My dream come true is now my nightmare

Hi everyone,

I had my pool resurfaced and the job was completed in 4/2021. I live in Fort Worth Tx. I recently moved to Tx from Grand Rapids Michigan. I had a pool in MI but it was one with a pool liner. After purchasing my home in TX I found my pool contractor on Home adviser and he had hundreds of great reviews. I got 3 estimates from different pool contractors between 14k - 21k. I chose the $16,000 guy. I went for pebble Tec mini and full resurface. My pool deck is concrete with flag stone coping. They used grout between coping and waterline and tiles on the wall And mosaics on the stairs and seats/ledges in the pool. There are no cracks in pool deck concrete or flagstone coping so when he asked if I wanted it replaced I said no, I like the color and look of it And it appeared to be the only part of my poo in good condition so I chose to keep it. Fast forward from April 2021 when pool was done to June and July when I am noticing holes opening up in the grout above the tile above the waterline, it also looks like the grout is receding day by day and small pin holes are opening up and now they have grown to be big holes I can easily stick the head of a q-tip in. And small pin holes are opening up between the tile on the wall and getting bigger as well. Some grout is also missing beteen the wall tiles below the water line. I think hmmm well maybe this is normal at first in June but in July as days pass it’s getting drastically worse in all areas where there is grout where water never touches-grout problems above the water line. Aug 2021 now the holes are big and are about every foot around the the pool; I contact the pool guy, he comes out to look and says “hairline Cracks are normal and it’s in the contract and not under warranty.” The thing is there are crack is places but not where the holes are opening up so the contract doesn’t say anything about huge holes opening up in the grout and it receding every few weeks. Then he starts tapping on the flagstone around the pool and says - some places are hollow so there’s movement that caused this, he says - that’s normal and not under warranty. He then says “you wanted to save money I think you said so you didn’t have the coping replaced.” I said very frankly “people who choose pebbletec are not trying to save money, people trying to save money paint their pool or plaster it. I have never once talked with you about getting a deal or saving money By phone or in any of our email and text communication And When you asked if I wanted the copng replaced I said it looks good, and you said ok.” He eluded to that if I would have spend the extra money on replacing the coping there would not have been an issue, yet he never told me there was any issue with the coping or that it would cause my grout to be falling off the wall in 3 months after the resurface Or that it needed to be replaced. If he had told me that I would have agreed. So I call BS. He tells me he can have the guys come back out and put “more grout over the grout.“ Hmm, I say “I don’t think grout over grout fixes the issue, does grout even secure firmly to dried grout?” He says “it’s the best I can do.“ I talk more to him about this coping and ask why he didn’t tell me about this as I relied on him to tell me what needed to be done? No answer. I’m going to give this guy a chance, he’s license, insured. To me that means if he screwed up he has the money to fix it and I shouldn’t have to pay for mistakes his guys made Or settle for excuses or grout over grout. I am prepared to hire an attorney and say “let’s go,” but I know nothing about pools so I wanted to check in with all of you.” I have several pool builders and renovators lined up next week to look at my pool and write up what went wrong and the cost to fix it. I have included pictures but left off the HUGE crack ones for now since he says “hairline cracks those are not under warranty “ but I may add them if you guys need to see them to make a better assessment. Thank you in advance for any help you are able to offer! - Rita