A Vero Beach pool contractor is accused in mounting litigation of owing a lender and supplier tens of thousands of dollars and of leaving customers high and dry by taking their money and leaving them with unfinished or damaged pools, decks and pool enclosures.
Oasis Pools and Spas of the Treasure Coast built eight swimming pools, including the clubhouse pool in Orchid Cove, a recently completed island community at the base of the Wabasso Bridge.
In a lawsuit filed in May 2023, Peter Trematerra, who developed Orchid Cove and built some of the homes, claims that “the labor, services and materials furnished to the Properties by Oasis were defective insofar as they failed to comply with building codes, prevailing industry standards, the contracts and/or manufacturer specifications.”
Trematerra, owner of PD Homes, aka Parkwood Distinctive Homes, said he tried for months to get Oasis Pools to correct the problems, to no avail, adding that he paid “a tremendous amount of money” to hire other contractors to correct the defects.
“I could not in good conscience leave my residents like that,” Trematerra said. The lawsuit is an attempt to get that money back, he said. The case entered arbitration last September.
Jeffrey Gomez, owner of Oasis Pools, denied the allegations in the suit, said the pools all passed final county inspections and said the remaining problems “are all cosmetic” and will be addressed in arbitration.
However, according to court documents, Oasis Pools failed to pay its share of the arbitration fees, totaling $13,300. Judge Cynthia L. Cox lifted the stay on the case on July 11, meaning the case will continue in court.
One Orchid Cove pool in the case belongs to Robert Demarco, who told Vero News it took more than a year for Oasis to build the pool, but problems remain with the deck, where tiles have shifted and sunk.
Workers also cracked eight of the tiles while installing the screen enclosure. Gomez did not respond to multiple email requests to correct the problems, Demarco said. After Vero News reached out to Gomez on June 14, he finally emailed Demarco to say replacement tiles had arrived.
“We had so many problems with that pool. We would never recommend them,” Demarco said.
Gomez said he warned PD Homes and Demarco that the deck area needed a concrete base for a sand-set porcelain deck but said Tremeterra told him to install the deck anyway.
Gomez’s problems are not confined to Orchid Cove.
Jason and Suzanne Wille sued Oasis and Seal Rite Pavers, also owned by Gomez, on June 24, alleging breach of contract and seeking damages between $50,000 and $75,000. The Willes hired Oasis on Sept. 4, 2020, to build a pool and spa at their beachside home on Mariner’s Way. Seal Rite was contracted to install porcelain pavers surrounding the pool and spa.
More than two and a half years later, Oasis and Seal Rite still have not satisfactorily finished the lanai and pool deck, the complaint says. Pavers and tiles were unlevel and unevenly spaced, and grout has deteriorated and chipped. Oasis’s own employees said the pavers should have had a concrete base beneath them, the complaint says.
The Willes complained about the pavers and also told Gomez the pool’s gem coat finish was rough and leaking in four places, the electronics controlling the pool and spa hadn’t worked properly since installation, and the pool heater was damaged and leaking.
Gomez told the Willes they were “on the list” to have the gem coat fixed and said he would check on the warranty for the heater, according to the couple. But nothing was ever done about either issue, the suit says.
Other unhappy Oasis pool customers shared similar complaints with Vero News:
- Ron Brune also had problems with a shifting and sinking pool deck installed by Oasis at their home in Arcadia. Contractors failed to tamp down the soil first, Brune said.
- Niki Bray said she experienced long, unexplained delays and broken promises from Oasis during construction of her pool and spa in the Lakes of Brookhaven. After Oasis dug the hole, built the form, and sprayed the form with gunite – liquid concrete – work abruptly stopped for seven weeks. Workers poured footers for the screen enclosure, then all work and communication stopped for several more weeks, Bray said.
- Monika Pawlik contracted Oasis last August to build a pool, spa and deck at her Covey Run Court home, but construction didn’t begin until December. While digging, workers severed an electric cable and destroyed gutter extensions, and plumbers mixed up the piping for the pool and the spa. The job is still not finished and her yard is “destroyed,” she said. “It became my second full-time job to babysit the crew and make sure they do things correctly.”
- Oasis installed the wrong size drain on Christian Talmadge’s pool deck, also in Arcadia. Workers begrudgingly cut the deck and installed the right drain but did a shabby job. “It looks absolutely horrible,” she said. Workers then applied the wrong color interior surface to the pool. “The color we selected was out of stock, but no one ever told us. They just used a different color. I tell everyone I can, do not use Oasis under any circumstances.”
Consolidated Electrical Distributors sued Oasis for unpaid invoices totaling $18,062.85. On July 11, the parties filed a Stipulation for Judgment in which Oasis agrees to pay $23,057.91, which includes attorneys’ fees and court costs, in monthly payments of $4,600 starting July 30.
American Express National Bank sued Oasis for unpaid charges totaling $72,932.75. Oasis has since settled with American Express and agrees to pay off the balance in monthly installments of around $4,250.
On July 10, American Express sued Seal Rite Pavers for unpaid charges totaling $73,600 plus court costs.
Customers of Oasis Pools and Spas of the Treasure Coast are invited to email jonpine32963@gmail.com with concerns.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
