Had an interesting development today. PB called to let me know they are no longer doing the Magic Bowls. I reminded him that they are in our signed contract and he seemed less adamant but said they were having issues and that Pentair was not warrantying them. After some discussion he said he would reach out to his Pentair rep and get some more specifics. I really like the look of the bowls and from I understand from the installation instructions it looks like the led array is removable if there is an issue (need to double check this). I think I changed his mind from hard no to it’s still a possibility, but I don’t want to invite a headache later on either. Will probably create another post to see others experiences.
New Pool in Orlando
- Thread starter SchubeyDew
- Start date
Hmmm...
I can tell you that the lights are definitely removable, the bowl sits on top of them and will have to be removed before the lights can be replaced. My installer is holding off on putting the bowls in until everything is done to make sure that no one damages them. The lights are in now.
I'll continue following to see what you hear about warranty replacement. My gut feeling is that they are a bit of a challenge to install and the PBs just don't want to deal with it... My plumber didn't want to do it, electrician/jack of all trades did mine, he fought them to get everything lined up just right. Then, he has to come back to actually install the bowls weeks after the lights have been pulled. So, it's not a simple process. Overall though, the bowls themselves don't seem that complicated. They have a special niche and light, but those aren't super complex. I bet the issues are coming from the install, and Pentair probably won't warranty a bad install.
We have the same builder, and our designer told us the MagicBowls have issues with cracking. I'm with @OrlandoBull, I would expect installer issues. We're not going to be doing them, as from what I've seen here they are pretty costly, but I got the feeling the most the builder might do if we pushed would have been pre-plumb & conduit for the electrical. Good luck! I'll be watching to see how it turns out for you!
I followed up with the PB today and he said that we are good to go. When I questioned him about the issue, he said that the Pentair rep told him that there was an issue with the LED arrays flickering on and off, but they have an improved LED assembly now. He also mentioned that they have to be precisely mounted for everything to work out and that Pentair now includes a template for installation to help with that. When
Basically @OrlandoBull was dead on. They probably under quoted me, they are a pain to install and the PB was just seeing if they could just tell me no and not have to deal with it. But we are good to go now, so no worries.
@WGpoolnewb I hadn’t heard of them cracking, but I did see a YouTube comment where a guy kept getting warped bowls. There are also acrylic and glass bowl options. For the price they are installing them for, I’m sure I’m getting acrylic. If it turns out to be an issue, maybe I’ll upgrade to glass.
Basically @OrlandoBull was dead on. They probably under quoted me, they are a pain to install and the PB was just seeing if they could just tell me no and not have to deal with it. But we are good to go now, so no worries.
@WGpoolnewb I hadn’t heard of them cracking, but I did see a YouTube comment where a guy kept getting warped bowls. There are also acrylic and glass bowl options. For the price they are installing them for, I’m sure I’m getting acrylic. If it turns out to be an issue, maybe I’ll upgrade to glass.
Thanks for the followup. After seeing the cost you listed (it was you, I think), we decided to skip them... I assume the $3300 was per complete unit?
$3300 was the price for both. I was quoted up to $8500 by another PB. There are definitely a lot of ways to make a pool look nice, but I liked these because they were a nice water feature and a substitute for actual fire bowls. If you want to talk about pricey, check those out
Good to hear, glad it didn't really seem like a major issue.
For pricing, the material price I paid for mine was $1300 each, so if you're paying roughly $700 for labor, pipe, conduit... I think that's a great deal. Honestly don't know how much I'm going to end up paying for install, probably will be similar to your total cost, even without a PB markup.
Well, right about the time I was getting impatient again the gunite crew showed up! It was quite the show for someone who hasn’t witnessed it before and I don’t envy the guys doing the work.
A little more progress yesterday. They backfilled, which I greatly appreciated. My 3yo loves playing in dirt and it’s much safer now. From what I understand the next step is plumbing for the returns and equipment. Need to give the PB a call and make sure they know I need about 2-4wks lead time for getting the fence installed. Not there yet, but everyone is so backed up these day I don’t want to be delayed because of fencing.
Enjoy the smoothed out yard for a minute! I think the open plumbing trenches were more of a mess for us since they ran along the house/patio and unfortunately stayed open for too long.
I imagine that will be coming soon enough. As long as we are making progress, it’s fine with me. Right now my biggest struggle is keeping the grass alive from capping the sprinklers. I’m definitely not used to moving a rotating sprinkler around the yard anymore.
We got some rain today, that should help! Definitely keep up with it, do you have some zones you can run, or is the main line capped? On my last pool, I destroyed what was a gorgeous zoysa lawn because I didn't prioritize watering. This time I kept things up and running as much as possible, main line got cut and I fixed within a few days to keep as much as I could running. Grass suffered a bit on this build, but not like my last.
I have five zones and had to cap three. I had put a fitting to connect one zone to my garden hose, but it didn’t have quite enough pressure to have a good spray pattern. That’s when I got the other sprinkler, which actually has a really good reach. I keep having to adjust my placement as they keep moving dirt around, which is another part of the battle, but it’s all still green right now.
Ran into my first hiccup this week. I was looking at my gunite shell and noticed the walls on the spa were uneven, with some the narrowest portion being 8.5” thick and the widest being 12”. There is also a noticeable shift in the wall where it goes from the part that is recessed in the pool to the part outside of the pool. I sent some pictures and emailed the PB and they will be sending someone out to look at it. One of my friends that built with them had the same issue with a round spa, but they didn’t notice until it was time to install the coping.
I'll be looking for your update on this, as we have the same builder...
Does anyone have any input as to whether this is something that can be caught pre-gunite?
I’ll post an update, for sure. I know several on here are using or considering using the same PB.
As for catching it pre-gunite, I’m not sure what you mean. The gunite itself is the issue, not the supporting structure.
As for catching it pre-gunite, I’m not sure what you mean. The gunite itself is the issue, not the supporting structure.
I mean is there something that could be measured maybe after steel but ahead of the gunite crew's arrival. I have to think it's going to be far easier to correct an issue before gunite, unless the gunite crew's work itself is the whole issue. All of this is new to me, so I'm trying to learn as many things about the stages of the process as I can before construction actually starts.
I have a specific location I want the spa located, so I already know I'll be out there triple verifying things throughout.
It’s the gunite crew’s work itself. I even looked over the plans after I saw this and it doesn’t denote a different wall thickness on the plans. I’m not sure what stage you are at right now, but the steps, for example just have a sloping, curved rebar structure. There aren’t rebar “steps” that get filled out, the entire thing is gunite. If you look at my pre-gunite pictures you’ll see what I mean. Feel free to PM me if I can help in any way.
Got it, thanks. Our permits have been issued, still waiting for our HOA ARB to approve the project...