Just a quick intro, we have a brand new in-ground gunite plaster pool. The very first few days after it was filled completely (plaster finished June 5, fill completed June 6) we immediately noticed it wasn't holding water (dropping an inch or so every 6-10 hours). We have been working with a pool consultant who has been acting as our contractor (we don't have a written contract- I KNOW, ugh!), who also is the plumbing and electric sub. He is also a licensed pool contractor (well, his partner is the licensed one, he is a partner). Long story short, we have repeatedly asked him to find the leak. He went from saying it was a simple fix he can do himself, to saying he has to hire a company to do it. He finally got a leak detection company to come out last week to look for the leak. TWO WEEKS after discovering the leak. Which, of course, in the meantime means we are filling our huge, 40,000 gallon pool constantly, and the chemicals are out of whack. Needless to say, the leak detection company didn't find the leak (after a thorough 3 hour investigation) and concluded that it must be in the plumbing because it's not in any of the usual places (skimmers, lights, plaster, returns, suction, etc.). They suggested a more thorough pipe pressure testing which is more complicated (and expensive), so we are now waiting for our contractor to find someone to do that.
We are going on almost four weeks of our pool being "filled" (I won't say finished because we have a myriad of other issues he still hasn't finished), but this leak is worrisome. What do you suggest we do? This contractor has been flaky from day one, very unreliable and extremely unprofessional. And that's putting it nicely. I could go on and on, but this is a public forum and I don't feel like that is appropriate. What we want it to get this taken care of in a timely manner BY HIM, and because it's a plumbing issue, HE needs to take responsibility and pay for it or fix it himself. He is dragging his feet and we are frustrated. Yes we can swim, but the constant balancing of chemicals and watching the water level is stressful. Not to mention the water leak is going into our newly landscaped yard and may cause quite a mess to dig out.
Should we try to contact a leak detection company ourselves? I don't even know if he's on top of that. He is so flaky and temperamental, and he is constantly telling us one thing but doing another, it's extremely frustrating. My husband and I both are business owners and we have never encountered anyone like this. I know, we should have done more research before we hired him, but we are stuck now, so I just need some advice. We've threatened to call the state contractor's license board but that can take weeks to even process a complaint.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
We are going on almost four weeks of our pool being "filled" (I won't say finished because we have a myriad of other issues he still hasn't finished), but this leak is worrisome. What do you suggest we do? This contractor has been flaky from day one, very unreliable and extremely unprofessional. And that's putting it nicely. I could go on and on, but this is a public forum and I don't feel like that is appropriate. What we want it to get this taken care of in a timely manner BY HIM, and because it's a plumbing issue, HE needs to take responsibility and pay for it or fix it himself. He is dragging his feet and we are frustrated. Yes we can swim, but the constant balancing of chemicals and watching the water level is stressful. Not to mention the water leak is going into our newly landscaped yard and may cause quite a mess to dig out.
Should we try to contact a leak detection company ourselves? I don't even know if he's on top of that. He is so flaky and temperamental, and he is constantly telling us one thing but doing another, it's extremely frustrating. My husband and I both are business owners and we have never encountered anyone like this. I know, we should have done more research before we hired him, but we are stuck now, so I just need some advice. We've threatened to call the state contractor's license board but that can take weeks to even process a complaint.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.