It is with pleasure to take this opportunity to review and recommend E-Konomy Pool service. After 18 years I decided it was time to drain my pool and attend to routine maintenance. The water had never been changed and was 'old', and the pool sides and bottom were stained and increasingly susceptible to algae growth. I initially thought I could handle the project but wisely decided against this course of action upon subsequently finding out that I didn't know what I thought I knew about pools, their construction and their specific maintenance requirmemts. The immediate question then became who to call to do the job.
A friend of mine recommended a service she had used and after contacting them they came out, inspected the pool, and gave me an 'in-the-park' verbal offer, promising to send me a formal offer. I never received it. Next, my neighbor was having his pool completely made over and said he was happy with his people so I had two of them come over, examine the pool and got promises also for a formal offer. None came. I then called 4 other pool services, pulling their names from the Revdex.com listing. Two promised to call back when they could arrange a scheduling time to inspect the pool, but only one responded. Two others, including E-Konomy, gave me immediate inspection times over the phone. Of these four, only two actually kept their appointment - E-Konomy being one. So I remain completely baffled by the unprofessional responses of so many firms towards gaining my business.
As to the various estimates I received, verbally and written, E-Konomy was the only firm that gave me what I considered a reasonable price for the work to be done - which was 1. Drain the pool. 2. Clean the pool surfaces. 3. Refill the pool and make the necessary water adjustments. The pool surface was faced with the issue of an apparent hardened layer of grime that harbored what appeared to be an expanding colony of black algae firmly embedded therein, and increasingly resistant to chlorine. However, after draining the pool we found the black speckling not to be black algae but rather some very fine black inorganic material probably mixed in with the original plaster. As the plaster thinned over the years this material began appearing giving the impression of spreading. However, before this was known the various pool services all recommended a routine acid wash, not guaranteeing that this would cure the problem. My own thought was that this layer of grime would need to be vigorously scrapped off to get to 'fresh' underlying plaster. I was led to this because only a wood chisel sufficed to remove this material and get down to white plaster. Only E-Konomy suggested a power wash (4200 psi) as the means to get at it, which struck me immediately as the right approach, save a power sanding. E-Konomy then proposed this to be followed up with a chlorine bleaching of the cleaned surface. This all made sense to me and [redacted], of E-Konomy , accomplished these two tasks in about two hours. Upon completion [redacted] then started the re-fill, and after several days returned to adjust the water conditions.
So in sum, the entire operation took about 3 man hours of labor, plus the use of a sump pump, power washer and necessary chemicals for bleaching and water adjustment. The highest bid I received was near ten times greater than E-Konomy's!! E-Konomy not only gave me the lowest bid, they provided me with what seemed the best approach to getting at the problems I had in mind. The pool now looks great and I'm no longer swimming in pond water.
E-Konomy kept very well to their schedule, always showing up when promised. They answered and responded to my calls. [redacted], the guy who did all the work was friendly and informative. E-Konomy should give him a raise!
I am pleased with the entire venture and strongly advise that if you are planning to do anything with your pool you should at least allow E-Konomy to come have a look and make a bid.
It is with pleasure to take this opportunity to review and recommend E-Konomy Pool service. After 18 years I decided it was time to drain my pool and attend to routine maintenance. The water had never been changed and was 'old', and the pool sides and bottom were stained and increasingly susceptible to algae growth. I initially thought I could handle the project but wisely decided against this course of action upon subsequently finding out that I didn't know what I thought I knew about pools, their construction and their specific maintenance requirmemts. The immediate question then became who to call to do the job.
A friend of mine recommended a service she had used and after contacting them they came out, inspected the pool, and gave me an 'in-the-park' verbal offer, promising to send me a formal offer. I never received it. Next, my neighbor was having his pool completely made over and said he was happy with his people so I had two of them come over, examine the pool and got promises also for a formal offer. None came. I then called 4 other pool services, pulling their names from the Revdex.com listing. Two promised to call back when they could arrange a scheduling time to inspect the pool, but only one responded. Two others, including E-Konomy, gave me immediate inspection times over the phone. Of these four, only two actually kept their appointment - E-Konomy being one. So I remain completely baffled by the unprofessional responses of so many firms towards gaining my business.
As to the various estimates I received, verbally and written, E-Konomy was the only firm that gave me what I considered a reasonable price for the work to be done - which was 1. Drain the pool. 2. Clean the pool surfaces. 3. Refill the pool and make the necessary water adjustments. The pool surface was faced with the issue of an apparent hardened layer of grime that harbored what appeared to be an expanding colony of black algae firmly embedded therein, and increasingly resistant to chlorine. However, after draining the pool we found the black speckling not to be black algae but rather some very fine black inorganic material probably mixed in with the original plaster. As the plaster thinned over the years this material began appearing giving the impression of spreading. However, before this was known the various pool services all recommended a routine acid wash, not guaranteeing that this would cure the problem. My own thought was that this layer of grime would need to be vigorously scrapped off to get to 'fresh' underlying plaster. I was led to this because only a wood chisel sufficed to remove this material and get down to white plaster. Only E-Konomy suggested a power wash (4200 psi) as the means to get at it, which struck me immediately as the right approach, save a power sanding. E-Konomy then proposed this to be followed up with a chlorine bleaching of the cleaned surface. This all made sense to me and [redacted], of E-Konomy , accomplished these two tasks in about two hours. Upon completion [redacted] then started the re-fill, and after several days returned to adjust the water conditions.
So in sum, the entire operation took about 3 man hours of labor, plus the use of a sump pump, power washer and necessary chemicals for bleaching and water adjustment. The highest bid I received was near ten times greater than E-Konomy's!! E-Konomy not only gave me the lowest bid, they provided me with what seemed the best approach to getting at the problems I had in mind. The pool now looks great and I'm no longer swimming in pond water.
E-Konomy kept very well to their schedule, always showing up when promised. They answered and responded to my calls. [redacted], the guy who did all the work was friendly and informative. E-Konomy should give him a raise!
I am pleased with the entire venture and strongly advise that if you are planning to do anything with your pool you should at least allow E-Konomy to come have a look and make a bid.