I am a PB in Orlando and I have Raft River Quartzite Gold on my own pool and it is not sealed. I have had the pool for about 6 years now and no problems with the rock. It is a very hard stone that is not porous like a Tennessee flagstone or sandstone. If you sealed the quartzite you could be asking for problems. I have the quartzite on my sunshelf, benches, waterline, and coping. Click on the link if you want to see the photo gallery of my pool. Here is a link that might be useful: Pool with Quartzite rock work.

Is this illegal? I mean, how can he do this? Does he indeed have to be finished with the job before he can file a lien for nonpayment? This job was supposed to take 6 months and we started back in Jan 2006. We have never said "we are not paying you" or anything. We simply want the things that need to be fixed done right. He keeps saying this is warranty work and he deserves the full payment now. In our eyes, if we paid them all of it, then he would take forever. We have to hold this money over his head or the work won't get done. Now he put a lien on the house like we are not willing to work with him. UGH! Am I right this is not to be considered warranty work when he is still on the job finishing punch out stuff? To me, warranty is something after the job is completed and paid in full. Putting a deck on top of a septic should not be considered warranty work. My thought is he is trying to word it as warranty work because then he can say the job was complete. Sandy

Slope frequently does not convey accurately through photographs. It's hard for us to tell exactly how much you're dealing with. To me, it looks like you're going to need some retaining walls and cannot convert it back to slope. Keep in mind that slopes are like slow moving glaciers. A slope could stay in place for awhile. But over time they move, working their way downhill. After a bit, if just slope, I would imagine you'd be constantly cleaning soil off of the patio. There would likely be erosion problems coming, too. To replace what is there, I would recommend you use a concrete or masonry material due to its being longer lasting and its potential to be simpler. The existing wood walls look very busy and poorly constructed. I would recommend that you get someone on site to design something simpler, within your budget. It would be nice to make the slope toward the patio, including the stairs, less steep. I would use plants that didn't get too tall flanking the patio. Right now there are large bushes at each front corner of the patio. To me, they encroach too much in the view and would be better placed closer to the house, but not in front of windows. Directly out in the yard are a couple or three trees that will eventually be smack in front of the main view. I'd consider doing away with these in favor of trees pushed more to the side of the view.

So I also am a "lay person" and the minute I saw your window, I knew it wasn't a standard window well. I would be very nervous having this contractor and his company work on my house; his lack of attention to detail and what, to me, would be basic construction knowledge/observation, is very concerning. Most of us who have been working in a field for many years can tell something basic at a glance (I work in healthcare and do this unconsciously every minute of every day whether I'm at work or not). I would expect the same from him. Agree with some of the comments that indicate this: "What do you want to happen? At the very least you should determine whether $7600 is a reasonable cost for the increased difficulty." Also, I hate to tell you this, but you WILL need to become educated in construction/remodeling methods. UNLESS you have a truly honorable, detail-orientated contractor, you WILL need to learn when something does NOT LOOK RIGHT. Yes, yes you hired a professional assuming they will do what is supposed to be done. Never assume, trust me. These forums are filled with people who have assumed and now are desperate to find a solution that doesn't involve breaking the bank or redoing a project. If they are working on any wet rooms, I'd be sure to pour over the waterproofing plan they have and READ UP ON THE SYSTEM THEY PLAN TO USE. Take PICTURES along the way--every day that they work on a bathroom (no matter who does the work) take pictures.