Fiberglass Pool Install

Perhaps you'll have to trim the coping back around the skimmer in question. Wouldn't that solve that skimmer issue?

Maddie :flower:
Maddie, that was the exact issue we agreed to avoid. I ordered special marble from Greece and did not want to cut a piece of it in a half moon to fit a skimmer lid. The PB ordered a skimmer he said would work (long throat). I told him to measure before ordering and cutting the fiberglass shell to install. He did neither, cut the pool, glued it in, and it doesn't fit.
 
This guy is starting to seem incompetent. The skimmer is pretty essential in sucking in surface dirt, oils, leaves etc into the basket/filtration system. How does he propose this gets accomplished using main drains?

What looks wavy? If it is the pool wall (parallel with the water) then it is a problem. If it is the lip (perpendicular to the water) that the coping lies own that ok because they have to use mortar or adhesive to attach the coping on top of that lip.
The walls are not straight.
 
Maddie, that was the exact issue we agreed to avoid. I ordered special marble from Greece and did not want to cut a piece of it in a half moon to fit a skimmer lid. The PB ordered a skimmer he said would work (long throat). I told him to measure before ordering and cutting the fiberglass shell to install. He did neither, cut the pool, glued it in, and it doesn't fit.

What would you like the builder to do?

Ripping out the existing skimmer at this point to put in another one can create more problems.
 
My skimmer was already in place to the shell when they drove my fiberglass pool up. Are you sure the PB had any control over this?

Trying to alter installed plumbing just to avoid cutting one piece of coping seems like you're cutting your nose off to spite your face, or so it seems to me?

Maddie :flower:
 
I would never accept a new pool without one skimmer, and preferably two. Without a skimmer you will need to constantly manually clean the water surface.

I would hold the builder to delivering a pool as designed and contracted.
I have a meeting set for Friday morning. But my sense from his extremely curt replies to me that they're about to walk away from finishing the job.
 
My skimmer was already in place to the shell when they drove my fiberglass pool up. Are you sure the PB had any control over this?

Trying to alter installed plumbing just to avoid cutting one piece of coping seems like you're cutting your nose off to spite your face, or so it seems to me?

Maddie :flower:
Yeah, he had the coping in-hand, all the measurements, the skimmer, and he still screwed it up. As soon as I got home that day I took a piece of coping off the stack, laid it on the pool lip and BLAMMO - it didn't fit.
 
Wow, I'm shocked at some of the responses on this forum. You're saying that they screwed up and we should just "get over it?"

We are trying to help you navigate, without emotion, through inevitable construction issues to end up with a good pool that works well.

We have seen many folks here who insisted that their semi-competent pool builder do things that only made their problems worse. Our advice is think carefully as to what you insist on. Right now you have a pool with a functioning skimmer although not in the place you desired. That is only a cosmetic problem.
 
For those of you who are veterans here, I need to tell you that this forum seems to have been so beaten down by shoddy work that the bar is basically in the basement. I guess a whole industry that is built around taking advantage of people has dumbed us down to an Idiocracy level of acceptance of "expletive" work. What I'm hearing is that as PBs deliver shoddy work, we're supposed to "manage" the outcome to avoid even worse? It's time for this whole industry to take a look at itself.
 
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For those of you who are veterans here, I need to tell you that this forum seems to have been so beaten down by shoddy work that the bar is basically in the basement. I guess a whole industry that is built around taking advantage of people has dumbed us down to an Idiocracy level of acceptance of "expletive" work. What I'm hearing is that as PBs deliver shoddy work, we're supposed to "manage" the outcome to avoid even worse? It's time for this whole industry to take a look at itself.

There are many good builders out there and we try and help folks who come here before they contract how to find a good one. We mostly hear about the problems of which there are many. The pool builder industry is largely unregulated in many areas and it is Caveat Emptor. Most people build one pool in an area or in their life and pool builders don't rely on repeat customers.

This forum is inhabited by pool owners who share their collective experience. I have yet to find the shoddy pool builder forum where they hang out.
 
There are many good builders out there and we try and help folks who come here before they contract how to find a good one. We mostly hear about the problems of which there are many. The pool builder industry is largely unregulated in many areas and it is Caveat Emptor. Most people build one pool in an area or in their life and pool builders don't rely on repeat customers.

This forum is inhabited by pool owners who share their collective experience. I have yet to find the shoddy pool builder forum where they hang out.
I read that (sticky note) list of questions/demands on your potential pool builder. It was so exhaustive that one commenter (a pool builder) said if they saw a client with that list, they'd run for the hills. So it falls back to the same thing I addressed above, which is the forced acceptance of low-bar skill/service. I'm just trying to point out that a whole industry can pervert itself over time (in a race to the bottom), and the pool industry appears to be one of them.
 
Your pool build has been fought with problems, and while they've been far more than most pool builds, we try to look at what parts are most important. Mechanics and structure are most important. Cosmetics, while important, sometimes need to take a backseat to function if fixing them has a potential to cause a different problem.
So many of the issues you have complained of should or could have been addressed immediately or all work paused. Your contract should have spelled out much more and that would have provided you with more protection.

As to the sticky note list of questions, just by reading it in advance you could see what elements needed to be watched for if not asked about directly. The stuff you felt most important could have been itemized in your contract.

I'm truly sorry you're going thru all this. Perhaps living in a colder northern climate where there are fewer privately owned pools has had an impact on the quality and availability of competent workers?? I dunno?

I hope we can support you to the finish line and help you learn how to take care of your pool. In my *personal* opinion, fiberglass pools are very easy to care for. I hope you'll find that so also.

Maddie :flower:
 
The walls are not straight.

After reading your post on how he attempted to use the machine to push the walls back in place by pushing on the backfill material there is no way the walls could be straight. When something like that happens you need to be able to apply force to both sides to get things back in line correctly and he could not put any additional pressure on the water side. In my opinion it is that one incident (then heap on all the rest!!!!!!) that should warrant the complete removal of the shell and replaced with a new shell. There is no way to tell how much damage was done when that occurred. In my opinion you should be heading down the path Dirk described. This guy seems completely incompetent
 
Wow, I'm shocked at some of the responses on this forum. You're saying that they screwed up and we should just "get over it?"

While the coping thing sucks, it will only be a cosmetic issue. Your main focus art this point should be to get them to do whatever it takes to fix that bulging wall. At the least it will require draining the pool and removing the fill and resetting the pool. I would call the pool manufacturer as well to inquire if the shell suffered any structural damage in which case they should replace the entire shell.
 
When my fiberglass pool was installed and they started to fill, they told us that it was upmost important to only fill to the height of the backfilled stone. They stopped it 1/3 way up one day to continue work on the lines and started it up again the next day. It was filled in stages to match the height of the backfill at all times.

The pool manufacturer was also on site when the pool was placed and when we were all holding our breath as the crane lifted the pool over our house I asked about flexibility of the pool shell. He replied that rectangle shaped pools were more vulnerable to twisting, over the shapes with curves.

Maddie :flower:
 
While the coping thing sucks, it will only be a cosmetic issue. Your main focus art this point should be to get them to do whatever it takes to fix that bulging wall. At the least it will require draining the pool and removing the fill and resetting the pool. I would call the pool manufacturer as well to inquire if the shell suffered any structural damage in which case they should replace the entire shell.
Not sure where you got the bulging wall thing. I said that the walls appear wavy (not straight enough for good coping placement) and that they had overfilled the pool (with the trucked-in water) creating a huge potato chipped wall until they used the bucket to jam gravel into the wall area.
 
Water chemistry question... The PB is pouring the concrete collar and leaving the job site until spring. The pool has the water in it that was trucked in and it has since turned dark and green. The pool is uncovered and the bilge water frozen on top. There are no chemicals in the pool.

Is this normal?

I though Leisure Pools USA required that the water be tested and maintained weekly (at least during non-covered season) in order for the gel coat warranty to be honored. I read that unattended water can cause issues with the gel coat. ??? Lost.
 
Water chemistry question... The PB is pouring the concrete collar and leaving the job site until spring. The pool has the water in it that was trucked in and it has since turned dark and green. The pool is uncovered and the bilge water frozen on top. There are no chemicals in the pool.

Is this normal?

I though Leisure Pools USA required that the water be tested and maintained weekly (at least during non-covered season) in order for the gel coat warranty to be honored. I read that unattended water can cause issues with the gel coat. ??? Lost.


So, you have contacted Leisure's main office and spoken to them directly correct?

Email Leisure Pools Head Office [email protected] and a Leisure Pools Representative will get in contact with you within 48 hours.
Address: 2901 Leisure Island Way, Knoxville, TN 37914


Hours:
Closes soon:5PM ⋅ Opens 8AM Wed


Tuesday
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Hours might differ
Wednesday
(Christmas Day)
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Hours might differ
Thursday8AM–5PM
Friday8AM–5PM
SaturdayClosed
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Monday8AM–5PM
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