PSM: What type of projects have you been working on recently?
AH: We’re currently involved in a ‘triple infinity edge’ auto-cover, with hidden tracks on two sides. The water level is at the height of the deck and spills over into a gutter. In this case, the track is hidden on the wall. We’ve done a ‘double infinity edge’ pool cover with the tracks exposed; however, this is a newly designed auto cover and we’re attempting to hide the tracks in the pool’s spill-over area.
PSM: How much of the automatic cover installation process is handled in-house?
AH: We have three components to the company: a retail/consumer division where we sell auto-covers directly to the consumer; a wholesale division, where we only sell to pool builders and they install the product themselves; and a sub-contractor division, where pool builders hire us to install a product we sold them. We split the business in these three areas for simplicity.
PSM: What equipment does your company currently use to complete your projects?
AH: We use a lot of hand tools. All five of our service vehicles are fully equipped with a variety of hand-powered tools that would be required to tackle any auto-cover job.
PSM: What does your planning and design process involve?
AH: As the owner of the company, I spend a lot of time driving from site to site and talking to people. On any given day, I talk to landscape architects, homeowners, general contractors, and/or pool builders. I spend an enormous amount of time on the phone, looking at drawings, and being on-site. I enjoy driving to the job site and talking to everyone on-site. This aspect of the job can be very time-consuming when factoring in traffic and how busy we are. A lot has changed—especially with COVID—I can now use Zoom or FaceTime to inspect a jobsite.
PSM: How is technology changing your business?
AH: In a lot of cases, the pool industry is slow to respond and embrace technology. It’s getting better, but with being in the business for 35 years, I recall clearly when fax machines came on board and people were reluctant to use them. I think technology has helped, but the pool industry has not embraced everything that is currently available. We’re also guilty of this, too. Certainly, using FaceTime has helped a lot, as the builders we work with who are on a jobsite can simply call us on FaceTime and so we can help them.
PSM: What is the key to staying successful in this industry?
