The guy is certified and all that from NPT and they only install NPT finishes. He just doesn't seem to like people who question him. I mean the pools he did (he had a pool building company before switching to just plaster) were very basic and what not. Doesn't seem to be a lot of custom anything with the designs so not a lot of input from owners.
New Build in NE FL
- Thread starter Brooksrandy81
- Start date
- Jul 16, 2012
- 7,206
- Pool Size
- 27000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Wet look sealers and slippery surfaces are synonymous. Advice a couple posts above is good on sealers.
I would see about wrapping up the stuff you don't want anyone to use with a BIG note on it----------DO NOT TOUCH!! LOL
Bullnose-cut it OFF and redo it by hand?????? ah NO! You can't make this kind of stuff up!
Kim
Bullnose-cut it OFF and redo it by hand?????? ah NO! You can't make this kind of stuff up!
Kim
I'm sorry that you just can't catch a break!!
I hope they get your bubbler situation figured out.
I don't understand the plaster guy telling you that they can't add glass beads to mini pebble. Is that just an NPT finish issue? I've seen a lot of mini pebble samples from various distributors with glass beads in them. My abalone shells were not mixed in, they were hand cast at the end. Double batch of glass beads were mixed in & came out just fine with the mini pebbles.
Keep on them & keep asking questions!!
I hope they get your bubbler situation figured out.
I don't understand the plaster guy telling you that they can't add glass beads to mini pebble. Is that just an NPT finish issue? I've seen a lot of mini pebble samples from various distributors with glass beads in them. My abalone shells were not mixed in, they were hand cast at the end. Double batch of glass beads were mixed in & came out just fine with the mini pebbles.
Keep on them & keep asking questions!!
So the thing is that these plasters are all mixed on site. One bag of abalone comes WITH the mix but plaster guy said the bags say specifically to hand cast only. So if you get Tropics Blue, you will get 1 bag of hand cast abalone already with your finish. So yes, it comes with it but he is saying it is not meant to be mixed in bc it would be a waste and is meant to be hand cast. Calling NPT today to chat.
Alright. I called NPT and they do not have actual reps or anyone I can ask technical questions to. I have to talk to a distribution store. So I just asked for a store down in South Florida.
Speaking to the woman at the store, she sounded very well informed about the NPT finishes. I asked her if we got the Stonescapes Touch of Glass, would the pebble be regular or mini size? She said they are regular.
I explained my concerns given my plaster guy is adamant glass beads are to be added to regular pebble finishes and not mini even though I know of LOTS of pools that had mini with glass. She said they are aware of installers who do put glass with mini pebble but that is not how the installers are trained and she is not sure if that would void the warranty given they are installed against company standards. I did not press that issue any further simply bc finding out that if we picked "Touch of Glass", NPT would have regular pebble with glass answered my questions about my plaster guy.
I asked about the abalone and she said they are meant to be hand cast and you get the most out of them that way though she is aware some plaster guys do mix it in.
She then said that some of the local guys have started getting the pearl iredescent glass beads and using them as sort of like the abalone bc it shines similar to abalone but longer lasting being a glass beads.
So hearing about iredescent glass beads sent me on the hunt again. I hadn't really paid much attention to the different Jewelscapes finishes but looking at them they have iredescent glass, reflective glass, original glass, etc. The iredescent ones def look like they shine more. And then I also noticed the Touch of Glass line gives you the option of 1, 2, or 3 bags of glass per batch. Plaster guy had recommended 2 bags but since 3 bags is completely doable and an option from the company, why not do more?
So I sent a text to the plaster guy and asked if the iredescent glass beads were able to be used with the regular pebble finished and separately said that after thinking about it further, we would like to go with the max 3 bags of glass beads per batch as the glass made the finish smoother and if there is a way to get hurt on something, I would be the one to find a way. I wasn't expecting a reply very quickly and wasnt sure how he would respond to even more questions. However, he answered right back and said "Funny you should ask - I just received a new product from NPT - mini iredescent glass beads". I told him it was a sign! So he should be able to get to the warehouse and grab these beads so I can see them. He said if we are concerned with the roughness, we may be able to do mini pebble with these mini glass beads and he said plus, no one else would have this finish locally.
So I was pleasantly surprised with his replies and openness to share the new products with me and sounded excited about doing a brand new finish.
You guys know I will update you with these new pretty glass beads as soon as I find out.
Gas company came and delivered tank and ran the lines and buried them. Inspector will come and test everything and then we get gas.
Decking - so Friday, coping guy comes back over and yet AGAIN, tries to use our TM decking for the coping, saying his boss told him to use the decking and they will replace it with their travertine later. Uhhhh NO. At this point, hubby is so mad bc we keep having this convo that he goes off on the coping guy. He's like I know its not you're fault but REALLY?????? So hubby calls construction manager who gets royally mad too bc decking owner lied and said he sent coping guy with more travertine. So apparently construction manager (CM) called decking owner and cursed him out and told him to get the beeping travertine out here.
Coping guy leaves AGAIN and about 30 mins later, the decking owner guy arrives with more travertine. This is the same guy who popped off at me saying "LOOK LADY" and then hubby had to get in his face to make him understand he is not to be a jerk to me when he talks to me. THAT GUY. So he's screaming mad on the phone, pointing at the decking travertine, pointing at the travertine he had, arms flying around, just mad mad mad. I am standing in the breakfast room and he sees me watching him. So he yells a little more at whoever is on the phone and then finishes unloading the travertine.
I am still watching him and he comes inside the cage and is walking around, looking at the deck, and TWICE he trips and almost goes down on his knee bc his shoe got caught on the uneven deck! Karma. His deck crew is who installed it like that. He then comes and knocks on the door. I will say it is amazing how much a person can change their tune when people don't take their boo-hockey and set them straight.
He asked me the size of the door patios. I also told him I had enough bull nose coping that I want the front edge od both patios to use the bull nose. Then we walked the deck, I showed him all the areas his crew scratched when installing the deck, showed him the major uneven areas, the coping with saw marks, and also the fact the deck drain stops in the middle. He said the deck drain has a cap on the one end so the water doesn't pour out there but talking to PB and CM, they said it should extend fully. Deck owner still argued that so I deferred to PB and said he wants it placed. He said they should do the door patios Sunday and damaged deck will be replaced towards the end of the build and also add more sand bc many joints are empty.
I also asked the CM if he had enough pipe and hose to get the pool to drain into our ditch in front of the house instead of on our property bc it is just nasty water. Thankfully he had enough extra pipe so for now, it is pumping into the ditch. Forecast is calling for 6"+ over night and tomorrow so who knows what will happen tomorrow as we flood and the ditches empty into our yard.....
Oh - so coping guy was here this AM and started cutting the new travertine and getting the spa coping going. I wanted to avoid the 3-4" wide pieces of coping that look like brick bc I just dont care for the look but after the spa walls ended up being over 12" thick, our 12x24" pieces could no longer be used. So he did cut skinny strips of travertine for the coping which looks nice, just not as I had envisioned, but still pretty. He will be bull nosing the inside and outside over hangs next, apparently. I saw an example of a bull nose piece he showed us and it looked good but that wasn't a piece mortared in place! He still has to finish the wall and fix the one broken piece on the column.
The one nice thing about the coping is the pieces the deck owner brought had pretty variations on it so the spa is def as visually interesting as the deck is as well.
So recap: Plaster guy seemed nicer and potential for iredescent mini glass - stay tuned
Coping placed on spa - different than original design but still pretty - waiting to be custom bull nosed after install
CM is draining pool to ditch (not as big of a deal for those in a neighborhood but here with 3 acres and the ditch being 200 feet from the pool, it was a small victory).
CM also thinks water in 2 weeks though we aren't as hopeful. Plus my reading on NPT website, you can't have rain, even after the install, bc of streaking. And its summer. In Florida. Lol
All I have are 2 pics of the coping now. Can't wait to see it once bull nosed
Speaking to the woman at the store, she sounded very well informed about the NPT finishes. I asked her if we got the Stonescapes Touch of Glass, would the pebble be regular or mini size? She said they are regular.
I explained my concerns given my plaster guy is adamant glass beads are to be added to regular pebble finishes and not mini even though I know of LOTS of pools that had mini with glass. She said they are aware of installers who do put glass with mini pebble but that is not how the installers are trained and she is not sure if that would void the warranty given they are installed against company standards. I did not press that issue any further simply bc finding out that if we picked "Touch of Glass", NPT would have regular pebble with glass answered my questions about my plaster guy.
I asked about the abalone and she said they are meant to be hand cast and you get the most out of them that way though she is aware some plaster guys do mix it in.
She then said that some of the local guys have started getting the pearl iredescent glass beads and using them as sort of like the abalone bc it shines similar to abalone but longer lasting being a glass beads.
So hearing about iredescent glass beads sent me on the hunt again. I hadn't really paid much attention to the different Jewelscapes finishes but looking at them they have iredescent glass, reflective glass, original glass, etc. The iredescent ones def look like they shine more. And then I also noticed the Touch of Glass line gives you the option of 1, 2, or 3 bags of glass per batch. Plaster guy had recommended 2 bags but since 3 bags is completely doable and an option from the company, why not do more?
So I sent a text to the plaster guy and asked if the iredescent glass beads were able to be used with the regular pebble finished and separately said that after thinking about it further, we would like to go with the max 3 bags of glass beads per batch as the glass made the finish smoother and if there is a way to get hurt on something, I would be the one to find a way. I wasn't expecting a reply very quickly and wasnt sure how he would respond to even more questions. However, he answered right back and said "Funny you should ask - I just received a new product from NPT - mini iredescent glass beads". I told him it was a sign! So he should be able to get to the warehouse and grab these beads so I can see them. He said if we are concerned with the roughness, we may be able to do mini pebble with these mini glass beads and he said plus, no one else would have this finish locally.
So I was pleasantly surprised with his replies and openness to share the new products with me and sounded excited about doing a brand new finish.
You guys know I will update you with these new pretty glass beads as soon as I find out.
Gas company came and delivered tank and ran the lines and buried them. Inspector will come and test everything and then we get gas.
Decking - so Friday, coping guy comes back over and yet AGAIN, tries to use our TM decking for the coping, saying his boss told him to use the decking and they will replace it with their travertine later. Uhhhh NO. At this point, hubby is so mad bc we keep having this convo that he goes off on the coping guy. He's like I know its not you're fault but REALLY?????? So hubby calls construction manager who gets royally mad too bc decking owner lied and said he sent coping guy with more travertine. So apparently construction manager (CM) called decking owner and cursed him out and told him to get the beeping travertine out here.
Coping guy leaves AGAIN and about 30 mins later, the decking owner guy arrives with more travertine. This is the same guy who popped off at me saying "LOOK LADY" and then hubby had to get in his face to make him understand he is not to be a jerk to me when he talks to me. THAT GUY. So he's screaming mad on the phone, pointing at the decking travertine, pointing at the travertine he had, arms flying around, just mad mad mad. I am standing in the breakfast room and he sees me watching him. So he yells a little more at whoever is on the phone and then finishes unloading the travertine.
I am still watching him and he comes inside the cage and is walking around, looking at the deck, and TWICE he trips and almost goes down on his knee bc his shoe got caught on the uneven deck! Karma. His deck crew is who installed it like that. He then comes and knocks on the door. I will say it is amazing how much a person can change their tune when people don't take their boo-hockey and set them straight.
He asked me the size of the door patios. I also told him I had enough bull nose coping that I want the front edge od both patios to use the bull nose. Then we walked the deck, I showed him all the areas his crew scratched when installing the deck, showed him the major uneven areas, the coping with saw marks, and also the fact the deck drain stops in the middle. He said the deck drain has a cap on the one end so the water doesn't pour out there but talking to PB and CM, they said it should extend fully. Deck owner still argued that so I deferred to PB and said he wants it placed. He said they should do the door patios Sunday and damaged deck will be replaced towards the end of the build and also add more sand bc many joints are empty.
I also asked the CM if he had enough pipe and hose to get the pool to drain into our ditch in front of the house instead of on our property bc it is just nasty water. Thankfully he had enough extra pipe so for now, it is pumping into the ditch. Forecast is calling for 6"+ over night and tomorrow so who knows what will happen tomorrow as we flood and the ditches empty into our yard.....
Oh - so coping guy was here this AM and started cutting the new travertine and getting the spa coping going. I wanted to avoid the 3-4" wide pieces of coping that look like brick bc I just dont care for the look but after the spa walls ended up being over 12" thick, our 12x24" pieces could no longer be used. So he did cut skinny strips of travertine for the coping which looks nice, just not as I had envisioned, but still pretty. He will be bull nosing the inside and outside over hangs next, apparently. I saw an example of a bull nose piece he showed us and it looked good but that wasn't a piece mortared in place! He still has to finish the wall and fix the one broken piece on the column.
The one nice thing about the coping is the pieces the deck owner brought had pretty variations on it so the spa is def as visually interesting as the deck is as well.
So recap: Plaster guy seemed nicer and potential for iredescent mini glass - stay tuned
Coping placed on spa - different than original design but still pretty - waiting to be custom bull nosed after install
CM is draining pool to ditch (not as big of a deal for those in a neighborhood but here with 3 acres and the ditch being 200 feet from the pool, it was a small victory).
CM also thinks water in 2 weeks though we aren't as hopeful. Plus my reading on NPT website, you can't have rain, even after the install, bc of streaking. And its summer. In Florida. Lol
All I have are 2 pics of the coping now. Can't wait to see it once bull nosed
- Jun 18, 2015
- 712
- Pool Size
- 11000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
- Oct 18, 2009
- 3,637
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
That coping came out great! Then once it gets bullnosed............oh yeah! That is going to be awesome! Win for sure!
Decking guy-I wonder who he was yelling at on the phone? Yeah someone messed up and their ears paid for it! LOL on HIM tripping on his guys work
bet he got the message that time! Do you have the ones you want replaced/fixed marked with the blue tape?
Plaster+rain+Florida= that is going to be tricky. Here is what I am thinking...........get some plastic sheeting and drape it over the pool if it starts raining. You will have to come up with a way to anchor it as you do NOT want it touching the plaster. Think you could throw it up and over the top of the cage? Of course since you have it and found ways to cover the pretty new plaster you will not need it LOL
Getting closer and seems they are listening! Just think if you had been at work when the coping guys showed up???????? Gurrrrrrrrr
Kim
Decking guy-I wonder who he was yelling at on the phone? Yeah someone messed up and their ears paid for it! LOL on HIM tripping on his guys work
bet he got the message that time! Do you have the ones you want replaced/fixed marked with the blue tape? Plaster+rain+Florida=
that is going to be tricky. Here is what I am thinking...........get some plastic sheeting and drape it over the pool if it starts raining. You will have to come up with a way to anchor it as you do NOT want it touching the plaster. Think you could throw it up and over the top of the cage? Of course since you have it and found ways to cover the pretty new plaster you will not need it LOLGetting closer and seems they are listening! Just think if you had been at work when the coping guys showed up???????? Gurrrrrrrrr
Kim
Thanks all.
Kim, was thinking about a tarp or something too. Not sure about putting it on the cage.
This whole process would have been a giant cluster if I worked! One of the few times I am thankful for a back injury that makes me a couch jockey lol
And yes, we have tape on like half of the pavers. Majority need to be leveled and like 25% need to be replaced. There are more we need to tag that the screen crew scratched.
Not sure if you guys got this cold front but we have had close to 6" of rain today. Of course, because we just got the sump pump pumping water to the ditches so seems a grand time to have the ditches flood and back up onto the property. Lol
I am anxious about these mini glass pebbles. I want to see how iredescent they really are. And truthfully was happy to have a pleasant tone from the plaster guy after our last convo where he was not overly thrilled with my questions.
Can't wait to see the bull nose he puts on this coping and to get the wall and columns finished. Of course no decking crew today bc of the weather but hoping they will be out this week to put our door patios in place as well.
We are crawling our way along but hopefully soon this will finally be a completed build!
Kim, was thinking about a tarp or something too. Not sure about putting it on the cage.
This whole process would have been a giant cluster if I worked! One of the few times I am thankful for a back injury that makes me a couch jockey lol
And yes, we have tape on like half of the pavers. Majority need to be leveled and like 25% need to be replaced. There are more we need to tag that the screen crew scratched.
Not sure if you guys got this cold front but we have had close to 6" of rain today. Of course, because we just got the sump pump pumping water to the ditches so seems a grand time to have the ditches flood and back up onto the property. Lol
I am anxious about these mini glass pebbles. I want to see how iredescent they really are. And truthfully was happy to have a pleasant tone from the plaster guy after our last convo where he was not overly thrilled with my questions.
Can't wait to see the bull nose he puts on this coping and to get the wall and columns finished. Of course no decking crew today bc of the weather but hoping they will be out this week to put our door patios in place as well.
We are crawling our way along but hopefully soon this will finally be a completed build!
- Oct 18, 2009
- 3,637
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Shantelly I saw that you guys got a lot more rain. I am on the northside by the airport. My pws logged 2 plus inches of rain. I am confident that you will be swimming soon. Hang in there we are her to support you[emoji17]
Talk to hubby and see if he can rig something up inside the cage to divert the rain away from the pool.
That front was FAST, HARD, and SCARY! Glad I did not add water to the pool yesterday as it was over full this morning!
Kim
That front was FAST, HARD, and SCARY!
Glad I did not add water to the pool yesterday as it was over full this morning!Kim
- Jun 18, 2015
- 712
- Pool Size
- 11000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Shantelly - when I called our local NPT showroom last week, I got their area rep on the phone! Surely they have someone in your area? If not, let me know and I will give you this guy's name and number. He was very nice and took time to help me find a product that no retailer in Georgia could find or sell to me. Really great guy!
When I called NPT, all they would do is transfer me to a local show room/distributor. I have already dealt with the one here in Jax in trying to check on glass tile in the event we couldn't get the lightstream and then called them again asking about Tropics Blue having abalone with it. They kept having to put me on hold and check about every question and so I figured I would try a different show room and hopefully get someone more educated on their products. And now that the plaster guy seems to be wanting to help with this iredescent glass, I am hoping that is all I need. If I end up with more questions, I will def get the number from you. Thanks!
I'm glad things are moving along for you!!
I have iridescent/pearl glass beads in my pool finish, & they do shine a bit. It sounds like you are onto something with that new bead product.
I have iridescent/pearl glass beads in my pool finish, & they do shine a bit. It sounds like you are onto something with that new bead product.
So when I went out to look at the coping that was done on the spa, I didn't go and look at every single piece bc it was raining so much off and on. Now that we have had some dry days, I went over to really look and the exact thing I specifically addressed as a concern with the coping guy was done and he promised it wouldn't be!
Since he took of our bull nose coping pieces and cut the bull nose off which left those pieces more narrow than the pieces that did not have a bull nosed edge. I specifically said that I did not want to see the pieces cut to a bunch of varying sizes and be assured me he would make sure they would all be trimmed to the same size.
I have no idea what happened when the coping was done but it looks like 2 different people worked on opposite sides of the spa. The side where I stood to take the pics have the correct cuts and widths to each piece of travertine. However the pieces directly opposite of where I stood, the cuts are backwards. If you look at how the skinny pieces are cut, they are more narrow inside the spa edge and then they flare out to a wider edge on the outside edge of the spa. On the opposite side, they are wide on the inside of the spa and narrow on the outside. It is like they flipped half the spa and put the pieces in backwards.
I am just so flipping annoyed. Why can't people do correct work? And we are supposed to trust this guy to custom bull nose the coping after its mortared onto the spa, next to our stone and glass tile??? Not to mention 2 pieces of coping are scratched to heck and back so will need to ve replaced.
Apparently the deck crew is going to be here tomorrow. I know they are doing the door patios but no idea when they will replace all the scratched pavers and level all of the unlevel ones. Much less how they are going to replace a pacer that is broken and its under the screen frame.
Honestly, even though we have painters tape on the unlevel or damaged pavers, you know these guys are going to need a baby sitter and I frankly am so sickand tired of GCing this entire build and having to baby sit every little thing they do bc they are incapable of doing it correctly on their own. If I have to be out there and hold their hands, I want a manor credit applied to the account. If not, get someone out here to manage them.
As far as the glass beads - I texted him for an update today and he said he expects to pick them up tomorrow. Not sure if he is bringing them by here or I am driving out to him so will see what he says.
Azsunsets, could you tell the difference between traditional glass beads and the iredescent ones? The fact that these are mini glass beads means it can be used with mini pebble (found out if you order a touch of glass, that is with regular pebble bc it is a similar size as the glass beads so works better that way). But I am very concerned the regular pebble, even with glass, is going to be too rough for me.
Also, as far as clean up goes, how in depth was everyone else's clean up? Thanks to the bubbler issue, half the sun deck is being cut out and the concrete dust is all over the screen, the frame, and our house. Even after heavy rains, the dust is still gummed up in the screen and a nasty film on everything else. When we asked who cleans it, the construction manager said don't worry it will be cleaned. But how are they going to get 14 feet in the air to the top of the screen that is nasty? Also did y'all have every piece of excess concrete and gravel removed from the property?
So here is the pic of the coping zoomed in. My battery was too low yesterday to get new pics but I drew a red line at every joint to show the cuts and angle. You can see the uneven cuts on the far side of the spa vs the even cuts on the near side. With as much money that we are paying, you better believe I am expecting the details and quality work match our investment. This lack of detail, esp having it happen after we talked about it not happening before he started working, is just unacceptable.
Starting at the far right you can see much more narrow pieces and then as it travels to the left they get a little wider and then a random very wide one next to a really skinny one repeating 4 times
This is slightly to the left so you can see the more you move to the left, you can see the varying sizes (will get better pics bc it is so obvious when you are standing near it)
Arrows show where the varying sizes start and go to the right. After the one with the down arrow, they are even
All evenly spaced as you can see
Since he took of our bull nose coping pieces and cut the bull nose off which left those pieces more narrow than the pieces that did not have a bull nosed edge. I specifically said that I did not want to see the pieces cut to a bunch of varying sizes and be assured me he would make sure they would all be trimmed to the same size.
I have no idea what happened when the coping was done but it looks like 2 different people worked on opposite sides of the spa. The side where I stood to take the pics have the correct cuts and widths to each piece of travertine. However the pieces directly opposite of where I stood, the cuts are backwards. If you look at how the skinny pieces are cut, they are more narrow inside the spa edge and then they flare out to a wider edge on the outside edge of the spa. On the opposite side, they are wide on the inside of the spa and narrow on the outside. It is like they flipped half the spa and put the pieces in backwards.
I am just so flipping annoyed. Why can't people do correct work? And we are supposed to trust this guy to custom bull nose the coping after its mortared onto the spa, next to our stone and glass tile??? Not to mention 2 pieces of coping are scratched to heck and back so will need to ve replaced.
Apparently the deck crew is going to be here tomorrow. I know they are doing the door patios but no idea when they will replace all the scratched pavers and level all of the unlevel ones. Much less how they are going to replace a pacer that is broken and its under the screen frame.
Honestly, even though we have painters tape on the unlevel or damaged pavers, you know these guys are going to need a baby sitter and I frankly am so sickand tired of GCing this entire build and having to baby sit every little thing they do bc they are incapable of doing it correctly on their own. If I have to be out there and hold their hands, I want a manor credit applied to the account. If not, get someone out here to manage them.
As far as the glass beads - I texted him for an update today and he said he expects to pick them up tomorrow. Not sure if he is bringing them by here or I am driving out to him so will see what he says.
Azsunsets, could you tell the difference between traditional glass beads and the iredescent ones? The fact that these are mini glass beads means it can be used with mini pebble (found out if you order a touch of glass, that is with regular pebble bc it is a similar size as the glass beads so works better that way). But I am very concerned the regular pebble, even with glass, is going to be too rough for me.
Also, as far as clean up goes, how in depth was everyone else's clean up? Thanks to the bubbler issue, half the sun deck is being cut out and the concrete dust is all over the screen, the frame, and our house. Even after heavy rains, the dust is still gummed up in the screen and a nasty film on everything else. When we asked who cleans it, the construction manager said don't worry it will be cleaned. But how are they going to get 14 feet in the air to the top of the screen that is nasty? Also did y'all have every piece of excess concrete and gravel removed from the property?
So here is the pic of the coping zoomed in. My battery was too low yesterday to get new pics but I drew a red line at every joint to show the cuts and angle. You can see the uneven cuts on the far side of the spa vs the even cuts on the near side. With as much money that we are paying, you better believe I am expecting the details and quality work match our investment. This lack of detail, esp having it happen after we talked about it not happening before he started working, is just unacceptable.
Starting at the far right you can see much more narrow pieces and then as it travels to the left they get a little wider and then a random very wide one next to a really skinny one repeating 4 times
This is slightly to the left so you can see the more you move to the left, you can see the varying sizes (will get better pics bc it is so obvious when you are standing near it)
Arrows show where the varying sizes start and go to the right. After the one with the down arrow, they are even
All evenly spaced as you can see
to try to help you get through this 
I'm fairly confident those sealers need to be re-applied every year or two as they sit on the masonry surface (i.e subject to UV and frictional wear and tear from walking on them), whereas the other sealers penetrate down into the masonry so only need to be re-applied every 5-10 years. FYI.
Aside from that, I understand your frustration. I have had projects go smoothly and some be nearly as frustrating. The most frustrating thing is when you have to act as GC yourself. That's why you pay their fee. Good management really can make all the difference.