Testmonials

Dear Gary,

It has taken me a while to get this letter to you and for that I apologize. However, I cannot let pass the opportunity to thank you and your staff for the life long improvement you made to our home. I cannot even begin to tell you of the many compliments we’ve received from friends and visitors who have seen your work.

Without question the 45 ft. waterfall that you built has not only improved our yard immensely, it has improved the value of our home.

Your staff conducted themselves professionally and showed us how to make changes as the project progressed. I know that we probably drove them crazy at times but they never showed it. I was also very impressed with thw way they took such care with keeping things clean during the construction process.

Our hope is to have you come back and continue your work with another waterfall that drops into our pool.

Gary, thank you again for your excellent work and dedication for putting customers first. We look forward to continuing our relationship with you as our out-door plans continue. Please feel free to use us as a reference and please come by with prospective clients any time you would like.

Sincerely, Gerard

To Whom It May Concern:

If you are reading this you are probably trying to decide whether to hire Gary McDonald and Son. If you are concerned, as we were, with quality, integrity and reliability, you cannot make a better choice. Gary, Aaron, William and Amador, are not only the most honest and gracious people you will ever find in this business, they are artists. The quality of their work, combined with their vision, has created magic in our backyard.

Our project was a large one, involving a pool with waterfall, full decking, a seating area and a great deal of faith in these people; an extensive investment in our new home. Our faith was not misplaced, and our money was more than well spent. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Sincerely, Susan

Dear Gary McDonald,

While this letter is to you, your son, Aaron, and your wonderful “family” of employees, I want you to use it any way you wish so that others may know the quality of work that goes into even the smallest of projects.

When I asked you to design a small spa and adjacent pool no larger than 15 x 8 feet, in our long narrow garden space with many easement limitations, you were able to visualize it within ten minutes or less in the perfect location. I was particularly impressed with your reverence for trees and other existing plants.

The result is stunning – like the small corner of Yosemite, waterfall and all – transforming our garden into a mini-paradise.

We have contracted several projects in our home – painting, flooring, the addition of a studio, etc. – and the usual procedure is that a crew arrives for the first day or two and creates total chaos, then they don’t show up for several days because they are working on another job at the same time.

William, Amador and Guillermo were on the job every day until it was finished. When the hard labor of digging the pool and the ditches for plumbing was done, they turned into artists – sculpting the crude forms of cement into individual boulders with plaster and natural dyes. And, in spite of the heat and intensity of work, they were always cheerful and smiling.

I want to put in a special word for Aaron, who dealt so nimbly with Tiburon’s Design Review Board and Building Inspector. And to you, Gary, my thanks for your vision and dedication.

Sincerely, Joan

Dear Gary,

Both my wife and I have been, and continue to be in the construction business in one way or another for the 21 years of our marriage. I grew up with it, as my dad was an architect, while my mother’s dad was a union carpenter and superintendent. So, we have had to deal with general contractors, developers, lenders and sub-contractors of every kind.

We had wanted a good size piece of land and a swimming pool to go with it for a long time, a place where our children could be safe and bring their friends and enjoy. When that time finally arrived, and we were ready to install our ‘natural pool’, we did a significant amount of research into which pool contractors could make this happen. We talked to companies from Auburn and Sacramento, from Petaluma and San Jose and finally we were referred to Gary McDonald and Son. From our first meeting, I knew that this firm was far and away better than any group with whom we had previously spoken.

In all the years of our contracting experience, we have never met a more professional and expert group of artisans. I want to call particular attention to the word ‘artisans’ as that is what these men and their staff truly are. The experience of designing the pool area, fitting it in the perfect location, taking full advantage of the lay of the land, shelter from the wind, all these and more discussions were had. All through the construction process from the laying out of the initial poolscape, the digging of the hole, the mounding of the earth, the digging deeper here and there, the laying of the beach, the forming of the dive rocks, the waterfall, every facet of the project we were involved in if we chose to be. When it came to coloring the stones, Debbie had brought a granite rock from Tahoe. She handed this to Aaron and said that’s the color we want. They matched it perfectly.

They had the added task of tying the pool location into a memorial grove of ‘Sequoia Sempervirens’ that we had planted in memory of our oldest, Ryan. They took meticulous care in laying out the pool in that regard and were always washing the redwoods when some of the cement dust would splash on them.

To this day, all of our friends and family who come to visit are in awe of this project. Just last night we celebrated my daughter’s 15th birthday and heated the pool to 85 degrees and almost all 60 of her guests enjoyed swimming in the gentle rain and sitting under the waterfall in the steaming light. Everyone wants to know where we found the boulders and who tied them together in so perfect a fashion.

For all the family, our encounter with the McDonald Clan has been fortuitous and we have succeeded in getting much more than we had anticipated. We even anticipate that we can call them friends for years to come. There is no doubt in our mind that if you are serious about putting in a “McDonald Pool” you will have nothing but the utmost in pleasure and joy. If you’d like to see our pool give us a call.

Most Sincerely, Debbie & Guido & Family

Dear Gary,

When Joy and I first discussed the idea of construction of a pool, we began looking around for a pool contractor. Those with whom we spoke didn’t impress us or weren’t even interested in taking a job “way out here”. We were beginning to have second thoughts about building a pool.

We were in the process of finishing an addition to the home, and the gentleman with whom we contracted to make us a wrought iron gate came out to install it. I was home that day and in our discussion I happened to mention that we were thinking about building a pool but couldn’t find a reputable pool contractor. He told me that he had a very large pond at home (that he was obviously very proud of) and one of the rocks fell out of the waterfall. It was in the middle and too big to replace. He couldn’t decide what to do. He said that a friend told him about Gary McDonald & Son and that you “re-created” the missing rock for him. He said no one could tell it from the real one. He said that he had seen pictures of some of your custom “rock pools” and they were incredible! I certainly concur with that statement. I contacted you and the rest is history!

Joy and I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for the professional way in which you presented your product and the “design” options open to us. We also wish to thank you for the elegant design and construction of our pool. The planning, although severely interrupted by the unusual weather on numerous occasions, was well executed. Despite the rugged terrain, rock and un-expected rock formations found during the excavating, you managed to sculpt a beautiful creation that takes full advantage of our property and fits so well into the surrounding environment.

Your key players, Aaron and William, as well as the rest of the construction crew, were a delight to us. They were courteous and thoughtful. They kept us informed as to the construction schedule and when they were in doubt regarding a detail on the project we were always included in the decision-making. We applaud this professional attitude. When we brought up concerns, Gary, you were there immediately to discuss whatever the issue. This too, we applaud!

There is a product on the market that I think of every time we have visitors and they comment on our pool -CONSTANT COMMENT! Naturally your product isn’t tea, but the name is relevant.

Some of the comments made: “Boy, it must have cost a fortune to have all those BIG BOULDERS hauled up here!” , “It looks so natural!” , “How did they make the rock look so natural, it looks just like the rest of the rocks around here!” , “How did they do it?” , “It looks like a big lagoon!” , “Would you look at the color of those rocks!” , “That water looks just like it disappears over a cliff!” , “What a spectacular site!” , “It makes you want to just jump in!”

I’m sure that you hear this from your customers all of the time. Well anyway, you get the general idea. It goes without saying that we are absolutely delighted with the pool from the contract to the special help we received in “startup” from Susan. What a winning combination you have created. It was a memorable experience and that is what “the good life” is all about, memorable experiences.

We wish you and your company success in the future. Keep the Gary McDonald and Son, Inc. legend growing. We’ll do our small part!

Sincerely, Frank and Joy