New Member, First Build...What have we gotten into?

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I love your pool! It's beautiful! We don't see pools like those in my area, so I love seeing them on this site. :) Your house is gorgeous! The pool is going to look amazing with your house and property. I love your dog and would love to see more pictures of your animals. My daughter rides hunter/jumper and we've seen the adorable video of the horse in the pool. Of course, she wants to get pools now for our horses! lol
 
kimkats said:
I know there are updates. There has to be with all of this time.

Kim
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You would think, right?

Actually, there has been a little progress. The roofers have finished laying all the shingles and the electrician has been out and done the rough-in on the pavillion. I would post pics but Flickr seems to be uncooperative right now. Depending on who you talk to at the pool company, next is either the carpenters come back to put up the tongue and groove ceiling or the concrete guys will show up to start forming out for decking. Experience has shown me that when nobody is certain, nothing is going to happen for a while.

Bob

Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr

Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr
 
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jlsl95 said:
I love your pool! It's beautiful! We don't see pools like those in my area, so I love seeing them on this site. :) Your house is gorgeous! The pool is going to look amazing with your house and property. I love your dog and would love to see more pictures of your animals. My daughter rides hunter/jumper and we've seen the adorable video of the horse in the pool. Of course, she wants to get pools now for our horses! lol
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Thank you for the compliments. I expect we will love our pool when it is finally finished and I have no doubt the dogs will be ecstatic about it. Luckily the recent rains have topped off our pond so we won't have to share the pool with the horses.

Bob
 
Today I have to vent!! Back story- last week the Sub who runs the carpentry crew asked me if I had a can of stain from the house so he could match it for the pavilion. Since I had just had the house repainted, I had a partial can of Sherwin-Williams Deckscapes Redwood stain in the garage. I gave it to him and he said that the pool builder would match it and provide him with the stain. I understood that they were not going to use Sherwin-Williams but, I just let that go.

So Monday I get a call from the lady who does coordinating and planning in the PB's office. She said they could not match the stain and asked me if I would mind buying it and they would reimburse me. I didn't like the idea but agreed to it because I am sick of the delays and don't want this to be another excuse. I told her to let me know how much they need and I would pick it up. Yesterday, she sent me an email that restated our conversation and says they need three 5gal buckets of stain. I emailed her back to confirm that they really needed 15 gallons of stain and she confirmed. I get to the Sherwin-Williams store and talk to the sales associate. I am pretty confident that I'm picking out the right stain but, I don't have the can that I gave to the builder. I quickly fire off an email to the office lady and ask for the info from the can, explaining that I am at the store now.

While waiting for a reply, the sales associate prices out the stain; $48gal. She tells me that if the PB has a account with Sherwin-Williams, there will probably be a discount. I call the office lady at the PB and get her voice mail. I explain that if they have an account, I need to know so I can get a discount on the stain. Meanwhile, the girl at Sherwin-Williams finds PB's account in their system and it knocks off only $5gal. A few minutes later, I get a email on my phone from the office lady with a picture of the stain can I originally provided. The picture confirms that I had selected the correct stain and I have the girl mix up fifteen gallons of it. Total cost, $702.92.

When I got home with the stain, I scanned the receipt and sent it off to the office lady at the PB. Here is the email I got back from her.



"Mr Ohlemann,

I have your stain receipt.

We can offer you a credit of $ 280.00 toward stain, as you can imagine we do buy in volume and our cost is much less. If this is a concern you can let me know before we begin as we can use our stain which is www.readyseal.com.

Please let me know and I will pass this on.

Thank you,

Kim N.

Coordination Manager"


I was/am livid! Of course, I quickly followed that up with a scathing email reply. I've not heard back from the office lady but, have sent a text to the PB to call me today.

Thanks for letting me vent,

Bob
 
Ohhhhhh MAN!!!! I would have been :rant: !!!! WOW!!! They told you to go GET IT, not to get a quote!!! They should have asked you to check on the pricing and how much they were willing to pay for BEFORE they told you to get it! I'm sure you can't take it back now!!!

I don't blame you one bit!!! Sheesh!!! Hopefully the PB will eat it, because it's their screw up for sure!!!
 
Oh NO!!!!!!!!!!! Thank goodness for email and voice mail. BUT I bet you she deleted the voice mail you left her to cover her tracks.

PLEASE share what you the PB says/does! I would also ask for a sit down with BOTH him and her to work it out!

WOW! Unreal!

Kim
 
So the amusing thing about this (as I try to find the amusing things about this) is that Bob and I sat around the table last night, extremely frustrated and discussing many alternatives and our conversation went something like this: Me: "You know MartinKennedy said he and his wife had to talk each other off the edge several times. I don't know how he made it through 3 pool builds and I wonder if he and his wife were on the edge at the same time like we are". Me: "We could fire the PB, but then would it be a DIY? Look how good Bulldogz project is going - the hardest part would be finding a stonemason...let's go back and read his thread" Bob: sitting there simmering... Me: "I don't think KimKats had these kind of issues, did you let her know after 10 days, there was only 2 days worth of work done and now the concrete guys won't come this week because it's rained again and we totally missed a dry week opportunity?" We have a party scheduled for Aug 31st - I'm going to have to cancel it - I don't even know if we can let people out in the backyard, it's a dangerous mess". Bob: "it will take me at least a month to pull together subcontractors" Me: "okay we won't fire the PB while we are mad - let's just think about this more"

And just so you guys don't think we are over reacting to the email by the coordinator - there are SO many things we haven't vented about as we had hoped to keep a decent relationship with the PB and we really tried to focus on the positives when they happened. So that's our goal today - focus on the positive and thanks to all of you who have posted support because that really does help.

It is nice to know regardless of the issue - our brothers/sisters in pool building give a shout out when you're ready to jump off the ledge!

And MartinKennedy - I love your post - the scars will still be there - words of someone who is a voice of experience!

So after all of that - we did hear from the PB and he said he will make us whole on the price of the stain.

Now I'm going to post on the ROI thread as we will have totally busted through any recommended budgets when we are done :)

-Karen
 

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My pool and pool house................They were here when we moved it. The property had been sitting for 6 months. Some one took a big knife or something to the side of the pool in two different places. We were able to patch (did not look pretty). Had to scoop out more than I wanted to count buckets of YUCK from the bottom of the pool. Listened to the pool store on how to take care of a pool and spent a LOT of money. That liner finally gave way and we found that the wall were very rusted so bought a new pool. We listened to the pool store again-"Oh just lower the water a couple of inches and it will be fine after you put this and this and this in it. Lost that liner to HIGH CYA (no idea how how). Found TFP before buying the new pool and it has been smooth sailing!

-Pool deck-unfinished as in missing railings! You could walk right off. The deck is at the height of the pool (52"). No steps on the side by the equipment.

-Pool house-unfinished and unpermitted! Water lines ran but no septic or any way for the "used" water to go out! We cut out and capped the water lines. Husband finished the outside siding. We hung the dry wall together. I learned how to tape and mud. I did all of the finish coat of drywall and painted. One day we will finish the flooring. Right now it is painted wood. It works.

See I am just a Kindergarten teacher who LOVES to do stuff and learn new things. I am off over the summers. That is when we get big jobs done so I can be here to watch. It has paid off quite a few times-pool, roof, etc. Most stuff we can do.

We got did okay with the first pool we bought and the crew did an okay job. I was here every minute and outside while they worked. I caught them trying to take short cuts. "Nope. Go back a step and redo it." I overheard them tell a new guy coming on to help with the liner "Better do it right the first time. She is a real ***** and is always watching" LOL Loved it!

The guy we found to put up the second pool was AWESOME. He works for a local pool company but he did our pool on the side. It took longer as he would stop by the house after work for about a week. He took his time and it shows. He came out on the weekend and called a helper when needed. I also watched him and more times than not he would ask me to come help him. I loved that.

So see everyone has "stories" to share about getting stuff done. I hate that your story is so bumpy and taking so long. As they always say.........And the rest of the story........................

HUGS! Thanks for sharing what you have.

Kim
 
That would make me livid. You did all the right things, communicated and while trying to be helpful and they do this to you? grrrrrrr.

Since you guys are horse people it reminds me of recently I moved my horse to a new barn, told them twice he'd just had been shod. So imagine my surprise, when 8 days later we get another bill for shoes at the new barn. 8 days. "Oh we thought he looked long." Couple weeks I could get over. But 8 days? It's like is no one thinking? Is no one reading my emails? Am I actually a ghost who is talking to myself?
 
daytimedrama said:
That would make me livid. You did all the right things, communicated and while trying to be helpful and they do this to you? grrrrrrr.

Since you guys are horse people it reminds me of recently I moved my horse to a new barn, told them twice he'd just had been shod. So imagine my surprise, when 8 days later we get another bill for shoes at the new barn. 8 days. "Oh we thought he looked long." Couple weeks I could get over. But 8 days? It's like is no one thinking? Is no one reading my emails? Am I actually a ghost who is talking to myself?
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I'd be wary of the new farrier if he didn't say something. There should never be less than 1/4" between the coffin bone and the bottom of the foot. I see so many horses trimmed too low around here.

Bob
 
Fortunately I've known the farrier for many years, he's very good I'm not concerned about the work, it's more the lack of communication on the new trainer's part that concerns me.

Anyway did your PB ever get back to you about this stain gaffe? Edited to say: oh now I see where you said he'd cover it. Good.

PS all the stone and tile looks lovely.
 
I would have been furious! I'm so glad that your PB will cover it! What a relief! I also understand your frustration on waiting! We started out DIY, had the hole dug and the block walls installed. My husband realized he was too busy to finish, he works and we bought a few other properties we are working on and he bales hay, so we signed our contract April 23rd with the PB. My kids have had to cancel parties. They started on Monday! I have a 2 day family reunion at my house next Saturday and Sunday, and so far the PB thinks we will be swimming. It's so frustrating!
 
OMG! OMG! Jump for joy. 8:00am on Saturday and the men are here to form the boards for the decking. And there are ALOT of them. This reminds me of the saying at the Air Force Academy, "we take away all of your God given rights and give them back one by one as privileges" I am so excited for the simple things now. As frustrating as this process may be, it has given me a new perspective on things.
Hopefully, we'll have pics to post tonight. -Karen
 
Here are photos of the form work done today. The PB actually came out and provided direction since the design had changed and he hadn't updated the plans. I like the new design - should provide interest since there will be several elevations throughout the deck. The guys are supposed to come back on Monday with two dump trucks of sand. The pavilion contractors are waiting for the floor to be poured in the pavilion so they have a stable surface to finish the tongue and groove ceiling.

Rain water still in pool - with one gallon of bleach to keep mosquitoes at bay. One planting bed directly in front of tanning shelf (will have river rock). Another is on the other side, deep end - near the skimmer. The PB designed 4 inch leave outs at various points in the deck (filled w/ river rock)
Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr

Around the open lounging area - the deck height will have a 12 inch drop to create a raised beam
Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr

At some point we will be pushing out the back of the house, so the covered patio attached to the house will end up being an interior room - meanwhile the deck will run continuously from the patio but the sidewalk will get demo'ed and new decking poured there. Hard to see here, but there will be two 7" inch steps from deck into pavilion to be covered in flagstone (so pavilion is 14" up from the base deck.
Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr

Another view
Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr

-Karen
 
Sooo...having caught up on this thread...your build looks great! I had to laugh at the story about the stain (the laugh in the good kind of way :) ) I can almost for certain tell you what happened. Painter / sub / carpenter, whoever is doing the staining, told the lady 'I need 3 1 gal cans' or 'I need 3 pails'....and the lady interpreted as 15 gals. Noone, and I mean noone who has any business staining wood on a pavilion would EVER need 15 gals of stain for a pool pavilion...and i've been building houses all of my life. That is a ridiculous amount!

To put it into perspective, i just built my own house (3k+ sq ft) and stained 7 exterior doors, cabinets, over 1k sq ft of porched tongue and groove spruce ceilings and 14 interior wood doors and i think....maaaaaayyyyybeeee....I used 4 gallons. Heck, my wood flooring only took 2.5 gals.....:eek:

The coordination lady screwed up in the translation. 15 gals!!!! oh geez

But anyway, the anxiety will end, your project will be beautiful, and you and your spouse will soon be sipping a nice glass of wine on a cool summer night, poolside with feet in the water and have a good laugh about it. :)
 
Pool is looking great. Coming along nicely. Keep us posted and stay focused on the end result. Can you please update us later or PM me later and let me know how the propane heater works out? I know it's down the road a bit.

Todd
 

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