Our NJ pool was built in March 2012. We went with colored, stamped concrete decking. Shortly after the concrete was poured, we had a significant rainfall and soil settling occurred. I called the concrete contractor and showed him the pictures. He assured me it would be fine, and just told me to complete the landscape grading, saying it wasn't settling, rather it was erosion. Since I strongly disagreed with him, I complained about this to my PB who had recommended this concrete contractor, and a meeting was scheduled to address my concerns with the PB and concrete contractor. The result of the meeting was the contractor agreed to have one of his guys come out and back fill the gap with concrete discs and stone, which they did (so I'm told - I wasn't home) He also proceeded to cover up his work with the extra soil nearby so I couldn't see what he did.
By mid summer, I started to see cracks by both skimmer covers. I don't understand why a stress relief cut was made by only one of the two skimmer covers. And the crack didn't occur "in" the cut anyway. I quickly sent pictures to the concrete contractor who basically said this was normal and offered to come out in spring 2013 to seal the cracks with color matching sealant. (I haven't called yet)
When I opened the pool in May 2013, I found another crack on the edge of another stress relief cut. And now, I see a crack that runs all the way across one of my sections (between two relieve cuts).
So the contractor provides their typical 1 year warranty. Several of these issues began only days/months after the concrete was poured, and my fear is they will keep coming.
Bottom line, I feel the contractor did not adequately prepare and compact the substrate. Everyone rushes to complete the pool to make the consumer happy and make a buck, rather than ensure the job is done right and built to last. They also omitted one cut by one of the skimmer covers. Not to mention a saw cut in one of my coping tiles due to a overzealous worker.
So, I'm asking all the professionals out there, what action should I take? What should I expect from a reputable concrete contractor in my situation? I paid thousands for my deck, and it upsets me every time I use the pool to look at these flaws after only 15 months. What is your opinion?
I certainly understand that any repair would likely look worse than what I have today since it wouldn't match the colored/stamped concrete. I'm wondering if I would have to sue for a partial refund for poor workmanship. If I have to live with what I got, at least I would feel better about it if I didn't pay full price for it.
I'll post some pics after I re-size them.
By mid summer, I started to see cracks by both skimmer covers. I don't understand why a stress relief cut was made by only one of the two skimmer covers. And the crack didn't occur "in" the cut anyway. I quickly sent pictures to the concrete contractor who basically said this was normal and offered to come out in spring 2013 to seal the cracks with color matching sealant. (I haven't called yet)
When I opened the pool in May 2013, I found another crack on the edge of another stress relief cut. And now, I see a crack that runs all the way across one of my sections (between two relieve cuts).
So the contractor provides their typical 1 year warranty. Several of these issues began only days/months after the concrete was poured, and my fear is they will keep coming.
Bottom line, I feel the contractor did not adequately prepare and compact the substrate. Everyone rushes to complete the pool to make the consumer happy and make a buck, rather than ensure the job is done right and built to last. They also omitted one cut by one of the skimmer covers. Not to mention a saw cut in one of my coping tiles due to a overzealous worker.
So, I'm asking all the professionals out there, what action should I take? What should I expect from a reputable concrete contractor in my situation? I paid thousands for my deck, and it upsets me every time I use the pool to look at these flaws after only 15 months. What is your opinion?
I certainly understand that any repair would likely look worse than what I have today since it wouldn't match the colored/stamped concrete. I'm wondering if I would have to sue for a partial refund for poor workmanship. If I have to live with what I got, at least I would feel better about it if I didn't pay full price for it.
I'll post some pics after I re-size them.