If you have been considering putting in a swimming pool at your home, you probably already know that there are many things to consider and a lot of decisions to be made.

Building a swimming pool in Montana is not something that you do on a whim. It takes planning to get it done correctly and the last thing you want to do is find out that you hired the wrong pool builder after the fact!

With that in mind, here are some tips and things to consider when looking for a pool builder in Montana.

The expertise of the company you hire will play a huge role in the final product that you end up with, so you need to do your due diligence when deciding on a builder. Some builders do it all, and some specialize, so whether you are thinking of a vinyl liner, concrete or a fiberglass pool, it is important to make sure you hire the right builder for the job.

• Make sure the company is fully licensed and insured. This sounds like an elementary point, but you need to make sure that the builder you hire is qualified and prepared to build your pool. Along with that, find our about their level of experience. The number of years that they have been in business is important. Most business like pool building will fail within the first several years, so if they have been around for a while, chances are good that they do excellent work.
• Ask for references. Customer references are one of the most important bits of information that you can find about any potential builder. If they are professional, they probably have references on hand, ready to go when asked, but you should also be able to research the company online through Yelp and other various online rating services. The opinions of other people can be quite valuable when it comes to finding out who you will be working with for your project.
• Speaking of reviews. When you check out online reviews, obviously you are looking for positive reviews, but if there does happen to be a negative review or two, look to see how the company responded to the negative review. This will give you some insight as to how they handle potential problems and issues that make arise during a project. If they responded in a professional manner, you can figure that they will professionally resolve any problems that you may have. If they did not, the pool builders may not be somebody that you want to work with. You can learn a lot about a person when they respond to a potential issue or problem.
• Check out what products the builder uses. Make sure that the products are safe and also back by good warranty. A swimming pool is not a temporary structure and you want to make sure that yours is being built with the highest quality products available in your price range. Again, you don’t want to find out 3 years down the line that your pool builders used shoddy products or products that would not hold up over time.
• Does the builder warranty their work? Not only should the products used have a good warranty, so should the work that the builder does. Find out what the duration of the warranty is and what exact that warranty covers. What if a repair is needed? Who covers the parts and who covers the labor? Make sure you know what you are getting into and that the terms of the warranty are clearly spelled out.
• Design and planning is important! Any swimming pool builder that you use should present a fully diagrammed plan to you before beginning any work. Things like the exact location and dimensions of the pool should be made clear from the beginning. Where the pump and filter are located are important points. Having an access lane for construction is something that you need to know ahead of time. Your pool will probably be built in your backyard. Make sure you know how the builder is going to access the backyard as they are building it.
• Obviously the pricing of your project is extremely important. You don’t want any surprises coming up half way through the job. Not only is the price important, so are things like completion dates. You may have completion dates for various stages of your project depending upon the complexity and you need to know that your builder is not only aware of them, but will stick with them. Nothing is more annoying that a project that continually suffers from delay after delay.

One final point is to just make sure you are comfortable with the person/persons that you will be working with. Swimming pools are not built in a day, so chances are you will be working with this company over several weeks or even months. The owner or foreman will be the person that you have the most contact with.

Make sure that you get along with this person and feel comfortable approaching him or her about any questions you may have or about any potential issues that may arise. If you don’t feel like the person is approachable in the beginning, you can be sure that they won’t be any more approachable as the project goes on.

It is not necessary that you become buddies with pool builders, but it is necessary that you have a good working relationship with them and can relay any thoughts or concerns to them at any time.