American Fiberglass Pools

The owner of American Pools (Wayne Stringer) is slick! After signing his contract, we learned that the warranty is worthless, the work is not guaranteed, disputes must go to arbitration, and it contains no detail about what you are actually buying. He convinced us that he installs the best of everything. We then drove by his Houston facility. What a DUMP! Compare it to the facilities for Leisure Pools and Lone Star Fiberglass Pools, both in New Braunfels, which are first class. That should be a clue.
A good pool project is in the installation. The website for River Pools and Spas in Virginia has great videos about proper ways to install fiberglass pools. One is bedding pools in crushed gravel. Sand liquefies and moves. Yet, Wayne insisted that sand must be used in this part of the country. I knew better! The fact is, sand is cheaper. Watch those videos on properly installing a fiberglass pool, then list the most critical practices. American Pools does NONE of them!
He told us to pick our tile from a catalog HE provided. He then charged us an extra $600, saying our choice exceeded his estimate in the contract. I challenged him about the lack of contractual language regarding tile, as well as the other pool equipment. To pacify us, he emailed a list of all the best equipment he planned to install. Yet, we received virtually none of it. The pumps were replaced with less efficient pumps and the programmable controller was replaced with a low-end unit and a couple of clock timers. He then had the gall to tell us that the high end equipment we were expecting wasn’t listed in the contract.
Although we wanted stained and stamped concrete, he convinced us that an overlay would be better. The fact is, his crews don’t know how to stain and stamp concrete. And his price for any concrete added to his low-balled estimate is obscene! He promised he’d be “flexible” on his estimate in the contract, even though we told him from the start it was too low. Instead, he waited until all concrete was in place, then measured and billed us for every square inch, even though much of it was added due to American Pools' mistakes.
The concrete work was a disaster! The forms were not secured properly, allowing the concrete to push them out of position. This left extremely uneven faces on the raised water feature, as well as the faux pool coping that pushed out of position. We were told that the bad areas could be ground down, but they could not. They even left the wood forms around the deck to keep the sand base from washing out, instead of pouring concrete footings. Neither was the overlay done properly. And they had no clue how to tile the uneven face of the water feature, leaving an ugly mess.
I asked Mr. Stringer if he would sell me a few PVC fittings and pipe, so that I could properly route the pump piping. I wanted to do it myself to ensure it was done right. It would have taken me about 20 minutes and less than $15 worth of material. He told me that he would have his crew do it. They hacked up the piping to salvage fittings they failed to bring with them, leaving another mess. He then had the audacity to charge us $163!
We’ve had several months to ponder our bad decision. We are embarrassed by the shoddy work. When I get in the pool, I feel the unevenness of the bottom, as the sand that was used to backfill continues to move. We see cracks in the deck and coping and the overlay scratches off with the slightest movement of a chair. Our best advice is to NEVER have any dealings with American Pools! Fiberglass is still a good choice. However, learn all you can about any installer and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, get a complete list of their installations and CALL THE CLIENTS. Go look at some of their installations. Also, go to the website for River Pools and Spas and watch the “Pool School” videos. Arming yourself with knowledge is the best way to make good decisions. Please don’t make the same mistake we did!