Gunite Pools of Tulsa

My experience with Gunite Pools of Tulsa was incredibly disappointing and I would not recommend them. In fact, I would strongly encourage anyone looking for a pool contractor to look elsewhere and save yourself a lot of stress. There were numerous failures, delays, problems, and empty promises. When I complained, Larry and Steven both treated me like I was over reacting and I received multiple assurances (in writing) that my project would be completed on time and that my project was a priority.
It took 6 months instead of 2 to complete the pool — some of the later delays were due to winter weather however the project should have been finished long before winter weather set in. I signed the contract on Aug 15, 2014. Construction began Sept 9, 2014 and I was told the pool would be finished by the end of October. I heated and used the spa on January 26 but the cleaning system was not working properly until March 13, 2015.
They initially framed the pool in the wrong location. They cut an electrical line in two places when digging for the plumbing lines. Note: destruction of landscaping and any utility line damage is the responsibility of the homeowner. They ordered and installed the wrong tile /​stone on the spa TWICE despite me meeting with Larry at the tile store to pick out the tile and following up with an email listing (in detail) the choices. They rarely worked more than one day a week and provided no explanation for the delays. I have a 2 – 3 acre yard and they drove all over it, leaving deep ruts even though I had asked they only enter on the north side of the property. They completed the plaster for the pool in the dead of winter and then informed me that I had to fill the pool and brush the plaster for at least a week while it cured (in freezing temps). They emptied the spa after it was filled and left the hose on filling it (without calling to explain why or advise that the water was running at my house while I was at work). Larry is rarely on site for more than a few hours when his crew is on site and was never here when the outside contractors came (i.e. gunite and concrete decking) even though Steven assured me he would be there. They provided estimates for the electrician and plumber to run propane to the heater during the contract negotiation, then Larry was giving me estimates that were twice those amounts when it came time to hire them. They didn’t give me adequate information in order to hire a qualified electrician. They failed to install an autofill line that was included in my contract. They installed a Paramount in-​floor cleaning system which would not work properly — after multiple complaints and my withholding of the final retainer (10%), they threatened to put a lien on my property. Paramount only sells through authorized dealers and Gunite Pools was not an authorized installer or seller. They were buying them from another pool company and finally that pool company owner had to come out and explain to Larry how the installation should be fixed. Some of the cleaning heads had not even been installed and most of the remainder had been installed with the wrong size orifice. I had asked about the pressure gauge on the top of the cleaning system and Larry actually told me that it served no purpose other than pressure testing during installation — while, in fact, this pressure gauge must be pressuring up to 18 or 20 for the cleaning system to work effectively. They have no idea how to operate or program the Easy Touch Automation System and it kept shutting off at odd times in very cold temperatures and they couldn’t explain why. I was finally able to troubleshoot it myself with the user manual. They turned on the pool cleaning system without installing the basket to catch debris and this sucked leaves and debris into the plumbing lines and then had the audacity to imply that it was my fault that the plumbing lines had to be cleaned to remove leaves. When they came out to trouble shoot the cleaning system not operating properly, (this is when they had to clean the leaves out of the lines) they left the union connectors loose in two places between the equipment and the water was leaking. In the end — I do have a working pool but I spent a lot of time and frustration getting them to correct things that were not working or were done wrong. There are several cosmetic issues that I finally quit complaining about. Bottom line, they were very defensive about all of the mistakes and it sometimes required me making multiple complaints before the issue was corrected. Their excuse was that every pool contractor fails to meet deadlines and runs into these issues. I’ll let you judge for yourself if you think this number of errors and missteps is acceptable.