My piering, retile (NPT Trident Tortoise), recope (flagstone), and replaster (QuartzScapes Super Blue Reflections) journey. Lots of pics.

[Mike Hawk]

-edit (Original Thread title was: Any Oklahomans on here? Need a suggestion for a reputable replaster, retile, and recoping contractor in the Tulsa area. (Pier pics inside!))

Hey TFP!

Long story short my gunite pool has shifted a bit and it lead to cracks and leaks. Level Home Foundation Repair is currently getting it piered and foam injected to fill any existing voids and to stop any future shifting. HUGE shout out to Adam. Dude is amazing. He came out next day for a quote, has taken all the time to listen to me, and has answered all my questions. He also had the smarts to question the engineer's suggested report instead of just taking it at face value. Great guy.

Oof!

This is the upper left hole from the pic above. Yup, that void confirmed I was having fill washout issues. The tanning ledge is on a bit of a slope. Cracks formed in the wall near the skimmer and the steps, on both sides of the pool.

For those interested, they put on a metal hat and weld in new rebar to the existing rebar in the gunite. It's not to lift the pool structure any, just to stop any future settling.

So that brings me to my next step. My pool has settled ~1/2 an inch and has caused the coping to become uneven with the decking. It's not the end of the world but it drives my OCD bonkers when I walk on the decking and there's a sharp edge/lip/dip/rise between the decking and coping.

I've been trying to work with a certain builder but I'm just not getting a warm fuzzy from them. Granted they are snowed under with new builds because of COVID but the communication has been super slow and I really don't think they want me as a customer. Liability issues with the leaking? Who knows.

Has anyone recently done a pool remodel in the Tulsa area? My thought process is to just spend the $ and get the ceramic tile water line upgraded to glass tiles for aesthetics and to also make it level again with the water line. Not that 1/2 inch is even noticeable but might as well do it. I figure it'll be a lot easier and cheaper to redo the coping to get it level with the decking instead of having to redo/fix all the decking.

Thanks TFP!

 

[Turbo1Ton]

PM sent. I think @Ourad is having his pool remodeled, IIRC.

--Jeff

 

[cowboycasey]

WOW, that is crazzy settling... Looks like they used fill dirt and not solid ground to build the pool... Just sent you a message

 

[Mike Hawk]

The whole side of the pool with the tanning ledge is built on fill dirt. There's a 1 foot drop per 1 foot out slope on that side. Probably should have been a gentler slope and/or a retaining wall put in in the first place?

What sucks is I had the pool replastered for existing cracks back in '18. Even had staples put in. That outfit never suggested I need to get piered. So now I'm doing the plaster job all over again. Not using that company though.

Here's what the pool looked like at opening season after I took off it's vinyl cover. I got by this season with just a 2 part putty smooshed into the cracks.

I'm going to have some huge limestone hardscape boulders put in the red box area and have more dirt brought in to help mitigate any further washout

 

[Mike Hawk]

Piering complete

 

[cowboycasey]

That is crazzy, I have never seen this done in a pool, very happy for you that its done...

 

[Ourad]

Hello there! Looks rough, but glad it’s working out. I also got a bad vibe from the same builder, they ghosted me after one visit. As did another pool builder, multiple times. I am currently working with a guy who works at one of the bigger name builders around who is doing mine as a side gig. We haven’t started yet though, so I can’t give you much for recommendation. I think he’s going to do a good job, he’s just been super busy and difficult to communicate with. We are doing a pretty extensive remodel though so a lot of back and forth has been necessary. I could give you a guy that might be able to do it if it’s just coping and tile, or maybe my guy would be up for it, if that’s all your after he would probably have time for it. Shoot me a PM if you want any names!

 

[Mike Hawk]

Turbo1ton's recommendation worked out. Which is funny cause they knew the fiesta guy growing up and I guess spun off from fiesta? Who knows. Their communication is a bit better and it was nice actually having a decent 2 way conversation with them when they came out for the quote. I might be a tad on the high maintenance side since I'm detail oriented and like to talk things thru but geez the way some of these outfits are run it makes me feel like they just expect their customers to bend over, just say yes to everything, and cut blank checks? Guess it just comes with the territory now that pools are in high demand and the pool side of the house can be picky and call the shots.

 

[AndrewTK]

We’re you ever able to positively determine what was causing the washout under the tanning ledge? That is quite a void that developed under there. We are going to be starting on a pool in the next month or two and our yard is flat enough where the pool will be but slopes off after which will likely require some fill dirt to support the decking on one side. I don’t think they will have to do any fill under the actual pool but I am looking at options to prevent the decking from slipping over time

 

[Mike Hawk]

Unfortunately nothing conclusive. Level Home Foundation thinks the fill dirt might not have been properly compacted/installed. He said the majority of his work with foundations is caused by improper drainage but didn't see how my area wasn't properly draining.

If you're worried about any settling just have some piers installed for piece of mind. Adam is an amazing guy to work with.

 

[Mike Hawk]

Figure I'd give closure to this.

So I decided to go with the 2nd pool outfit that came out to quote me. New tile, coping, plaster (obviously), new upgraded LED pool light, new fixtures to replace all the old yellowed ones, fix both my skimmer's broken weir doors, remove my gas heater that I never used and re-plumb, replace the sand in my filter, fix the lateral lines that were allowing sand to get back into the pool, and last but not least, a new multi port valve since the old one was starting to show it's age.

Went with QuartzScapes Super Blue Reflections that has little reflective bits.
It came down to Trident Tortoise or Boardwalk Ocean. Tortoise won out.

Wrecking shop after the first day. All the coping/tile torn out

Chipping away around the fixtures

Tile going in

Coping being roughed in

Coping grouted

Some sort of primer coat put on the old plaster

Stair crack #1 got chiseled out and epoxied

Stair crack #2 on the opposite wall

Plaster time

Later that afternoon

Time to start filling

Unbeknownst to me the installers decided to quarter some of my extra tile and use it as inlays to spruce up the seat

As well as the steps. At first I was like WTF? But then I really grew to like how they used the tile to break up the monotony and add a little razzle.

And she done

You can see how the depth really affects the color

Looking back I might have gone with a darker color just so it'd heat up the pool a bit quicker in the spring and last longer in the fall. However aesthetics and my eyeballs won out in the end.

 

[Smalone]

Looks great!

 

[cowboycasey]

Nicely done, The tiles on the steps look great and really set it off...