Looking for your opinion - Spa Coping construction

[XsAllOverIt]

Provided are 5 pictures of a coping job that was completed by our Pool company. I'd like some unedited opinions on the work that was completed. A synopsis of what happened. After we saw the finished job, we complained and they indicated it would cost $2-3K to demo and re-do. They said it wasn't that bad. After some arguments they agreed to demo and come back in the next 4 days in a row to re-do. They never showed up. I went and bought blue-stone and did it myself on the weekend (last picture). Please provide comments.

 

[XsAllOverIt]

Last 2 pictures

 

[Ranger987]

I agree with you. In my opinion, that's some pretty poor workmanship they left you with and I've seen thousands of pools - both good and bad. It looks like a very inexperienced mason did this - maybe they lost their better contractors? Your work looks much better than the original, so congratulations. The cost to redo is not relevant, since it's their mistake. They need to step up and do whatever it takes to make it right. Especially this time of year, and in these economic conditions, these guys have plenty of time because they're not very busy, so don't let them use that as an excuse. A bad report to the Better Business Bureau or other reporting agencies in your area may give them a little incentive. I'd push them hard to redo it and also to reimburse you for your expenses in fixing their shoddy work. If your contractor thinks it's "not that bad", ask to see HIS pool & ask him if he'd accept this on his own pool.

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

WRT what was done, I agree it looked pretty lame but I've seen far bigger botches.

You might find the use of the flat edge versus the bull nosed edge an issue when you lean back. Other than that, nice bit of work.

How far does the spill way overhang the pool? Is it pitched or level? How thick is it?

Scott

 

[XsAllOverIt]

[How far does the spill way overhang the pool? Is it pitched or level? How thick is it?]
Spill way is about 4 inches out into the pool and works well. It's a 1 1/2" blue stone piece. We had it running in November and December. Initially their spill way was pitched at close to 30 degrees and they told us it needed that, although we never saw any other example of such a high pitch. When I did it, it was about 5 degrees a the most. The nice thing, I never did this before and if it needs it again, I learned from the mistakes. Flat edge hasn't been that bad, but we were in a real hurry to get it completed because they were supposed to do gunnite on the following Tuesday and it was already LATE November. They finally winterized our pool with about 1" of ice on the top of it by the time they got the cover on. It wasn't a pleasant pool build like many others I saw on this site.

 

[XsAllOverIt]

This doesn't provide a good representation of how well it works, but when I have all the valves set correctly, it flows over very evenly and well as a visual from my perspective, but until spring, this is the best picture I could find:

 

[SCEADU]

I can't believe that a pool company would say "It's not that bad"! That stement to me, doesn't show "that much pride" I would have said "I guess you don't want too many referals". For a home owner your looks much better. You may be able to hire a mason to put a little better finish on it. Maybe even add a bull nose to it.

 

[XsAllOverIt]

Is it easy to finish the stone from a mason's perspective? What kind of finish can they accomplish. I've looked and asked around but with little success yet. I would love to have it finished with a bullnose or some smooth finish on the inside. Not too terribly concerned about the outside.
I've got an entire website with step-by-step construction from beginning to end with all the comments documented, but I'm currently hesitant to advertise it until I'm completely done with the construction of the pool and all committments. This is just a small part of our overall frustrations. Fortunately, the pool and hot tub do look good, but the entire construction started in early August and didn't get winterized until mid-December. Honesty and integrity was lacking throughout, but I have to say the overall construction of the pool looked pretty good after reviewing many on this site. Only time will tell.

 

[dmanb2b]

Well, if it helps at all...I think your pool looks pretty darn nice...frustrations and all

Sorry to hear you had to take the finish work into you own hands...but +1 on the nice job w/ the bluestone.

 

[Nightmare]

I've seen "tile" work like that all over the place. I HATE when the installer doesn't lay it out first to make sure they don't end up with weird cuts. The guys that did the hall bathroom started on the wrong wall, so when they hit the wall without the vanity, they had to cut EVERY SINGLE 1" tile to fit. It looks "ok" with the baseboard installed, but come on.
Same group of guys did an awesome job with the tile in the kitchen and dining room. At least the "Good" guy was working in the room I see all day long

 

[exec~pool~svc]

with many years as a pool builder who did my own tile & coping, I have to agree ~ very shoddy work ~ totally unacceptable ... general rule of thumb: 1/4" mortar joints on cut stone is considered very good masonry work, definitely the joints should all line up (the mortar joints are just as important to the aesthetic value as the actual stone/coping itself) , and 1/4 bubble fall on a level is best for pitch on spillway. btw, nice work ... I would do whatever I could to warn others before contracting w/ this company ... I would recommend you not only file a complaint w/ the Better Bus. Bureau but also the State Attny. General's office :~)