Rehab update - Houston - Tile coping replaster

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J

jumpinjackieflash

0
Mar 20, 2013
90
Houston Texas
It's been almost as traumatic as a full build, minus the dig. Right now, I am struggling not to ream out the supervisor because his plastering crew managed to scratch many of my (expensive) iridescent glass trim tiles. They also did not level the front of the bench in the deep end, so it is all wavy looking, and the plaster is so thick on top that the trim tile is almost buried in it. It's just a sloppy looking job all around, and now, in good conscience, I cannot recommend them to others. Yes, I am a perfectionist, but we are paying over $20K for this job and I wanted it done right. The supervisor has mentioned a discount for the tile. I do not want a discount! I want the job done RIGHT!

Does one really have to QC every step of these jobs, and know more than the crews do? They are supposed to be professionals, for Pete's sake! That's why I hired them! Of course every single one of them has been Mexican and very few speak any English. I guess I will have to learn to speak construction Spanish if I want anything to be done right. I had an appointment just as they were finishing; didn't QC them and when I got back, they were gone and the pool was filling.

My dear husband said, "Well, I guess we will have to hire our own supervisor or GC from now now, even if the company assigns us one, to check on the crews when no one is here and make sure they don't botch the job." Yeah, right, MORE money on top of the already outrageous amount we are paying! :grrrr:

Pics after I get back from the doctor.
 
Thats certainly disappointing and a failure on the renovater(sp?) not to warn you that the tile is coated (and not well apparently); it seems it would be difficult to plaster without damgaging that type tile.
On a side-note, I'm really surprised at $20k for a renovation; thats more than half the cost of my whole pool build (last year-Houston area). I read through your original renovation thread (sorry I missed it at the time); even with the coping, filter and such a large pool (i'm guessing yours is around 25K gallons?). I dont mean to ramble~I would explain to them the tile appearance is unacceptable and ask him to either redo it or cover the cost for someone else to do it. If that's out of the question, I would ask for a detailed cost break-down and go from there. I'm calling my pool builder today (out of curiosity). Good luck and update when you can.
 
pragmatic said:
Thats certainly disappointing and a failure on the renovater(sp?) not to warn you that the tile is coated (and not well apparently); it seems it would be difficult to plaster without damgaging that type tile.
On a side-note, I'm really surprised at $20k for a renovation; thats more than half the cost of my whole pool build (last year-Houston area). I read through your original renovation thread (sorry I missed it at the time); even with the coping, filter and such a large pool (i'm guessing yours is around 25K gallons?). I dont mean to ramble~I would explain to them the tile appearance is unacceptable and ask him to either redo it or cover the cost for someone else to do it. If that's out of the question, I would ask for a detailed cost break-down and go from there. I'm calling my pool builder today (out of curiosity). Good luck and update when you can.
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No, this pool is 120' around, about 55-65K gallons. It's 9-10 feet at the deep end. We got 3 bids and all 3 were within striking distance of one another. The 2 I chose between were essentially the same cost amount. The only thing they aren't doing is digging the hole and spraying gunite - other than that, it's a new pool.

The supervisor was here earlier and just kind of blew me off, telling me it's going to look great once the water covers it! :grrrr: That's not the point! The point was for your guys to DO IT RIGHT in the first place. I am going to email him back and see if the tile guys can fix it somehow. Here's a photo of the plastering so you can see the size of the pool.
 

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pragmatic said:
Wow, that is a very large pool! I agree with you~Hopefully they'll come around and replace the tile our at least offer some discount.
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Yep, it sure is. I think we've only seen one larger than ours in all the years we house-hunted. I'm sure there ARE larger pools in our area, we just never found them.

The supervisor has backed down from offering a discount - now he's basically standing firm on "It's a hand-troweled product, it can't be perfect," "You won't notice it when the pool is full," and "Every pool has wavy benches." Really. Funny, our last pool didn't have screwed up trim tile OR wavy benches.

:x
 
Isaac-1 said:
I hate to say it, but he is probably right that it will be hard to tell once the tile is under water
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Don't hate to say it! If it's true, I need to know it. The pool builder we used before was meticulous - I had NO problems with the tile, coping, plaster or trim. The steps were straight, the tile was straight, it was done right. Maybe it's the nature of replastering - it can't be done perfectly. If my expectations are too high, well, I will have to live with it.

We're 36 hours into filling and the pool is about halfway full. My water bill is going to need to be opened in the presence of a heart shocking machine.
 
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