Pool services

A pool builder handles design, excavation, shell, plumbing, electrical coordination, decking and startup. This is the one hire where scope disputes cost the most, so insist on a line-item contract covering permits, excavation, electrical, decking, fencing and startup chemicals.

A service company does the weekly work: testing and balancing water, cleaning, filter care and basic equipment checks. Ask what is excluded — equipment repair, openings and closings, liner work and acid washing are often separate. Routine service sits inside This Old House's $90–$270 monthly range.

Repair specialists cover the scheduled and unscheduled big stuff: liner replacement at $3,000–$7,500, acid washing at $300–$1,000, resurfacing at $8,000–$10,000, and pump or heater work. Get two quotes on anything over a few thousand dollars — diagnostics vary, and so do the recommended fixes.

How to choose

Verify licensing and insurance yourself

Licensing rules for pool contractors are set by state and sometimes locally. Ask for the license number and check it with the issuing agency rather than trusting a copy of a certificate.

Ask for recent local references

Two or three homeowners in your area whose pools were finished in the last year will tell you more about schedule and cleanup than any review page.

Tie payments to inspected milestones

Large deposits before work starts are the most common way homeowners lose money on pool projects. Pay against completed, inspected stages.

Get the barrier scope named explicitly

CPSC's guidance and most local codes make a compliant barrier essential. Make sure the contract says who supplies and installs it.

Read what a service contract excludes

Weekly chemistry does not mean equipment coverage. Get the exclusion list before you sign a year.