An Open Letter to DEL VAL POOLS & SPAS

To the Owners and Staff:

We wanted to take a moment to share with you what our pool has meant to us – especially this past summer season when the risk of COVID-19 infection and transmission has curtailed so many of our activities and socializing with friends. It is worthwhile noting our journey.

We met Brian Hull, a co-owner of DEL VAL POOLS & SPAS, in early spring 2017 when we were inquiring about pool costs and design concepts for our newly purchased home. In an effort to perform due diligence, we met with three pool contractors. The first two felt very corporate, impersonal, and formulaic in their approach. We live on a lake with a slope in our backyard down to the water’s edge. We were looking for someone who recognized our desire for a pool was part of an overall design to turn our backyard into a personal oasis - and not just a hole in the ground that one filled with water. Brian was the third person we met with, and he was exactly whom we were looking for.

Brian didn’t tell us about the problems of building on a slope, nor did he show us standard forms of pools as our only options as the other pool companies had. He asked us first what we wanted to accomplish. He asked a lot of questions, made copious notes, and then started measuring which led to some rough sketches. Brian invited us to come to the store to look at some additional design options, and we were struck by the “family” feel. The staff at the counters were smiling and genuinely friendly – true brand emissaries for a family run business that we later learned was one of the largest custom, in-ground, gunite pool builders in the tri-State area.

Rather than tell us our limitations, Brian explored options with us as we sought to have a large deck area, slide, waterfalls, fire pit, and adjacent outdoor kitchen. Over several meetings, Brian showed us how DEL VAL could accomplish our goals and bring our backyard dream to life. We selected DEL VAL to be our pool builder because of how we were treated, how the staff at the store made us feel, and because Brian seemed more concerned with bringing our vision to life rather than selling us his vision of a pool. Of note, the estimate from DEL VAL was in the middle of the other two pool contractors, and their bids did not include the custom features of a sun deck, easy walk out steps, slide, and elevated waterfalls.

Naturally, pool construction began on a rainy day in June. It is probably one of the harder days for a homeowner as heavy machinery comes into one’s backyard and starts digging a hole that simultaneously looks huge from a mess standpoint, but also looks small from a swimming area perspective. While we stood outside that evening second guessing our decision of pool size and shape, Brian magically arrived to see how we felt about the opening day of digging. It was perfect timing, and he assuaged our concerns, walked around the yard with us, and jokingly guaranteed it would rain every day we were on the calendar for pool construction. Turned out he was right on that part, but here’s where Brian and DEL VAL went beyond reasonable expectations. Our goal from the beginning was to have the pool completed by July 4th for our first family pool party. The weather had set us behind schedule as Brian had predicted, but the pool machinery was operational ten days before the party - although the overall project was far from complete. A week before the party, several water trucks arrived to fill our pool so the plastering could cure properly, and DEL VAL came out twenty-four hours before our party and arranged for some creative landscaping and clean up. That wasn’t in the contract; that wasn’t in the original estimate; that wasn’t even discussed. That’s just the ethics of the Hull family, and it is clear from the top down that such is the “culture” that pervades every aspect of their business.

We have enjoyed our pool for several years, but none as much as this past summer when our pool and our outdoor kitchen became the place where we congregated as a family. COVID-19 changed a lot. Our summer traditions of travel and socializing ceased, but we spent a lot of family time in our pool hanging out and chatting. Sitting on floats watching activity on our lake, diving for weighted objects, and water tag became our favorite past-times. Cousins visited for outdoor only meals, and it was reassuring to us the CDC had made a statement that there were no known cases of COVID-19 transmission from being in a pool as chlorine is effective in killing the virus. Our pool this summer became the main place of family socialization after months of sheltering in place.

One day, mid-summer, after a day of family by and in the pool, we realized how much gratitude we had for the Hull family and all the staff at DEL VAL pools. We texted Brian expressing our gratitude that he chose us as much as we chose him. We thanked him for building our pool and all the kindnesses he has shown us since then. It was important for our family to let Brian know how much we appreciated everything he has done for us. To be clear, we hired DEL VAL and paid for the construction of a pool in 2017. It’s rare that a homeowner feels gratitude for a service performed by a contractor to the point of publicly recognizing that company, and it’s even rarer when a homeowner feels that service and that relationship becomes so valued that it feels like a privilege. That’s how we feel about the Hull family and DEL VAL POOLS.

If you’re considering a pool, we hope you read our letter. We hope that you make the same choices we made. We hope that you make the same decisions when choosing a pool builder. We hope you stay healthy and safe.

Russ and Heidi Pritchard