we recently signed a contract w Claffey (haven't started actual build yet). they were about 4-5k higher than the other 2 bids we got, but i've had two friends use them and they had positive experiences. this is our 1st pool build so i felt better about going with someone with their reputation even if it cost a little more. so far i would summarize the pros as: knowledgeable salesperson, willing to stay in a budget range, willing to itemize estimate to help with trade-offs (not just a single 'bottom line price' where you can never figure out what costs what) the only real con is that their price was higher. but with the stories i hear about less reputable PBs adding on unexpected charges during the build or failing to live up to warranty claims etc, I'll have to see what the ultimate "total cost of ownership" is to find out if it is really more expensive or not we'll see how it goes...

poolguynj and other PB's thanks again for the quick follow ups and feedback on my questions and concerns. currently the PB still has his maintenance guy coming over daily to check the chemicals, brushing etc. and adding chemicals as needed. PB said that he would do that for about a month before turning it over completely to us for maintenance. natural one, thanks for your comments on the pool build. the PB was actually there for all of the stages and on site a quite often so we felt that he was on top of everything from beginning to end. as fari as the drains, personally it doesn't bother me and kinda like the contrast but that just me. what actually bothered me more was the color of the pool cleaner, it's white with a white hose and when i asked about it our PB said that to get the black one, it would be about 300 bucks more. uh, i decided the white one didn't look bad after all! also, we had a landscaper come out last week and give us a bid for some landscaping behind the pool. it was over 6800 for landscaping that i was not even going to be able to see since the back beam is raised.....i nearly swallowed my gum when he told us the price. so we are thinking now that we will reduce the size of the bed directly behind the pool, but add perhaps some windmill palms on each end to give it some character and instead, add some beds on each end of the pool so at least we can visually enjoy some of our expenses! the sun came out today so hopefully i can post some pictures this afternoon. Thanks again everyone!!!!

"The weather is hot, but not super humid. So long as you have a big tree, a swimming pool and working A/C, you'll be fine." Oh, my gosh, I so disagree with this comment. I think Texas is unbearably hot and humid in the summers. I live in Iowa, where we typically experience very hot and humid summers, and Texas, IMHO, is 10 times worst. I made the mistake one summer of visiting my brother--who used to live in Grapevine and is now in Bedford with plans to move to Fort Worth shortly--in July. It was terrible! I vowed never to go back to TX in July and I never have. We went from A/C'ed house to A/C'ed car to A/C'ed store. We were only ever briefly out of the A/C. Of course...all this said...I LOVE going to Texas during an Iowa winter. Nothing like being able to go outside in nothing but shorts and a T-shirt in the middle of December when everyone else back home is shivering in their heavy coats!

A tale of 2 seemingly equal warranties: Certainteed-Seal failure (and there's a lot of them) customer files warranty claim. Certainteed honors warranty by shipping customer new IG unit..no sash 6 weeks after the claim is filed and approved. Customer has to find a glass shop and then pay glass shop to remove old IG unit and install new one and then install sash back into window frame. Simonton-Seal failure (a few occasionaly nothing abnormal). Simonton honors warranty and ships entire new sash, 1 week after claim is filed, ready to install. Customer can pop out old and install new one in less than 10 seconds without assistance. Simonton even includes simple to follow instructions. Sorry my math is off today. $462 isn't too bad for a double hung window assuming no grids. You may be able to get a casement for that. Are any of the openings double casements or are they all single? Sorry, I'm a window dealer with a lot of experience with different windows and there is no way I would ever recommend a Certainteed window. Your builder may be good at certain tasks but, he has very little in depth knowledge of windows. Likely because after his 5 year new home warranty expires he doesn't hear about the sashes bowing of the high seal failures on Certainteed Windows as they age. Being a RE-modeler, we are the ones who get the calls to replace 5-10 year old Certainteed (and other brand)windows. Not saying all of them fail, just saying the incidence of bowing and seal failures are higher than average with Certainteed.