Question about waterline tile install (w/ pics)

[thedude123]

Came home for lunch today and the crew was prepping and starting to lay waterline tile. Also installed the skimmer. Talked to the head dude, who has lots of experience and seemed pretty knowledgeable. Install looks nice and clean and we are pleased with the color we picked. Walked around the pool and there's an area where the waterline tile is doubled stacked. The weird thing is that the top half of the tile goes much higher than the gunite (see pics). They put a bunch of thinset behind it. I don't know much about tiling but it just seems weird to me that they did it like this. What is going to happen when the coping goes in? Do they pour more concrete to bring up the edge of the pool? Do they cut the tile?

 

[ajw22]

The tile guy is kicking the can down the road and leaving the problem for the coping mason to deal with.

Someone should have calculated the height of the tiles, the bond beam height, and the coping height so that all the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

No, the tile cannot be cut now.

The coping can be built up and inch or two with mortar and maybe the mason can make it work.

What style coping are you using?

Whoever is the designer and construction supervisor of your pool should look at this situation.

 

[thedude123]

We are using shellstone coping. I believe it's similar to the first one at the link below.

SHELL STONE LIMESTONE POOL COPINGS | AYMAR STONE | Mystic Power Of Nature

www.aymarstone.com

So with the tile like that, they're going to have to build up the beam with a bunch of mortar? Is that an acceptable way to do it?

 

[ajw22]

We are using shellstone coping. I believe it's similar to the first one at the link below.

SHELL STONE LIMESTONE POOL COPINGS | AYMAR STONE | Mystic Power Of Nature

www.aymarstone.com

So with the tile like that, they're going to have to build up the beam with a bunch of mortar? Is that an acceptable way to do it?

I suggest you discuss it with the mason who is doing the work.

It is not clear to me how unlevel your bond beam is around the pool and what it will take to install the coping level.

 

[thedude123]

I will discuss w/ PB. It's like 2 1/4 in in that area. It's completely uniform for the rest of the pool.

 

[sktn77a]

Talked to the head dude, who has lots of experience and seemed pretty knowledgeable.

Yeah, right! I suspect when someone puts something behind those tiles (concrete, coping) they're going to pop right off or break. Then its going to be a case of "his fault >, no his fault <". I would be extremely concerned about this and ask the tile guy to fix the problem (they should have cut the tiles before installation)