Richie Bobcat Pool Removal

We bought our home in 2012 & the existing pool was on its last leg. It needed new coping, tiles were missin & there were stains forming at the bottom due to the rebar working its way through. The pool was 18,000 gallons & was 18×30. Instead of spending 15k to remodel, we paid roughly half that cost to fill it in. We hired Richie to fill in our pool in October of 2014. Due to his busy schedule, we waited a month for the work to begin. Richie explained the whole process in detail. I only had one other bid from a concrete guy that was referred to me by a friend which he ended up flaking on me so I hired Richie.
So theres two options:
–Full removal of the pool, which is big bucks
— Fill in. Richie puts holes in the bottom of the pool for drainage, takes 2 feet off top perimeter of pool & removes all concrete & rebar & then buries it with a bunch of dirt.
Pros:
— He followed city code per San Jose’s permit requirements
–Richie is easy to work with & easy to talk with. He showed up everyday & conducted the demo himself & did not sub contract
–Richie removed trees and a bunch of railroad ties for less than what a tree guy would have charged
–He even ordered extra dirt for additional grading (which was not part of quote) & didnt charge me
Cons:
— The crew walked away with my brand new yellow Lowes push broom. Dont worry Richie, I bought a new one.
Tips:
— Get a permit! you may regret it if you ever have to sell your house. its easy, measure the pool including the distance from the house & from the fence line. Put all the measurements on paper (I drew it in Microsoft paint and printed it out). Go downtown to city hall & pay the fee. In San Jose, its 250.00 for pool demo or $ 350.00 (approximate prices, i cant remember exactly) for pool demo & if you have electrical & gas going to pool equipment area that needs removal.
–I learned this from other contractors I’ve hired since we bought our home (roofer, floor install, HVAC & bathroom remodels) SECURE OR PUT AWAY ALL TOOLS OR LABEL ALL YOUR TOOLS /​EQUIPMENT!!! its not that the contractors are intentionally stealing your stuff, its because their stuff mixes with your stuff & when it comes to clean up time, they just grab everything & throw it in their trucks.
–if the need requires his equipment to roll over your lawn, get plywood to cover the ground. My lawn & 2 sprinklers got destroyed by his equipment. Richie was cool enough to send one of his guys to fix everything for FREE when the work was completed.
Since we removed our pool. Weve saved a ton of money from pool maintenance, saved a ton on utilities & saved on water fees from having to fill the pool because of evaporation. Best part is our backyard just opened up for new hardscape and landscape ideas. Thanks Richie!

We just got the permit approval today. We wait almost a month before the job was completed yesterday. This is due to the unusual rain in December. His estimate is 3 day, but ended up it took 7 days. He paid special attention not to destroy my rocks in the backyard.
The entire pool removal is a bumpy ride, but the thing I like is that Richie would try very hard to resolve any issues. For example, his crew destroyed my neighbor’s cable with the bobcat, which left him without internet, phone and TV. We talked to Richie that night, and he immediately sent his friend to temporarily fx the cable in 2 hours that night. Both my neighbor and me are amazed and happy with his attitude in resolving issue.
The pool removal was done professionally. His quote was good too. He also did extra to cut the gutter for us. Basically, he tries very hard to make sure his customers are happy. No wonder his reviews are mostly 5 stars.
I would definitely recommend him for pool removal.

We picked Richie because he gave us the best quote and sounded very knowledgeable and experienced. Richie said he will have the demo scheduled two months after the contract signing day based on his current workload.
We were okay to wait that long, he started work exactly as planned. His estimate was for 4 days and he completed it exactly as he laid out the project plan. He was very professional and his crew were very unobtrusive around the house. They did an excellent job of cleaning up during and after the demo completion.
He promised to apply for the permit with the city and have it completed as part of the contract. He took care of the paperwork and scheduling the inspections also. Overall, I would recommend him and call him again for any future work I have without hesitation.

Richie was the fourth person I interviewed for a quote on a full pool removal. He was knowledgeable, accommodating, and in demand (I had to wait 6 weeks out). Since I did my research and couldn’t argue with all the five star Unilocal reviews, we began negotiations. Ritchie’s price for a full pool removal, was within 50 dollars of another bid, but he left me with no doubt after meeting that he knew what he was doing, and could achieve the look I wanted. He always answers my questions, texts etc in a timely manner. His contract had payment intervals which were completely reasonable, and outlined what I wanted exactly.
From the very first day I knew I was getting my money’s worth. They removed the fence between the houses, and reassured my neighbor about the process and completion. Then work began almost five straight days of drilling at my pool in hot October weather beginning at 8:15 — 4:00, only taking a lunch break Enrique worked incredibly hard. Richie would pop in and talk to me about the process, and was always available for questions.
Richie and Enrique accomplished everything and more than contractually obligated, and worked with me about any changes I made about extra removals. I will and want to recommend Team Richie Bobcat to anyone who wants a pool removed. My husband agrees five stars for Richie. You couldn’t get a more honest individual in business dealings.
Thanks Richie for giving us a yard instead of a concrete dessert.

From the moment we met with Richie we new he was the one to do the job. We finally decided to remove our 35 year old tired leaking fiberglass pool. Very professional did a awesome job. Finished in 4 days permit included we could not be more pleased with Richie and his guys. Great price honest and a pro! If you need a pool removed we would highly recommend Richie Bobcat.
Thanks Richie!!!

We needed to get rid of our old pool so we called and met with 5 different contractors over a 3 week time period. We ended up going with Richie because his price was fair and just had a gut feeling about him. He and Enrique were an absolute pleasure to work with. All the work was done exactly as promised in the time that was promised. Richie was always in communication from start to finish. I would definitely recommend him to any of our friends that need to use his service.

Here it is — the week before Memorial Weekend when the temperature will rise well above 80. Instead of getting our pool ready for the Summer Season, we had it demolished and buried — RIP pool. Due to its age, it developed leaks that required hours of filling each week — not good in our drought situation. It also needed a whole new face lift which turns out to be extremely costly. Richie and Enrique completed the job in 3 ½ days! So quick and easy. They brought in very clean dirt to fill the hole, and they graded the backyard to the Inspector’s satisfaction. Permit is all signed off — now time to landscape. Richie is a pleasure to work with, and I look forward to the next opportunity to use his service.

Richard removed the swimming pool in our backyard after we bought a new home in Campbell last November. I got quotes from and interviewed a few contractors before going with Richard because:
— He looked like he knew the business better than the rest
— He gave assurances about the work (state of fence after all is done, etc)
— Price was reasonable and fixed. Other contractors kept giving too many clauses (If fence breaks while removing you hire someone to fix it, etc).
Richard promised the work will take a max of 3 days including getting permits and city inspection, etc. He was spot on, and took 2.5 days. Moreover, the work was clean and excellent. We had fruit trees around our backyard’s perimeter, which had to be removed temporarily, planted in the other end of the backyard, and then put back in it’s original place after the work was done. We found all trees in great condition after all was done, and our fence was also intact. Richard put good top soil in our «new» garden. We have grass on it now, and it’s grown well.
So to summarize:
— Reasonable price, and definite expectations set
— Clean work, clean backyard and home after work was done
— On time
— Took care of extra tasks needed (permits, inspections, taking care of trees)
Richard: My apologies for writing the review a year late.

Richie was one of the 4 contractors we met once we decided to remove our pool. We went with Richie because of referrals as well as the confidence we got when we spoke with him about the project, even though, his quote was not the cheapest (yet, very reasonable).
He was very flexible with the scheduling, and he made every effort to make sure that we were in the same page throughout the entire process. The project was completed as mentioned in the contract and on-​time. He and his associate made sure that they left the job site in exactly the same same clean state it was, before the project commenced. (But, of course, without the pool! :-))
I would highly recommend Richie based on my personal experience.

We met with several contractors for our pool removal. As soon as we met Richie we knew he was the contractor for us. He was pleasant, but straight and to the point. Richie was extremely professional about his work and the process. He gave us a fair quote and was in touch with us during the 2 months before our project (we are teachers with a puppy and a new baby, so we wanted to be on vacation for the work).
Richie and his employee were professional, punctual and communicative throughout the entire process. The job took less than 1 week and they worked between 8 and 4. He went the extra mile and ripped out some boxwoods on our request and even removed some stumps. We did loose two trees in the process, but he was up front about their removal up front.
Access to our yard was difficult, as we are a corner lot, but Richie did everything he could to secure enough space for his equipment. He even dropped some equipment off on Father’s Day.
If we were to need any bobcat or hauling work again, we would not hesitate to call Richie. His work and service are amazing. Richie wants to make sure his clients are satisfied with the work.

Took Richie over 3 days to get back to me after leaving a phone message. He started out ok on the phone. Once he find out my job is small and has limited access for his bobcat. he immediately says he can’t help and hung up.

Richie Bobcat and Hauling did a great job at removing and filling in our 30+ year old in-​ground swimming pool and spa. They did a complete job, just as we had discussed with Richie. He and his crew are very professional, considerate, and communicate well (even with my neighbors!). They made sure that the experience of removing the pool and subsequently filling it in and grading the dirt was low-​stress and efficient. We would use his services anytime. Great job Richie! Thanks again!

After reviewing a couple of contractors for pool removal, Richie impressed us immediately with his straightforward and professional attitude. He and his team quickly removed the pool and the surrounding concrete and consulted us on all major decisions.
He is extremely responsive and the pool removal took less than a week and was very customer focused. Richie even took the effort of talking to our neighbors (even after we had talked to them) to make sure they were aware of the pool removal!
I would highly recommend him as a contractor.

Had Richie remove our pool about a year ago. They worked very fast – including having to remove and replace a fence panel – and left everything clean.
I would not hesitate to call him again for my next job.

Last summer, I interviewed 3 contractors to remove the lap pool of my old house. One of the contractors actually removed the pool of my prior house. But I decided to hire Richie over my old contractor for 2 reasons: 1. Richie was willing to try to save the stucco wall (need to move it for access and cost over 1K to rebuild) and seemed more accommodating. 2. While the old contractor did a good job removing the pool, and cleaned better than Richie’s, he had the tendency to yell very loudly at his workers and that really somewhat scared me. For anyone who has not done it before, removing a pool is a very loud and messy job. It’s possible that loud noise kind of deafen the workers a little. But I want to see if I can find someone who behave kinder to his workers. And Richie did not disappoint. The lap pool was small but was difficult to remove because of tight access and very little room to manuever the bobcat. Richie and his worker had to use a combination of his bobcats and heavy duty hand saws and drills. Richie really showed his skill of manuever his machines. He came to work with intensity but in a cheerful manner. And I did not hear him yelling loudly at his worker! Even though the stucco wall could not be saved at the end, I still appreciate that he tried. He applied for the permit, hired the soil engineer, worked with the city inspector. And the final inspection passed without problem. I would hire him again.

After interviewing 4 different contractors, I am so glad that I decided on Richie to do the job of our pool removal. Richie is very responsible, professional, courteous and always shows up with a big smile. He is very diligent and extremely good at operating bobcat and bulldozer, my kids even took pictures with his crew in the bulldozer and they loved him. He did everything on the contract and completed the job in a very timely manner. Richie was a awesome contractor, and I would definitely recommend him again. We absolutely love our «new» backyard now ! Saratoga Resident Dec. 19, 2011