Pebbletec Deteriorating

[mrsfluff]

By the way, another potential issue for your case. When was the pebble originally installed?

It was around 11 years old at the time. It was in perfect condition but for that little poorly troweled patch I mentioned. But that was just sloppy troweling. Like I said, if the pool guy thought it was too old or not fit for the process due to defects, he should not have done it. There is no hard and fast rule.

 

[mrsfluff]

Good luck with that. Legal battles are always a tough hill to climb. Perhaps @Dirk might share his experience with litigation. It was a long battle for what I remember reading.

I am no stranger to litigation. Been there, done that a number of times. All levels of judiciary. It's always a crapshoot because judges are...well...people. Bias is the greatest obstacle. I settled on a few occasions, but typically I go the distance...and come out the victor. This will be no different. My only concern is that he could go out of business. Although I had that happen decades ago with a guy who ruined my furniture cushions...I put a lien on his real property, and don't you know, MANY years later I called the court on a whim, and my money was sitting there waiting. No one contacted me to say it was so good thing I called. Today, however, the LLC might well keep one from going that route.

 

[Dirk]

It was around 11 years old at the time. It was in perfect condition but for that little poorly troweled patch I mentioned. But that was just sloppy troweling. Like I said, if the pool guy thought it was too old or not fit for the process due to defects, he should not have done it. There is no hard and fast rule.

OK, I kinda missed piecing that together. I'm gonna guess that your case might not be as open and shut as you think, and/or might not yield what you hope. It looks like your finish is now 17 years old, and has some pebbles coming loose. Theoretically, that could happen without an acid wash. How will you prove that it was the acid wash, and not age, or 17 years of poor water chemistry? I'm not saying it was age or chemistry, I'm saying you might have to prove it wasn't, because the defendant might make that claim (and legitimately could).

Did you keep water chemistry records? Can you prove what the pool guy did, or didn't do, during the acid wash? You can make @JoyfulNoise's claim that a pool should never be acid washed (I happen to strongly agree with that!), but are you going to be able to educate a judge about pool plaster chemical make up? Even if you understood it yourself? Not in small claims, if that's where you end up, because you get about 5 minutes to make your case. If you try to go to Superior Court with this, only the lawyers will come away with any money. Because:

There is the matter of actual damages. If you can prove the acid wash caused damage, what are your damages? A few pebbles falling out of a 17-year-old pool? It would be pretty unfair to the pool guy if the judge awarded you a brand new finish, if that's what you're after. Something pro-rated would not be out of line, but even that would be somewhat far-fetched. And how are you (or the judge) to ascertain how long the finish would have lasted without being acid washed? What amount of pool use have you been denied? And the fact that you've been using it for six years is not going to help your case. What's the actual dollar figure you think that this could fetch you? I don't think all that much, if any. Probably not as much as the stress this is going to cost you. And certainly not more than a lawyer would take. (Though I doubt a lawyer would even take this case. Not an honest one, anyway.)

I'm just playing devil's advocate. You might have to adjust your expectations. My pool looked like a bomb was set off in it, the day of the acid wash. I had a hundred pictures showing my plaster in tatters and shreds, on the edge of being dangerous to use. I didn't have to prove much of anything, and my finish was only about four years old at that point, and the guys that destroyed it were the same guys that had been doing the pool chemistry maintenance since it was built, so they had no case about the age of the finish or condition of the water.

 

[mrsfluff]

OK, I kinda missed piecing that together. I'm gonna guess that your case might not be as open and shut as you think, and/or might not yield what you hope. It looks like your finish is now 17 years old, and has some pebbles coming loose. Theoretically, that could happen without an acid wash. How will you prove that it was the acid wash, and not age, or 17 years of poor water chemistry? I'm not saying it was age or chemistry, I'm saying you might have to prove it wasn't, because the defendant might make that claim (and legitimately could).

Did you keep water chemistry records? Can you prove what the pool guy did, or didn't do, during the acid wash? You can make @JoyfulNoise's claim that a pool should never be acid washed (I happen to strongly agree with that!), but are you going to be able to educate a judge about pool plaster chemical make up? Even if you understood it yourself? Not in small claims, if that's where you end up, because you get about 5 minutes to make your case. If you try to go to Superior Court with this, only the lawyers will come away with any money. Because:

There is the matter of actual damages. If you can prove the acid wash caused damage, what are your damages? A few pebbles falling out of a 17-year-old pool? It would be pretty unfair to the pool guy if the judge awarded you a brand new finish, if that's what you're after. Something pro-rated would not be out of line, but even that would be somewhat far-fetched. And how are you (or the judge) to ascertain how long the finish would have lasted without being acid washed? What amount of pool use have you been denied? And the fact that you've been using it for six years is not going to help your case. What's the actual dollar figure you think that this could fetch you? I don't think all that much, if any. Probably not as much as the stress this is going to cost you. And certainly not more than a lawyer would take. (Though I doubt a lawyer would even take this case. Not an honest one, anyway.)

I'm just playing devil's advocate. You might have to adjust your expectations. My pool looked like a bomb was set off in it, the day of the acid wash. I had a hundred pictures showing my plaster in tatters and shreds, on the edge of being dangerous to use. I didn't have to prove much of anything, and my finish was only about four years old at that point, and the guys that destroyed it were the same guys that had been doing the pool chemistry maintenance since it was built, so they had no case about the age of the finish or condition of the water.

The pebbles were falling off in droves since right after the acid wash. Never before then. The wash was in 2017. My plaster was 11 years old at the time. I have 6 years to litigate. If that is all he's got? The time defense? He's toast. Like I said, this is not my first rodeo. I have a LITANY of very detailed emails & texts back and forth with him regarding this matter. Hence, I have a paper trail. A court is not going to expect much more than that. They are NOT going to ask for pool chemistry records. That is an absurd request. It puts an undue burden on the complainant because it precludes just about every one of them from being able to litigate. Moreover, he was my pool guy for several years. If there was an issue, he would have known and surely he would not have recommended an acid wash of all things.

Lawyers? Ha! No. I do my own litigating if I can. And I do very well when the occasion arises. I was forced to learn many moons ago how to fend for myself after a very long federal matter. There's a line from one of the Godfather movies: 'Your enemies grow strong on what you leave behind.' And THAT is how I ended up learning the ropes. I saw what they did...and began to use it to my advantage. I would only hire a lawyer under certain circumstances. Never for a matter like this. Anyone can litigate these cases. They just don't know it because they buy the bs. The whole system is a sham & a scam. It's funny. My father used to say that lawyers were useless back before I had a clue. I thought he was blowing smoke. But he was partially correct. They are sometimes a necessary evil. But for small claims & other intermediate ones like this, you're better off on your own. We do, after all, have the right to self representation albeit the ABA would rather none of ever exercised that right.