Pool builder from H**L!

[waterbear]

As some of you might know I have been having some major problems with my pool builder. I have my dream pool but there have been many, many problems. The pool was supposed to be finshed last June and has been operational since last November. HIs latest insult to my good nature just occurred. I have been dealing with a leak for some time now. My CYA dropped from 80 ppm to 20 ppm in a three month period and the calcium showed a similar drop. ( I fill with water that has 0 hardness and add calcium because of the grouted tile work and marble spillover on the spa and because of the heater, the pool is fiberglass). The builder was convinced that the leaks were coming from the light niches in the pool and the spa. He has NOT leak tested anything since the original plumbing was done and that has been modified several times already since it was not done correctly. I know that some of the pvc joints on the valves are leaking in the replumbed areas because I can see them. I have shown the builder as well and he hasn't dont anything about it for 2 months. The pool has a Hayward niche and the spa a Pentair...don't ask me why. Well the builder was out yesterday and got in his wet suit and took out the lights and used epoxy putty in the back of the niche where the wire for the light comes through. My lights are supposed to be Fiberstars FX lights according to the contract so they will sync up properly with the fiber optics in my water features which have a Fiberstars Illuminator. I discovered that he put in pentair Sam and Sal lights which are also color wheel lights but they won't sync up properly with the Fiberstars illuminator. He told me he will replace the illuminator with the Pentair one which is fine by me at this point.(The Pentair is metal halide so it is more powerful than the Fiberstars Halogen that I have now...Better light output in the metal halide.) The problem is that when he epoxied the lights he didn't leave enough cable for them to be placed on the deck when removed which means I will have to drain water from the pool or spa when I need to change the bulbs. I pointed this out to him when he was doing the epoxy and he told me not to worry about it...Just call him to change the bulbs. At the rate that he has shown up to fix things that he or his workers screwed up it means I would have a dark pool for a year! He was supposed to come back today to put the lights back in and fix some plumbing for the water features. I called at 7 pm and got his secretary. She told me he would not be coming out but that two of his workers would. Thwy showed up at 9:30 pm!. They got the lights in finally (they lost one of the niche screws and had to hunt for it in the dark for 20 minutes and they had no tools. I had to get a screwdriver for them!) but said that the builder had to come back with his wet suit to tighten them up. Also in the 26 hours the lights were out of their niches I lost almost 3 inches of water from the pool! It may very well be that the niches are leaking but his epoxy putty sure didn't fix it. My foundation has eroded away beneath the deck once already and he backfilled it. Now the new dirt is eroding where the pipes come out from under the concrete deck and go to the equipment pad. He backfilled last month! (and his backhoe operator broke the pad my heater sits on..don't know how they intend to fix that! He did replace the sensors that got broken when they dumped a load of dirt on top of my equiment pad and had to dig out the pumps and valves!) I know that the skimmer was never cemented into place and I think that is where some of the leaking is occuring. Now this builder does know his stuff but he sends out unsupervised people that don't really know what they are doing. Every problem I have had is becuase of this. His work crews have changed completely about 4 times since he started construction on my pool March 2005. I just needed a place to vent some of my frustrations but I would apprciate hearing any comments any of you might have. Be aware that this leak is just one of the problems remaining to be fixed and is a rather minor one compared to some of the others! I think he has justcreated more problems for me with this latest 'repair' and I am getting ready to demand that he find the leaks and get the lights reinstalled correctly with enough cable so they can be placed on the deck for service as the manual for them states is the correct way.

Thanks for listening!

[haze_1956]

I am at a loss why you still have this guy working for you !

He seems to be a "one step forward, two steps back" kind of guy.

Granted he keeps coming back, though apparently that is even rarely.

This is not a work ethic I would tolerate very long.

What is keeping you from firing him and having the work finished by someone else?

Most importantly - Have you already paid him in full?

[CarlD]

Waterbear:
I have three words for you: Get legal advice.

Why? You have continuing eroding problems that you KNOW will eventually cause some sort of catastrophic failure. He knows it, too, but doesn't want to admit fault or take the expense to fix it.

A lawyer friend of my brother's had a contractor screw up his bathroom, not finish and then had the gall to sue the lawyer! BIG mistake. By the time my brother's friend was done with him, the contractor was paying HIM thousands.

You are long beyond depending on this guy's good will and dealing courteously with him.

[mbar]

I agree with Carl -I would tell him that you will contact a lawyer if he does'nt fix the problems asap, sometimes just getting a good lawyer to write him a letter will help.

[CarlD]

I respectfully disagree with Marie--I don't think you threaten to get a lawyer, you get one and have him send the letter. I think you are past the "I'll call my lawyer" stage. That way he KNOWS you aren't bluffing and therefore won't call your bluff.

[cleancloths]

You are very patient my friend. At this point I think I might be more tempted to get a HITMAN than a lawyer

[sevver]

I don't think that I would even tell him I was getting a lawyer, I would just get one. If your foundation is eroding, my question is, where is the water coming from? If there is no help for the water coming from there, then why was there not any drain tile put in place to control where the water goes and the damage could thus be limited?
As for the lights, if the manual says that there should be enough wire to place them on the deck to change the bulbs, and he did not install them correctly then he is not living up to his end of the deal. As for him cracking the pad, I would think that he should bust it out, and repour it for you, and while he is at it, he should pressure test the plumbing to check for leaks.
Get a lawyer, and videotape everything. If I was ever to pay someone to do anything major for me, I would probably video tape daily, at least it will be available if you need it. So far though, I just do it all myself, coming out of a construction background though, nothing really phases me yet. I have never messed with an inground pool though, I would imagine that should it ever be desired, I would just research it and do whatever I could myself.

[slhalufska]

As some of you might know I have been having some major problems with my pool builder. I have my dream pool but there have been many, many problems. The pool was supposed to be finshed last June and has been operational since last November. HIs latest insult to my good nature just occurred. ......
Thanks for listening!

Hi, I'm new here. I am also in the 'throes' of putting in a fiberglass pool. The builder is here, as we speak, to fix an installation that was continued through the plumbing stage even though the level was off 3.5" After 2 weeks, and cc'ing my attorney the correspondence between the builder & I via email, he finally showed up. I have to take the day off from work to babysit the process of draining, lifting & leveling. I'm praying that when they reconnect the pipes, we don't end up with any leaks later on.

Waterbear, you didn't say who your builder is? Can you say that online? At least, if he's in Central Florida? Possibly Mt. Dora, FL? Just curious. That's where my builder is from. He started off great, but didn't do the actual install, sent two employees. I can appreciate that he can't personally install every job, but at least - train your guys, especially to be able to work with pitfalls or non-perfect environments. "Stitch in time" means the world in the field of construction!

I hope your project has been remedied & you are enjoying your pool. Good luck.

[waterbear]

I really don't want to name my builder but he specialized in fiberglass pools in N. Fl. You can see from my posts that I live in St. Augustine and he is pretty local. I am trying to get as much done by him as I can right now before I take the actions that I have ready. I know once I do that any further repairs will probably stop. My builder supervised very lilttle of the work. That is what caused the problems. He knows the work was not done as the contracts he drew up specified. At this point I am waiting on some parts that have been ordered for my automation system and my spa, and on replacement water features that turned out to be defective. (not his fault but there were plumbed wrong and not as the manufacturer required)...he is supposed to replumb part of the systme once the new water features arrive.

[CUTURHAIR]

Wow, what a nightmare you are experiencing. It is such a shame how you pay for a pool, and then trying to get repairs done are next to impossible. I just had a repair done from my pool company, which, in turn, made the original problem worse. I called and called and emailed pictures as well, to no avail. NO return phone calls or emails for weeks. I finally had enough, and left a voicemail, as the person I needed to speak with was never available when I called. I told her on the voicemail that I would send Five On Your Side out to their store to do a segment on poor customer service and pool repairs gone bad. Five On Your Side is a local segment where a local news channel sends a reporter into the field to investigate situations where people have paid money and not gotten what they paid for and can't get what they want, a refund, or fix the original faulty repair etc. Well, I DID get a call that night! They didn't want those cameras in their store and on the news causing all that bad publicity, and the owner was at my house 2 days later!
So, if you have a news channel that has that service, I would try to threaten them with that as well. Lawyers will definitely scare the pool company, but cameras, and reporters invading your business is something NO company wants to deal with. WAY too much bad publicity for any company, and it will usually get their attention to follow through immediately.

Good luck with your situation.