Tile leveling in new pool build. Is this done wrong?

[Scamp]

In the process of building a pool and the builder is currently installing the waterline tile. They installed the concrete coping and ledge stone on our waterfall feature wall before the tile. My question is would you expect that the bottom line of the tile would be level on the waterfall feature wall with the two sides of the pool. So consistent base line in all four walls? (Pool is rectangular). I’m concerned the tile work is being done incorrectly as the tile is clearly not baseline level. Thoughts? Pictures attached.

 

[Spookie]

Oh heck no! Not acceptable. They were thinking “Oops, let’s hope the homeowner doesn’t say anything.” Not sure why I’m getting so upset about it, but I hate when people are lazy. They need to take all the glass tile below the ledger out, as well as the bottom row of ledger. Install the glass level with the other glass then custom cut the bottom ledger pieces to fit back above the tile. Would love to hear their excuse. Sorry for the rant. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[ajw22]

This is like a bridge being built from both sides and not meeting in the middle. Someone did not plan the tile install correctly. Or they realized they did not have enough tiles to cut fillers for the top of the tile line to the coping.

Do you have or can you get more tile? It can be redone but I don;t know if the tile can be reused.

Are all four sides of the pool tiled?

 

[Scamp]

Oh heck no! Not acceptable. They were thinking “Oops, let’s hope the homeowner doesn’t say anything.” Not sure why I’m getting so upset about it, but I hate when people are lazy. They need to take all the glass tile below the ledger out, as well as the bottom row of ledger. Install the glass level with the other glass then custom cut the bottom ledger pieces to fit back above the tile. Would love to hear their excuse. Sorry for the rant. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[Scamp]

Thanks for confirming. The tile work is sloppy in general in my opinion but wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something on this particular issue because this seems like a real obvious mistake and I can’t imagine how they thought we won’t notice. It also makes me nervous in general about what else might not be done correctly that I’m just not equipped to catch as easily as this.

 

[Scamp]

This is like a bridge being built from both sides and not meeting in the middle. Someone did not plan the tile install correctly. Or they realized they did not have enough tiles to cut fillers for the top of the tile line to the coping.

Do you have or can you get more tile? It can be redone but I don;t know if the tile can be reused.

Are all four sides of the pool tiled?

I think they will use all the tile to complete and we’d need them to purchase additional to fix it. It’s glass tile so assuming that it won’t be reusable. All 4 sides will have the waterline tile. Only 3 sides were done so far and they will need to fix this and other issues before they touch the last side. Very frustrating.

 

[jimmythegreek]

Thata horrible they set the ledgers according to the thickness of the tile bands not even caring the corners didnt meet. The problem is they followed the stone and coping separately. The stone needs to be trimmed to make this work so tile can go up a little to line up

 

[Rich D]

Exactly what Jimmy said.. Is it the same contractor doing the tile that did the wall? In my opinion It was a cascade of issues.
1- tile should have been set first. This is not %100 necessary "If the proper planning is done" but if the tile is set first it sets the level for everything else.
2- wall rock should never been set lower than the bottom of coping (or proposed bottom of coping if wall was done before coping.)
3. Tile installer should have seen this from the driveway and brought the issue to your attention so it could be resolved "before" they installed the tile incorrectly which in my opinion the wall should be cut by wall installer and tile on wall should be re-done all at contractors cost.

 

[Gladius Nova]

Glad you caught it at that stage. It's fixable and they need to fix it. Totally unacceptable.

 

[kimkats]

NOPE! Just nope!!! Redo!! Listen to Jimmy! I like his idea the best.....trim the stone so the NEW tile can be even with the other tile.

Stand strong. They are not going to want to re do it "You will not even notice when there is water in it" kind of thing. Get EVERYTHING in writing dealing with this!

Have you met with the Project Manger yet?

 

[RMcGirr83]

That has to be the worse tile job I've ever seen. Pool or no. Don't accept it and make them fix it correctly.

 

[Scamp]

Thanks everyone. We are meeting with the builder on Monday and will let you know how it goes.

 

[Scamp]

While obsessing over every inch of the tile work (as well as other things which I’ll start a separate thread for questions.) I had another question on the tile work. Does the skimmer play any part in how the tile should be leveled? Would you expect the tile to also baseline with the skimmer area as tile would also continue into this indented area? @jimmythegreek?

 

[ajw22]

Usually the waterline tile is the length of the skimmer mouth. You need another course of tile making it 4 rows.

The water level will be between the bottom of the skimmer mouth and halfway up the skimmer mouth. As designed now the water level can fall below the tile line which will expose plaster to drying and cracking as well as create difficult to clean waterlines on plaster. There is a protective reason for waterline tile, not just decorative.

Someone did not plan the tile design and the pool structure well.

Keep all of your build issues in one thread in Under Construction.

 

[Scamp]

There are three questions I’ve posed to our builder that I’ve been told are not a problem or are easy fixes. I’d like to understand if these solutions are quick fixes/ bad fixes or should I be concerned there are underlying issues that will be covered up but turn into large problem later on. Pictures included.
1. Rebar- there are three pieces of rebar visible on the stair section. Builder said that he they would just “cut it out”. Is this acceptable? Doesn’t it need to be sealed to prevent rust leaching out later?

2. Cracks- from reading through the forums I understand a certain amount of cracking is normal. We’ve had a handful of what I’d classify as hairline cracks. After pointing them out to our builder they applied what looks to be some sort of rubbery caulking into the cracks on the wall and some cement type of substance on the floor. The cracks on the floor seem to be coming back through the “fix”. is that a sign of a bigger issue?

3. Outer side of the shell has a very big very deep crack(and some rebar ends seen by rust spots). This is the outside of the pool. Is that a big deal or because of location not a worry?

Thank you all for such a helpful forum. The information and advice has been much appreciated during this process.

 

[kimkats]

Calling @jimmythegreek @bdavis466 thoughts?

 

[zea3]

There are three questions I’ve posed to our builder that I’ve been told are not a problem or are easy fixes. I’d like to understand if these solutions are quick fixes/ bad fixes or should I be concerned there are underlying issues that will be covered up but turn into large problem later on. Pictures included.
1. Rebar- there are three pieces of rebar visible on the stair section. Builder said that he they would just “cut it out”. Is this acceptable? Doesn’t it need to be sealed to prevent rust leaching out later?

2. Cracks- from reading through the forums I understand a certain amount of cracking is normal. We’ve had a handful of what I’d classify as hairline cracks. After pointing them out to our builder they applied what looks to be some sort of rubbery caulking into the cracks on the wall and some cement type of substance on the floor. The cracks on the floor seem to be coming back through the “fix”. is that a sign of a bigger issue?

3. Outer side of the shell has a very big very deep crack(and some rebar ends seen by rust spots). This is the outside of the pool. Is that a big deal or because of location not a worry?

Thank you all for such a helpful forum. The information and advice has been much appreciated during this process.

I'm no building expert but I would not accept cutting back the rebar. Yes exposed rebar will cause rust stains. Question 2 I'm not sure about, but if you are really concerned you could ask a structural engineer to take a look at it if our experts say its a problem. My gut tells me the conditions noted in question 3 are also unacceptable. There should not be large voids anywhere.

 

[bdavis466]

Goodness.... today is Sloppy Shotcrete Sunday.

Zea is correct on all accounts

 

[Casey]

This looks like . Just wow.

 

[Scamp]

Goodness.... today is Sloppy Shotcrete Sunday.

Zea is correct on all accounts

Thank you both. For the exposed rebar on the stair, if the cutting out option is not the way to fix this correctly is there a more appropriate solution that you would suggest I ask for instead?
Also would you expect the builder pays for a structural engineer or is that typically something on our dime? Any idea if this cost is a couple hundred or a couple thousand to consult an engineer? I know this will be a battle because they are telling us the cracks are “normal”.