Problems having pool company finish the job

[waterbear]

Stories like this just seem to be too commen. First let me say that my builder came highly recommended and specializes in fiberglass and gunite pools but does more fiberglass than gunite . I checked references, looked at his completed work, and talked to customers about him before signing the contracts for my fiberglass pool with lots of bells and whistles. My pool was supposed to be finished last June. It became operational last November. My builder was out today (May 31) to finish the caulking and (Hopefully) fix the leaks that he is convinced are from my light niches (he did no leak testing) only because I have been calling his office and cell phone daily for the past 3 weeks. right now the lights in both the pool and spa are just suspended in the water by the power cords while the epoxy putty hardens. He said he would be back tomorrow to put them back in but based on his previous track record it might be weeks or months before he gets around to it. I am not joking here! I have leaks from bad cementing of valves on the pvc pipes and he still needs to replumb the water features since he did it wrong the first time. He already had to tear up part of the concrete deck to move some pipes that were in the wrong place and the deck still needs to be repaired! My skimmer was never cemented in place, equipment that was specified in the contract was substituted with other brands which means my color changing pool and spa lights do not sync with the fiber optics illuminator. There are still many other problems. He has had to replumb various parts of the system several times now because it was not done correctly and most of the pipes are buriend in the deck!. I really have only touched on the surface. Oh yes, have already failed one inspection. I do have an attorney lined up and have complaints ready to file with the state board that licenses pool contractors and have talked to the local building inspector.

In his favor he has said that I do not have to pay the final payment (which is only 10%) and has upgraded some of my equipment and automation for free to try and make up for some of the screw ups but the bottom line is I have signed contracts that were not fullfilled and if I need to I will see him in court and get his license revoked! The original list of problems to be fixed was almost 4 typed pages. It is now down to just under two! (partly because I did some of the work myself like the tiles that fell off and had to be replaced)

thanks for letting me vent! I feel better now!