The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I would be doing the community a disservice if I didn't talk about some of the negative aspects of this project. I've read countless tales of woe from people's pool builds. We felt very confident that we would avoid most of these issues with our pool builder, but as with any large scale project, there are always problems.

So, let's begin.

1. The day prior to shotcrete, they finished up the plumbing and pressurized the lines. This is to ensure there are no leaks. Now, I had been warned that there was a good chance of a leak, as the bobcat had been up and down the path directly over our plumbing for days on end. Turns out, that was not the case. No leak under the trench of pipes. There was a leak in the spa plumbing, however. See, I told you I had doubts about heating the pipes to the point of liquidity. No worries, I am told. I was assured they would be out first thing in the morning before the concrete to fix the plumbing and not to be concerned since they shoot the spa last anyway.

Fast forward to shotcrete day. While getting ready for work, I take a peek out the window to see what progress the shotcrete crew has made. Much to my surprise, I see they are shooting the spa. And no, the guy has not been out to fix the leak. No worries, I am told. They will leave a hole in the shotcrete and they will fix it. I don't want to belabor this story, but the pipes have yet to be fixed and we've had shotcrete for 4 days.

2. In our pool design, there was an interesting right angle. Our pool is free-form, so this added a unique design element. This issue was pressed hard by our pool builders when we requested that the pool be moved a little further from the house and La Wiferina and I did a little redesign. We were told "we do NOT build kidney shaped pools." After some thought, we agreed and simply shifted the existing design of the pool.

Fast forward to shotcrete day. AFTER the shotcrete was shot, my pool builder informed me that while forming the pool, his guys missed the right angle and rounded off that portion of the pool. End result; kidney shaped pool. Oops!

3. One of the issues we had with the design was the size of the first step. We wanted a place where the kids could sit and play. Not a tanning ledge per se, since we have the entire basin for that, but a place to hang out. We added this to the design and noone had a problem with it.

Fast forward to shotcrete day. The step was formed. I notified pool builder that it was too small. He instructed the guy to make it bigger and after much discussion we agreed on the size. The guy went to work. Upon completion, when I looked at it, the step is much smaller than we discussed. We're not too happy with it. Once the coping goes in, the step will even be smaller. Darn.

4. The plan for our "main deck" was to do the pour the day of shotcrete to save expense on the pump machine. For those following this blog, you are aware that that did take place. When they formed the pool, they also formed up the decks. They placed rebar on the deck at 12" centers. They did NOT block the deck up (raise it off the ground), since it was such a high traffic area and having to negotiate a grid of raised rebar is dangerous. However, I was assured it would be raised prior to pouring to ensure strength and stability.

Fast forward to shotcrete day. In all the confusion, the shotcrete crew handed off their equipment to our PB's crew. They poured the concrete, leveled it out, etc. However, after the fact, I realized I never saw them raise the rebar. In fact, I was walking on it mere moments before the pour. I'm about 95% sure they didn't do it. Hmmmm...

Up to this point, things have been going very smoothly. The shotcrete is the most FINAL stage of the process. Not much you can do once things are set in stone...literally. I've raised these issues with the Pool Builder. They claim that they've never seen a deck poured without raising the rebar. I would like to be wrong, but I'm almost certain they did not raise. We're pretty much stuck without the angle, disappointing, but honestly probably not something that will ever be missed. The step is still a sore spot and every time I look at the leaking spa joint, it angers me.

To be clear, the intent of this posting is not to crucify my yet-to-be-named pool builder. I believe the true test will be how these issues are resolved. I'm most interested to see how the poured concrete deck situation will be handled. I'll keep you updated as this drama unfolds. I still believe that our pool builders will do right by all of these things.