from: UPCLOSE Magazine
Platinum Pools are Idiot Proof
by: Buffy Billis
Don’t get
Scott Waldo wrong. He’s not calling his clients idiots! He just
wants folks to know that delivering the best quality, with the
easiest maintenance for your pool are not options at Platinum Pools…
It’s just the way it is. Scott knows you want your pool to mean
years of relaxation and fun, not just another chore! And all this
fun and peace of mind comes at a not so platinum price!
Born and
raised in this area, Scott has worked every phase of the pool
business for twenty years, beginning with construction crews,
working up to sales and management. In fact he spent a year and a
half as vice president of a pool company in Nigeria! “Managing
several large companies in Houston only served to teach me that
there had to be a better way to do it,” Scott tell us, “a way for
the customer to come first!”
Scott was
right! And customers love coming first, because in the 3 short years
since Scott founded Platinum Pools they’ve shot to one of the
largest pool building in Texas. “The main reason is, Platinum Pools
can prove the difference between our product and the competition!”
says Scott.
Confidence in Platinum Pools begins with a client’s initial exposure
to the company. During a free consultation a representative goes
through the process step by step, detailing every phase of
construction, details that prove the difference. Call anyone from a
list of over 280 references (40% of Platinum’s business comes from
referrals) and check with the Better Business Bureau, Platinum is a
silver member! Also, Platinum employees have over 170 years of
combined experience in pool construction.
Once
you’ve chosen Platinum the only thing controlling your fantasies if
your pocketbook. Platinum also helps there with financing that
averages $10 per thousand, per month. “Whatever you can imagine,
Platinum Pools can build!” Scott promises. “Remember, designs can
look alike and not be built the same. Any company can offer an
exotic backyard paradise, but with Platinum Pools you’ll still be
enjoying it many years from now.”
His peers
elected Scott a past president of the National Spa and Pool
Institute, an organization that sets standards for the pool
industry. That says a lot about the man who stands behind your
Platinum Pool. Visit www.platinumpools.com for more information
about the company or call one of our locations.
Back to Articles
from: UPCLOSE Magazine
Now and Then... Platinum Pools
by: Janet Gonser
A
daredevil 5-year-old, a curious 3-year-old, a babe-in-arms and a
desire to create a back yard paradise with the focus on a family
pool…. It’s a situation Platinum Pool designers are met with more
often than not. “We want a water slide for the kids, steps so they
can climb out easily and please don’t make it too deep.” Those “now”
requirements are what young parents dwell on, but what about “then”?
After all, it is a Platinum Pool representative with whom they’re
meeting, guaranteeing they will be enjoying that pool for many
seasons to come!
The
obvious “then” would arrive with the teenage years, when kids want
to dive and cavort and need a deep area for their brand of play. But
“then” could come much sooner, especially if a family member happens
to be a small pet or an elderly person. Tragedies happen when a
beloved pet tried to drink out of the pool, tumbles in and isn’t
able to get out. A shallow shelf designed in at one or both ends
prevents that heartache. And what if Granny came to visit and
couldn’t enjoy a refreshing swim because there was no handrail to
assist her entrance and egress from the pool?
“Then”
might occur when mom overdoes it at the gym and wishes they’d
included the therapeutic jets of a spa or decades later when
arthritis is sneaking up on dad and he longs for a soak in that spa.
“The point is,” explains designer, Ward Miller, “Clients should not
lose sight of the fact that, as a family matures, its needs change.
We help them look at the whole picture.” “We create a complete
backyard plan for now and the future,” adds Scott Waldo, founder of
Platinum Pools.
Scott and
his crews can build features into their pools with confidence,
knowing Platinum quality is also built in, a promise that the pool
will still be providing carefree pleasure many years from now. And
the pool will never become a chore, because the easiest maintenance
is also built in.
Twenty
years of experience, working every phase of the pool business from
construction crew to sale and management was an enlightening
experience for Scott Waldo. “Managing several large companies in
Houston only served to teach me that there had to be a batter way to
do it,” says Scott, “a way for the customer to come first!”
Customers apparently enjoy coming first. In the four years Platinum
Pools has been on the landscape it has rocketed to #2 in the Houston
market and now has two stores in the Dallas metroplex. We’ve
featured several enthusiastic endorsements in the previous articles
about Platinum Pools. Here are a few more that were emailed to Scott
recently:
“A lady
asked my neighbor about her pool, but she couldn’t recommend her
pool company. So she called me, because I was so happy with
Platinum. I gave this lady your business card and she did go with
your company. Good news travels fast!”
–The Stam Family
“The
sales representative was very knowledgeable and friendly. He was
honest with us and never pushy. We had several bids before talking
to him, but as soon as he left, my husband and I knew that we had
found our ‘man’!”
–The Aguillon Family
“The
superintendent who oversees all the contractors does an excellent
job! He always returned my calls very quickly and was very
professional in making sure my questions were answered and things
were done in an orderly fashion.”
–The Callahan Family
“I was
amazed at how fast the construction of the pool went after the hole
was dug. When I finally win the lottery and build my dream house,
you can be sure that it will have a Platinum Pool in the backyard!”
–The Marchisio Family
Scott
likes to tell the story of a client who, when checking the
references of another company, had people telling her they wished
they had gone with Platinum Pools! It’s just what happens when a
company tries harder and can prove the difference between their
product and the competitor’s. “If you compare apples to apples we
come out ahead every time!” promises Scott. “We can beat any other
pool on price, quality and reputation!”
Based on
that reputation and Scott’s past presidency of the National Spa and
Pool Institute, Scott’s a resident expert on KSEV, AM 700’s Backyard
Bay Program. Tune in Saturday afternoons at 3:00 and call in for
great pool advice, whether you’re considering building or trouble
shooting a pool-related problem. Call Platinum Pools at 281-870-1600
or visit them on the web at www.platinumpools.com.
Back to Articles
from: UPCLOSE Magazine
No longer Jed Clampett's Cement Pond!
by: Buffy Billis
You
remember Jed. Well, maybe you don’t if your still wet behind the
ears. He was a “Beverly Hillbilly”, amazed to find a cement pond
behind his new mansion when he struck it rich. Pools were far from
the norm back then. The rectangular body of sparkling water was the
epitome of glamour…. IF you could balance the chemicals properly and
keep up with the cleaning regimen. A window seat on an airplane
tells a different story today: a bird’s eye view reveals the
multitude of backyard pools that dot the landscape of every large
city! BUT are all those pool owners enjoying carefree, low
maintenance sources of refreshing fun? They would be if it were a
Platinum Pool!
Area
native, Scott Waldo, has built an unimpeachable reputation for
Platinum Pools by observing how Not to run a pool company while
working for others in the past. It took 20 years of working every
phase of the industry, planning how he would do it all differently,
before he dove into Platinum. “Managing several large companies in
Houston only served to teach me there had to be a better way to do
it, a way where the customer always comes first,” says Scott.
Delighted Platinum Pool owners have often sung Scott’s praises in
UPCLOSE and even more frequently to their friends, proving Scott’s
instincts were right!
In less
than 5 years Platinum has emerged a solid #2 in the Houston market
and is making a splash in the Dallas metroplex! “The main reason is
Platinum Pools can prove the difference between our product and the
competition!” Scott promises. Confidence in Platinum Pools begins
with the customers initial exposure during a free consultation. The
representative goes through the construction process step by step,
detailing every phase, proving the difference.
Next,
feel free to call anyone on a list of 300 references and check with
the Better Business Bureau. No problem there! They are a Silver
member! And Platinum employees have over 170 years of experience in
pool construction.
From
there it’s up to your fantasies and bank account and Platinum can
help with both. Financing averages $10 per thousand and whatever you
can imagine, Platinum will build! Your options are only limited when
it comes to quality and maintenance…..the best quality and the
easiest maintenance! “When you compare apples to apples with the
competition, we always come out ahead on price,” says Scott.
Platinum’s designers will seem a little nosey about your lifestyle,
but that’s just so you won’t have any regrets or shoulda,-coulda’s
in the future. Too often customers focus on the here and now rather
than what the family’s requirements might be later.
And Jed’s
plain old concrete doesn’t cut it anymore. Among many other
decorative choices, there’s hydrazzo, a liquid marble that can be
polished, and sun stone pearl, and millions of tiny pebbles
throughout the bottom of the pool. An exciting lighting option is
one that rotates through a rainbow spectrum and can be stopped on
any color you choose.
If you
like to sunbathe and entertain around the pool, plan for plenty of
deck space for lounge chairs, and to keep cool, maybe add a tanning
shelf in the pool where you can tan in two to three inches of water.
One of the trendiest new pool treatments is negative edging: just a
natural ending of the pool sides. And there are beach entries:
instead of steps, you simply walk into the pool, getting gradually
deeper with each step.
“I knew a
couple who wanted their swimming pool to look like the sky at
night,” says Scott. “They had 2500 tiny fiber optic lights installed
in the interior of their pool. When you look into their pool at
night – it looks just like the sky, full of stars!” Whatever
features customers decide on, they can be sure there’ll be no
grumbling by the family member who draws the short straw when it
comes to maintenance. The pool cleans itself and releases chemicals
when a timer tells it to! What that adds up to is what the pool was
intended for: family fun and relaxation for everyone!
To get
started on your backyard paradise or even if all you want is a
“ceement pond”, call Platinum Pools at 281-870-1600 or check out
their web address at www.platinumpools.com.
Back to Articles
from: Houston's Best
Pooling Your Resources
by: Kathryn Cooper Easterly
Houston’s
Scott Waldo is to swimming pools what Tom Tynan is to home
remodeling. If you haven’t heard Waldo on his radio show (700 AM
KSEV every Saturday from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.) you’re missing out on the
latest in new pools and the coolest options for revamping your old
one. Waldo also does a guest spot on Emily Atkins’ TV segment at
least once each summer, speaking on pool side child-safety, and has
a Child Safety page on his Platinum Pools website. Born and raised
in the business, Waldo is Houston’s pool guru, and his four-year old
company, Platinum Pools is making quite a splash. “The pool business
is excellent here in Houston,” says Waldo. “Houstonians love
swimming pools, and the weather makes them inviting almost
year-round. We’re doing exceptionally well compared to other
companies here.” Waldo adds that price isn’t the biggest issue for
his customers. “My clients care about quality and maintenance.
There’s a right way to build a pool, a cheap way to build a pool and
a maintenance-free way to build a pool—and that’s not optional. I
build pools the right way, and the maintenance-free way. And if the
other pool companies match me apples for apples, they’ll never beat
me on price.”
Waldo
particularly enjoys the process—figuring out what his clients are
really after and what kind of pool and pool area fits their
lifestyle. “I ask about their entertaining, their expectations,
their future plans for their backyard, what their decorating taste
is. The backyard needs to be an extension of their home.” He feels
that landscaping is a key factor in having a pool and ambience you
want. “If you don’t landscape you haven’t tied it all together,”
says Waldo. “I’m not a big fan of building a pool and not doing
landscaping—it’s like building a million dollar home and putting
dime-store furniture into.”
Pool
shape is a matter of taste, and the options are plentiful.
Curve-shaped pools are the most popular, as are natural settings
with rock waterfalls, caves, bridges and other tropical touches. But
many folks still opt for the Neo-classic Roman look, with its
straight lines and columns, statues and sheets of water. As for the
interior surface of the pool, plain old concrete doesn’t cut it
anymore. Among many other decorative choices, there’s hydrazzo, a
liquid marble that can be polished, and sun stone pearl, millions of
tiny pebbles throughout the bottom of the pool. One of the benefits
of a colored pool interior is that you can make a few extra mistakes
getting your water chemistry right without those mistakes showing up
on your pool’s surface. And these days, water can look any color you
want, too. As for lighting your pools interior surface, you can go
with the standard 500-watt light, or a light that’s called SAM (or
“Simply Amazing” as Waldo’s staff likes to think of it). The light
rotates through the spectrum of the rainbow or can be stopped on any
color you choose.
Swimming
pools are about relaxation, entertaining and enjoyment, not to
mention exercise. When planning to build or remodel your pool, think
about what you really want from it. If you like to sunbathe or
entertain around the pool, you’ll need a lot of deck space for lunge
chairs, and maybe a tanning shelf in the pool where you can sunbathe
in two or three inches of water to keep you cool. One of the
trendiest new pool treatments is negative edging—the edge of the
pool is just a natural ending of the pool-perfect for Houston’s
shifting and settling elevations. And there are beach
entries—instead of steps, you simply walk into the pool, getting
gradually deeper with each step. “The only thing that holds people
back is their wallet and their imagination,” says Waldo. “I knew a
couple who wanted their swimming pool to look like the sky at night.
They had 2500 tiny fiber optic lights installed in the interior of
their pool. When you look into their pool at night—it looks just
like the sky, full of stars.
Although
Waldo spent a few years designing and building resorts and pools for
the government, his company builds only residential pools now.
“People aren’t into the real big pools,” says Waldo. “They’re into
the outdoor setting—creating that environment they want.” According
to Waldo, the average pool size in Houston in 16 x 32 feet, and the
average pool cost is somewhere between $25,000 and $30,000 for a new
pool.
Platinum
Pools is an NSPI member and Waldo’s sales staff has over 98 years of
combined experience. “Platinum Pools are idiot-proof,” says Waldo.
“The average consumer only knows it’s a hole in the ground with
water in it. When we come out, we really educate our customers about
how pools are built.” If you decide to take the plunge and build a
pool, Platinum Pools’ estimates are free, and they do their own
financing. They have offices in Dallas, Forth Worth and Houston, but
will build anywhere in the country for their customers.
Back to Articles |
