Have gunite pool & elevated gunite spa. Over $100K project. Although PB thinks otherwise, should have been completed around July 2011. Had MULITPLE issues with PB.
To keep this short - spa is guinte, square exterior shape, octagonal interior shape with 8 jets. Planned on keeping spa open during winters with combination of geothermal & secondary gas heater.
Pool & spa 80% done in July. All summer, spa held water without problem. PB did crappy job with pool & spa gunite (Diamond Brite). After threatening legal action, FINALLY came back out in November to address guinte issues. They did a light acid wash on spa to improve uniformity & placed permanent jets (1st jets were wrong color).
Shortly after November work by PB, weather turned cold (in 20's at night). Around same time, spa pump started working incorrectly. Have variable speed Pentair pump with Easy Touch control. Pump scheduled to work 24 hrs per day via easytouch. Pump began to turn off by itself when it should have been on. As weather cold, I checked pump diligently. Although heater was installed, couldn't heat spa well as pump wasn't working right and PB still had not gotten the cover installed. Would check before bed at around 9-11 PM to make sure it was on. But when I checked pump at 7:00 AM, it was off. I informed PB - after 2 visits they determined there was a bad relay on Easy Touch. They then moved pump to a new Easy Touch relay - solved problem. Took them about 1 week to diagnose and fix. During this time, night temps in the 20s. Checked spa and approximately 2-3 times, had thin but full layer of ice on top of water. Water level at or near tile level during this time.
During this time 1) shortly after gunite fix, 2) colder weather, & 3) pump problems - we began to notice that the spa was leaking. We would see water leaking though the exterior stone in 2 separate places. Called PB several times - finally came to look at the problem in Jan. He thought jets might not have been sealed correctly after gunite fix. Alternatively, he thought we had a leak in one of the jet pipes due to freezing and breakage. He sent one of his guys out. I was at work when they came out. Supposedly, he "resealed" the jets. This was done underwater as water level was far above jets when he came out. Didn't fix problem. So now, PB thinks pipe is broke. Wants to remove some of the exterior stone to find leak.
For reference, I'm calling the 4 exterior sides of the spa "front", "back", "pool side", and "sidewalk side". To this post, I've attached 2 photos which give an overview of the "front" & "back" sides. These are also the locations where water was visably leaking on the exterior stone. I'll post additional photos which detail the location of the leak and current water level relative to jets.
Whole experience with PB has been miserable. I have little to no confidence in his ability. We've held $6K back and will not pay him until we are 100% done.
My questions:
Any way to further diagnose this problem? Due to inadequately sealed jets, pipe burst, or something else?
Should we let PB start removing stone in attempt to fix problem? Or get 2nd opinion from another pool company?
Thanks in advance for the help.
[attachment=1:2729bzx8]Overview Front.jpg[/attachment:2729bzx8]
Above photo shows "pool" side and part of "front" side.
[attachment=0:2729bzx8]Overview Back.jpg[/attachment:2729bzx8]
To keep this short - spa is guinte, square exterior shape, octagonal interior shape with 8 jets. Planned on keeping spa open during winters with combination of geothermal & secondary gas heater.
Pool & spa 80% done in July. All summer, spa held water without problem. PB did crappy job with pool & spa gunite (Diamond Brite). After threatening legal action, FINALLY came back out in November to address guinte issues. They did a light acid wash on spa to improve uniformity & placed permanent jets (1st jets were wrong color).
Shortly after November work by PB, weather turned cold (in 20's at night). Around same time, spa pump started working incorrectly. Have variable speed Pentair pump with Easy Touch control. Pump scheduled to work 24 hrs per day via easytouch. Pump began to turn off by itself when it should have been on. As weather cold, I checked pump diligently. Although heater was installed, couldn't heat spa well as pump wasn't working right and PB still had not gotten the cover installed. Would check before bed at around 9-11 PM to make sure it was on. But when I checked pump at 7:00 AM, it was off. I informed PB - after 2 visits they determined there was a bad relay on Easy Touch. They then moved pump to a new Easy Touch relay - solved problem. Took them about 1 week to diagnose and fix. During this time, night temps in the 20s. Checked spa and approximately 2-3 times, had thin but full layer of ice on top of water. Water level at or near tile level during this time.
During this time 1) shortly after gunite fix, 2) colder weather, & 3) pump problems - we began to notice that the spa was leaking. We would see water leaking though the exterior stone in 2 separate places. Called PB several times - finally came to look at the problem in Jan. He thought jets might not have been sealed correctly after gunite fix. Alternatively, he thought we had a leak in one of the jet pipes due to freezing and breakage. He sent one of his guys out. I was at work when they came out. Supposedly, he "resealed" the jets. This was done underwater as water level was far above jets when he came out. Didn't fix problem. So now, PB thinks pipe is broke. Wants to remove some of the exterior stone to find leak.
For reference, I'm calling the 4 exterior sides of the spa "front", "back", "pool side", and "sidewalk side". To this post, I've attached 2 photos which give an overview of the "front" & "back" sides. These are also the locations where water was visably leaking on the exterior stone. I'll post additional photos which detail the location of the leak and current water level relative to jets.
Whole experience with PB has been miserable. I have little to no confidence in his ability. We've held $6K back and will not pay him until we are 100% done.
My questions:
Any way to further diagnose this problem? Due to inadequately sealed jets, pipe burst, or something else?
Should we let PB start removing stone in attempt to fix problem? Or get 2nd opinion from another pool company?
Thanks in advance for the help.
[attachment=1:2729bzx8]Overview Front.jpg[/attachment:2729bzx8]
Above photo shows "pool" side and part of "front" side.
[attachment=0:2729bzx8]Overview Back.jpg[/attachment:2729bzx8]
