Please help. Were skimmers set incorrectly?

[abessellieu]

We are the new owners of an older house and pool and are having some major restoration done on the pool. Part of this involved replacing some old and very badly leaking skimmers. The mason jackhammered out the old skimmers and replaced them with new Hayward skimmers. He then tested for leaking and pressure and everything seemed fine. So he proceded to install the new coping and tiles and just yesterday he poured cement around the new skimmers.
When the pool equipment supplier came to assess things, he went down into the pool to look at the returns and while he was down there he said that the skimmers were set way too low - maybe about 2" too low - and he noted that one of them was crooked as well. He said that when we put water in the pool up to the proper level (halfway up the skimmer opening) that there would not be proper flow and they wouldn't work right. Not to mention that they look bad. He said he would definitely have them redone properly.
I know they don't look right, but I am not a pool expert and before I go back to the mason and ask him to fix them I wanted some input from some of the experts on this site. I have attached a photo of one of the skimmers (the worst of the two - the other one is slightly more elevated and straighter), and hope that someone can look at the picture and give me an opinion.

[imfignewton]

From the picture the skimmer looks improperly installed. Every new skimmer comes with an instillation diagram in the box.

1) Skimmer throat plastic should be level with the top of the bond beam.

2) Skimmer should be level front to back and side to side.

3) Skimmer should be tied into the pool shell with epoxy rebar dowels, then rebar tied around skimmer body, then poor concrete around skimmer body. This will tie the new skimmer to the pool shell so the skimmer will not seperate from the pool and leak.

4) Put stainless steel lintel 1/4 inch thick x width of bond beam x two inches longer than skimmer mouth opening in bond beam. Drill hole in each side of the lintel then Tapcon lintel to bond beam. Install linel so it does not stick out at the same level of the tile. The lintel will support any coping material so it will not crack. Hope this helps

[KirstenHW]

Why did the mason install the skimmers and not the pool guys? The mortar job he did is sloppy looking too. Get him back to fix it!

[huskyrider]

The skimmer, although low, will still work.
The installation looks like a hurried affair.
As long as the pool water level isn't over the top of the weir door opening it will surface skim.

See Ya,
Kelly

[abessellieu]

Thank you one and all for your prompt replies. After looking at your opinions I faxed the mason on Sunday, pointed out the problems, and asked him to redo the skimmers. His wife called (she is his scheduler) first thing this morning, and said he is on a job today and when he finishes it, he will be out to remove the skimmers and reset them either tomorrow or Wednesday. This may be an all's well that ends well. I'll keep you posted.

This reminds me of what my husband says whenever we start something like this:

"All projects are either hard or very hard."

[KirstenHW]

This reminds me of what my husband says whenever we start something like this:

"All projects are either hard or very hard."

Is that saying a corollary to Murphy's Law?

[GutierrezPlastering]

I agree with whoever said, sloppy job. And if one skimmer isn't level with the other then u may have water problems as one skimmer having more suction then the other. and the table where the skimmer face faces, where the tiles are looks crooked also. Im sorry to say but that is poor quality of work. and the proper way to set a skimmer is just as fignewton said, and take into consideration when mixing the cement, to use a large amount of Calcium clouride so that when u are attempting to set the skimmmer, the cement sets up quick and is stiff so that u aren't playing around with the skimmer and is set properly withing 10minutes.

[abessellieu]

It's been a week since I first posted this thread, and you were all so wonderful about answering my concerns, so I'm sorry I haven't been back on to tell everyone how my skimmer problem was resolved.

As you know, I contacted my sub (via fax on a Sunday night) and asked him to redo the skimmers. He reacted promptly, and I think, professionally. On Monday, the morning after he received the fax, he was on another job, but his wife (who is his scheduler) called me at 9:15 am and said that they were sending his father (who is semi retired and whom he learned the business from) out to look at the skimmers. His father arrived about an hour later. He stood at the side of the pool silently looking across at the skimmers while I talked. At first I was a little nervous because I was expecting an argument. But I never got one. He said almost immediately (and repeatedly after that) that his son would 'put it right'. Not even an hour after that I received another call from his wife saying if he finished the job he was on that day, he would be out to fix the skimmers on Tuesday, but surely by Wednesday. Well, he arrived on Tuesday morning at 7:25am with a jackhammer, two new skimmers, metal rods, etc. and proceeded to blast out the skimmers. We were in the middle of an awful heat wave (101 in the shade and 115 with the heat index), but he kept at it that day and the next and when they were done the new skimmers were installed to Fig Newtons specs: top of the skimmer even with the top of the beam, level side to side and front to back and tied into the beam with metal rods. In other words - he fixed them - and now they look beautiful!

But the proof of the pudding is in how they are working. Fantastic! I didn't realize how poorly the badly leaking and often repaired old ones were functioning until I saw these in action today after we fired up the system. The pull was strong enough to pull my floating thermometer (which wasn't tethered) into the skimmer throat.

So while I was not happy that it happened, I am very pleased with the end result. I am especially pleased with the way in which he responded - quickly and with no arguments and no bad vibes. He simply concentrated on 'putting it right' as his father said.

So thank you one and all for giving this newbie the information I needed to get my problem resolved.

And yes, I think "all projects are either hard or very hard" is a corollary to Murphy's Law.