New Build in NE FL

[ShantellyLace]

Sorry been crazy busy prepping for the hurricane and then doing clean up.

We had a Nor'easter prior to the hurricane which dumped over 6 inches of rain here before Irma. We pumped water out 2 times before the hurricane's outer bands ever arrived. Then as the outer bands were arriving, we pumped down to the bottom of the tile before bed. Clearly no overflow pipe which just blows my mind given we are in Florida and have tons of rain and we are in a flood zone (my main concern when interviewing builders - I just didn't know about the overflow pipe to ask for it).

The worst of Irma hit here in the middle of the night. When we got up at 830am Monday, the pool was level with yhe deck. A huge branch had broken off the oak trees behind the cage and came inches from taking down the screen enclosure. We had one section of loose screen but that is it. We have lots of standing water but somehow not as bad as we expected thankfully. My barn was wet in areas but mostly dry, horses are fine, and barn roof intact though my neoghbors was peeled up like a tin can. We lost power 3:30am early Monday morning and it is still out but we have generators running. The pool is nasty looking from all the rain and such and no way to power the pump. Hoping we have power by the weekend. Knowing I have friends that have over 3 feet of water inside their homes, one friend the water is to his roof line, so not having power is a minor annoyance compared to others.

Hope others in Irma's path are ok as well.

 

[kimkats]

Oh my! Your poor neighbors That is bad. I hope they have a place to stay.

Good to hear your tree did not hit the screen.

You can add chlorine then brush the pool good to mix it all up. You can also walk around the pool with a boat oar or such to mix the water up.

I hope you get power fast. We just got ours yesterday.

Kim

 

[Agd38]

Sorry been crazy busy prepping for the hurricane and then doing clean up.

We had a Nor'easter prior to the hurricane which dumped over 6 inches of rain here before Irma. We pumped water out 2 times before the hurricane's outer bands ever arrived. Then as the outer bands were arriving, we pumped down to the bottom of the tile before bed. Clearly no overflow pipe which just blows my mind given we are in Florida and have tons of rain and we are in a flood zone (my main concern when interviewing builders - I just didn't know about the overflow pipe to ask for it).

The worst of Irma hit here in the middle of the night. When we got up at 830am Monday, the pool was level with yhe deck. A huge branch had broken off the oak trees behind the cage and came inches from taking down the screen enclosure. We had one section of loose screen but that is it. We have lots of standing water but somehow not as bad as we expected thankfully. My barn was wet in areas but mostly dry, horses are fine, and barn roof intact though my neoghbors was peeled up like a tin can. We lost power 3:30am early Monday morning and it is still out but we have generators running. The pool is nasty looking from all the rain and such and no way to power the pump. Hoping we have power by the weekend. Knowing I have friends that have over 3 feet of water inside their homes, one friend the water is to his roof line, so not having power is a minor annoyance compared to others.

Hope others in Irma's path are ok as well.

I mentioned the overflow pipe to you some time ago. It would cost the builder nothing to install prior to the deck installation. He should have done it especially in Florida with heavy rains...

 

[Wr213]

That is how I had my overflow done and it worked well during Irma. I had the valve opened and when the brunt of the storm was hitting, water never came close to the water tile top.

In fact, I think you can still get it done in a manual format by tapping the line going to the filter and putting a spigot at the end.

 

[ShantellyLace]

Sorry. Been busy cleaning up after the hurricane.

Agd, I actually texted my PB the day you initially mentioned the overflow pipe and asked if we had it bc I am concerned about all the rain we get here. This was before the deck ever went down. I never heard back and the moment they started prepping for the deck, it was chaos here with all the mistakes, total lack of communication, and all and I forgot to pursue that answer to my question. Though clearly, we do not have one.

Is it possible to install this pipe or valve in the space between the equipment pad and the footer of the cage? We have 5 or 6 feet of pipe in the ground that is accessible by digging without removing any deck (though it may be getting pulled up bc of the big mistake with the light).

The pool company was out as soon as we had power and turned the pumps on high and added chemicals to get it cycling. Less than 12 hours later, it was already getting that blue color back. After another day, it was back to the beautiful Tropics Blue color.

Since I got new tattoos just after the pool was filled, I have not been able to truly swim in the pool, just hanging out on the shelf or steps, waist deep. I had to wait 3 weeks for them to heal enough so the chlorine wouldn't damage them. So yesterday was the first time I actually swam in the pool.

I am still dealing with a bad back injury that happened 2 years ago. Of course we wanted a pool bc it's hot in FL and we love swimming but it also was going to provide me with a way to exercise and strengthen my body without impact that hurts my back.

The pool is 37 feet long so with the sun shelf taking away some swim area, we have about 30-32 feet to swim in a straight line. I did 10 laps (1 lap is across and back so 60 feet in 1 lap) alternating between going backwards and kicking and moving my arms like a snow angel (sorry never was a true swimmer so don't know the names of the strokes and likely make up my own lol) and then modified freestyle. With the pumps running on a higher setting, those returns have a lot of water moving and it adds a really strong amount of resistance to swim through so it helps add to the exercise. Then holding onto the shelf, I pulled my knees to my chest to work my core. Also did jogging in place, jumping jacks, 10 mins of treading water, and various other moves I saw online. For someone who hasnt been able to do much beyond going to the grocery store and even that has been painful, it was a decent amount of movement for me. For me to be able to be more active in the water makes me hopeful I can lose some weight, get some of my strength and fitness back, and hopefully this back will continue to heal.

I ordered medium resistance aqua barbells, swim cap, goggles, nose plug, and ear plugs too. Yes, I hold my nose to go under water. Lol I am just hoping it stays warm enough for me to use the pool for at least a month. The water was a little chilly last night and I was in the pool for a little more than an hour and then had to get out bc I was shivering.

Still waiting on the final punch list to be completed. It was comical to see their version of the list compared to ours. They had 3 items. We have I think 12? But we have it in writing that they agree to our list and it will all be completed. So far, nothing yet but I know this hurricane has caused many delays.

Now that things are calming down, I am going to keep trying to figure out of furniture situation. I love Wayfair bc they have such a large selection. But I also hate that they have such a large selection. So much to look at! So many options. And then conparing and making sure you are getting the best bang for your buck.

Today is exactly 1 month since we filled. I am hoping we can test out the heater and the spa. Oh! The spa!! We went to the granite store PB recommended. We found 2 slabs that would go perfectly with our pool. Both are grey base colors but with blue streaks through it. The #1 pick has a lot of blue and the #2 has less. Of course PB wanted us to find what we liked and then see if his granite guy had any remnants in those colors. I knew he wouldn't given those 2 pieces are fairly specific with blue being in the slab and it isn't just neutral. We did get a list of local contractors that use that same granite store and are going to see if any of them happen to have any of it left over. My last thought is go ahead and buy a whole slab and hang on to it for future use on a counter top for an outdoor kitchen area. Hubby hasn't heard that 3rd option yet....

So yeah.. Swimming is good. I am obsessed with the color and am so happy we went with it (major thanks to all who helped with that) and with the hurricane cleaning out our trees, we get even more sun now.

Here are the 2 slabs of granite we liked. We did pick out 2 back up ones that are likely more common and someone will have remnants if our search for these 2 doesn't pan out.

Pick #1

Close up

Pick 2 - the yellow stuff is adhesive not the slab color

Close up

 

[kimkats]

Happy to hear you got to swim some! You will find your comfort in the pool increases the more your use it and find what works to move you through the water.

I like slab 1 the best........ the blue is so pretty! Good luck on the looking for a left over piece.

Kim

 

[ShantellyLace]

We havent been able to locate any left over pieces of the first granite color we liked. However, hubby called one fabricator who said he had a large left over piece that was similar to what we wanted and had touches of blue in it. We brought a small piece home and placed it on the spillway and we like how it looks. The bonus is that they have a 52" piece along with a smaller piece as well. We are going to go ahead and have the coping for our fire pit made out of the larger piece of this granite so it will match the spillway and tie the fire pit into the pool (fire pit will have the same stone as the spa). The fire pit coping is going to be bull nosed on outside and then a half bull nose on the inside edge by the fire.

We are now past our 30 day mark so since my aunt was in town, hubby fired up the spa heater. It felt great. Also, the pool company finally added salt to the pool.

The electricians were able to finally finish the wiring for the automation to give us the custom control of each feature. The Hayward technician should be out this week to set everything up. I am guessing once we get the granite for the spill way finalized, the deck crew will come to install the granite, fix the stair tread that is not mortared down, and fix the coping on the columns. No word yet on what is going to be done about the major screw up with the light over the bench. Also havent heard when they are going to come clean up the mess all the subs made with cutting concrete and stone. Our house, windows, and cage are disgusting as they are covered in concrete dust and no amount of spraying water, pressure washing, or hurricane force winds and rain will remove the dust.

The water has been a tad chilly so I def think we will be investing in solar heating next year. It wasnt too bad after the 2 days of rain from the latest nor easter but it is back to feeling pretty chilly today. I have been doing water exercise since I cant do much out of the water because of my back. I think I am going to try to see what all I can do in the spa since it is heated.

Oh! And furniture! Pretty much set on the florence line by TK Classics on Wayfair. It has the grey poly wicker and then will do navy cushions and will add a pop of color with the pillows. Just trying to iron out which sets to get so we get what we want for the best cost.

Pics of the sample of the granite for the spill way and fire pit. Oh and a pic of the pool just because the color looks SO amazing and I am so happy with how it came out esp after all the stress I had in picking it out!

Granite - the other pieces have even more of that slight blue spots

 

[kimkats]

I love that stone for the spill way! Pretty!

That plaster color is very pretty! I am glad you are on the downside of the build at last!

Kim

 

[ShantellyLace]

Thanks! Us too. Of course only 1 thing has been comoleted from the final punch list. But we do have the automation set up to control everything individually. Spa light, pool lights, sheer decent light, both bubbler lights, and deck lights. Hubby likes being able to control everything lol

Will post pics once the spill way gets finished. And hopefully we will get the fire bowls and fire pit finished soon.

 

[Big Will]

Any updates on pics and the finished punch list

 

[ShantellyLace]

Sorry life has been busy and unfortunately all that has been done is the granite spillway was cut and installed and the Hayward rep came to program the automation.

However, true to form, the spillway is not installed correctly and the automation has some things swip swapped and not done correctly. Because clearly, not one single aspect of this entire project can be done and correct the first time.

First, the Hayward rep came to program everything and turns out PB did not make sure we had enough relays I believe it was so more had to be ordered along with some type of expansion thing. So the electricians come out to install the new stuff and they say what was ordered is wrong and also said the way the bubblers were hooked up to the booster pump was not a good way bc apparently it is hooked up so that you can turn I think the bubblers totally off but if you turn the feature pump on while having the actual features turned off it can blow the pump? I want to say that was it. Of course PB says its all fine and good.

So finally after waiting over 3 weeks, the Hayward rep shows up hours later than he originally said and we could not be there bc we had an appt. So he hooks everything up. Well when we get home and check it out, apparently 2 of the valves are wired backwards. The Hayward rep told my husband to open the compartment and swap the wires that are right next to exposed breakers. Ultimately, we do not feel that 1) a rep should tell home owners to mess with something so dangerous and 2) they need to fix it in case something happens and it gets damaged so they don't try to put blame on us.

The other thing they did from the punch list was install the granite piece for the spillway. PB's granite guy who "does all of his jobs" is who was sent to install it. Meanwhile I continue to question why the pool is the only thing being circulated thru the pumps so we try to adjust it so both the pool and spa circulate. Well then the spa is either slowly draining or slowly filling but we cannot get it to be balanced so that both bodies of water circulate but maintain the proper water level.

The biggest issue is that we can keep the spa at a height where the water is half way up the granite but it is not high enough to spill over. HOWEVER, if the water is not below the bottom of the spillway, the water is able to flow UNDER the granite and BETWEEN the sides of the granite, and constantly fall into the pool. We have to adjust these valves manually bc these are the ones that are messed up from the automation (hubby knows more about that than I do so if it doesn't sound right its just bc I am not actively messing with it).

Additionally, they were servicing the pool, adding the chemicals, etc but NEVER told us that they were no longer coming out, no one reviewed how to use the equipment, things to keep an eye on, what to do when X, Y, or Z happens, how to hook up the vacuum cleaner (esp bc it is missing parts so can't even work), etc. I called and left a vm and a text repeating what my vm said to PB on 10/26 and nothing back. I expressed my concern on not being able to balance the pool and spa to circulate together and the fact that the spillway was leaking and my concern about the ph much less them going over everything AND the additional 10 punch list items that havent even been addressed and the 2 that were but are not correct.

We have family coming down for Thanksgiving and we truly expected to have everything done so we could all enjoy being in our new outdoor area. But I refuse to buy furtniture to set out there when it is disgusting. The concrete dust from all of their work still coats the house, windows, ceiling and ceiling fan, screen enclosure frame and actual screen. No amount of pressure washing gets rid of it. It needs manual cleaning. There's gravel, concrete, paver base, pvc pipe, rebar, etc all over our property that they haven't cleaned up. They would NEVER leave a property like this in a neighborhood. I am fed up and done being patient and nice and am seeking further action.

So after no word from PB and 2 weeks of no one showing up, we tackled the chemistry with the help of Kim. Got the ph down to 7.2 when it was off the chart before. The TA is low but we will be addressing that tomorrow and are looking into some things Kim suggested.

I do want to ask. PB told us to keep the pump at 50% and run constantly. I thought I read on here that it should run during the day for like 4 hours? And plaster company says they want the ph at 6.8. So conflicting info for sure.

So here are some pics of the leaking spillway. Also a pic where you can see the plaster getting splotchy. And of course the pole they gave us for the brush broke. So have to go get a new one to attach the whale tail brush to.


Its hard to see but if you look just below the granite, you'll see the water pouring down. It comes between the granite and the tile on the sides AND under the granite. The front of the stone in the middle is wet bc its trickling under the granite and going into the pool, the full length of the spillway

Zoomed in so you can see where it comes out the most on the side of the spillway opening

This is approx where we can get the level to equal out and not drain or over fill BUT it pours out the front into the pool messing up the ph. You can see the water is not going OVER the granite. It is only half way up the thickness but bc it isn't sealed all around, this level of water still causing splashing and aeration.

Another pic showing the water is not over the spillway but still flowing into pool on the front of the spa. Oh and there's the install granite

So it is pretty difficult to get a pic of the plaster. Some of this is reflection off the water. The orange is reflection from the setting sun. But it is getting lighter colored splotches.

 

[kimkats]

Pump run-https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/152-determine-pump-run-time

Read that and see what works for you.

Spa spill over-does it ever go over the stone like it should? It does look like they did not grout/mortar like they should have. I am going to ask a couple of people to take a look at their spas and see how it looks in that area.

Equipment-Yeah I would NOT make any changes like they told you to. I would start calling and see how far up the chain you have to go to get them to come out and do it right. I would also try to make sure it is a time you can be there (notice I said try as I know you did try this last time )

Final check-is it paid?

Kim (NO cheering on this one)

 

[bdavis466]

There is no way to circulate the pool and spa simultaneously but independent of one another. You can fiddle with the valve positions and might get it to work but it will be short term and likely either drain the spa or begin to spillover. The spillway is intended to circulate the spa water and that's exactly what should be done. Since you have automation, it would be best to do what most people do and that's run the spillway for 45 mins or so everyday. That's plenty of circulation to keep the spa clean.

The valve controller wires are low voltage and is an easy swap. I agree you shouldn't have to do it but handling it yourself should be a straightforward task.

With new plaster you should be running the pump 24/7 until you are no longer seeing plaster dust when brushing. Once that happens you can shorten the runtime to whatever you determine you need for filtration and chlorine production.

 

[ShantellyLace]

The spillway will go like it should IF we turn it on. But we cannot keep the spa at the right height even with the pumps off bc it leaks under the spillway.

Since they told us we had to keep the pumps running 24/7 we have left them like that. They told us not to run the spillway too. The entire time they serviced the pool, the spa water never got turned over, by either spillway or pumps. You could see how different the colors were. We figured ok well lets get them both to drain and refill so they get circulated. We arent trying to do them independently. But balance the drains and returns with the valves so that they could circulate all of the water and trying to stop the splashing. We were told not to do anything with the chemistry bc they were taking care of it. Until they werent and we didnt know. And when I called and texted my valid concerns and confusion, we got ZERO response.

I will look at that link about run time Kim, thanks.

There are over 10 things from the punch list that haven't been even attempted in 2 months. I have a friend in construction law and we are moving forward with him.

Thanks for the info. Will tell my husband to change the valves to drain from the pool only, run the spillway 45 mins a day. Not sure about the returns. Those are one of the things we could never control with the automation. And of course the spa leaking into the pool and unable to keep the right height.


Thanks again.

 

[ShantellyLace]

Nm got it

 

[ShantellyLace]

Hey strangers! It has been a while. I wish I had a great update but alas, it isn't so great. The good points are that with help from Kim and a few posts in the Water Chemistry forum, I have mastered Pool Math and while I still need to refer to my notes and website for the numbers, I feel confident with testing and following my results. Also, we have been able to swim in the pool the last 6 weeks or so which has been nice - the giant oaks, 20/20 screen, and angle of the sun were keeping the water just a titch chilly for me until a few weeks ago. Now it is lovely. And that is about it for the good news.

We continued trying to reach our PB. Emails, calls, letters, texts- you name it, we did it. Then the holidays came and we knew even if we got ahold of someone that work would be delayed due to that. Then January 13th, I barely leaned forward and felt a deep pop in my back and ended up having my back injury getting even worse yet again! New MRI showed over 50% of my disc was now outside of the disc wall, I had severe disc compression, bone spurs, and several other issues which not only worsened the pain I already had but now I had severe sciatica on both sides. Oral steroids were immediately started and then started epidural injections. The first 2 helped but the right side still hurt a lot. We did a final epidural for the right side, thinking that would get everything under control, only for it to make everything 100 times worse. I was sent back to my neurosurgeon as I had actually received more than the allotted amount of steroids and clearly they were just a bandaid. I was told a fusion would be the long term fix (which sucks at 34).

In the midst of all that medical stuff, we hired a lawyer to handle our PB issues. Ideally we just want the project finished correctly without having to file a suit. My friend recommended his friend he went to law school with as he handles construction law and other similar things and talking with him made me feel much more comfortable that in the event they tried to not comply, we had a legit case and due to the PB contract, the winning party would have all legal fees paid by losing party. By them not finishing the punch list, they were in breach of contract so it was very black and white. They had 10 days from receipt of that letter to contact us and after 9 months and 10 days, surprise, the project manager emailed my husband about coming to the house to review the punch list and take photos so they could get things finished.

She came out 2.5 weeks ago and I met her to walk around the pool area, show each item on the punch list, explain what the issue was etc. There were 3 items that had been done in 2017 but there were 9 or 10 remaining ones. I told her we have since decided to forgo replacing the coping on the columns and wall and explained that last year was such a horrible experience and the quality of work was so bad with no response or concern given to our statements that yes I was being very, very picky about every little thing because I had zero trust at that point that anything would be done or that any work would last.

We continued around the pool and outside area of the cage, showing her the areas that were involved in the punchlist which included the large area of concrete that was rinsed out of the tube when they shot the shell in Feb 2017 and left in our yard along with the remaining pile of paver base. I told her it is so disrespectful to treat us and our home this way just because we do not live in a fancy neighborhood with a HOA like all their other projects have been at because we all know this would have never been acceptable at one of those homes. She was out there with me for about 45 mins as I showed all of the items and explained exactly what the issue was and what was expected to be done.

I did express that we are highly apprehensive about the fact that the deck crew that cause so many issues last year, several that are permanent and cannot be fixed, the crew owner who was so incredibly rude and got in my face and then got into my husband's face yelling and almost had a fight, and was just the worst crew we have ever seen, will be the same crew coming out here expected to fix all these mistakes they created and then use very technique specific materials to finish the project like they should have originally. Project manager just had no idea what to say. I then asked her why PB and the other owner quit returning calls and messages and she said "Oh we didn't get the first letter." (She is referring to a high school friend that is an attorney that I had earlier in 2018 send a letter to them like our 2nd attorney but he ended up sending it to an address that was from like 4 years ago and never received but he never bothered to investigate and make sure he had the right address for 4 months so that's why we hired a different attorney). I told her that I was referring to the 9 months of calls, letters, voicemails etc that we had left since they cashed out final payment in Sept 2017. I reminded her we expressed our concern about getting the punch list finished when we couldn't get work done while we owed money. I told her about all the issues we had, and a brief synopsis of the experience and either she is a very good actress or she had no idea about what happened with our build. So she said at the end "Well I am glad that we can get all this finished up for you." (Yall... it was so hard to hold my tongue but it wasn't her fault) I just said "Yeah but it would have been nice to have it been taken care of 9 months and $1000 ago. It shouldn't come down to us having to hire an attorney and have to threaten litigation to get this done." Poor lady just didn't know what to say. I wasn't nasty or anything to her but she knew how unhappy we were.

So yeah. Last Tuesday they sent someone out to backfill around the equipment pad.... dirt doesn't even go beyond the footer for the screen and all 4 inches of the equipment pad is above it. He didn't back fill it, he just put dirt in the eroded areas that formed in the 9 months that it sat. I am just so freaking tired of their lazy subs and frankly I am tired of being the site foreman overseeing everything. Once my insurance approves my surgery, I am not going to be able to go out and check on these people and make sure they do things correctly. We know the PB won't. Hubby tries but he just doesn't see detail like I do plus he has so much on his plate, he doesn't have the time to check up behind them either. Round two of this nightmare is starting now.

So here is a question about the next upcoming visit for next Tuesday. The project manager (they call her that but she pulls permits and takes payments) updated us last week and told us she will now be joining the deck people when they come here Tuesday. Probably because of the issues that went down last year. Here are the things they are supposed to fix (well what they CAN fix):

Two of the treads on the step to the spa are off

They never did the final sand fill which was supposed to be polymeric sand. Since they never did this and most of the joints were left open, they have filled with dirt or had organic matter push up from below and have black dirt in the joints and several areas are growing vegetation.
**** I have no idea how they are going to get the vegetation and dirt out of these joints bc we have travertine and where we bought it from says under no circumstances to pressure wash it, even on a low setting. So thoughts? And then once all of this dirt and vegetation is out of the joints where does it go? Should I be ok letting it go in the pool? Remember we have a cage so I am used to like zero anything being in my pool. Lol

*******My next MAJORLY stressful thing is reading about how polymeric sand is supposed to be installed. It isnt just plop down sand, sweep, and then spray. I have read where installers didnt make sure all the sand was off the surface of the deck and when they sprayed the deck, it made the deck rough. Then mentioning that it is best to use the misting setting so not to splash any sand out of the joints and onto the deck.

If it was me installing this, I wouldn't be concerned bc I have no problem being detailed and methodical. But we are talking about this lazy, horrible, pathetic deck crew. The ones who made the entire right corner of our deck slope very obviously down and to the right AWAY from the drain, towards our cage support, so now 2 inches of water just sits there. The ones who said having a deck drain only going half the length of the deck was correct. And well, I could go on and on.

So they are coming Tuesday and I am fairly certain it is to evaluate what is needing to be done. Now if Travertine Mart is just saying absolutely no pressure washing as a CYA, then that is fine, so that is why I have turned to my TFP peeps. We do have that filler stuff in the big defects in the travertine that I am worried will pop out if sprayed with the pressure washer but this is my first experience with travertine so no idea.

Also any input on this polymeric sand install that has me stressed, simply bc of who is installing it, would be great. When I look up how to prevent vegetation from growing between pavers, I read polymeric is best and then regular paver sand is second but needs to be replaced. We paid extra money for the polymeric already.

As for the light over the bench that makes over half the deep end a black hole.... well they are still trying to figure out what to do about that.

This is how many areas of the deck look. There is one area that holds water (an area that they already "fixed" twice last year bc it held water) that has that thick, carpet like moss that is growing in the cracks

Just one little area that popped up. Many, many more with more leaves elsewhere

That whole deep end light issue

A little over 2 weeks ago when my mom came down to help me after my surgery that was supposed to be June 11 (whole other story)

So any info and help about getting all the dirt and vegetation out of the joints of the travertine without damaging it and then if it is ok for that to go into the pool or not would be great to know. I know whatever is going to be suggested by the deck company is likely going to be whatever is the fastest, cheapest way of doing things which doesnt mean the best way for my travertine. But that also makes us very on edge about the polymeric sand install.

Hope all is well with everyone!

 

[ctrav]

So sad to hear of all the PB issues and to top it off your health! First I wish you a full recovery. Second have you considered a lawyer, reporting PB to better business (BBB)?

I have no experience with your deck issues other than just spraying grass/weed kill for vegetation and hopefully this won't have an ill effect on travertine...

Your water does look awesome!

 

[ShantellyLace]

Thanks!

We have a lawyer right now. Right now the PB has to complete the final punch list from when the final payment and pool was filled in Sept 2017 and ensure the work is correct. If he does not complete the punch list, he will still be in breach of contract, and we will move forward with a lawsuit.

The reason we are not spraying the weeds in between the travertine is because they are not growing from under the pavers. They are growing in the dirt that has settled into the top of the joints that was never filled in and now has black dirt in them which is not correct. We just don't know what is a safe way for them to remove this dirt and all from the upper layer of the joints so that the polymeric sand can be properly installed.

The joints should look like this

 

[kimkats]

They need to use a razor knife to dig out the dirt and such. It will not be easy or fun but that is the only way to really have good control so as to not cause any damage. It will be hands and knees work.

I am sorry to hear your back is worse and you are facing surg

 

[ShantellyLace]

There is probably 1000 sq ft of deck that is like that. You know the struggles we had with them Kim so you can imagine our stress in telling them to clean it out by hand.... ugh. I sent an email to travertine mart just in case. Going to test the water hose and see if it works well enough.

And thank you. Heading into month 32 of the entire thing with my back. So over it all.