Soooo, it has been forever since I posted anything. Our project, which had been going extremely well, suddenly went off the deep end during the tile and stone phase. I haven't been posting updates because I was pretty disgusted with everything and really didn't want to be reminded of it. I think we are finally getting back on track though and I have my sanity back, so I'll catch up. It's a bit of a long story but here goes:
Tile and stone work started out seemingly OK. The guys did all the waterline tile, and it was mostly OK. There were a few spots around the skimmers and overflow drain that weren't great, so I asked to have those fixed. The coping, which is Lueders Limestone, wasn't really shaped well to match the curves of my freeform pool. These were large slabs that they cut curved pieces out of with circular saws, and they said they come back later to perfect the shape with grinders after all the pieces are set, so I still wasn't worried. My spillway and marker tiles weren't done (it was supposed to be the same glass tile) so I asked the tile guys about it. They apparently hadn't read the plan and didn't know those were supposed to be glass tile, and they did not have enough tile left to do it. I don't know how, but apparently my PB had not ordered enough. This is where the big problems started.
PB ordered two more boxes of tile and says they should have it in 2 weeks. In the mean time, the decking crew comes and finishes our travertine pavers. They turned out great and we are very happy with them. After two weeks though, the tile is still not in. PB calls the company and finds out they have been bought out. Says that has delayed things, but we should be getting tile soon. After three more weeks with no tile, PB finds out that the new ownership will no longer be producing that tile. Fortunately though, they found just enough in their warehouse for our job and we get it. That was a 5 week delay, but we were at peace with it, thinking the tile guys would jump on it and get us done. For two weeks though we keep hearing that they'll be coming "tomorrow or the next day", but it was one no-show after another. Now I'm getting mad, but they finally show up. My wife and I were gone at work most of the day, so we were really excited to see it when we got home.
We were utterly shocked at the ridiculously poor job they did. It literally looked like a child did it, and I am not exaggerating. The spillway tiles weren't even close to lining up with the waterline tile. Some were nearly a whole inch off. None of the tiles were straight, so some grout lines were very thick while others were non-existent. Tiles were not flat and smooth, there were many divots, bumps, and ripples. The tiles on the flat top of the spillway were overhanging the vertical surfaces by an eighth to a quarter inch. The marker tiles on the steps and benches were not straight and some tiles actually overlapped others so they were sticking up at odd angles. It was infuriatingly bad.
I talk to our PB project manager and he comes out and is disgusted, and says this tile company usually does a great job, and he'll get them out to make it right. Another week goes by, and finally they come to "fix" it. When my wife and I get home, we are again utterly disappointed in the workmanship. It is better than the first time, but still nowhere near what you would call good. All the same issues as before, just to a lesser degree. We were livid and PB was too and schedules a meeting at my house with the owner of the tile and stone company to discuss.
He was very apologetic, and sincerely seemed embarrassed by his guys' work (I'm told both of them have been fired). He assured us that he will personally redo our tile and make it beautiful. Because his guys messed the job up so bad, they will have to remove all the tile and start over from the beginning. And because our tile is no longer manufactured, we had to select a new tile (at their expense, not ours). After digesting this news, my wife and I were OK with it and were actually relieved that it will be started over and hopefully done right from the start. We have selected NPT's Arctic Lagoon, which several builds here at TFP have used, and hopefully we'll be pleased with the results. The old tile was ripped out today, and they are supposed to install the new tile later this week.
That was a long post! That's what I get for taking months off. I'll post some pictures.
