How do I get a hold of the subcontractors that build pools? Is there a list?
Question:I would like to save some money by cutting out the middleman-a.k.a. the pool company itself which does little or no work; rather, they just have a list of subcontractors that do the individual jobs (excavation, gunite, rebar, ect) and they hike the bill up about 10k. Informative answers only please-the world is too crowded for idiocy.
Answers:
Business-to-Business Yellow Pages, Consumer Yellow Pages, Material Supply yards (often a bulletin board of biz cards, as well as asking the counter guys who's reputable), and other Subs.
The Subs all know each other, because they work together every day. Once you find one Sub you're comfortable with, he'll be your best source for finding the other trades.
When looking at bids, remember the maxim about throwing out the high and the low bid and then comparing what's left. Everyone's got pretty much the same costs. So if you've got one guy who's significantly lower than the rest, 10-to-1 odds there's something wrong with that bid - either he's intentionally low-balling and he's going to hit you with change orders, or he's incompetent, or he under bid his last job and he's desperate for cash flow so he can finish that one - sort of the contractor's version of kiting checks, and you may be the job he finally walks away from with his upfront money.
Never pay a contractor in full up front -- always use a payment schedule tied to project milestones, and always keep a 10% holdback until the project clears final inspection.
Look in the phone book under "Pools" then when you call around, ask the companies who they use.
look it up on yellowpages.com or in the phone book under pools or subcontractors
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