New Build in NE FL
- Thread starter Brooksrandy81
- Start date
Suz I think I am the one that got this all messed up. I was thinking your kind of spillway when she first brought it up. Sorry about that BUT we did get to see YOUR pretty spillway again so it is all worth it!
What a cute puppy! All legs right now I bet! I love me so dobie love!
Happy stone hunting!
Kim
What a cute puppy! All legs right now I bet! I love me so dobie love!
Happy stone hunting!
Kim
Not a problem! I do love Suz's spa so it was great to see it again!
I looked online and saw some pretty granite so will prob go that route.
Someone was here today moving paver base but they were only putting it next to the house and concrete where they need to spray for termites. I go out and look and everyone is gone and its like an inch thick and just raked in placed. I am not sure if they think that is what needs to be done for the termite spraying or not but it isnt. It literally needs to be compacted and the next thing is laying the pavers, that's when the spray gets applied. So not sure why they just did the 4 feet near the house and not the whole area. I mean, this is required for the permit and we cannot be the only people that are doing this bc even if you have current termite treatment in place, any disturbance to the ground where it was applied would need new treatment.
Plus, yesterday the construction manager flipped over a piece of plywood that had been laying on the ground behind the raised wall and termites were everywhere bc of how wet it is right now. So this treatment def needs to be done and done correctly.
Hoping the guys come back so I can ask them what is going on. I also dont understand why the coping hasnt been finished when we were told that would be all done last Thurs. The sun is out, it's not raining, why isnt there a flurry of activity? Esp bc he said deck would be in this week. Ha.
Lastly, I had sent PB a message asking about the St Lucia Pearl plaster. He said bc there is more dye in it to make it a deeper blue it is an upgrade and would be $3200 extra. I really didnt think it would be that much bc glass beads were $4900 and this Pearl line has no glass at all. So that stinks.
I looked online and saw some pretty granite so will prob go that route.
Someone was here today moving paver base but they were only putting it next to the house and concrete where they need to spray for termites. I go out and look and everyone is gone and its like an inch thick and just raked in placed. I am not sure if they think that is what needs to be done for the termite spraying or not but it isnt. It literally needs to be compacted and the next thing is laying the pavers, that's when the spray gets applied. So not sure why they just did the 4 feet near the house and not the whole area. I mean, this is required for the permit and we cannot be the only people that are doing this bc even if you have current termite treatment in place, any disturbance to the ground where it was applied would need new treatment.
Plus, yesterday the construction manager flipped over a piece of plywood that had been laying on the ground behind the raised wall and termites were everywhere bc of how wet it is right now. So this treatment def needs to be done and done correctly.
Hoping the guys come back so I can ask them what is going on. I also dont understand why the coping hasnt been finished when we were told that would be all done last Thurs. The sun is out, it's not raining, why isnt there a flurry of activity? Esp bc he said deck would be in this week. Ha.
Lastly, I had sent PB a message asking about the St Lucia Pearl plaster. He said bc there is more dye in it to make it a deeper blue it is an upgrade and would be $3200 extra. I really didnt think it would be that much bc glass beads were $4900 and this Pearl line has no glass at all. So that stinks.
Texting back and forth with PB about the plaster cost and he said they are starting to use NPT Stonescapes and I can look at that with the same cost. Yay! I haven't seen their colors before but know many people use that on here. Off to check out their colors!
So Will and djcagle both have NPT Stonescapes Tropics Blue (though we all know Will blinged it up to the max and is slightly darker with the glass added lol) and dj has the silver travertine like we do and I love both of those pools so I think we have our plaster. I asked PB to make sure all were the same cost and he said "I think" so lets cross our fingers Tropics Blue is not an upgrade! But I still want my abalone shells!
From what I understand tropics blue is supposed to come with abalone shells in the mix I just heard. Not sure how true that is but it's worth asking about before you tell him you want to just add some and they try to upgrade you for something that's included. And with tropics blue you can tweak the color to be lighter or darker which is something I really liked.
But I will tell you I LOVE the bling and I go underwater and look at it and even try to scratch it off the walls just to make sure it's in there good lol
Even better to know! But tweaking the color means adding more beads so more cost? I am not familiar with how NPT works. That makes me happy abalone is already included. So if I have some hand cast, it will be even more blingy then?
- Oct 18, 2009
- 3,648
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Shantellace I am not sure why they have to do the termites for the pavers. We have our house protected for termites and after the pavers were placed the next year they came out and drilled holes in our pavers that were butted up to the house put termite solution and put special gray caps to seal off the top.
- Oct 18, 2009
- 3,648
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
There are multiple ways that they can treat and we aren't doing the type that is applied like that which is how they explained it to us. He just told us that he needed to come out and spray before the pavers were placed and no more dirt was being disturbed. We use Peninsular. I can call them and ask about your method but I think that was the little bait station type treatment. This is all new to me so not sure. But will ask ty!
What a day you have had with all this thinking and having to follow up with others not doing their job 
Kim
Kim
What a day you have had with all this thinking and having to follow up with others not doing their job
Kim
True but I will say the frustration of not having the deck prep completed (PB called us bc he was under the impression it was ALL being completed today) was softened a little bit when PB told me they are using the NPT as well. The CL Industries just didn't have the color I wanted without a huge upcharge so having the NPT available did help.
You can tweak the color with beads ( which I did) or when they mix the plaster and if you want a darker blue tell them to add 2 bags of black to the recipe instead of the 1 it calls for. Or you can take black out of the plaster mix and it will be lighter blue.
When I refer to "black" I'm talking about the black plaster they mix in not the beads to get that color.
- Jun 18, 2015
- 712
- Pool Size
- 11000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Great news about the finish color! I love the color of Will's pool and all of the Tropics Blue pools on here. [emoji170]
I will have to have PB check and see how much custom mixing is and such. He still hasnt gotten back to confirm Tropics Blue isn't an upgrade. But I seny him pics of your pool along with dj's to show what it looked like and what I wanted.
So I called the local distribution store and asked about the abalone shell and yes, it is already included in the Stonescapes so yay. Still waiting to hear if Tropics Blue is an upgrade and also about adding more abalone shells with hand casting.
We have 3.5 days of no rain and is there anyone here working? Nope.
They will be back Monday, when the 60%+ rain forecast for the entire week starts back up. Ugh. Right now is ideal weather to install paver base and pavers bc if they prep the base and then it rains, the rain coming off the roof near the existing patio will completely damage it and leave a hole from the run off.
Will, thanks for that info. I am hoping whoever is plastering the pool is familiar with this plaster and mixing more colors. It is hard to gauge how dark it really is bc the color varies greatly in the pics I have seen. Being that we have a 2 story house on one side of the pool and 75' plus huge oaks on the other side AND a screen, I don't want it too dark so still trying to figure that out.
We have 3.5 days of no rain and is there anyone here working? Nope.
They will be back Monday, when the 60%+ rain forecast for the entire week starts back up. Ugh. Right now is ideal weather to install paver base and pavers bc if they prep the base and then it rains, the rain coming off the roof near the existing patio will completely damage it and leave a hole from the run off.
Will, thanks for that info. I am hoping whoever is plastering the pool is familiar with this plaster and mixing more colors. It is hard to gauge how dark it really is bc the color varies greatly in the pics I have seen. Being that we have a 2 story house on one side of the pool and 75' plus huge oaks on the other side AND a screen, I don't want it too dark so still trying to figure that out.
So the other day, the glass tile was finally installed on the shelf, seats, and steps... by the owner of the tile install company, who is "very frustrated with our build" even though I am not sure why. Along with his helper, they did everything in about 3 hours. It has been pouring rain the last few days so I finally got to look at it today and well... There are a few areas that are disappointing.
I want to share pics and get feedback before calling my PB bc I want to make sure if I call it is valid bc y'all know I can get a little hyper focused and expect perfection but if what is acceptable is not absolute perfection and what is done is normal for other jobs, then I will be accepting of it.
So I have questions and pics to show what I mean and also have some general glass tile install questions. I think it is pooldv? Brent? Those guys are informed on glass and installation I believe? I know there are quite a few on here that have discussed glass install on here and would appreciate input!
First, before they installed the waterline tile, they used the laticrete waterproof membrane that was painted on the shotcrete and 24 hours later, they applied a mortar bed to float out the wall and make it level and flat. Then the next day was the laticrete thin set and tile placement.
When they came out to do the glass for the accents however, they just put thin set down (and it was just whatever thin set they had, not the laticrete kind that I explained needed to be used for this glass) and they insisted no waterproof barrier was needed and basically it was installed differently than the waterline tile. Is this normal? We made sure that the tile installation company and PB are warranting the work and they understand the cost of this tile, etc but I would really rather not have to deal with repairing it, esp under water tile due to the steps needed to do that.
Second, there are many areas where the tile is wavy and is not laying flat on the shell/thin set. I am concerned that when they spray the plaster that the glass is going to be very noticeable and possibly cause injury to feet/rear ends due to it not being level and flush. Am I expecting too much? Is it normal for it to be wavy?
Third, there are several areas where there are voids in the shotcrete and thin set so that the glass is just floating and only half or 3/4 of the individual tile is resting on thin set. I know the plaster will be applied and fill in the voids but I am wondering if this is sufficient as plaster is not thin set (worried about cracking, popping off, etc). Is the plaster ok to fill in these voids under the glass?
Fourth, there are also several areas where 2 strips of glass are meeting to start a new 12" run and instead of having the normal grout space between them, they are rotated and the top corners are touching each other, leaving a triangle space for the grout below this area where they touch. Also the spacing between the top and bottom rows varies a lot to the point there are areas where there is no room for grout/plaster. Then around some curves it just look messy and very uneven. Not only does this prevent proper grout, but it is also not visually pleasing esp once the grout (which is going to be the plaster without pebbles) is installed. Am I again expecting too much? I know the spacing is not going to be exact esp as they lay the tile around curves but these areas aren't just bc of the curve, it just looks like they were being quick and lazy when laying a new strip.
Fifth, when I inquired about cleaning out the thin set in the grout space so the grout/plaster can be applied, they said the plaster crew does this. Is this normal? We honestly have a hard time trusting the owner of the tile company after the issues we have had with him (promising to come work and then never showing up) and then to find out he is frustrated with our build and not wanting to be here... Well that doesn't allow for a lot of faith and trust he will do his best work.
We also still have quite a few tiles that have grout on top of the tile and messy grout lines and haven't been properly cleaned even though it is fully set. Not sure when this is going to be done. I can tell a different person grouted the left side of the pool vs the right side bc the attention to detail is very different on each side.
Moving on from tile...
Additionally, I saw like 3 or 4 pieces of our coping that have been scratched by something and it is fairly noticeable esp bc the pieces are a darker grey and the scratches are bright white. I am upset bc we havent even had a chance to enjoy the pool and deck and scratch it ourselves. I want them to replace the scratched pieces. Is that unreasonable? I feel that if something is going to be damaged that we should be the ones doing it, not subs before the project is even finished.
Scratches and mortar stuck on top
Any insight and help would be much appreciated! I don't want to start complaining and expecting something that is just not obtainable but I think for $100k+ custom pool, well, I kind of expect the quality of the work to match.
I want to share pics and get feedback before calling my PB bc I want to make sure if I call it is valid bc y'all know I can get a little hyper focused and expect perfection but if what is acceptable is not absolute perfection and what is done is normal for other jobs, then I will be accepting of it.
So I have questions and pics to show what I mean and also have some general glass tile install questions. I think it is pooldv? Brent? Those guys are informed on glass and installation I believe? I know there are quite a few on here that have discussed glass install on here and would appreciate input!
First, before they installed the waterline tile, they used the laticrete waterproof membrane that was painted on the shotcrete and 24 hours later, they applied a mortar bed to float out the wall and make it level and flat. Then the next day was the laticrete thin set and tile placement.
When they came out to do the glass for the accents however, they just put thin set down (and it was just whatever thin set they had, not the laticrete kind that I explained needed to be used for this glass) and they insisted no waterproof barrier was needed and basically it was installed differently than the waterline tile. Is this normal? We made sure that the tile installation company and PB are warranting the work and they understand the cost of this tile, etc but I would really rather not have to deal with repairing it, esp under water tile due to the steps needed to do that.
Second, there are many areas where the tile is wavy and is not laying flat on the shell/thin set. I am concerned that when they spray the plaster that the glass is going to be very noticeable and possibly cause injury to feet/rear ends due to it not being level and flush. Am I expecting too much? Is it normal for it to be wavy?
Third, there are several areas where there are voids in the shotcrete and thin set so that the glass is just floating and only half or 3/4 of the individual tile is resting on thin set. I know the plaster will be applied and fill in the voids but I am wondering if this is sufficient as plaster is not thin set (worried about cracking, popping off, etc). Is the plaster ok to fill in these voids under the glass?
Fourth, there are also several areas where 2 strips of glass are meeting to start a new 12" run and instead of having the normal grout space between them, they are rotated and the top corners are touching each other, leaving a triangle space for the grout below this area where they touch. Also the spacing between the top and bottom rows varies a lot to the point there are areas where there is no room for grout/plaster. Then around some curves it just look messy and very uneven. Not only does this prevent proper grout, but it is also not visually pleasing esp once the grout (which is going to be the plaster without pebbles) is installed. Am I again expecting too much? I know the spacing is not going to be exact esp as they lay the tile around curves but these areas aren't just bc of the curve, it just looks like they were being quick and lazy when laying a new strip.
Fifth, when I inquired about cleaning out the thin set in the grout space so the grout/plaster can be applied, they said the plaster crew does this. Is this normal? We honestly have a hard time trusting the owner of the tile company after the issues we have had with him (promising to come work and then never showing up) and then to find out he is frustrated with our build and not wanting to be here... Well that doesn't allow for a lot of faith and trust he will do his best work.
We also still have quite a few tiles that have grout on top of the tile and messy grout lines and haven't been properly cleaned even though it is fully set. Not sure when this is going to be done. I can tell a different person grouted the left side of the pool vs the right side bc the attention to detail is very different on each side.
Moving on from tile...
Additionally, I saw like 3 or 4 pieces of our coping that have been scratched by something and it is fairly noticeable esp bc the pieces are a darker grey and the scratches are bright white. I am upset bc we havent even had a chance to enjoy the pool and deck and scratch it ourselves. I want them to replace the scratched pieces. Is that unreasonable? I feel that if something is going to be damaged that we should be the ones doing it, not subs before the project is even finished.
Scratches and mortar stuck on top
Any insight and help would be much appreciated! I don't want to start complaining and expecting something that is just not obtainable but I think for $100k+ custom pool, well, I kind of expect the quality of the work to match.