The 2022 PHTA Builder of the Year shares top tips for service providers looking to get into pool construction

When Kyle Chaikin began building pools, he dove in head-first. He had been servicing pools for more than a decade and just completed his first renovations when a long-time customer asked him to build his hotel pool. “I told him I had never done it before, but I would sure like to try,” he says.

With the customer’s support, he built his first pool. Not long after, Chaikin found himself with two more hotel jobs and his service company progressing into the construction space — a move he says he never intentionally planned.

Fast-forward past a merger in 2011, and Chaikin is now president of Long Island, New York-based Chaikin Ultimate Pools and was named the 2022 Builder of the Year by the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA). His company still services pools under the business arm The Ultimate in Pool Care, and Chaikin himself oversees residential and commercial builds — many of them high-end — on the construction side.

To build or not to build

For both service companies and builders alike, the grass often seems greener on the other side. Builders often turn to service to maintain business with customers they built pools for, but the draw from service to construction is just as strong.

“There’s always a push to get into construction from the service side,” says Chaikin. “Sometimes it works out great. In my case, it seems to have worked out, and we’re very happy, and I know lots of companies that have done it.”

However, Chaikin advises that service companies weigh the pros and cons of making the change carefully, as the big jobs in construction can mean “big money, but also bigger headaches.”

“There’s always something, there’s always an issue, whether it’s with a piece of equipment or not being able to get a piece of equipment, or perhaps even the timing of it,” he says.

Scheduling projects can be especially challenging on the commercial side, where you often must meet the demands of customers while at the mercy of general contractors’ timetables.

However, while the world of construction can bring big risks, it can also yield big rewards.

“Monetarily, if you’re doing it well and doing it right, there’s money to be made by being a good builder who does the job properly and on time,” says Chaikin.

How to build a construction business

For those service companies determined to make it big as builders, Chaikin shares his top tips for getting started and ramping up.

Tip #1: Get the prerequisites first.

“The best advice I can give is to go through the proper channels,” Chaikin says. Before starting, you’ll want to have the necessary education, license, experience, and insurance needed to build safely and properly.

• Education and licensure — You will want to obtain and maintain the Certified Builder Professional (CBP) certification if you are to build pools that are economic, efficient, and safe, according to Chaikin. You can earn all four levels of certification, from CBP to Master CBP, through the PHTA GENESIS® education program.
• Experience — “Classrooms are great, but get out in the field and check it out first,” says Chaikin. If you’re starting at square one, his advice is to subcontract out a builder and observe the job start to finish until you can understand and avoid common obstacles yourself.
• Insurance — Make sure your insurance will cover construction work. The insurance you need to build pools is not the same as the insurance needed to run a business or service pools.

Tip #2: Get the proper people in place.

Ensuring you have the correct workers building your projects is critical, as the pool of qualified skilled builders is currently small.

“If you’re building a swimming pool these days, even in a backyard, you need a pretty high level of knowledge to make sure that you’re building it properly and engineering it correctly,” he says.

As safety is paramount, you’ll want to make sure those who are building the pool and overseeing the build know all the building codes in the jurisdiction in which you are working. Be aware that commercial and residential codes are quite different. The laws will vary in different locations as well. For example, in New York an engineer is required to design all the hydraulics and structural components of commercial pools.

Tip #3: Get pricing right.

Supply chain issues have begun to resolve, but builders are still dealing with some unexpected price increases for materials. Chaikin says including escalation clauses or force majeure in building contracts can help provide financial relief. However, this can be difficult on the commercial side.

“These general contractors and developers have become savvy, if not shark-like,” he says, adding that most will refuse escalation clauses and look for someone else.

If you cannot protect against escalation, you will need to make sure that all parties stay on schedule, so your project is priced properly. You can limit your liability by getting a substantial completion date.

Tip #4: Get involved in the industry.

Chaikin says his involvement in the industry has been the most beneficial thing for his business. This means committing to continuous learning, as well as helping to teach others.

“If all our peers are doing the same education tracks, the more knowledgeable everybody is, the better educated everybody is, then the better the industry will be.”

Photo Credit to Chaikin Ultimate Pools

Hayward®, a leading manufacturer of pool products, has launched an enticing new program called “Get Paid to Upgrade,” aimed at pool servicers, technicians, and builders. The initiative rewards these professionals with a $50 payment for each installation of a qualifying Hayward product, replacing a competitor’s pump, heater, filter, or other select equipment. The campaign not only benefits pool contractors by providing an additional revenue stream but also demonstrates Hayward’s commitment to supporting pool repair companies and their clients.

Hayward’s “Get Paid to Upgrade” program has been designed to be effortless and efficient for pool technicians. Participants can access the program website, www.Promotions.Hayward.com, through any mobile device or desktop. Pool techs are required to enter their email address, upload before and after installation photos, provide the new Hayward product’s serial number, and answer a few questions. Once the verification process is approved, Hayward offers a choice of a $50 digital reward from a variety of partner options, ranging from food and home improvement to electronics and outdoors.

The “Get Paid to Upgrade” campaign encompasses a broad selection of Hayward’s pool products, including pumps, filters, heaters, sanitization systems, water features, lighting, and more. This extensive lineup offers contractors a range of options to upgrade their customers’ pools, while simultaneously earning rewards for their efforts.

A Win-Win for Pool Contractors

Pool contractors like Scott Reynolds, owner of Purpose Pools in Las Vegas, have found the “Get Paid to Upgrade” program to be a boon for their businesses. Currently, his firm ranks second in the nation for submissions to the program. Reynolds described the initiative as a “no-brainer”.

“It’s an opportunity to generate some additional revenue and also to serve our clients,” said Reynolds, “what we do is take the rebates and use them as bonuses for our team members. At times, we’ve also used that bonus to discount certain Hayward products for seniors on a budget. It’s a great representation of how well Hayward supports pool repair companies like ours and of course, the clients that we serve.”

“We’re working together with Hayward on our local community outreach program,” said Reynolds. “We make donations regularly here in the Las Vegas area to local charities and nonprofits. Specifically, there is this one initiative called Project 150, where we’re helping underprivileged high school students get ready for this upcoming school year. Hayward was quick to jump in and get involved and are matching a large donation that we’re making to help some kids out before school starts,” said Reynolds, elaborating on ways his firm is collaborating with Hayward at a local level.

Listen to our entire conversation with Scott Reynolds on the Pool Magazine podcast.

Reynolds certainly isn’t the only one leveraging the rewards offered by Hayward. Pool companies like his are taking advantage of ways they can boost team morale by using the earned bonuses to incentivize their technicians. Moreover, companies are also passing these rewards on to homeowners, enabling them to offer discounts to those homeowners in need.

The success of the “Get Paid to Upgrade” program reflects Hayward’s commitment to supporting pool repair companies. By offering rewards for upgrading customers to their premium pool products, Hayward helps pool technicians expand their offerings and enhance customer satisfaction. The program not only strengthens business relationships but also fosters a sense of collaboration between Hayward and pool contractors.

Hayward’s “Get Paid to Upgrade” program is proving to be a popular program for pool contractors, providing them with an opportunity to earn additional income while delivering top-notch products and services to their clients. The program’s ease of use and broad range of eligible products make it an attractive proposition for pool technicians looking to upgrade their customers’ pools. Moreover, the rewards earned through the program foster goodwill and enable contractors to support their team members and provide discounts to clients in need. As pool contractors continue to cash in on this beneficial campaign, Hayward’s commitment to supporting the industry remains unwavering, further solidifying its position as a leader in the pool products market.

When it comes to the installation of pool tile, few others in the industry have the wealth of experience and know-how that Jimmy Reed of Rock Solid Tile possesses. His innate ability to create stunningly beautiful tile interiors has helped propel him as one of the leading installers working today. As a recognized expert on the subject, he also knows a few things about adhering to the proper methods and best practices. Consequently, a recent video he posted on social media has generated quite a stir among other contractors and highlights why certain pool tile failures occur.

To get a better understanding of exactly what went wrong in the video, we caught up with Jimmy Reed at the Western Pool & Spa Show in Long Beach to get the full story as well as pick his brain about how to prevent failures like the one he demonstrates in this video.

“This particular project we actually originally bid to perform the installation on several years earlier. It was for a completely different general contractor and pool builder at the time,” explained Reed.

“I was called onto the project by the newer owner, and therefore, a new general contractor and owners rep and so forth. It was a completely different team by the time I was revisiting the project. What happened with the project though was it was failing throughout. The short little clip in the video really only showed a small portion of the spa, but that was consistent throughout the entire pool not just the spa,” said Reed.

Analyzing a Catastrophic Pool Tile Failure

In the video, you can see him pulling large chunks of tile off with his fingers with a minimal amount of effort. This was a disastrous failure where the pool tile had not properly bonded and was absorbing and retaining water.

“The thin-set is soft and gooey. It’s a modified thin-set,” said Reed in the video explaining why this particular failure occurred. “It probably wasn’t cured right. There are ridge marks everywhere. They didn’t knock down the ridges in the thin-set so they probably didn’t get 100% coverage. There’s only probably 50-60% coverage on the back of the tile. The thin-set didn’t bond to the concrete. That’s the bottom line,” explained Reed, “I don’t even see a waterproofing membrane. It looks like they applied thin-set directly to the float.”

Disastrous Pool Tile Failures Can Be a Costly Lesson

Failures of this nature can be enormously costly. “This was a fairly large free-form pool up in Beverly Hills, a little bit above Sunset, so it was in a hilly area. This pool had probably between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet of tile material that, of course, had to be completely removed. Let’s say it’s 2,500 sqft. That would be close to between $50,000 and $75,000, just for materials; and then labor for doing something like that would depend on the installer.” said Reed.

No matter what the client ultimately paid, it would appear from the catastrophic failure witnessed in the video, that it was too much. “The mortar bed was completely saturated and delaminating from the shell as you can see in the video which was just the tile layer peeling right off. There was literally no bonding between the thin-set and the substrate,” explained Reed, “all I had to do was use a screwdriver that the contractor that was there provided me with. It just opened right up and gushed out water that it was holding behind all the tile.”

Identifying The Source of The Problem

“Visually they saw bubbles. When you pushed on the bubbles, air would come out of these big lumps in the tile surface. All you had to do was push on it and things would start flying around. It was pretty bad,” remarked Reed.

“As I recall, there was no evidence of any waterproof membrane. That also tells me that there definitely wasn’t any type of colloidal silicate sprayed on the surface. The float that was applied looked to me to be very uneven and not laid out properly and it was just a very sloppy installation process from what I saw. There were grooves throughout and a lot of trail notch marks below the surface of the pool tile itself. You want to avoid that type of thing,” said Reed.

Learning The Proper Installation Technique

Because Reed sees so many failures in his line of work, we asked him where pool tile contractors could learn the proper methods of installation. “As far as the correct process, I mean, there’s a whole list of steps that goes into that type of installation from the shell out. It’s unfortunate that there aren’t a lot of places that I know of that specifically that train and walk contractors through the proper steps to do a full application,” said Reed.

“I believe Watershape University is working on something at the moment, and I may be participating with them in the near future. Also, Ask The Masters is a really good forum for professionals to inquire and share. But like any other learned trade, mentorship and experience is critical.” said Reed.

Want to take a deeper dive? Listen to our entire conversation with master tile installer, Jimmy Reed on the Pool Magazine podcast.