We are in a real mess because of bad concrete on an almost 4 year old pool. The entire 1000 square feet is failing. It started showing signs of problems from the first week. Our builder has been evasive and defensive concerning this issue. Finally he said "call my lawyer." So, even though it is not "our style," we are forced to go the lawsuit route. We have paid about $1000 for a core sample which said it was a bad mix due to lack of entrained air, and needed to be entirely torn out and replaced. We have spent MONTHS trying to get an estimate on the tear-out and replacement. No one wants this kind of job! Finally today we should get a written estimate which is likely going to be about $16,000. I am very concerned about what else might break as the concrete is being chopped up. I keep wondering if the replacement should be something other than concrete......

Just went this past weekend and wanted to share my experience in case anyone else was interested in the future. Products/Pricing ----------------- The prices were 75% off for many different things. I was hoping one of three items would be available (Hudson Vally, Umbriano or Brussels). As luck would have it, all three were available at between $1-$4SF. Ended up buying a combination of Umbriano and Brussels. What wasn't available was wall systems which went early in the day. The Catch ========= Sure, there were some undesired seconds around but I mostly saw first rate product. The difference was that you were buying last year's color or version of color. For example, I got Autumn Umbriano and Sandstone Brussels which was supposedly slightly off than the normal color. Honestly, they looked very similar to me and variances of color is normal anyway. The Hudson Valley didn't look like the catalog though. But it still looked nice. Another note: Product is nonrefundable. So you can't return the extras. But at 75% off, seems worth it. The Experience ====================== I got to the Uxbridge location around 10am and was about the 50th customer. You wait in a little tent and look through a several page list of inventory while you wait. They give out #s and you have to wait for a rep who helps you out and shows you product. The people there were very nice and very helpful. Recommendation =================== If you can time your project right, this seems like the way to go. With 1500 SF of project, I literally save thousands for spending a Sat morning in Uxbridge. Only if I could do that with the rest of my pool project. The real test will be in 2 weeks when it arrives at my house. Hopefully the batch will represent what I saw. IF you want to ensure you get access to maximum inventory including walls, make sure to get there early.

I used to deliver Belgard to distributors. I can't say anything bad about the competition, but the distributors used to like Belgard along with the high volume contractors. I can't imagine a paver wearing out. I'm curious why a contractor would state he "thinks" a certain brand wears better. Go with what you like unless there's some definitive reason of why not to use a product. Sounds as if you may want to interview a couple other contractors as well.

Techo and Cambridge are (in my opinion) pretty comparable. I don't have any experience w/ Rinox. They're sold here, but we do so few paver jobs that I stick with what I know. The only thing I really don't like about Techo is theirs is a much more muted color palette. We did the plantings for a job where someone else did a Blu60 patio and I think the overall effect was pretty blah.