Great Expectations
Whether a homeowner wants to install a new pool or renovate an existing one, Ted’s Pools has the expertise, knowledge, and professionalism to deliver a personalized and seamless experience.
As the owners of Ted’s Pools, spouses Joe and Carol Perchetti strive to make every employee feel like a valued member of the family-operated business. It is common for them to seek staff input on important decisions during working hours, and for the entire team to enjoy fun activities together away from the job with spouses and children.
With that close relationship comes a high expectation to deliver for every client with personalized service that goes above and beyond. It’s a mindset Joe learned from one of his favorite books—Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … And Others Don’t, by Jim Collins.
“We don’t like to have a revolving door with our staff, because it’s an effort to get the right people in the right seat on the right bus, so we treat our employees well,” he says. “That phrase comes right from the book, which I’ve probably read five times and which I live by.”
Some companies happily accept employees who are OK with doing a “Joe Average job,” to use Joe’s term. Ted’s Pools is quite the opposite.
“We want to create an exceptional project,” he says. “We also want to walk away from it feeling comfortable that we not only have a wonderful client-provider relationship, but also can look at what we accomplished and feel proud. We want to know that we didn’t just meet their expectations but that we absolutely exceeded them.”
That philosophy has served Ted’s Pools well in more than 40 years of business, over half of which has included Carol Perchetti. She brought her husband on board close to a decade ago when he retired from a government job. With her managing the office staff and client relations and him overseeing the projects, the company has thrived in its quest to provide the seamless design and construction of new pools, renovations of existing pools, and maintenance/service.
Specializing in gunite and vinyl liner pools, Ted’s Pools gets a large percentage of its clients from word of mouth; satisfied customers tend to rave about the company’s attention to detail and ability to tailor each project to the homeowner’s needs and budget.
“The most important aspect is the children and family that are counting on that pool for the summer, for their birthday, for the graduation party, for the holiday party,” Joe says. “That’s who suffers when you don’t have an experienced builder who is very knowledgeable in the industry, and gets the training for themselves and their staff. We’re a reputable pool company that can do the job and meet the customer’s expectations in a seamless process from start to finish.”
Renovations have become a significant part of the business for those whose older pool is out of date and underutilized. Whether it’s a cosmetic change, an upgrade to equipment or technology, or the addition of enjoyable features, Ted’s Pools can breathe new life into the backyard.
“It could just be replacing the liner, putting water back in it, and getting the family swimming again,” Joe says. “For a gunite pool, it could be replacing the tile, the coping edge, or the plaster finish, which are common issues due to Mother Nature.
“Some other things we do are pool deck replacements, water or fire features, boulder features, and recreational features like a diving board, a volleyball net, or a basketball net,” he continues. “If the client would rather have a rectangular pool instead of one with curves, we can do that too, and we can add a spa or hot tub. There are a lot of possibilities.”
He adds that chlorine pools can usually be converted to saltwater systems, which are cheaper, easier to maintain, and better for the skin, in a matter of hours. Homeowners are encouraged to call for a risk-free assessment, and Ted’s Pools will provide a design based on their wants and needs and present it to them in three-dimensional software so they have a clear idea of what it will look like when finished.
Joe is proud to say that most of the pools he is asked to renovate were not installed by his company, since even the original owners before his family took the reins were dedicated to building sound, long-lasting structures. Other competitors might be cheaper, but the intangibles his clients receive make the investment worthwhile.
To emphasize his point, he refers to a telling quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin: “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”
“It absolutely still makes sense today, 200-plus years later,” he says. “The lower-end pools, I can see how they were constructed and I can see why they failed prematurely. On a side note, we are never interested in the quantity of pools we do here. I hear other companies brag, ‘We just did 100 pools this year.’ For us, it’s always about quality and not quantity.”
That’s one reason why so many customers bring Ted’s Pools back for service, for future projects at a new house, or refer them to family and friends. The other reason is the level of friendly service they’ll receive, no matter the need.
One client called in a panic on Memorial Day weekend a few years ago because she was hosting a party that day and her pool was losing water. Carol calmly told her not to panic and asked her to send her a few pictures so she could assess the issue; a few minutes later she offered an easy fix to avert the crisis.
“We don’t just work from 9 to 5,” Joe says. “If we have to talk shop around the dinner table, we will, and we provide emergency services. It’s all about customer service and giving clients a personalized experience.”
Ted’s Pools
823 Lincoln Ave., Building 3, Unit 3
West Chester, PA 19380
(610) 359-1301
TedsPools.net
823 Lincoln Ave., Building 3, Unit 3
West Chester, PA 19380
(610) 359-1301
TedsPools.net
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, March 2025.
