Who gets listed
- The company's own website must say it builds new pools (for example "custom pool construction", "new pool", "pool builder", "design and build"). Companies whose sites describe only cleaning, repair, resurfacing or remodeling are not listed; resurfacing companies are on our sister site, Tampa Bay Pool Resurfacing Guide.
- Where to look: every PoolPad profile in the "pool builder" category with an address in a Tampa Bay-area city, plus well-known local builders we found by web search that have no PoolPad profile.
- It must show a Tampa Bay-area presence: an address in Tampa Bay or a Tampa Bay-area city named as a service area on its own site.
- We could verify a real business identity (website, phone, and an address or listing).
- Excluded: Dallas Pool Patrol (connected to this site; it does not operate in Florida).
- The list is capped at 50. We did not pad it: companies we could not confirm are shown separately, not ranked.
- Multi-location companies (several PoolPad profiles, one website) are listed once. We use the profile with the most reviews and name the other locations in the notes.
- License numbers are shown only as the company publishes them on its own site. We did not look each one up with the state; please verify before you sign.
50 companies are listed as of October 23, 2026.
The score (0–100)
- Rating (up to 75 points). We use the Google rating and review count shown on each company's PoolPad profile, which displays its Google Business Profile data. We take a Bayesian average: B = (n × r + 20 × 4.3) / (n + 20), where n is the review count and r the rating. Few reviews pull a company toward 4.3; many reviews let its own rating show. Points = 75 × (B − 3) / 2. Companies with no verifiable rating get B = 4.3 (48.8 points). Ratings the company posts on its own site, and ratings on other sites (such as Angi), are not scored; where we saw one it is shown on the profile for reference.
- Years in business (up to 15 points). 0.5 points per year, capped at 30 years. Sources in order of preference: the company's own founding year ("since 2010", "established 1998"), then PoolPad's "years in business". If a company site gives more than one different founding year, we don't use it and fall back to PoolPad. Combined staff experience or owner experience before the company was founded doesn't count.
- Pool types and services (up to 10 points). 2 points for each category the company names on its own site: concrete/gunite pools, fiberglass pools, vinyl-liner pools, spas/hot tubs, outdoor living (kitchens, pavers, fire features, pergolas), remodels/renovation.
Ties are broken alphabetically. Phone numbers and websites come from each company's own site; where a phone appears only on PoolPad, the profile says so.
What we don't do
- No company pays for its rank. A paid "Featured" box, if sold, is labeled and sits outside the ranked table.
- We don't inspect work or vouch for any company. Company claims (warranties, lifespans, prices) are labeled as company claims.
- We don't publish ratings we didn't see ourselves.
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