Our contract was signed with Pool By Design March 22, 2019 to construct a small 12,000 gallon residential pool at our home. It is now 19 months later and we still do not have a final permit. Mecklenburg County failed their electrical work over 6 months ago. We have reached out to Michael and Heather by both text and email only to be reassured the issue will be taken care of immediately. You may like their price, but be forewarned. Once they have your money, they are finished with you....just not your pool. read more

I am a Realtor in Charlotte and to me my home is a reflection of my love for houses and how they are that little part of the world you can call your own. I tell people to enjoy where they live. Make the most use you can of every square inch of the lot. I am a big fan of the beauty of swimming pools. When showing homes, I often tell people that a pool would look great in this yard and how it can work for them. In Charlotte, our weather is good enough that you can really take advantage of the outdoors year round. I had no intention of building a pool when we started to a remodel and addition project. My contractor looked at me and said, a pool would look good right there while pointing to an almost barren strip of grass. So began our love of pools. I can't tell you all the wonderful things about Pool By Design. Tommy, Simon, Jo and all the contractors were great to work with in building our pool. Our construction job was probably a bit different than most. We added a separate garage and an extensive patio all in a very small area. Home sites just aren't that big in Ballantyne. Just so happened we were dropping a pool in the middle of all of that! The first phase involved digging the pool and creating the base shell. Then our contractors came in an built the garage and patio. 7 months later Pool by Design came back to finish their work. We were a bit hesitant about what we wanted to do with the pool decking. We told Simon what our thoughts were and the team was able to create a distinct look with concrete that made it look as though the pool had been there forever. Beautiful! That was in 2006 / 2007. Since then we have had no issues with the pool except for an occasional bulb burning out, but that has been about it. The back of our house looks out at the pool. We have never covered in the winter so that we can enjoy it every day. If you are interested in building a pool, come by my house and take a look! You'll quickly learn that I am a big fan of Pool by Design and if I ever build another, they will definitely do the job. David Huss Allen Tate, Realtors david.huss@allentate.com read more

We completed a contract May 2, 2019, for the construction and proper installation of a pool.  It has now been two full years since the initial Contract date, yet the contracted work is still incomplete, unsatisfactory, and noncompliant with general safety standards.  We have paid more than the initial Contract price yet have received no cooperation in completing the work in a reasonable timeframe. We retained counsel and were told on November 5, 2020, that the work would be completed by December 31, 2020, this was not done.  The Contract covered the cost of total construction of the pool, pool decking, and necessary equipment for the proper functionality of the pool, but we have had to get quotes from other contractors to demolish, reinstall, drain the pool and complete other repairs as necessary.  This is not a company we would recommend to anyone. read more

I was recommended to the company by one of my neighbors and I felt confident with the choice once I saw the quality of work they do. The entire process was truly great. They understood exactly what I wanted and more. I highly recommend doing business with pool by design! read more

We are new to Charlotte and decided to build a pool to beat the heat. With much debate and consideration we selected Pool by Design to design and construct our pool. Now that it is completed, we couldn't be happier with our pool and decision to work with PBD. From the initial meeting with Tommy B. we felt comfortable with the friendly touch. The multitude of possibilities were clearly laid out ... including the varying costs. Deciding on what worked for us was a pressure-free process. Tommy guided us through do's and don'ts without even a hint of an agenda. From the moment we reached our decision we were in lock-step with Pool by Design's wonderful staff. (My wife fell in love with Jo S. after a handful of warm phone conversations.) Like clock-work, we went through the different steps in the process with a steady stream of super-reliable professionals showing up on time and quickly going about their work creating their magic in our backyard. While the pool was being dug and built, our porch and patio was being reconstructed at the same time by an outdoor-living company. The two companies worked hand in hand, never getting in each other's way and to each other's benefit. I can not say enough about the professionalism. The result is the backyard of our dreams. We are anticipating years and years of family time poolside. From start to finish Pool by Design was exactly what we wanted. Friendly, professional, diligent and talented. read more

We used Pool by Design to remodel our pool decking and tile in the pool. They did a fabulous job. I was originally unsure about what kind of stone I wanted to use for the pool decking. What he had was old and cumbling and falling apart. However, I loved the fact that it was white and that we could go barefoot around the pool without burning our feet. Simon and his construction superintendent, Ricky, spent a great deal of time with us in helping us to decide what would work best for us. We met Ricky on several different afternoons and he took us to jobs in the surrounding neighborhoods and showed us the differnet tile and methods of installation. Simon also met with us to take us to look at different patternns of design for the tile. I had decided that I didn't want the travertine to look like everyone elses. So, Simon spent time on designing a pattern that would work with our pool and we all met on site and measured everything out to see what would work best. The whole time that we were trying to decide on a pattern, the crew was already demolishing the old pool decking and prepping for the new tile. I spent several months of my time and their time being indecisive about the design. All the while, Simon and Ricky were very patient with me and Simon was even excited about doing something different around the pool too. In the end, we decided on a beautiful design that complemented the pool and our yard. The crew worked through the winter in very cold conditions so that the pool would be ready by Spring. In the end, after the white travertine was put in place, I was amazed at the craftsmanship of the work. Everything was beautiful. We chose to replace all of the decorative tile in the pool and to increase the size of our overflow for our fountains. Ricky knew just what size to make them so that we could get the volume of water that we wanted and the sound from the water moving. When everything was finished in the Spring, we filled the pool with water and have been listenining to the sound of the water moving ever since. It turned out so beautiful that we also hosted 2 weddings in our backyard over the summer. Thank you to Simon, Jo (his wife), and Ricky for a wonderful job. Every day I walk out into my yard and around the pool and am blessed to have the beauty and water sounds surrounding me. We were very pleased with the work that was done, the craftsmanship involved and the final product. Thank you all for a job well done! read more

Pool by Design - New travertine and tile installed by Pool by Design!! Love my new pool! - Fireplace Services Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

We began talking with PoolsbyDesign in Mid to Late April about Pool Designs and had hoped they would be the ones to help us build it. We went forward with the Permits and waited patiently to start. Due to a lot of rain and other internal concerns we continued to get put off and put off. The communication on 2-3 times had been we will call you and plan to be there then next day and no communication. When we asked if we can speak to a recent pool installation client they said sure and they shared its been tough due to rain and that all an all they are pretty good. They then pushed our job back rather than help set our minds at ease due to the lack of communication and said it will be another 3 weeks before we can begin the project. We decided due to the lack of professionalism that we will not move forward for fear this would continue throughout the project and at a high cost. Tommy was extremely rude in the way he spoke to us and therefore I would recommend you read the reviews below and this most recent one to make a decision on who you feel you can trust to work hard and follow through. Today is June 2nd 2020 and this company has set us back at least 6-8 weeks on building our pool and with little regard. Hope this helps those looking for the real experience. read more

Building a pool with Pool by Design was ABSOLUTELY the worst construction experience I have ever had. I have built 3 homes, 2 commercial offices, and 3 swimming pools. Unless you enjoy being berated and belittled, I cannot recommend Pool by Design. When building a pool, remember that once the hole is dug in the ground, you are stuck with the company until the end. Ricky, the construction superintendent, was rarely on the job site, provided little supervision and failed to deliver on promises that he verbally made. Whenever there was an issue, he would blame Simon, the rude Englishman and owner, for any problems or breakdown in communication. Simon would blame Ricky for any "miscommunications". If you choose to work with this company, anything and everything must be in writing. When approaching the end of the nightmare construction experience, the plumbing that connected our original equipment to the new pool was cracked.(They chose to leave about 15' of the original plumbing lines) I had to hire my own plumber to fix the problem because Simon said it was not their fault. At this point, the pool had not passed the final building inspection so I asked Simon what Mecklenburg County would think about this issue. He said, "The only thing the county cares about is if the pool holds water." If you choose Pool by Design, this is the type of quality craftsmanship you can expect. In my opinion, this company should not be allowed to operate in Mecklenburg County or the Charlotte area. It amazes me that people like this can operate a business. If your business does not rely on repeat customers, you can treat the customer any way you choose. Unfortunately for our sake, we did not have the forewarning about Pool by Design. read more

Working with Simon, Tommy, Ricky, and Ms Jo at Pool By Design has been an absolute pleasure from start to finish! I consulted a few pool designers in the Charlotte area, including the big national companies and the more local ones like Pool By Design. I was immediately impressed with the amount of time and thoughtfulness both Tommy and Ms Jo showed before we gave them a single dime or even made a strong verbal commitment to use their services. During the project, we became more than just acquaintances in a contractor/resident relationship with these folks. Our daughter went in for what should have been a pretty big but predictable surgery to correct a condition she was born with. The completion of the surgery marked the first time she could be completely submerged in water in her 4.5 years, so we were building the pool at her request and to celebrate this great milestone. They treated our project with the special attention it deserved from day one. We had to travel to Ohio for the procedure right in the middle of the pool construction, trusting everything to the judgment of the Pool By Design team. I had planned to be back within one week to get back to work and to the pool, leaving my wife in Ohio for the final part of recovery which was only to be strength building by that point. But calamity struck on the surgery table and we ended up in the OR 3 days in a row and in the pediatric ICU for 10 days. The Pool By Design folks contacted us as frequently as our extended family members with as much or greater concern. They not only remained dedicated to the project in our absence, they maintained excellent communication with us via pictures and such. They were very accommodating in terms of slight alterations in the financial arrangements given our circumstance, but most importantly their prayers and concerns were heartfelt. Even now that the project has been completed for a while they still ask about our daughter every time we communicate. Each person has their niche in the company: Tommy was great with listening to our desires and concerns, and then translating that into an initial design; Simon is the design genius and made excellent suggestions I would have never thought of, such as our hot water waterfall into the spa, he truly made a great design an awesome one!; I have to admit that I didn't see how important Ricky's role was until construction actually began. He really knows what he's doing and how to manage the various contractors, and I'm still learning his contributions to the company as he is great in answering questions and such after the project completion; and then there's Ms Jo. She's just an awesome person all around. She kept us clued in to everything going on and what to expect next, and any concern we had she jumped on like a dog on a bone. I'm more than satisfied with the outcome, and if I was going to move and build another pool tomorrow I would only need to make one phone call, and that would be to Pool By Design! Highly recommended to anyone looking to build a quality pool at a reasonable price and with excellent pool professionals! read more

We moved to Charlotte in 2009 and after a few years realized that spending any quality time outside during the summer months would require a swimming pool. The other benefit from the addition of a pool would be elimination of the annual "Death of the Fescue" festival in our back yard, since any pool would have to be shoehorned into our tiny lot. We talked to multiple pool companies about our desire to create a spa-like environment with a swim-up connection to our covered porch similar to pools we have enjoyed at all-inclusive resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean. We contacted PBD and Simon, Tommy, and Ricky listened to our ideas, immediately embraced the concept and suggested feature ideas which made the plan better than we could have imagined. We added great decorative stone walls to define the space (and double as seating), squirty jets for fun, a chiller for cooling down the water in hot summers like this one, and a stone grilling area right off the kitchen. This was not our first swimming pool construction rodeo, so we knew what to expect. Building a pool is not for wimps, but in this case the end product was BY FAR the best pool we've had from a materials, technology, and design perspective. Our experience with PBD since the pool's completion has been excellent. With the help of the automation and the freeze protection, the pool runs year-round without issue. Jo is a pleasure to talk to when we need to schedule maintenance and Ricky is a magician when things need to be tweaked or repaired (which they will--it's a swimming pool!). We now use our outdoor space every weekend. We could not be more pleased and recommend Pool by Design without reservation. read more

This is the most disappointing company I've ever dealt with. Service is the worst. never a call back. The grill they put in is awful and CHEAP. pool equipment breaks and cheap. I've currently left 8 messages this week with no call back. As a business owner myself; I am in shock of the lack of customer service this company has. Once you sign the contract and give the deposit....forget about what they told you during the sale. read more

I agree with S.G.'s comments about this company. We had our pool completed over a year ago and the process was a nightmare. Our contractor who had initially recommended them later told us that they build a good product (meaning they have good subs) but that most customers complain a great deal about lack of customer service. Our contractor cautioned us to have everything in writing with this company because they will promise "everything" but will not deliver. Their prices are competitive and that is the reason we went with them but that was a mistake. Next time, we will pay a little more up front and actually get what we were promised and on time. They took infinitely longer than promised, made many, many mistakes along the way (not all of them were corrected), and the hassle and aggravations were more than anyone should have to put up with while building a pool. If you are thinking of building a pool, do your self a favor and go with another company, one that offers good customer service throughout the process. If you do decide to go with Pool by Design, drop by their office unannounced a couple of times so you can experience first hand their lack of professional behavior. You should also get EVERYTHING IN WRITING, including how long it will take to build the pool and who will be communicating with you because Ricky (person in charge of operations) will not. read more