My pool plastering/Stonescapes crew’s hose exploded on my house. Besides the blue house and blue neighborhood, I’m worried about my pool. They were all out cleaning and not tending to the pool surface, then they brought buckets and wheel barrels to dump the product in. It’s very rough (they acid washed and chipped out pebble from my tiles twice), bumps on pool’s side and floor and white divots on the floor. Even the acid wash wasn’t with hoses and watering cans like I’ve seen. It was straight out of a bottle, one in each hand, but hey, least they came back. But what a mess and what a concern. Thoughts?
Stonescapes Application/Explosion
- Thread starter Justwright4u2
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,475
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Welcome to TFP.
Have not seen that problem before. Looks like it made quite a mess. Is there water in the pool now?
No ones plaster comes out perfect and yours seems like typical quality, not great and not awful. If they try and fill the divots it is likely it will not color match and look worse then now. They can drain the pool and diamond sand the surface to get out bumps but that can add swirl marks if not done well. So you have to decide what is acceptable to you.
Have not seen that problem before. Looks like it made quite a mess. Is there water in the pool now?
No ones plaster comes out perfect and yours seems like typical quality, not great and not awful. If they try and fill the divots it is likely it will not color match and look worse then now. They can drain the pool and diamond sand the surface to get out bumps but that can add swirl marks if not done well. So you have to decide what is acceptable to you.
I take that no one was hurt. If that happened at the connection at the nozzle someone could have been seriously injured.
The issue with the surface.. the finish mix cures relativity fast and has to worked fairly quickly. How long did they let it set before working it onto the surface? If those are just raised areas, not air pockets, they might be able to sand them down. Is it like that over the complete surface? They were faced with an unpleasant and unfortunate situation for all of you.
The finish on the detail tiles is somewhat typical. Not sure how much of that will show once pool filled. They get the mess cleaned up? From what was described, it does sound like obsessive acid washing. Pouring acid directly from bottle onto surface is standard practice from some outfits .. but still..
The issue with the surface.. the finish mix cures relativity fast and has to worked fairly quickly. How long did they let it set before working it onto the surface? If those are just raised areas, not air pockets, they might be able to sand them down. Is it like that over the complete surface? They were faced with an unpleasant and unfortunate situation for all of you.
The finish on the detail tiles is somewhat typical. Not sure how much of that will show once pool filled. They get the mess cleaned up? From what was described, it does sound like obsessive acid washing. Pouring acid directly from bottle onto surface is standard practice from some outfits .. but still..
Last edited:
They should hold insurance to cover the damage repairs on the house.
As to the pool, I'm unsure if they can fix it or just need to chip out and start again (with a new hose!).
Maddie
As to the pool, I'm unsure if they can fix it or just need to chip out and start again (with a new hose!).
Maddie
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
Still going through a living heck w the contractor. He wants to go half and half for our last payment, so no redo. I just don’t get it since the other half is not our fault. We have had two other pool contractors say it looks like it dried too fast and they should have been trained better w tools...and so much more. We have a construction witness coming over tomorrow and spoke to NPT. The thing is with NPT-Stonescapes, the warranty will will be voided with bad workmanship. So were screwed.
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
UGH! I hope you are withholding the entire final payment. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.. but you probably won't get much unless they are big reputable company, especially if they weren't bonded. Keep us posted, we learn from others adventures. thx for the update.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,475
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I believe you are in CA which has pretty good consumer protection laws. @Dirk has posted how to deal with problem Pool Builders in California and the recourse you have.
I would take the position of the doesn't deserve the final payment based on the problems and cleanup. If he feels he does then he can take it to court and tell a judge. You are happy to do what a judge decides. Does your contract have any arbitration clause?
I'd take my chances in court vs giving PB half for a half Rear job.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,368
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
- Nov 12, 2017
- 11,847
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Dirk here! I firmly believe the CSLB got me my resolution (which was a complete replacement of my pool's surface), but not in the way I was expecting. The CSLB doesn't actually have that much obvious leverage over a contractor. The extensive complaint I filed with them is not even public (which was a major shock to me). And I had all but given up on them, then after a few weeks my contractor ponied up the full amount. I never did entirely understand how it happened, but my CSLB case worker explained that she was talking to my contractor, negotiating in effect, and she alluded to exerting pressure on him in some way. However she did it, it worked.
If your contractor is bonded (legally he has to be), that is another resource. But it is separate from the CSLB. You have to pursue each separately, the CSLB doesn't go after the bond on your behalf. I didn't get that far, and frankly I wasn't too optimistic about that path, since the Bond company is, in essence, an insurance company that also determines itself if it is going to pay out!! Something like that. Talk about conflict of interest. My case was settled before I had to go that route.
Go on the CSLB website and find the complaint form. Fill it out and start the process. Someone will call you to get your side of the story (and review your supporting doc's), and that same case worker will call the contractor to do the same. They will then attempt to negotiate a resolution. CA is pro-consumer, so if your story is legit, they'll fight a little harder for you than the contractor. You might also consider filing the complaint with the contractor's bond company at the same time, to start that process. (All this stuff takes time.)
My contractor wasn't too bright, so he may have been intimidated by the CSLB complaint. Or it's possible he had multiple lawsuits going (yah, he was that bad, and there was some indicators that he was in trouble with more than one customer), and so needed to get me off the radar in order to better defend his other problems. Who knows.
Whatever you do, don't give the contractor another dime. You don't have to at this time. CA law recognizes something called a Good Faith Dispute, which you are now in, and that suspends your obligation to pay anything until a resolution is reached. Now, if it's determined that the contractor is somehow not to blame, he could claim interest on the unpaid funds for some period of time, but that is not likely to happen in your case.
Also, I chose to cease all verbal communication with my contractor, and communicated exclusively with certified letters. Others here did not support that approach, claiming I should have taken a more "friendly" approach. I don't agree. I knew after the first conversation with him that this was going south, and I wanted everything in writing. As I mentioned, he wasn't too bright, and in his return certified letters to me, he basically hung himself with statements that would have been great ammo in court, all in writing, all certified mail!! If I had only used phone conversations, or face-to-face meeting, then I would have been in a much weaker position (he-said-she-said scenario). Document everything. Do everything in writing.
Good luck, keep us posted...
If your contractor is bonded (legally he has to be), that is another resource. But it is separate from the CSLB. You have to pursue each separately, the CSLB doesn't go after the bond on your behalf. I didn't get that far, and frankly I wasn't too optimistic about that path, since the Bond company is, in essence, an insurance company that also determines itself if it is going to pay out!! Something like that. Talk about conflict of interest. My case was settled before I had to go that route.
Go on the CSLB website and find the complaint form. Fill it out and start the process. Someone will call you to get your side of the story (and review your supporting doc's), and that same case worker will call the contractor to do the same. They will then attempt to negotiate a resolution. CA is pro-consumer, so if your story is legit, they'll fight a little harder for you than the contractor. You might also consider filing the complaint with the contractor's bond company at the same time, to start that process. (All this stuff takes time.)
My contractor wasn't too bright, so he may have been intimidated by the CSLB complaint. Or it's possible he had multiple lawsuits going (yah, he was that bad, and there was some indicators that he was in trouble with more than one customer), and so needed to get me off the radar in order to better defend his other problems. Who knows.
Whatever you do, don't give the contractor another dime. You don't have to at this time. CA law recognizes something called a Good Faith Dispute, which you are now in, and that suspends your obligation to pay anything until a resolution is reached. Now, if it's determined that the contractor is somehow not to blame, he could claim interest on the unpaid funds for some period of time, but that is not likely to happen in your case.
Also, I chose to cease all verbal communication with my contractor, and communicated exclusively with certified letters. Others here did not support that approach, claiming I should have taken a more "friendly" approach. I don't agree. I knew after the first conversation with him that this was going south, and I wanted everything in writing. As I mentioned, he wasn't too bright, and in his return certified letters to me, he basically hung himself with statements that would have been great ammo in court, all in writing, all certified mail!! If I had only used phone conversations, or face-to-face meeting, then I would have been in a much weaker position (he-said-she-said scenario). Document everything. Do everything in writing.
Good luck, keep us posted...