My pool deck has fiber added, but it also has steel rebar and several tooled joints across the deck. Several deck drains into 4" pipe to front curb. It looks like your pool guy took a ton of shortcuts. Good luck!
Nightmare pool install, need advice..
- Thread starter Erealpixie
- Start date
Hollow sounds under the stairs and seats are definitely not normal right away. If the gravel or sand was correctly washed into all of those voids as it should have been you wouldn't have any hollow sounds. The backfill is supposed to be done in stages and washed into all of the voids. Over the years you might develop some hollowness as some fill compresses but not right away. But you don't have to rip the whole pool out to make sure it is set correctly. If it's level and the floor is level and smooth and it looks to be than that part is good. You would rip up the concrete, dig back around the seats and stairs and any other problem areas and then wash sand or gravel into the voids. Seeing as how they forgot to glue one of the returns, I would probably also take the time to have the returns and the skimmer dug back just to make sure that they were done correctly.
Wow, your pool deck looks great!... bums me out even more about mine, it just looks so bad. The coping is terrible and now they poured two new pieces that look like a patch. The problem was we hired a pool company to install the pool and he subcontracts out the job so we didn't get to vet the concrete company, now we are left with this mess 
Re:  Nightmare pool install, need advice..
Thanks for the feedback. I called San Juan Fiberglass pools about the hollow sounds and they asked me who my installer was, my name and all the info and had their regional distributor for our area call me. The guy told me that hollow sounds are pretty normal as long as they don't dent in when you walk on them (which I can't really tell but it doesn't seem to, it just sounds hollow). He said he has the same pool as me and that it sounds hollow in the same places after 15 years and then went on to sing the praises of our pool builder who has been with them as an installer of San juan for 20 years now and how if our guy did it, I am sure it was done correctly (oh please the only thing I know about our PB for sure is that he NEVER comes to the job and hires the cheapest people he can find and tries his best to patch things when they go wrong). I would love to fire him at this point but I am not sure how that would work out with the rest of the details (such as getting our tiles put on inside the pool rim) as well as the pool equipment owed to us. The contract also included 5ft of concrete in with the total cost so I am not sure how to figure out to get that taken off the price as there is no way I am paying for this concrete job. The guys came today to pour the two spots (they did a decent job for what they had to work with but it still doesn't look good, it is higher in the spots they filled in and just looks like a crappy old pool concrete instead of a new job). I have lost so much sleep over this whole thing, it may end up coming to a court situation but at this point I do not plan on paying for this patched/botched concrete. Also he is planning on having a guy come out and patch up the coping and building it out (as it is dipped in too far in certain spots), I feel like this may look worse from other people with similar situations that I have read on here as I am assuming the color will look different and texture, I just picture it to look bad. Any thoughts on concrete patching the cantilever coping? I was thinking of taking the money I am not paying for the concrete and hiring someone else to remove and repour, the only problem is I do not have access to the coping forms (our PB has them) and it will cost more to rip out and repour than what I was originally going to pay, so I would have to take him to court for the costs of the tear out. Either way I feel like is a lose lose at this point. Thanks for all your helpful comments, I appreciate it.
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I called San Juan and they had their regional director call me that works with our PB and he blew it off (the fact that it is hollow in areas) and said it should be fine, because our PB installed it and he is sure he would do it right as he has been installing their pools for 20years smh. As for repacking, if I can figure out how to get someone to come and tear it out, I will make sure it is repacked under those areas, he did however redo the piping on the one side as well as reset the skimmer and pipes on that side as well. Thanks for your help
Thanks for the feedback. I called San Juan Fiberglass pools about the hollow sounds and they asked me who my installer was, my name and all the info and had their regional distributor for our area call me. The guy told me that hollow sounds are pretty normal as long as they don't dent in when you walk on them (which I can't really tell but it doesn't seem to, it just sounds hollow). He said he has the same pool as me and that it sounds hollow in the same places after 15 years and then went on to sing the praises of our pool builder who has been with them as an installer of San juan for 20 years now and how if our guy did it, I am sure it was done correctly (oh please the only thing I know about our PB for sure is that he NEVER comes to the job and hires the cheapest people he can find and tries his best to patch things when they go wrong). I would love to fire him at this point but I am not sure how that would work out with the rest of the details (such as getting our tiles put on inside the pool rim) as well as the pool equipment owed to us. The contract also included 5ft of concrete in with the total cost so I am not sure how to figure out to get that taken off the price as there is no way I am paying for this concrete job. The guys came today to pour the two spots (they did a decent job for what they had to work with but it still doesn't look good, it is higher in the spots they filled in and just looks like a crappy old pool concrete instead of a new job). I have lost so much sleep over this whole thing, it may end up coming to a court situation but at this point I do not plan on paying for this patched/botched concrete. Also he is planning on having a guy come out and patch up the coping and building it out (as it is dipped in too far in certain spots), I feel like this may look worse from other people with similar situations that I have read on here as I am assuming the color will look different and texture, I just picture it to look bad. Any thoughts on concrete patching the cantilever coping? I was thinking of taking the money I am not paying for the concrete and hiring someone else to remove and repour, the only problem is I do not have access to the coping forms (our PB has them) and it will cost more to rip out and repour than what I was originally going to pay, so I would have to take him to court for the costs of the tear out. Either way I feel like is a lose lose at this point. Thanks for all your helpful comments, I appreciate it.
- - - Updated - - -
I called San Juan and they had their regional director call me that works with our PB and he blew it off (the fact that it is hollow in areas) and said it should be fine, because our PB installed it and he is sure he would do it right as he has been installing their pools for 20years smh. As for repacking, if I can figure out how to get someone to come and tear it out, I will make sure it is repacked under those areas, he did however redo the piping on the one side as well as reset the skimmer and pipes on that side as well. Thanks for your help
Hi, I really feel for you.
I am a long way away in Thailand and this type of thing is very common over here with every trade.
If you can't come to an agreement with your pool builder, and you still hate the concrete pour, why not wait a while and install tiles like you have in the other area?
You could solve your water drainage problem as well, by sloping the tiles.
I only suggest this if other mediation fails.
I am a long way away in Thailand and this type of thing is very common over here with every trade.
If you can't come to an agreement with your pool builder, and you still hate the concrete pour, why not wait a while and install tiles like you have in the other area?
You could solve your water drainage problem as well, by sloping the tiles.
I only suggest this if other mediation fails.