Opinions/other sets of eyes on recent pool installation

[nadrevahs]

Hey guys,
Long time reader first time poster. Last month I had a fiberglass pool installed. I've had a fair amount of issues. But the ones I want to focus on on this post are as follows. After the installation I had a gentleman come out and clean the pool and did pool school with me. There was a thick yellow residue around the pool that he said was supposed to come off at the time of concrete installation. It was very difficult to take it off and he suggested that it would be easier after it was exposed to the sunlight some more. I did some research read that it supposedly comes off pretty easy with a magic eraser and was going to tackle it at a later date. Yesterday my wife texts me at work and says there is a guy in the yard scrubbing the pool I guess from the concrete crew. It was news to me but whatever, later she texts me concerned because she says he is out there with a paint scraper. He ended up putting a a lot of superficial scratches in the pool. My first question is this. Anyone recommend a product that these might buff out with?


My second question. While out there today looking at the scratches my wife noticed these other areas. It's been pretty cold and wet here and apparently there was dirt near where the pool contacts the concrete. Now that it is washing away with the rain it is exposing a void between the two. Personally I think it doesn't look good. One side of the pool is perfect the other has these flaws that comparatively look pretty bad in my opinion. I haven't examined either of these issues personally because I have been working but my question is how bad is this? I obviously have to email the company that put the pool in but I don't have any ideas what options I have or if anything can even be done about this. It isn't in my nature to complain but this won't be the first issue that they have had to come back to fix with the project. I'm just looking for opinions to see if this is commonplace or if anyone has had any experience with something like this. Thanks for any advice anyone has.

 

[ajw22]

The scratches look like they are into the gel coat of the pool. I don’t think they will buff out. The gel coat can be redone but that is a major resurface of the pool. I would be plenty annoyed at the company taking a scraper to the new pool.

Lets see if @Texas Splash has ideas.

The concrete look is typical of poured concrete where the form was not perfect. Poured concrete can have those defects that precast don’t. Any patch job to fix it will likely call attention to the areas and look worse. See what the builder says.

 

[Texas Splash]

Nad, welcome to TFP! Well, let me try to put you a bit at ease a bit if I can. While it's understandable to get fired-up about the scratches and gaps between the decking and shell, they can and do happen. In fact, I have similar issues in my pool. In my pool, I've done quite a bit of sanding with wet/dry in an attempt to resolve a different issue. If I get REALLY close, I might see very fine scratches, but nothing anyone else would know about, only me. For your scratches, I agree a paint scraper probably wasn't the ideal tool to use, and if you or I (as owners) were doing it, we might be much more careful about the angle and intensity of scraping. Hard to tell from the pics how deep the scratches are, but I suspect you don't see them as much if you brush water on the right? Gelcoats are quite durable and can be sanded and/or buffed with a Marine polish that may help remove the very fine scratches and lighten any deep ones. Since this pool is very new, I would discuss your concerns with the installer and/or subcontractor to see if they have a polishing methods or product that might help reduce or eliminate the scratches. If that isn't resolved to your satisfaction, perhaps hold them accountable for installing a waterline tile to conceal those areas.

For the gaps, they might have happened anyway just from settling over time. But as a new pool it should be clean and tight. You don't want water seeping-up into those gaps. My pool has a flagstone coping/ledge with a mortar fill in that area. Over time, the motor gaps increase (or fall out) and require attention. But again, this is a new install and should be to your satisfaction. Since this is concrete and not mortar like mine, as Allen said it may be difficult to get a good match for a fill, but I would discuss that with them as well. They may have a product or technique that will work for you. In the end, I think you and your installer should be able to find a reasonable resolutions to your concerns. It's an investment and you're concerned for good reason. In the grand scheme of things, you have a beautiful pool with a few concerns that most likely no one else will notice, but it's new and you want it right. Do what you can to get their cooperation while you still can. Best of luck!

 

[MAPR-Austin]

For the coping gaps and inconsistencies, you could try requesting that they patch them and put a deck topping over the entire coping. PAtching alone will almost certainly stand out.

Inconsistencies do happen, but I don't think those would fly with any of my customers. It looks like they pulled the forms the same day as the pour, so the voids could have been filled with some cream from the same mix of concrete at that time.

Curious if a marine wax would (albeit temporarily) hide the scratches?

 

[nadrevahs]

Thanks for the advice guys. I've been working and it's been dark when I got home, today with was the first time I've had a chance to look at them in day light. In person it doesn't look quite as bad as in the photos that I've been dwelling over. Still kind of bummed about paying premium for less than premium work but I'll live with it. Regarding the scratches we are considering putting in tile so it may not matter. I'm going to email the builder. If I have any updates I'll report back, I'll post a photo when everything is done. Right now it's still a mess, another month or so before I can seed, put in palm trees and grasses.