Aquatic Technology Pool & Spa

A contractor who BUILDS ART!
★★★★★

We had 4-5 local swimming pool contractors come out to the house. They all had wild ideas about our project, but none really "got it" as far as what we wanted.

I did some searching on-line and discovered Paolo Benedetti. It initially took a few days for him to get back to me, and I began to wonder. But, once we opened the lines of communication, he was prompt .

Unlike the pool companies that we had out to the house, Paolo wanted to charge me a fee just to meet - I was startled at first. I had read his reviews and knew that he was very talented. My husband pushed me into paying him to come and meet with us. Paolo set aside a whole day just for us. We had lunch together, and chatted the day away. We convinced him to spend the night so that we could treat him to dinner! By the end of the day we "just knew" he was right for us. It was like we had been friends for years.

Paolo was both erudite and enlightening. He is personable and intellectual - a classy guy. His knowledge of world history, architecture and swimming pool construction even amazed our engineer and architect.

Paolo created a design that encompassed everything that we imagined - and many things that we had never thought of. We wanted a fire feature. But Paolo insisted that it be BOTH functional and visually pleasing. NOW - we are so glad that we listened to him. We would of only had a visual effect - not one of warmth and companionship.

At first we had a difficult time mentally getting over the cost projections - in hindsight, he was very realistic, accurate and the specifications were warranted. When we asked, he explained why things were done a certain way and why that made it more expensive. He always took the high road, to ensure that our project will retain it's "like new" appearance. It has been 3 years now, and things still look great.

No matter where we turned in the project, I knew if I asked Paolo his design opinion that he'd have one. And 99.999% of the time they were RIGHT ON THE MONEY.

A contractor who BUILDS ART!
★★★★★

We had 4-5 local swimming pool contractors come out to the house. They all had wild ideas about our project, but none really "got it" as far as what we wanted.

I did some searching on-line and discovered Paolo Benedetti. It initially took a few days for him to get back to me, and I began to wonder. But, once we opened the lines of communication, he was prompt .

Unlike the pool companies that we had out to the house, Paolo wanted to charge me a fee just to meet - I was startled at first. I had read his reviews and knew that he was very talented. My husband pushed me into paying him to come and meet with us. Paolo set aside a whole day just for us. We had lunch together, and chatted the day away. We convinced him to spend the night so that we could treat him to dinner! By the end of the day we "just knew" he was right for us. It was like we had been friends for years.

Paolo was both erudite and enlightening. He is personable and intellectual - a classy guy. His knowledge of world history, architecture and swimming pool construction even amazed our engineer and architect.

Paolo created a design that encompassed everything that we imagined - and many things that we had never thought of. We wanted a fire feature. But Paolo insisted that it be BOTH functional and visually pleasing. NOW - we are so glad that we listened to him. We would of only had a visual effect - not one of warmth and companionship.

At first we had a difficult time mentally getting over the cost projections - in hindsight, he was very realistic, accurate and the specifications were warranted. When we asked, he explained why things were done a certain way and why that made it more expensive. He always took the high road, to ensure that our project will retain it's "like new" appearance. It has been 3 years now, and things still look great.

No matter where we turned in the project, I knew if I asked Paolo his design opinion that he'd have one. And 99.999% of the time they were RIGHT ON THE MONEY.

Paolo is by far the most knowledgeable contractor that I have met. Though he is a swimming pool contractor (I later found out that he is also a General Contractor), he is up to date on the modern cost effective construction technologies.
We hired him late in the process, as the pool had already been designed and engineered. After reviewing the soils report and our plans, he made some foundation and engineering recommendations that saved us over $70,000. he made recommendations for alternatives that our structural engineer never had considered. That was even before we started construction!
His time projections seemed long, but they proved very accurate. I didn't realize that there were so many standards that required that things dry and cure. He was very methodical in ensuring that everything was done properly, regardless of our insistence that they meet a certain deadline.
It turned out that we should have gotten him started earlier, instead of placing unreasonable burdens and deadlines on his staff.
He justified every day of inactivity with a published standard or trade practice. He sure knew his stuff. As it turned out, we determined that failures that we had experienced with previous contractors & projects were a result of our rushing construction and proceeding too soon.
At first we balked at his suggestions for the custom blend of glass tile mosaics - the color combinations were too weird. But after seeing a sample underwater, we realized that Paolo had scored a hat trick!
His knowledge of various stones and materials available from around the world amazed our interior designer. He had sources for everything we could imagine. And he saved us thousands of dollars. He even knew a customs expediter who could quickly get our containers through customs, out of the port and onto the job site.
We could not be more pleased with the final results. It has been 2 years and everything still looks great.
Paolo is hands down THE BEST contractor that we have ever employed!

I used Paolo Benedetti of Aquatic Technology as and Expert Witness to evaluate a contractor's glass tile mosaic installation in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles, CA.

He able to determine that it was an inferior glass tile. The glass tile was provided by the client. Of course the client did not have any recollection of the manufacturer or source of the tiles.

Paolo was able to locate US Customs clearance forms, indicating that the homeowner had imported the tiles from China. From those documents he was able to determine the manufacturer.

Samples of the same unmounted tiles were ordered from the manufacturer. They were subsequently tested and it was determined that they failed EVERY test imaginable. The coating on the reverse of the tiles was affixed with a water soluble glue - making the tiles inappropriate for underwater use.

Armed with this information, we were able to deny the homeowners claim of inferior workmanship and installation practices. The contractor was able to squash the complaint against his contractor's license.

The homeowner was forced to withdraw all actions against our client. Additionally, the homeowner was forced to pay for my client's attorneys fees, lost work time and expert witness.

Paolo Benedetti had a tenacity of a bull dog. He knew that the tile was inferior and he did not stop until he was able to prove it.

Paolo Benedetti saved the contractor and his insurance company $300,000!

Hiring Mr. Benedetti as an expert witness was money well spent.

We reside in the Beverly Hills area of Los Angeles, CA. We learned of Paolo through business associates of ours, that he had done work for. They spoke so highly of him, that we just had to meet him. We are SO glad that we did!

We had been working with an architect on the restoration plans of a historic property that we own in Pebble Beach, CA. The architect's ideas for the pool just didn't seem right to us. Though the original pool had been removed decades before, we wanted it back into the same area, and to recapture some of that old flavor that had been lost.

Not only did Paolo agree with us, he actually had images of the original pool in a book in his library. As it turned out, he is very well intelligent and well traveled. He had been to Spain countless times and had a real understanding of the period architecture and details. He grasped the fact that the elements were Moorish in their influence, not Mexican.

He commissioned custom ceramic tiles from Spain to match the period, but that are unique to us. He even turned us onto some vendors that made authentic fixtures for inside the house (hand painted ceramic sinks, lamps and iron work).

He invoiced us just like our architect did, for the design and detail work that he performed. His work was always done when promised. He even hand drew some perspective drawings that were incredible in their detail.

Paolo worked well with our architect, even after the architect's initial refusal to "work with some pool guy." By the end of our project, they had developed a deep friendship & Paolo had earned his utmost respect. In fact they are working on a project together for another client, as a result of our insistence that our architect work with Paolo.

Paolo is highly organized, detailed and focused. He ensured that his subcontractors knew what was expected of them (in workmanship, specifications and even job site cleanliness!). He inspected their work as it progressed and made corrections to ensure that we had a flawless final product.

In retrospect, I cannot imagine pulling off out project without his insight, knowledge and resourcefulness. I also admired that he was dedicated to his family & refused to work (or his subcontractors) on weekends. "Everything needs balance" he used say, over & over about many facets of the project.

The construction contract was "cost plus." After talking to some prior clients of his about my reservations of a cost plus contract, I learned that he is very dedicated to his clients. He shops for bargains, obtains the best value from the subcontractors and negotiated discounts from vendors (that he passed through to us). I found his honesty and loyalty very refreshing in today's business climate of "make a buck at all costs" !

Paolo is now working on plans for the yard of our Coldwater Canyon home...

...AND WE CAN NOT WAIT!