San Diego Pools — Local services in Santee

've been putting off this review but decided I should really give this company a shout out. We reached out to a few pool companies a few years ago and San Diego Pools was the only one to respond and come out. Enrique came out and took down our ideas and came up with a plan. He was friendly and had great ideas. Then I lost my job so the pool was put off. Fast forward to a couple of years later and we reached out again about getting a pool. Again, San Diego Pools was the first to respond. Enrique came out again and helped us design our pool. We had a follow up meeting to go over the design and options for the pool. SDP had the most competitive proposal. I feel like everyone costs are the same, but it depends on your gut feeling when you meet with them. We met with about 6 pool companies and SDP was the only company to meet with us in person to go over the design and options without making us feel pressured. Only one other company met with us in person but they were very pushy and kept going over our budget on their proposal.

We signed our contract late 2018 and broke ground with our project manager Corey. SDP moved quickly to tear out all of the brush we wanted to get rid of and as agreed upon they would leave the dirt to extend our yard down the slope. The project carried over to 2019 as expected. Then the massive rain came which delayed work. But the guys came out when they could to do work.

I wish I remembered everyones name but I can't. The excavators did a great job of leveling out the yard and extending our slope while making lanes for possible water runoff due to the rain.

Corey kept in touch and notified me of the next steps while also answering questions. The steel guys came in and worked quickly to layout the steel for the pool. Then the plumber came in and ran all of the lines. I had to have another plumber come in to the house for some other work who saw what SDP plumber did and he said this guy is a master at his craft to do what he has done.

Then Arturo, the mason came. He is also a master at what he does. My dad was a mason for several years and I know it takes a lot of detailed work.

After that, we had to wait for our landscape to be done by a different contractor before they would plaster the pool. We decided to go with plaster because we did not like the feel of the pebble finish. I guess later on we might change our preference.

Once that was done, and the rain was done, we finally got the pool plastered. The plaster was done in a day and they let the pool fill with our lawn water hose, which only took a day and a half.

Because of the plaster we had to wait 30 days to use the pool while continuing to brush it. Jack helped us start our pool and made sure everything was running properly for the next 30 days. He walked us through operating the pool, cleaning the pool, and answered all of our questions.

We were up and swimming by May 2019. The rain gave us a lot of setbacks and our frustrations came from that. Overall SDP kept us informed and helped guide us through the build.

Since COVID hit we are especially grateful that we decided to have a pool/spa built when we did. This has given us something to grow together as a family and we love every moment of it.

We did have a problem recently with tile starting to break apart on the spa from the grout. SDP came out quickly to mitigate the problem and it still looks amazing.

What I like about SDP is that they hustle and do things a little old school. They are at all of the fairs and conventions, they draft their designs on paper, and most of all, they meet in person. I highly recommend reaching out to them for your pool dreams. Attached are some photos of the...

We hired San Diego Pools for a new residential pool project in our Carlsbad backyard, and we can only say that our experience with this project has deteriorated to the point that it is no longer acceptable. I rarely write a review, but the experience has been so draining and time consuming that I had to share. I have worked with contractors in the past and in backyard and house remodels, so I understand that delays are common and oversight is required by the owner. However, the number of issues, the lack of responsiveness, and the excessive delay (we are on month eleven of a project that per contract is listed as 90 - 120 days). The eleven months doesn’t include the time we waited for the City permit and HOA approval - the process took an additional four to five months (which I totally understand is out of their control). We were able to start using the pool at month eight, but we are still waiting for some pending issues to be finalized. We have pending emails that have not been addressed. Issues continue to arise even after we are told the pool can be used including, gas line not being connected, salt filter pump not being connected, most recently we realized that the pool vacuum pump may not be working.

The Good: Our sales pitch was excellent: comfortable, informative, and our sales person was competent and friendly. Our project manager was friendly. We were sold!

The Bad: Almost everything else has been extremely disappointing. Ongoing poor communication between the project manager and crews leading to inaccurate information relayed and the owner having to project manage the start of almost every phase. Some of the mistakes, if not corrected, would have been very expensive (time and money) to correct No oversight from project manager at the beginning or end of each phase Installation of incorrect material Broken gas pipe that was neglected and required ongoing follow up and owner intervention (has been since repaired) Lengthy delays between the various phases - as I said we are on our 11th month of a project, that according to the contract should have taken 3 - 4 months Subcontracting the work to crews leading to subpar work - coping left with sharp edges, deep overhang in the interior of hot tub area, a thin film of mortar left on flagstone that made flagstone look grayish and dull and stained ledger stone, gas line not connected, salt filter pump not connected, etc Project manager failing to show up as agreed upon and failure to take notes when reviewing job with owners resulting in inaccurate information being relayed to work crews On going promises that things would be take care of, but little to no follow through Face to face interactions are pleasant, but in between we feel like a forgotten number and an afterthought. I would not recommend San...

My pool is complete: From the time I started this project, and it was just about a year ago, I was dreaming of having a pool. My fishpond for over 34 years of pure enjoyment was time to say goodbye. My Koi’s were special to me since I never bought one Koi. I got them as feeder fish for the pet shop. They grew and multiplied in the pond as the years went by. But unfortunately, the pond got a leak, and trying to locate it was imposable. I got “Koi Rescue” to come out and get all my fish, about 14 of them. Now it was time to start building a pool! There were two companies that I was considering for the pool project. After weeks of deciding, I chose San Diego Pools. When reading the reviews, I got good vibes, plus they have more 5 stars than the other pool maker, who we really don’t need to mention. San Diego Pools got the gears in motion with the permits and get ready to have lots of patience. Takes about 5 to 6 months to process the permits. Does give you time to get stuff ready before they start digging the pool. The day arrived Nov 1st and equipment started to fill my backyard, then it began, the first load of dirt was taken out, then the second and before I knew it, I had a very large hole in the backyard. Just to go off in another direction was my front yard, on how nice it looked before they dug. After that, my lawn was destroyed. Expect damage to be done and clean up after all the work is done on the pool. In one month, I was quite impressed with the work. Hole was dug, pluming, rebar was placed in. Just after Thanksgiving, the Shot Creak was done, and there, I could see a pool being built. During the months of December and January, Copping and the title that goes inside the edge along the pool was installed, and a couple of other things were done too. Work was done to my waterfall from the fish pond, which got incorporated into the pool! Cleaning up some mounds of dirt, tranches were filled up. What they destroyed in construction was never put back, so get ready for more out of pocket expense. San Diego Pools were great. Everyone I worked with was very corruptive in getting it done right or the way I wanted my pool. Then, in February, the plaster was put in, and shortly after that, water was filling the pool. It still took another month before we could go into the pool. I had it set up for Saltwater, so it took a little longer to establish the right water concertation. The pool is great and is very enjoyable as of today! Thank you to all the workers who worked hard in getting this project completed. Thank you, San Diego Pools, for creating a...