I was so happy to find this forum today. This is a story of an unsavvy consumer and a contractor who has not performed. The story is not finished so I will not mention any names, as there may be legal action necessary. I am writing this partially a warning to anyone who might read it and a plea for advice - and maybe a little bit of a rant, too! An older relative of mine, we will call her Sherry, decided to get a fiberglass pool with a local company last year. Unfortunately, she did not know at the time that the contractor was unlicensed and had many scary reviews online about his inability to finish jobs on time as well as the poor quality of work.
When Sherry signed the contract, the contractor told her (verbally) that the project would be completed by mid-July, a total time of 5 months. It is still not finished. After a lot of email traffic discussing color choices and so forth, the contractor basically went silent between May and September of last year and did not respond to emails or phone calls. Finally, in September, he contacted her to assure her that the pool had been manufactured and just waiting for shipment. The hole was dug in November. The pool arrived on site a few weeks later and it was the wrong pool - the one she was supposed to get had a built-in tanning ledge while the one delivered is just a single depth and is nearly 10' shorter. I tried to convince Sherry to not let them take it off the truck, but the contractor assured her he would provide "something better" and order a separate tanning ledge "for free." This was in December - he did not actually place the order for the tanning ledge until the end of March 2021. It arrived in late April.
When I visited Sherry's house in January, I noticed three things that concerned me: 1, the pool was visibly out of level (we measured 4" difference from corner to corner along the short side!) 2, the contractor had used what appeared to be construction debris for backfill (the hole around the pool was partially filled with big 18-24" chunks of broken concrete, cinder blocks, and other various materials mixed with some gravel) and 3, the side walls of the pool were bowed out significantly.
Some other issues:
My advice to Sherry is to fire him and hire another reputable company to finish the job. I looked up one who has fabulous reviews online and asked them to come out and take a look. They did and immediately noticed some of the issues I mentioned above. They assured us they would be happy to help her but it would be about a month before they could start due to being very busy with existing work. After starting, they stated they could complete all remaining work in about 2 weeks. Sherry is worried because she doesn't want to wait until mid-July. My thought is that her current contractor, who hasn't been able to get this done in the last 16 months, is unlikely to finish in the next 6 weeks, and if he does, it will probably be a poor build that has many future issues. I also think legal action may be a good idea to recoup some of her losses for equipment that he hasn't delivered yet. And shouldn't he be reported for signing contracts without a valid contractor's license? I looked it up and it's required in my state.
What am I missing? Anything we are not thinking about already? Thank you for any advice or commiseration! I am very sad and feel angry and frustrated for Sherry. She doesn't have any knowledge of construction in general, much less pool construction. She also tries to be very understanding, so some of this stuff has gone on much longer than it would have if it were my pool! When she asks questions, he will call her and smooth talk some excuse. If she emails him (to have communications in writing) he tries to call to respond rather than reply to her emails. A pool is a big investment! I want her to have a good finished product.
When Sherry signed the contract, the contractor told her (verbally) that the project would be completed by mid-July, a total time of 5 months. It is still not finished. After a lot of email traffic discussing color choices and so forth, the contractor basically went silent between May and September of last year and did not respond to emails or phone calls. Finally, in September, he contacted her to assure her that the pool had been manufactured and just waiting for shipment. The hole was dug in November. The pool arrived on site a few weeks later and it was the wrong pool - the one she was supposed to get had a built-in tanning ledge while the one delivered is just a single depth and is nearly 10' shorter. I tried to convince Sherry to not let them take it off the truck, but the contractor assured her he would provide "something better" and order a separate tanning ledge "for free." This was in December - he did not actually place the order for the tanning ledge until the end of March 2021. It arrived in late April.
When I visited Sherry's house in January, I noticed three things that concerned me: 1, the pool was visibly out of level (we measured 4" difference from corner to corner along the short side!) 2, the contractor had used what appeared to be construction debris for backfill (the hole around the pool was partially filled with big 18-24" chunks of broken concrete, cinder blocks, and other various materials mixed with some gravel) and 3, the side walls of the pool were bowed out significantly.
Some other issues:
- The contract itself is poorly written and unprofessional. There is no specified completion time or date. There were no drawings or sketches or even a written description to indicate the work to be done, layout, or size of the pool deck. The total amount of concrete in the contract was only for a 3' pad all the way around the pool, despite her telling him she wanted a 10' pad. Of course, now he's saying it will be extra.
- He used drawings for a different pool from a different manufacturer (obviously from another project) to pull her permit. The first she had seen of them was when I opened the bag where he has stuck the permit.
- There are several large deep scratches in the paint of the shell from the sloppy install of the backfill.
- While we did make him level it, pull the trash out and replace it with gravel, he did not lift the pool out of the hole and change anything underneath, so I have no idea if there is debris in the hole or if it has voids. They raised the low corner manually and just tamped material to level it. There is still about 1" drop from corner to corner but she has decided that is acceptable to her.
- The pool walls were bowed for weeks while it sat full of rain water with no backfill and then incomplete backfill. It looks okay now but was it compromised during that time?
- There is a bunch of duct tape around the skimmer collar. He says that's to keep rocks out. (The lid itself is not taped down, the tape is around the collar.) I think he's trying to hide a crack.
- He has not installed rebar or welded wire mesh as called for in the permit drawings. I did some internet searching and the pool manufacturer's installation guidebook also calls for either rebar or welded wire mesh. He says he "doesn't use rebar." I told Sherry she should call her local inspector to make sure they know he's planning to install without the rebar on the approved drawings (which aren't even of her pool.)
- He set the pool about 4" higher than the lowest stair tread of her adjacent deck area. Now the stairs are going to have to be reworked. He didn't realize this until I pointed it out.
- He claims to have the saltwater system and pump at his warehouse but ignores all requests to see pictures of it, send copies of the order receipt, or bring it to the house and lock it up. Basically he will not provide proof that he has it in hand.
- He is supposed to provide and install an automatic cover but claims he can't order it until the concrete has been poured. The one she wants is inset and runs beneath the coping, not on top of the deck. (This actually is stated in her contract, thank goodness) so it needs to be installed kind of at the same time, due to the track. He says he can't measure for it until the concrete is poured. I don't think that makes any sense.
- He refuses/ignores requests to provide anything resembling a schedule for completing the remaining work. Any time anyone asks, he has to "call his supplier" or some other excuse.
My advice to Sherry is to fire him and hire another reputable company to finish the job. I looked up one who has fabulous reviews online and asked them to come out and take a look. They did and immediately noticed some of the issues I mentioned above. They assured us they would be happy to help her but it would be about a month before they could start due to being very busy with existing work. After starting, they stated they could complete all remaining work in about 2 weeks. Sherry is worried because she doesn't want to wait until mid-July. My thought is that her current contractor, who hasn't been able to get this done in the last 16 months, is unlikely to finish in the next 6 weeks, and if he does, it will probably be a poor build that has many future issues. I also think legal action may be a good idea to recoup some of her losses for equipment that he hasn't delivered yet. And shouldn't he be reported for signing contracts without a valid contractor's license? I looked it up and it's required in my state.
What am I missing? Anything we are not thinking about already? Thank you for any advice or commiseration! I am very sad and feel angry and frustrated for Sherry. She doesn't have any knowledge of construction in general, much less pool construction. She also tries to be very understanding, so some of this stuff has gone on much longer than it would have if it were my pool! When she asks questions, he will call her and smooth talk some excuse. If she emails him (to have communications in writing) he tries to call to respond rather than reply to her emails. A pool is a big investment! I want her to have a good finished product.
