That looks great. Are you doing an owner builder or pool company? We are in the same area and still looking for quotes on shotcrete and tiling. If you have someone you recommend, would love their info. Good luck with the build.
Should have done an OB but chickened out. I have another post about my shotcrete experience, it was not good.
Shotcrete day - another quasi panic
...BUT, I've come to believe that there is no such thing as a "good shotcrete company". I'd hazard a guess that most shotcrete companies are probably capable of doing good, high quality work. But if you don't make them do so, then they won't.
One of the builders we were considering that I had a ton of faith in (in terms of expertise) said he wasn't surprised that my job was done very poorly but he said he uses the company that did my job frequently -- he said they are actually pretty good. But mostly because he's told them his expectations of how the job needs to be shot and holds them to it. He said it does cost more to do the job right and you need to hold them to that expectation.
So, unless you are going to learn how to shoot it properly so you can make sure they do it well, I'm not sure you can expect more than a 'normal' (read: poor quality) job. If you want some basic tips, read through that link above as I posted some of the things I learned re: the "right" way to shoot shotcrete. And so you know, there IS a "right" way to shoot it...don't believe anyone that says otherwise. There are two trade groups re: shotcrete and they collectively publish the way to do it properly.
The excavation crew was awesome. I can't say they are always awesome, but of all the people that have worked on the project so far, that is the one I'd hire again in a heartbeat. They protected the space to make sure nothing was damaged, they cleaned up after themselves every day and they did a great job from my, uneducated, perspective. The only mistakes weren't theirs -- the PB didn't explain some of the things very well so they over excavated in one area and under in another...but again, not their fault.
Unfortunately, I don't know who that company was but if you really want to know, PM me and I can try to figure it out.
I also wouldn't use the plumbing company my PB worked with...again, I should probably be blaming the PB as much as the plumbing company, but he pretty much let them do what they wanted so they deserve a fair share of the "credit". PM me if you are interested in their name. Again, I'm sure if you direct them how you expect things to be done, they'd probably be fine, much like the shotcrete scenario above.
I probably come off super-upset with my PB. While I'm not thrilled with everything, I actually like the guy and I think he's trying to do things right. I just think the way I work and my expectations are different from his and so we end up having conflicts. But he's helped out in a million ways and I'm sure if I were doing an owner build I'd be even more freaked out than I otherwise am/have been! But I think with this site you have some great resources to help you through the process. I wish I had people I could super-confidently recommend. If you really feel prepared to know/demand what you want -- and how you want it done -- I bet all the people working on my project would probably be ok.
