gouges and chips in limestone border

[burjoes]

Hi all - I am deep in construction and have noticed a bunch of chips and gouges and scrapes in the limestone around the pool. Before I make demands of the builder, I wanted to get some perspective from others.

Also, after telling me they were not going to damage my back yard (saying they would go through a different part of the yard), they wound up destroying 3/4 of what is left of my back yard. They put down sandy loam fill dirt and now i'll have a muddy mess when it rains until I pay a landscaping company hundreds of dollars to put down new sod to replace what their backhoe destroyed.

And, they filled in some stone between my existing deck and the pool, which is now sloped to the middle, where there is no drain. Probably 10' x 10' will sit with 1/2" of water every time it rains, unless they put in a drain.

I also have made a timelapse video of the construction so far, which is at Pool - Day 0-15.mov.

 

[JamesW]

What would you like the builder to do to resolve the problem to your satisfaction?

What do you think is fair?

 

[JJ_Tex]

Sounds like you have a couple of things going on. I would calmly try and separate the issues and talk to your pool builder about them as individual issues. The concerns I'm hearing from your post above is:

1. Chips in the pool coping
2. Unexpected yard Damage
3. Drainage between the pool deck and existing patio

For #1, I think you have a legitimate beef. I would point them out to your builder and ask how he is going to remedy. They may be able to grind down some and may have to replace some. On a side note, it seems like the limestone may be a bit soft if the work is leaving those markings.
For # 2, I watched the video and it looks like they entered and exited in the most logical spot in the yard. Pool building is messy, and if your pool builder said they wouldnt tear of your yard, then shame on him, but I think its also naive to believe it and not think you would have some yard repair after lots of heavy machinery digs a hole in your backyard. A couple of hundred dollars for sod seems reasonable, and maybe even so reasonable that your PB will throw it in.
For #3, I would simply talk to your pool builder. The drainage seems like a legitimate concern and also should be a fairly easy fix be it a drain, regrading, etc. You may have to pay extra, but I think you have options.

Good luck and hope that helps.

 

[JamesW]

Limestone is a relatively soft stone. Any contractor should know that and take appropriate precautions. Damage of any kind is not acceptable.

 

[kimkats]

What they both said Not good care on the decking at all.

 

[ajw22]

We don't know if the limestone was delivered with chips and gouges or they occurred on the job site. Either way it is not acceptable to my quality standards. If the stone was delivered that way it should have been inspected and rejected prior to installation.

Given the other discrepancies between what the builder told you and what he did I think you have a disconnect with the builder between the quality you are expecting and what the builder is delivering. That needs to be discussed with the builder.

 

[burjoes]

Thank you all for the great perspectives. I've detailed my concerns to the pool builder in writing and try and have each of them addressed. Since we started the build in the summer, there has been one delay after another. The first one was that they didn't check the box on the permit about there being a protected tree on the property. That led to a 30 day delay before we even got started. Then they did practically nothing during the month of December. And now they've just figured out, 5-6 months into the project, that the scuppers are no longer being produced, and we have a 2-3 week construction delay while they order a substitute. Is it common for a pool build of this type to take so long? This is a standard pool with 10x35 dimensions, with hot tub and sun shelf. I understand that no construction project is identical to another, and have read many posts on here. But it's always nice to hear whether something is "in the range of normal" or not so much.

Regarding the yard - as you can see from the video, they pulled off the side of the fence next to the pool itself. They had originally told me they were going to go through the far end of the yard next to the detached garage. At that time, I planned to wait on landscaping until after the pool was built. However, they showed up the first day and suddenly realized that their equipment was too tall to go in that route due to the electric line above. Based on that, they decided to in from the side. So I asked if they were going to leave the rest of the yard alone, and they said yes. That led me to have the landscaper come out and put down sod to replace an old garden, at the same time they were putting some sod down in the front yard. Now, months later, they had piled up so much concrete and debris in the yard that they had to take down a second section of fence and come in with the tractor, which ruined 500-600sqft of grass. They didn't ask in advance or advise me about it, and now I have a yard that my dog and kids are going to make a mess out of until I get more sod.