New Pool Plaster Concerns

[pattyhay]

Hello,
My husband and I have never owned a pool. Our pool was finish and filled two weeks ago.
I mentioned last week to the builder that we were worried about the plaster.
I sent pictures and was told nothing was out of the ordinary. I then requested someone come out and visit as pictures can only show so much.
No response.
I called today and the aggravated office manage agreed to send the plastering company to check on it.
Please let me know what you think of the following photo and should we be concerned.
The rough edge near the tile goes around the perimeter of the pool.
There are small craters in the rough edges and the floor of the pool.
Are we being unreasonable to request someone come out and look at the pool?

 

[kimkats]

The rough area may be from when they pulled the tape off the tiles. I am not sure how they would fix that at this point without redoing the whole job. The other areas are normal for plaster. It is almost never perfectly smooth. I wish I had better news for you.

Kim TFP MOD

 

[pattyhay]

Thank you Kim.
We were thinking the same thing.
However, now we also now have a very small amount of tiny balls of plaster floating in the pool. At first glance we thought someone styrofoam had floated into the pool.
Patty

 

[kimkats]

Can you catch one of these balls and share a pic of it? I really don't think plaster would float so this is weird! I do have a couple of ideas though. I will wait for you to catch and share one of these balls.

 

[pattyhay]

The quarter was not in the pool, I put it on the black paper to show the size.
The walls of the pool are now showing rough patches all over about 2 to 3 inches in size they look the same as where the edge of the tile meets. Sadly they were not there before. We paid the pool contractor for start-up, they are should still be doing that, but we have not seen anyone out in a week. Is that common?
We are doing the brushing 2 and 3 times a day and the pool has been filled for a little over 2 weeks. They said they would send the plastering company out, but no one has come as yet.

 

[kimkats]

Patty, do you have any muriatic acid? If not see if a neighbor does. When get your hands on some pour a little on the white stuff and tell use what it does. Use GREAT care working with the muriatic acid. Make sure to have some kind of eye cover on and hold your breath. Do this outside and have water nearby to rinse off as needed.

Something is going on with your pool. Your best bet is to take control of it's care. That is what we teach here at TFP. You need your own test kit as what you are seeing with them showing up once a week is very normal AND when they show up what they do does more harm than good as they have to get the levels very high in hopes the will last a week until they come back again IF they even show up

Here is a link to show you the different test kits:

Pool School - Test Kits Compared

Here is MY ranking of the test kits:

1. TF-100 as it has more of the regents we use on a daily basis (see my siggy below on where to buy it from)
2.Taylor 2006 (NOT 2005) if you can find the the 2006C that is even better but be careful that it is a "fresh" kit aka not out of date.

I would not bother with the other kits.

We really need a good set of tests results to see what is going on with your new plaster. Please do not take it to the pool store :angel: Most of them do the test very wrong and can also cause some harm if you use their results. That is a whole 'nother story right there.

Can you take a pic that shows the new spots that are showing up?

What does the dot you caught feel like? Smell like? can you smush them?

 

[pattyhay]

At the front of each step there is a line, not sure if it is a crack. I know they had to add more plaster to the step as the concrete was very rough.

Right above my right big toe it looks like a crease or crack.

I will take more pictures of the area when I get home. The dots are soft and smoosh like paste. After they have been sitting out of the water for a day they become hard.
We got a test kit and will test the water.
Also some of the spots feel like a pumice stone.
Thank you,
Patty

 

[kimkats]

Can you reach the steps (I bet it will be burrrrrrrrr sorry) to feel the lines? How about the place by your toe?

Did you find any muriatic acid? soft when first out of water then hard when dry?? That is so weird! The acid test will help us know what it is or it is not.

I can't wait to hear your test results. That will tell us a lot as well.

 

[pattyhay]

 

[pattyhay]

It took two drops to change the color.
Hoping the pool guy coming on Monday can help.
How can I tell if they just did white plaster, instead of quartz?

 

[pattyhay]

 

[kimkats]

Patty? Two of your posts are empty.........I am guessing the first one had test results in it. Cannot tell what you meant to put in the second empty one. Please try again.

I am going to do some asking around to see how you can tell the difference between the two kinds of plaster.

 

[pattyhay]

PH level was 8.2, so high PH.
There are also little bubbles under the plaster looks like something trying to break through.
About fingertip size.
Patty

 

[kimkats]

If you tested at 8.2 it could be even higher as that is as high as the PH test goes

How did you lower the PH? Can you reach the bubbles to scrape or push on them?

Kim

 

[pattyhay]

A bit busy trying to clean up another mess right now. No one called before they dug. Our pool we just got lucky. The landscaper, not so much, but he is contracted through the pool builder, so what now?
They tore the gas line in half. Fire dept and gas company spent half the day here. Hoping it is repaired soon.
What I can't figure out is they are a reputable pool company and friends have used them. They have been around for a long time.
Patty

 

[kimkats]

WHAT???? Betting they are subs that he has not used before

 

[pattyhay]

The first time my husband swam in the pool his hands were bleeding after 15 minutes, that was 4 weeks ago. Since then we have been promised by the Pool contractor to have repairs done, but not one repair has been done. They keep promising to call us to schedule the repairs, but no one ever calls, then we call and we are made to feel like pests. We are considering calling an attorney, but only want to use that as a last resort. Unfortunately, our loan company paid the pool contractor in March, so their motivation to repair our pool is gone. We have a quartz finish.
We have many other concerns as with our pool as well.
-Both of our wet decks have high and low spots from 1/2 to 1 inch difference - where the umbrella sleeve and the self-cleaning popups the plaster is raised like small hills (enough to trip on).
-The walls of the pool are very rough in many places it looks like pumice stone. (both of these issues have been explained as plastering is a hand troweled surface and will not be perfect, but should not cut you).
-Both water feature pots have large cracks through the middle that have gotten larger over time.
-The Kool decking surface is cracking on the edges around the pool (there was an attempt to put patches, but they crumbled and fell into the pool).
-Where the kool decking replaced paverstones the concrete stoop has large chips missing.
Is there a way to take pictures to show how un-level the wet decks are?
We tried using a cell phone waterproof case, but the light washes everything out.
How can we get this contractor to finish our repairs without contracting an attorney?

 

[Dirk]

How can we get this contractor to finish our repairs without contracting an attorney?

This is how it's done in CA. It will likely be similar in NV.

1. Stop talking to your contractor or subs or their various employees. No more he said/she said. Start documenting everything.

2. Any/all communications from this point forward should be in writing. Use certified mail. If he calls, simply state that he must submit everything in writing from this point forward, and that you're done communicating with him in any other way.

3. Write a letter stating clearly (a) what you want fixed; (b) how you've attempted to remedy so far, like how many times you've contacted him, what he's promised, etc; (c) give him a specific deadline to complete all repairs, like two weeks; (d) state clearly that if the repairs are not performed to your satisfaction within the given deadline, that you will be pursuing this matter in court. Leave out anything about feelings, emotions, etc. Just state the facts.

4. Contact the NV State Contractors Board, and file a complaint. There will be a form. Fill it out.

5. It appears NV Contractors carry a bond. Find out from the Board who your contractor's bond company is. Contact them. File a complaint with them and start that process (in CA the Board and the Bond Co are two different things and you need to pursue each independently).

You can do 2, 3, 4 and 5 consecutively, seeing if each provides you any resolution. Or you can do all four now, and fire both barrels, so to speak, depending on how hardball you want to play, and what your feelings are towards your contractor. It would appear from your narrative you are getting the shuffle, and your contractor has performed poorly in both his product and his customer service. I'm not sure how much more "polite" you should be or he deserves. And it would seem he's not going to take care of you unless you make him.

CA has a small claims court system that would cover the cost of repairs such as yours, no attorney needed. Does Nevada? You might call them to determine if the above steps are in keeping with their process, if in fact you might be able to make use of that system. In CA, one needs to follow certain steps in order to pursue a small claims case, so if NV is the same, you don't want to skip any steps, in order to retain this option if/when it comes to it.

I have followed my own advice in this regard and have gotten some results, but I can't yet share that online until my case is complete. But I will when I can. This will all be intimidating no doubt, and stressful, but you've been at this for, what, several months now, right? Your contractor is hoping you're going to give up, or maybe he's just too busy now. Either is unacceptable. Stick to your guns. Time to force his hand.

Good luck.

 

[pattyhay]

Thank you, so much for you assistance. We feel like our pool has become our nightmare and we want some recourse that resolves the issues going to the Contractor's Board is something we can do.
Patty

 

[Dirk]

Thank you, so much for you assistance. We feel like our pool has become our nightmare and we want some recourse that resolves the issues going to the Contractor's Board is something we can do.
Patty

Interesting coincidence, me finding your thread today. My issue just resolved itself, an hour ago:

It's over! I did it!! I WON!!!

So now I'm free to disclose. Let me know if I can be of any help...