all the information we need to submit a fair and accurate bid.
If you need pool work, then schedule free onsite consultation and request a bid. All bids have a detailed scope of work, to include all of the materials and labor that are included as well as the cost and payment schedule for that work.
Call us at 402-341-8132 or send us an email to [email protected] or submit a short form to discuss your pool and schedule free onsite consultation.
Or for the quickest response, you can call or text 402-250-8100 (Mike Loftus, owner).