BAYSIDE POOL SVC INC

We used Bayside Pool Services because they were a certified Aquaguard epoxy coating applicator. When Bayside first came out to estimate the job they were personable, and appeared to know what they were doing. The estimator repeatedly stated they had 30 years experience in the pool business. I did not think it necessary to check up on them as they were referred to us by Aquaguard. I now wish we had. If you do decide to use their services, there are some things you should know to not end up with the experience we had.
) Warranties and Waivers. When the job was bid they said the epoxy coating carried a ten-year warranty. To this day we do not have a written warranty. I suggest you get a written warranty before you give them a deposit. After we had given them thousands of dollars in deposit money and the pool was drained, they called us to say the epoxy was warranted for the fiberglass pool walls, but because our pool had a concrete bottom we would have to sign a warranty waiver before they would continue. When I saw the waiver it was for the entire pool, and I had to have them change the waiver to apply to the concrete floor only. After the job, they would not furnish a written warranty for the fiberglass. This seemed unusual so I contacted the Aquaguard company. On their web page they state the epoxy coating can be applied over concrete surfaces. I told them about my experience, and asked for a copy of their product guarantee which they did not provide.  They said the job was warranted by the applicator and not them. We have no written warranty to this day.
Words of advice if you?re planning to use Bayside/Green Turtle Pool Services?Tell them up front you want to sign all necessary waivers before the commencement of the job. Otherwise you will be presented with several waivers during the job. Our first one came when they started draining the pool. They wanted a liability release waiver after our deposit but before they started draining. Then the warranty waiver followed. Then a waiver for the coating color we selected. (light blue). Make sure you pick a color for the grout and coating before the job. If we had not followed up and asked questions, we would have a white pool. We also ended up with sandstone color coping pavers with white grout in between the sandstone pavers. My wife calls them tiger stripes. They did not offer color choices. I guess it was up to us to ask for a sandstone grout to blend with the sandstone pavers. We had to go to the pool supply house to pick out the wall tile and pavers. They had no samples. That should have been a red flag, but we liked the people and believed this to be the norm for the pool business.
) Pay for the materials after the job and pay only for what is used. We paid up front for what they measured and ordered, and we ended up with an additional 112 coping pavers. They assumed no responsibility for over ordering and would not take them back. Neither would their supplier. Paul at Bayside said to keep them in case we needed a future repair. When they estimated the job they measured the pool. You would think that after 30 years in the business they would know how many pavers were needed once they measured the pool. I was wrong.
) Expect them not to know much about filter equipment and pumps. We have a DE filter that needs to be backwashed regularly. I thought that when they drained the pool, they  would do it by running the water out through the backwash valve on the filter. They did not. I found that they skipped this step about a week after they started, and this is what the filter looked like when I opened to clean it. Those filter grids should be white. Instead they are caked with the dirt filtered out of the water.
I did clean it so that our newly painted pool would not start out with a filter full of dirt.
See Photo of filter
Our pool is nine feet deep in the deepest part. After it was drained and the bottom drain plug removed, ground water would seep in and had to be constantly pumped to keep the bottom dry. I came home from work one day to find what Bayside calls their "de-watering" pump installed. This is just an old hayward pool pump meant for circulating pool water, not for pumping out a nine foot deep sump. The pump does not have enough suction to raise water that high. In order to keep it pumping Bayside decided to use my well water and have it flow into the suction side of the pump, 24 hours a day, every day until the job was done. Our well water was not that good before the job, and now it looks like tea after pumping the well continuously for more than two weeks.  I don't know how they can call themselves pool contractors if they don't have the proper equipment required by pool contractors. Here is how they had it rigged up.
See Pump Photo
Those brown blocks on either side are two of our leftover pavers they used to block up the pump and keep it working. That's a large PVC suction line coming out of the pump and reduced down to garden hose size, and that's a garden hose leading from the pump to our pool drain. Not only is our electric and well water being supplied to the pump, the red garden hose on the left that we use on the deck is connected to the pump suction. Expect these guys to use whatever you leave out for them including patio chairs, etc...
) Get ready for unexpected expenses. When we got close to the day the pool was to be filled Bayside called and asked where the filters could be delivered. They had not discussed this with me before. They said since we had well water it needed to be filtered when the pool was filled from our well and that they would just charge us what the filter company will charge them, $750. I called another filter company and they said the filters were carbon filters and that it cost $350. I told Bayside that if it was not covered in the quote, then they should not do that specific item and give us an additional bill for it. I also had to do that with pool ladders and deck mounts they said were not sturdy. I asked if the ladders were there when they quoted and they responded that they were. I then told them to do with them what they planned to do when they bid the job.
Just be sure you ask what the scope of work is and what is included and agree to a price before you sign the contract. This is from the start of draining to the completion of filling. By the way, this is what it looks like when Bayside grouts in a ladder. They did not clean around the deck holes or even try to match the color of the deck. I wish I had just kept the original Smith mounting hardware and not agreed to let them grout the ladder in. They told me that in their 30 years of experience, grouting is the best way. Judge for yourself if this is what your work looks like after 30 years of expertise.  It does, however, match the tiger stripes in the pavers.
See Ladder Photo
) Ask about the durability of the epoxy and if there are any special water chemistry requirements and if you can use your pool cleaner. At the end of the job they gave us a long sheet of information about water chemistry and how any damage from poor water chemistry was not covered under the warranty. I guess since we never got a warranty this is not a big concern for us.
We paid the premium price of $16,800 for this job, about what I have seen for smaller new complete pools. It was an expensive lesson. Please learn from our experience and be proactive with whatever company does the work.

unknown

Paul and staff at Bayside pool did a outstanding job on our pool. The pool is approximately 24 years old and the surface had worn down in large spots to the fiberglass undercoat. The floor of the pool looked like it was always dirty. The staff showed up as scheduled each day and we're very polite to my family. They covered all of my pool deck as to not cause any staining or damage to it. As it turned out, my pool required a bit more work than they expected, however, they did all the required work for the quoted price. Bayside went above and beyond what my expectations were and delivered a superior product. My pool never looked better! It is hard to find a company that works on fiberglass pools and I have learned a lot from this project. If you are considering having any work done to you pool I strongly recommend calling these guys first. I feel that I got my money's worth now that my pool is completed and my family is very happy with the results.

John J Nesteruk
Loxahatchee Florida

The leak had caused bulging in our pool. They jack hammered into the ground to fix the issue. It took they 7-8 days. It took a little longer and extra work. They were extremely professional, efficient. Don was in charge, and he made sure that they were extremely careful, as if it was their own home. It took a cement truck, and digging in trenches to get everything fixed properly. I can not say enough about how good they were. They worked extremely hard. They did a beautiful job. Everything is working beautifully. I would use them again in a New York second. The main men in the office came out several times to talk with us. They cleaned up every time they left. Our pool pump had not been working, and they even came out to repair that. I would consider them artists. We had been looking for a very long time for a company that we felt confident could do our job.  We were very pleased when we talked to Mark at Bayside and heard of their experience with fiberglass pools. This job was a very difficult one.  The workers put in long hard hours and days, but it went perfectly.  Everyone involved treated this project like it was their own home.  The efficiency and attention to detail of the foreman, Don, was remarkable and something you don't see that often.  All the laborers took care to express perfection in every phase of the project - we prefer to think of them as artist rather than laborers.  Everyone we dealt with, including Mark, Paul and Kristin, were a pleasure to do business with.  They were professional, friendly and very accommodating.  We value the honesty and integrity the company exemplifies and would not hesitate to use them again if needed.

The installer was very unprofessional throughout the process. The office manager, Kristen Barton was always professional on the phone, but the actual work and professionalism of the company itself was horrific. On all their visits to our house we would ask for an approx. appointment time and they could never give 1. They would always say the worker would call before coming out and he never did on ANY of their numerous trips to our property. On the 1st appointment, they didn't show up on the original scheduled date and didn't call until the entire day had passed to let us know they wouldn't make it. We rescheduled for 2 days later, the soonest available time. After a quick evaluation they said we needed a new Motor, citing the same reasons our pool guy had given us. We scheduled another appointment for the installation, which of course they once again missed without phonecall.     We were very clear when given the choice between a new or used motor that we wanted a new motor and were quoted as such. However, the motor that was installed did not appear new. It had significant scuff marks and even a dent on the casing and no visible information about the manufacturer of this motor. We also had a filter installed and the filter looked fresh out of the box, no problems with it. We asked for a copy of the manufacturers warranty on the motor because it looked so worn and the lack of info on it. They told us they would mail it to us and never did.  A month later, after we called again about the warranty, in a personal letter from the office manager Kristen Barton  claimed the manufacturer "did not offer a registered warranty" but that Bayside would stand behind the product and it's instillation for 1 year.
.  3 months later our pool guy came to us saying the motor was running extremely loud when it 1st came on in the morning, informing us that it should not sound like this. We called Bayside and they sent a rep out to look over the motor. Once again, they missed the original scheduled day and didn't call until the day had passed claiming their work guy "was sick."  We rescheduled and once again they could not give us any sort of window appointment time, just an entire day approximation. The repair man showed up while we were not home and left us no paperwork showing if he had done anything. In fact, if not for the change to the timer, and the fact that the motor was running quieter I would not have known anyone was there. After  a couple weeks the motor again began running loudly again, so much so that it was a problem with the neighbors. It begin doing it all day, not just when the motor 1st came on. Initially when we called and left a message they didn't call back. Later, when the the problem escalated we called again and they said they would come out and have another look. We wanted to be home for this appointment so we waited the day out and after the day was almost over the worker called and informed us that if  they needed to replace it, there would be a $125 charge for labor. This was their 3rd visit to the house about this motor and they never once mentioned this on any previous visit.  Having already been put through the ringer with this company I did not agree to pay this since it was clear to me they were not standing behind their work. I would rather have someone else do the installation if the motor needs replacing which is an option they gave me. However, upon hearing that I would not pay them for the re-installation of a new motor, that I would rather use someone else for the labor  they refused to even come to the house to evaluate the motor for repair, despite it STILL being under the 1 year warranty promised by the letter from the office manager Kristen Barton.

My pool was leaking about 3 inches of water per day. I  was referred to Bayside Pool Services by the company I used to find the leaks because they work on fiberglass pools, and my pool is a concrete pool with a fiberglass coating.  Paul came right out and he had the report from the company that found the leaks, so he knew exactly what he was dealing with.  He inspected the pool and measured and within a day or two I had an estimate for the work that needed to be done.  Once the tile I picked out came in they started work on Monday and by Thursday afternoon I was filling the pool.
I was very impressed by the meticulous care taken when removing the old tile so that the pool deck and the fiberglass coating wouldn't be damaged.  Everyone I dealt with was very friendly, courteous and professional and I was very pleased with the work that was performed.  The pool looks great and it's holding water again