I’ve been doing commercial and rez property management for a while and am never surprised by carelessness and messiness of sub contractors. Many do great work...but they’re a wacky bunch.
My pool builder was reasonably on top of everything, but could have improved contacting us about what to expect, when and estimated timeline. Our pebble is in, but some items I felt they went above expectations and left others to incompetent subs. I just wish I could expect a simple coat of silicone on our coping. One even jackhammered a hole in my obsolete, but prized floor cleaning system floor fittings ($11k option when we originally built pool in ‘86) really upset me, but I remedied it. They damage other stuff and are generally careless and making careless errors and are rough on things.
I’m all on board to finding the subs myself, and doing a pool resurface by project managing it myself, but this time we added a pool shelf and our builder gave us a fair price and finished in just under 4 weeks so wife and I are happy. Boom, a simple resurface: Hire a plaster removal guy, tile cleaner and someone to install surface of your choice, probably save 30% off a PB, BUT, dealing with subs is recipe for a nightmare if you don’t know them & their tricks. So many have walked off with 10-20% material deposits and are never heard from again. A unexpectant homeowner will swiftly get taken by giving a sub even 50% payment and maybe has to wait months for job completion. Too much anxiety for my blood. DIY has its limitations.