Hello everyone! I am a new pool owner and I had a not so great experience with the building of the pool. Short version is that we needed multiple sub-contractors to come in and none of them seemed to care about the work being done, they just wanted in and out. The actual contractor is a friend and my next door neighbor. He builds very nice custom homes and got into the pool business with a guy who turned out to be a pathological liar. I was his 1st vinyl pool. He feels terrible about things and wants to make things right.
That said - I have issues with our cantilevered concrete coping. The wrong mix was used (had a very coarse aggregate) and they took no time to work the edges when removing the molds. There were gaps, holes, embedded foam, lots of visible rock, etc. He didnt like it, we hated it! To sort of fix things he brought in his stucco crew and they buttered on a thin layer of thinset mortar. That covered all the visible issues but aesthetically I feel it is worse. It doesnt match in color and it just looks bad.
He has agreed to fix the coping this winter when we close the pool for the season. The pool is perfectly usable right now, it just looks bad.
My question is - how does one go about fixing coping? He hasnt elaborated yet, he just put into writing it would be fixed "correctly". I am not entirely sure he knows how to do it yet but he is willing to hire in the people that do know. Since I do Not know, I wanted to at least get an idea of what should happen so I am better able to make a decision come repair time. I have full veto power on any sub coming in to do the work if I am not happy with the plan. The coping is part of our deck with no seams other than the stress relief cuts that radiate out.
My two thoughts on how it could go -
Cut out the existing coping and pour fresh concrete with new molds (would require draining pool and releasing the liner from the track - correct?). Issue there is getting it to match or just purposely use a different color of concrete for the new coping as an accent.
Cut out existing coping and put in something like prefab bullnose pieces or tiles.
I could be way off on both which is why I wanted to ask here! I am sure he will not want to spend much, he already lost quite a bit on our pool. We want to make sure the job is done correctly and looks great. He is my friend and neighbor but this is business and a big investment for us!
That said - I have issues with our cantilevered concrete coping. The wrong mix was used (had a very coarse aggregate) and they took no time to work the edges when removing the molds. There were gaps, holes, embedded foam, lots of visible rock, etc. He didnt like it, we hated it! To sort of fix things he brought in his stucco crew and they buttered on a thin layer of thinset mortar. That covered all the visible issues but aesthetically I feel it is worse. It doesnt match in color and it just looks bad.
He has agreed to fix the coping this winter when we close the pool for the season. The pool is perfectly usable right now, it just looks bad.
My question is - how does one go about fixing coping? He hasnt elaborated yet, he just put into writing it would be fixed "correctly". I am not entirely sure he knows how to do it yet but he is willing to hire in the people that do know. Since I do Not know, I wanted to at least get an idea of what should happen so I am better able to make a decision come repair time. I have full veto power on any sub coming in to do the work if I am not happy with the plan. The coping is part of our deck with no seams other than the stress relief cuts that radiate out.
My two thoughts on how it could go -
Cut out the existing coping and pour fresh concrete with new molds (would require draining pool and releasing the liner from the track - correct?). Issue there is getting it to match or just purposely use a different color of concrete for the new coping as an accent.
Cut out existing coping and put in something like prefab bullnose pieces or tiles.
I could be way off on both which is why I wanted to ask here! I am sure he will not want to spend much, he already lost quite a bit on our pool. We want to make sure the job is done correctly and looks great. He is my friend and neighbor but this is business and a big investment for us!