I have struggled with whether or not to post this review. Our pool was completed back in March, but getting the job done was an exercise I was not prepared for.
Here is a link to a google photos album that documents all issues mentioned herein: https://photos.app.goo.gl/DGb7cxsdk1ADSuac6
Here is our experience:
My partner and I chose Venture after our experience with their sales rep Matt. He was great, answered all of our questions, made us feel comfortable, and assisted us in every way that he could. We signed our "contract" with Venture on October 29th. Every step of the way we had to call them to get things scheduled, find out why the subcontractors didn't show up when they were scheduled (this happened frequently), and in general we had to be our own project manager. We didn't even dig until December 21st Here’s what happened:
We had a project manager assigned to us initially that came to our property maybe 5 times. There were issues with the coping that were supposed to be addressed but were ignored, when we brought this up to our project manager he told me, "we are a high volume pool builder, there's no way that we can keep track of all these issues." we were assured that we would take care of the coping issues, but the next time we heard from him was in an email with one sentence: "When can we come by and pick up the decking check?"
The coping became such an issue. On the 19th of January, the masons completed their project. They did some of the worst quality work you can imagine. There is no pattern among the rocks, there is hardly any consistency in the shape/size of the stones. When we brought this up to our project manager he was very flippant and kept repeating that he can't control how natural stone looks. we understand that... we were taking issue with the fact they used stones that were so deeply gashed and scratched that it was obvious and looked ugly. Beyond the beat-up stones, the other issue with coping was that they had laid 7 consecutive 1'X1' stones and done a variation in a pattern around the rest of the pool.
After that email, we were assigned a new project manager. He took over in February, he came to our property 4 times, once was to meet with Tom and the masons, once was to add lava rock to our firepit, once was to collect a check for plaster, and once was to fill in a hole by the pool equipment.
One of the most egregious issues was with our drainage project. No matter how many times we brought it up, no one seemed to listen, understand, or respond to concerns. we insisted that the drainage project be finished before the decking, but because we didn't have a project manager it fell through the cracks and wasn’t even on anyone’s radar until after the decking was complete. We were told at one point by our first project manager that he "had no idea what," we were talking about when we asked where the additional drains would go. When the subcontractors for the drains finally came out, they had no idea they were supposed to lay a drain where we had discussed. Luckily we were home and able to address this, again this is something a project manager would normally handle. we called the Venture office and they had to reach out to the drainage subcontractor to get it corrected.
The decking was done poorly, there are crooked and uneven lines because the forms for the decking were not put in evenly. One of the most ridiculous examples was an expansion joint that was put in without consideration for its location relative to others and the proportions were so off it looked as if an amateur had done it. Another example is the plastic bag that was set over a skimmer as they poured concrete - this bag still exists in the skimmer because it is being held in by pounds of concrete.
Every step of the way, we have had to call the office to inform them of things that the project manager should have been in charge of. There were a number of mistakes made, the quality of work from subcontractors is subpar, and the overall care and compassion are lacking.
Eventually, the issues with our project were resolved. we had to request that the Director of Operations come out and walk the project, we also had to get one of the owners involved in order to get issues resolved.
Geoff (director) and Stephen (one of the owners) were very responsive and took ownership of the project. Once they became involved things went smoothly, but their subcontractors still did mediocre work. I had to argue with a mason worker about what type of work needed to be done. Ultimately, they sanded and sealed (with a penetrating sealer) the coping around the pool. This left a weird hydrophobic appearance that has ultimately worn off to reveal an extremely dull and boring finish.
It is hard for me to be willing to recommend Venture to other people. I am sure that they do high-quality work, I am sure that not every customer has this sort of experience, and I’m sure that they know how to redeem themselves. It really comes down to how frustrating the entire experience was. Geoff really did a great job of handling the situation and rectifying issues that needed to be attended to, but the fact that he had to be involved speaks volumes for what we went through overall.
If you have read all of this, I'm just saying that our experience was terrible, their fixes turned out to be pretty worthless, and it sucks to look at your pool project and have regrets over things that were outside of your control.
