Supply Chain Issues Create Backlog for Pool Installers

As the temperature dwindles and the summer feeling disappears, pool season is coming to an end, but if you’re hoping to get the pool of your dreams installed by next season, the time to start planning is now — if it’s not too late already.

Supply shortages and delays have affected many industries amid the pandemic, and pool service and installation companies have not been spared. Pool contractors are finding it difficult to acquire the electronics and raw materials they need in a timely manner, leading to a backlog of pools to build, according to Greg Darvin, the founder and owner of Pristine Pools in East Hampton.

“Right now anything with electronics seems to be the biggest issue. So in my industry, that would be swimming pool pumps, swimming pool heaters and control systems,” Darvin said. “Then we’re also having issues with certain raw materials. Concrete at one point was a bit of a problem. That seems to have evened out, but a lot of different stone materials, the availability or the lead times are much longer and straight across the board.”

Jack Fried, a principal engineer at Brookhaven National Laboratory, said that a global chip shortage could be responsible for the electronic supply shortage. “Some of those electronics used in the pools do use chips so there might be shortages of those things,” he said.

Certain pool parts that don’t rely on a chip themselves could be delayed because the equipment to manufacturer them might be backordered or broken, he explained. “If anything in the supply chain is disrupted due to not having parts or chips to make it, everything gets delayed,” he said.

Fried added that a project he’s working on now requires a chip, but the wait time to receive the part is over 55 weeks.

The supply shortage has caused Darvin to change the way he plans to obtain the materials needed for pool production. For about 27 years, he did not stock materials and instead bought them as needed. Now Darvin tries to start sourcing and purchasing materials early and stock them until they become necessary.

“Logistics and planning have become much more important,” said Santo Buttafuoco, the pool construction manager at Pristine Pools. “In the past we were a bit spoiled but didn’t realize it. When material is always ‘readily available’ you don’t put as much value on it or the time it takes to order or replace the necessary items.”

Another way in which Pristine Pools tried to combat the supply shortage was by looking for substitutes. “If our preferred pump or light fixture is unavailable with no good information for restocking, we have had to test and source items from other competing manufacturers,” Buttafuoco said.

Darvin is open with potential clients regarding the current state of the pool production process, and as a contractor attempts to educate them during the decision-making process on the existing and possible challenges. “Even though it could add frustration, people seem to actually be reasonable and understanding about it,” he said.

Pristine Pools has been creating clients’ dream pools for about 30 years and continues to work through the challenges brought on by the supply shortage.

“As a whole, our company takes a tremendous amount of pride in our craft. We are much more interested in the quality rather than quantity, and this is something that starts from the top down,” Buttafuoco said. “Even though schedule is important, we understand that what we are building needs to stand the test of time to make our clients’ investments worthwhile.”

Designing, acquiring permits, excavating and installing the pool used to take a few months, but the shortage has extended the process. Potential clients now need to plan far in advance.

“If you want to have a completed pool project for next season and haven’t started the process, you may be too late,” Darvin said.