Need advice! PB used lowest point for shell elevation

[Sparq79]

Hey everyone. Just the other day I was posting about sloppy tile work only to find out today when looking at the drain strip the deck guys laid that the builder used the lowest spot on my existing patio to figure shell elevation . Unfortunately, the lowest spot means they used a sunken portion of my patio...and as a result they are planning on pouring the deck 2 inches lower than the highest spot on my patio to allow for proper drainage. So there will be a 2 inch "step" (or toe breaker aka trip hazard) for most of pool to patio transition. Please see pics for details.

What can I do at this point? Can they build up the pool shell by 2 inches somehow? Is there a type of form that would allow for a fix?

What they should have done was use the highest point of my patio to get the elevation for the pool....I'm about to cry. My immediate plan is to get a lawyer and find out how to not pay a dime more (already paid 50% when shell was completed) until this is addressed...

Any advice extremely welcome.

 

[ajw22]

What style coping are you doing?

What style deck are you doing?

Why can't they pout a thicker deck with thicker coping?

 

[KCNM]

You mention this is supposedly for drainage. Is this a local code thing? Their hands might be tied.

Do I correctly see that it appears level with the far corner? If so, then there's going to be two inches to make up *somewhere*. They're not going to pour a slanted deck. The best they could do is level to the center and distribute the difference to both sides to minimize it. But they are correct that, in that case, that the pool deck is going to drain onto your patio.

 

[Sparq79]

What style coping are you doing?

What style deck are you doing?

Why can't they pout a thicker deck with thicker coping?

Coping is "cantilever"...the deck is concrete with texture on top and acrylic paint. I don't know what options there are...so if thicker coping is an option then I can suggest that...but aren't those forms all a standard size?

 

[Sparq79]

You mention this is supposedly for drainage. Is this a local code thing? Their hands might be tied.

Do I correctly see that it appears level with the far corner? If so, then there's going to be two inches to make up *somewhere*. They're not going to pour a slanted deck. The best they could do is level to the center and distribute the difference to both sides to minimize it. But they are correct that, in that case, that the pool deck is going to drain onto your patio.

I don't know if it's a code thing...but may be since we're in Florida and theres flooding.

You do see correctly, the drain strip is level with the far right corner which is the defective (settled/sunk) side of the patio. On the left you can see the drain is 2-3 below the patio...and there will be a lip now from pool deck to patio unless I either make them build the pool shell up or figure out how to grind the patio down...

 

[KCNM]

As long as it's not a code thing that will fail inspection, this seems like the kind of thing that a 12 pack of beer for the workers might solve?

 

[ajw22]

You sure your patio was not built that way for drainage so water flows out the low side?

You want your deck to be pitched for drainage and pitched away from the pool. If you pitch the pool deck even with the patio it will drain to the right in the pics.

 

[Sparq79]

You sure your patio was not built that way for drainage so water flows out the low side?

You want your deck to be pitched for drainage and pitched away from the pool. If you pitch the pool deck even with the patio it will drain to the right in the pics.

The right 6ft of the patio is a sunken slab. There's a structural crack and it tilts down...it was not pitched like this on purpose.
They are saying that if they pitched the pool deck even with the patio, on the left side water would drain into the pool because the coping would be lower than patio. On the right side it all works out because that is from where they planned out all measurements.

I think, if there is such an option, if I got them to use a coping form that is 2in thicker/higher than they usually use it could all work out. That way we could set the drain level with the left side patio and I could have them float the right side patio to level everything out. Pool deck will pitch slightly towards patio and into the drain strip. I just don't know if such a coping form exists that is 2in thicker than the standard form every PB uses...

 

[Sparq79]

As long as it's not a code thing that will fail inspection, this seems like the kind of thing that a 12 pack of beer for the workers might solve?

I'm not sure how it could be solved? You need to pitch the pool deck away from pool so the coping needs to be higher than the drain. In my case, if the drain is to be level with the highest part of my patio (left side) then the coping needs to be 2-3 in higher than they planned for. Perhaps I'm missing something.

 

[KCNM]

I'm not sure how it could be solved? You need to pitch the pool deck away from pool so the coping needs to be higher than the drain. In my case, if the drain is to be level with the highest part of my patio (left side) then the coping needs to be 2-3 in higher than they planned for. Perhaps I'm missing something.

I'm not in the business, so I don't know. I was just saying that if you need something changed, sometimes the easiest route is to go through the people actually doing the work. I do know that if you lawyer up, the correct response on their side is to stop all work until an agreement is arrived at. If your goal is not to grind everything to a halt, you need to work *with* people instead of *against* them.

 

[PoolGate]

My concrete deck has been built up in several locations to meet the elevation of whatever it was butting up against. It drains fine. I don't have those channel drains though.

 

[duckcmmndr]

Move that channel drain halfway between the existing patio and the edge of the pool and slope the concrete down in both directions to the channel drain. It will be a more drastic slope on the high end of the existing patio..but that's the only way I see it working.

FYI...your concrete guys should be able to figure this out, this is what they do.

 

[Sparq79]

I'm not in the business, so I don't know. I was just saying that if you need something changed, sometimes the easiest route is to go through the people actually doing the work. I do know that if you lawyer up, the correct response on their side is to stop all work until an agreement is arrived at. If your goal is not to grind everything to a halt, you need to work *with* people instead of *against* them.

Unfortunately the guys who are doing the work have also been told by the PB to tell me to relay all my questions and concerns to the project manager. The project manager is eager to get the concrete poured ASAP because then there's no going back. So I need to pump the breaks before the problem cannot be solved and I just have to live with it. Right now the PB says the only solution is to grind my patio down 2 inches (making it 2 inches thin). They are saying a thicker coping and deck will be "too heavy". That sounds like BS to me because otherwise they would not make such forms and I'm sure the ground under the deck can support 6in of deck....I think it's just because it would cost them more to pour more concrete....grinding down 200 sqft of patio is cheaper I guess...

 

[Sparq79]

Move that channel drain halfway between the existing patio and the edge of the pool and slope the concrete down in both directions to the channel drain. It will be a more drastic slope on the high end of the existing patio..but that's the only way I see it working.

FYI...your concrete guys should be able to figure this out, this is what they do.

I had recommended that to the concrete guys and he said he would not advise to have a "V" so close to the pool. This morning the PB called me and told me to let the guys do their job and that he will solve the issue by grinding down the patio with a scarifier. I think having a 2in thin patio is going to open a whole other can of issues down the road .

 

[PoolGate]

The existing patio isn't that big what would he charge to tear it out and replace it with the deck?

 

[Sparq79]

The existing patio isn't that big what would he charge to tear it out and replace it with the deck?

Existing patio is probably close to 600sqft. I don't think that is an economical option at this point - they would likely charge in the thousands and it would be on me. This is essentially their screw-up so I don't want to shell out another 5K to fix their error. They make 6" forms (Stegmeier) that would solve our problem. The coping and deck would now be 2.5 inches above the drain - giving enough room/pitch to drain away from the pool and have drain level with 80% of the patio. The far right side (20%) that is low, can be built up to match. I still don't understand the PB's argument that the "6 inch coping will be too heavy on the nose". Does he think the weight of the 6" coping is going to fracture the tile or the pool shell?!

 

[TampaKathy]

Instead of the channel drain, can they use the round drains? Maybe the drain that would be on the left could be moved away from the patio so they can make more of a gradual slope. Also, if you use 6" coping, that will make the step into the pool 12" which is too steep.

 

[Sparq79]

Instead of the channel drain, can they use the round drains? Maybe the drain that would be on the left could be moved away from the patio so they can make more of a gradual slope. Also, if you use 6" coping, that will make the step into the pool 12" which is too steep.

The project manager came by for 45 minutes today - he's adamant not to do 6" coping. His proposed solution was:

• Bring channel drain halfway between pool and patio so they can pitch patio to the drain more gradually
• Grind down section of the higher patio on left side
• have section of channel drain go 45 degrees across the deck (see picture - green line is the proposed new placement of drain)

I can't say I'm 100% happy - I personally think it's going to look like Crud with that drain running at an angle across our new deck. He said that it will be painted to match the deck but I'm pretty sure I'll still notice it. At this point I just need to move forward. I will ask about the circular drain option - perhaps that could be used as you mentioned on the far left instead of the ugly angle option - I suspect that will take some precision pitching though to get all the water to drain to one spot from all sides. I'll keep everyone posted on progress - appreciate everyone's feedback so far.

 

[ajw22]

Have them use a channel drain where the top snaps out so the drain can be cleaned. The cheap ones are one piece and cannot be easily cleaned.

 

[Sparq79]

Have them use a channel drain where the too snaps out so the drain can be cleaned. The cheap ones are one piece and cannot be easily cleaned.

Great call! I just checked and they are using the one-piece type...go figure. One more thing to have to fight about now. Thank you for the heads-up.