I contracted Oasis Pools to put in a pretty high-end 24K gallon salt water pool with a 5-ft elevated spa and a "weeping wall" water feature with flagstone decking. In the end, it took 7 months from start to finish, as we redid some things. But at the end of the day, even though there were some hiccups (which seem to be par for the course for any custom project like a pool build), Oasis never left me out to dry and worked closely with me to correct all the issues that were correctable, and I appreciate that. We have a very nice pool, and the mechanicals, electrical and plumbing seem to work very well. The pool "works" well in terms of the chemistry and the pool overall being easy to maintain. The drainless feature is a huge benefit - I just think it looks so much cleaner aesthetically than having a big drain plug in your pool.
The designer/salesman was responsive upfront and put together a design using 3D computer aided design tools that eventually we were satisfied with. He contributed a lot of practical ideas to the design. We went through multiple re-designs to arrive at something we were satisfied with. I competed two other well known pool builders and their designs and their design process was not nearly as good or as good a value. In the middle of our project our guy was let go by Oasis, which was a little frustrating because they never gave us another person to act as our advocate for the remainder of the project.
I will say that the Oasis construction employees were very good to work with and took the time time to explain everything to my wife and I, from the construction process to pool operation. They also did a nice job with tidyness on the construction site and didn't damage my property or trees, etc. On the other hand, Oasis subs needed extra management, and Oasis could have been on site more to manage them properly. I would recommend you insist that Oasis has representatives on site to oversee the masonry and plaster, as we had some issues there.
A flaw in the pool's design build was the depth. We specified a shallow end at chest height (4.5 ft) and a deep end of 7 feet and a distribution of depth that would give a relatively constant shallow end depth until the drop off. Instead, once the gunite was dry, we discovered that they built a shallow end that was way too deep. Rather than admitting to their mistake and covering the cost of fixing it, I had to pay an extra $4,000 to re-do the gunite to fix the depth, adding several weeks to the pool project. The root cause here was poor documentation of this design aspect and communication of it to the build crew.
We paid a premium for flagstone decking, but found Oasis' stone masons cutting the rock into much smaller pieces so it would be easier for them to fit the pieces together. Before they got too far along, and I made them pull up what they had laid and start over using larger pieces. We had specified a natural edge for the flagstone around the pool coping. Instead of taking the time to break the stones naturally, they used a saw which gave a smooth edge. To make it look natural, they pulled out their chisels and gouged up and down the side of the rocks. I don't like the look of it but eventually you stop noticing, and no one has brought it up. As the masons started to build my water feature wall, they used the wrong stone and were building something which looked nothing like the photos included in our specifications. I was able to stop them in time so they could take it down and start over. Oasis did the right thing by starting over with the right stones and worked with me to select the right colors. The water feature was supposed to pour water down the stone into a trough that drained into the pool. The design of the trough was only 6 inches wide, so as water pours, or even trickles, down the rocks it overshoots the trough and lands on my decking resulting in a huge puddle whenever I run the water feature. This was too hard to retrofit, so I guess I'm losing some water to overspray.
Then we got to the plaster. First of all, the plaster contractor left a mess in our and our neighbor's yard. But the main problem was that the color installed was very "blotchy" and uneven. Oasis said it would "even out" over time once water was in the pool. But it never did. So Oasis' owner came out and looked at it and realized it was a major problem. He made sure the plaster company re-did the plaster at their charge. So, we had to drain the pool and replaster the entire thing. This whole process added a couple more months to the project, but thank goodness it was winter time, and we did not lose any swim time.
