Hello from an excited Newbie in Bixby Oklahoma!!

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PB agrees there are issues. He will not budge on the waterline tile. Concrete guy is still set to come at noon.
I told PB that I'm not paying for the deck until it's made right and if it can't be made right we need to talk about a discount or at the very least he has to throw in the fire/water bowls for free. He did not answer....
 
Nini - You are doing a great job at holding them accountable. If everything doesn't get fixed 100% the way you want it, know that you've put your all into it and should be very happy about that. The rest will just be things that, over time, will become less glaring and important to you. Once the grand-babies are splashing around, I don't expect you will be worrying about some of the topics of today. I like to separate construction defects (and we all have them) into two categories, things that will affect the longevity or usefulness of the end product and things that are aesthetic and deal with them accordingly.

I'll mention this only as a way to "sidetrack" your emotions. Look at the brick on the back of your house. Notice how the mortar lines are not consistent? Have you ever noticed that before I pointed it out? I wouldn't have either if we weren't focusing on the topic. Your pool is a product of human hands, some are better than others at given tasks. I thought the comment about "doing the best with what he had to work with" was actually quite interesting. It's not what he meant, but we all generally try to do the best with what we have to work with. Some have more to work with than others.

I'll pray that you are at peace with the final product once the project is complete. Not easy to focus on that now though.

Keep your spirits up!
 
bmoreswim said:
Nini - You are doing a great job at holding them accountable. If everything doesn't get fixed 100% the way you want it, know that you've put your all into it and should be very happy about that. The rest will just be things that, over time, will become less glaring and important to you. Once the grand-babies are splashing around, I don't expect you will be worrying about some of the topics of today. I like to separate construction defects (and we all have them) into two categories, things that will affect the longevity or usefulness of the end product and things that are aesthetic and deal with them accordingly.

I'll mention this only as a way to "sidetrack" your emotions. Look at the brick on the back of your house. Notice how the mortar lines are not consistent? Have you ever noticed that before I pointed it out? I wouldn't have either if we weren't focusing on the topic. Your pool is a product of human hands, some are better than others at given tasks. I thought the comment about "doing the best with what he had to work with" was actually quite interesting. It's not what he meant, but we all generally try to do the best with what we have to work with. Some have more to work with than others.

I'll pray that you are at peace with the final product once the project is complete. Not easy to focus on that now though.

Keep your spirits up!
Click to expand...
Thank you for the encouragement. This kind of stuff is SO DIFFICULTY for me.

You are quite right about things not being perfect and is exactly what I was telling my husband this morning. I'm not expecting perfection as we are imperfect people working with imperfect products. There are just some REALLY BAD problems. I'm really praying he is skilled enough to fix the major areas of concern and even out the coloring. I'll post some pictures of the issues we have this afternoon after our meeting.

I really appreciate the kind words and prayer more than I can express.
 
*Sigh*
well, concrete guy was here.... I have to say I kinda wanted to punch him in the face when he first started talking to me bent over with his hands on his knees like I would bend down to talk to my grandchildren...

As I expected (but hoped I'd be wrong) he poo-poo'd some of the color issues as being due to the metal troweler/curing time/integral color/water, but as we progressed he acknowledged the majority of what our problems where but then said I was looking at too much fine detail and he was seeing bigger more broad issues that I didn't see... Guess it's a good thing my patients don't know how stupid I am, they might fear for their lives!

He had his head workman with him who he then told (privately) what he wanted him to do. I know at least one spot will be cut out and replaced we'll see how he handles the other stuff. As always, I was kind, polite, and told him we trusted him to make this right because he has a reputation for beautiful work.
Rain is expected through this weekend and possibly into next week...

I'm going to take some pictures of the bad concrete areas and get them posted after I run some errands.
 

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Here are pictures of some of the more major issues with the concrete:

Rough coping edge by spa
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Long crack
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This is not shadow. This is the real difference between the color in these 2 areas.
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They missed stamping these areas
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I love my new stairs even if there are other problems like the color and the patches....
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Close up of the color difference.
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They will be cutting out this area and replacing it. I guess it can't match worse than some of the other areas...
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The worst of the grout lines:
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I put my chairs and a table on the tanning ledge. They fir perfectly and will be even better when the pipes are no longer sticking out. Seeing this cheered me up. I cannot wait to sit here in the water having my coffee in the morning!
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Ah NO! Just NO! In what world does ANYONE think that kind of work should be allowed and called good enough? NOT mine!

I would not allow any work on the deck UNTIL you have TALKED to the PB and Concrete guy to see what they are planning on doing. You do NOT want them to "fix" it and it not be right. I have the feeling it will end up being like the tile guy "we fixed it the best we can". There needs to be a plan. I think a total tear out as there is NO way they can "restamp" the areas that were missed and those "patches"?? Really?? So you KNEW it was messed up but you kept on going? Then the clolorS what??????? and how????????

Nope, nope, nope!

Kim:cat:
 
A couple things. I'll be praying that they can fix the cement to your liking. It is really discouraging because we all know how hard it is to fix cement it is probably the most permanent thing around your pool. I think the color differences would bug me the most. Some of the cracks are pretty bad too but some of the smaller ones will probably start to blend in as long as they don't spread and that would be my major concern. I will say you did a great job picking out the pattern/stamp. I absolutely love it and it does help to hide some of the imperfections.

I'll try to encourage you on the tile work around the skimmers. I honestly wasn't happy with the tile work around my skimmers. I really didn't like it and was almost going to complain about it but I was tired of complaining. Now that my pool is filled it honestly doesn't matter. I think tiles around a skimmer are probably one of the hardest things to get right.

I'll say that your pool is going to be beautiful. I can also say that all of our pools have imperfections that we know about but you can't see in the photos. Now that my pool is done and filled it makes it a lot easier to forget about those things. Just remember to get the big things resolved that are obviously going to stick out after the pool is done and don't sweat the little things.
 
Oh Nini...... I keep switching between sadness and anger. I truly empathize. From the pictures it's as if some of the guys knew what they were doing and others didn't. I can't imagine they think it's acceptable.

Everyone is giving you great advice, support and encouragement. Keep reading the posts and reminding yourself of those things. You're doing all that you can and doing it super well.

On a good note, the picture of the chairs on the tanning ledge - gorgeous! The colors of your tile, pool edge, and deck next to the house are my cup of tea exactly! I love them! As Umm said, the stamp pattern is gorgeous. I would have selected that myself. When the pool is filled, it's not like you'll be inspecting all these things then. My focus turned completely to maintaining the water and chem balance. That's been fun and gratifying, because these guys are experts (and for free - how great is that?!!!). In a fantasy world, the TFP guys would be our PB's, supervisors, head crewmen, and inspectors!!!! (who wants to give me a high five on that?!)

I'm praying for your guardian angel :angel: to work overtime! Sending love and hugs to you, :hug:
Suz
 
kimkats said:
Ah NO! Just NO! In what world does ANYONE think that kind of work should be allowed and called good enough? NOT mine!

I would not allow any work on the deck UNTIL you have TALKED to the PB and Concrete guy to see what they are planning on doing. You do NOT want them to "fix" it and it not be right. I have the feeling it will end up being like the tile guy "we fixed it the best we can". There needs to be a plan. I think a total tear out as there is NO way they can "restamp" the areas that were missed and those "patches"?? Really?? So you KNEW it was messed up but you kept on going? Then the clolorS what??????? and how????????

Nope, nope, nope!

Kim:cat:
Click to expand...

While I agree with you, Kim, there is no way on this earth that either the PB or the concrete guy will ever agree to demo'ing this deck. It's 1660 sq ft and took just over 4 cement trucks to complete.
I do have to say, the area under the patio where we have the stark contrast of color difference is difficult to tell when all of it is wet. When it is dry, as you see, it is night and day different. They do have a plan, I just wasn't privy to all the technical aspects of it. I know they plan to fill the cracks, blend the color, cut out and replace that one section by the gate, fix the patches and smooth the rough spots.
I think it will all be functional just not as pretty as I had hoped.



ummgood said:
A couple things. I'll be praying that they can fix the cement to your liking. It is really discouraging because we all know how hard it is to fix cement it is probably the most permanent thing around your pool. I think the color differences would bug me the most. Some of the cracks are pretty bad too but some of the smaller ones will probably start to blend in as long as they don't spread and that would be my major concern. I will say you did a great job picking out the pattern/stamp. I absolutely love it and it does help to hide some of the imperfections.

I'll try to encourage you on the tile work around the skimmers. I honestly wasn't happy with the tile work around my skimmers. I really didn't like it and was almost going to complain about it but I was tired of complaining. Now that my pool is filled it honestly doesn't matter. I think tiles around a skimmer are probably one of the hardest things to get right.

I'll say that your pool is going to be beautiful. I can also say that all of our pools have imperfections that we know about but you can't see in the photos. Now that my pool is done and filled it makes it a lot easier to forget about those things. Just remember to get the big things resolved that are obviously going to stick out after the pool is done and don't sweat the little things.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the continued prayer and encouragement. The tile is not a huge issue to me anymore now that I'm dealing with the deck. Kinda like I have a headache then I smack my thumb with a hammer and have completely forgotten the headache because my thumb hurts so bad. I'm sure you are right about it not being very noticeable once water is in it.
Truthfully, after the waterline tile "fix" I have little confidence that this will be fixed to my liking. My hope is that they can somehow even out the color (or at least tone down the glaring differences), fill the cracks, disguise the patches and smooth out the rough coping at the stairs and corner of the spa. We do like the "overall" look of the deck. This is what is on the PB's display. It's gorgeous. I think if it ends up being more brown than beige it will hide a lot of the problems. He left a large majority of it too light anyway. Concrete guy wanted it more beige, I wanted more brown but not Hersey bar brown. We'll see how they handle it.
I am trying to be resigned to acceptance. I'm ready to be finished. The stress is almost more than I can handle. I'm not sleeping well, and my dreams are filled with thoughts of the build problems and work (too much OT). I have a 7 day off stretch coming up this weekend (thought we'd have water by now and had requested PTO- ha!). Hopefully we will see deck work and masonry during this time, and maybe guttering, too.

In the end, I agree, it IS going to be beautiful. Being able to build and have a backyard like this has been a lifelong dream. We are blessed and I am grateful. We are going to use it and enjoy it so very much!!

Blessings!
 
SuzfromTexas said:
Oh Nini...... I keep switching between sadness and anger. I truly empathize. From the pictures it's as if some of the guys knew what they were doing and others didn't. I can't imagine they think it's acceptable.

Everyone is giving you great advice, support and encouragement. Keep reading the posts and reminding yourself of those things. You're doing all that you can and doing it super well.

On a good note, the picture of the chairs on the tanning ledge - gorgeous! The colors of your tile, pool edge, and deck next to the house are my cup of tea exactly! I love them! As Umm said, the stamp pattern is gorgeous. I would have selected that myself. When the pool is filled, it's not like you'll be inspecting all these things then. My focus turned completely to maintaining the water and chem balance. That's been fun and gratifying, because these guys are experts (and for free - how great is that?!!!). In a fantasy world, the TFP guys would be our PB's, supervisors, head crewmen, and inspectors!!!! (who wants to give me a high five on that?!)

I'm praying for your guardian angel :angel: to work overtime! Sending love and hugs to you, :hug:
Suz
Click to expand...

Thank you, Suz! I was pretty tickled when I put out the chairs :) I sent the pic to Hubby at work. He loved it!

I'm glad you all like the deck. I fell in love with it. I didn't even ask to look at other stamp patterns. I felt like this would hide the inevitable small cracks, dirt and slight imperfections. I think that's why it's been such a heartbreak for me. We originally were just doing the salted colored concrete but then upgraded (to what I REALLY wanted) when we were told we couldn't have the color I chose because it was a stamped only product. Once we made the decision to upgrade, I no longer cared that I couldn't do travertine because I was getting a GORGEOUS stamped colored concrete. I was just about giddy with excitement to the same level as when we decided to build the pool in the first place. And now....here we are.


You totally get a high five and a fist bump with blow up from me on the TFP pool company with offices in every major city!

I am looking forward to leaving all this mess and stress behind, and focusing on maintenance and relaxation! I haven't tested my water yet. I'm hoping to do that next week when I'm off work.

Love and hugs right back 'atcha! :hug:
 
So sorry to see you are dealing with these issues. You have the right attitude though, when its all said and done you will be loving swimming in that pool and spending time with your family!

Maybe they can re stain the concrete decking one more time all at once to get a more uniform color? I will say that now that we have water in the pool I don't find myself looking at the waterline tile very much if at all. I am always drawn to the spa and wall where that iridescent tile really shines. You have some really beautiful tile to look at on that spa too!, that will catch everyone's eyes when looking at your pool.

Keep pressing to get a satisfactory result as you should since we are all spending a lot of money on these projects. Keep in mind no matter how good all these pools look when finished, no one finished without some sort of hiccup, myself included. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Can't wait to see it all done!
 

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