Im posting on this to bring this thread back to life. Lots of good information here. I just saw this post from Uniondawg and feel kind of relieved. Artisian is one of the pool builders I wanted to get a quote from. He didnt seem to want the business. We live out of state, and are building in the Charlotte area. I told him we were coming in for a few days for the sole purpose of meeting with a few pool builders and he couldnt find an hour to give me, even a month out. I felt like I was begging him to take my business. After asking about three different times on two different days and being met with, "thats family time, or Im pretty sure im booked" it was obvious to me he wasnt interested in my business. He was very nice, but strange behavior for a business man. Too many other pool builders in the area to be dealing with that. Plenty of other reputable pool builders out there that want the business.

There are different types of clay, some are extremely expansive and others are actually fairly stable. It is hard to say what caused the popping in the photo without more info. Most stories of popped pools are due to the pool being empty and then the water table rises due to excessive rains. When that happens it basically floats the pool right out of the hole. But since your neighbor's pool had water in it when it popped, I'm guessing you're sitting on some very expansive clays and possibly his pool was installed during dry conditions and it rose 4" after some wetter weather as the clays expanded. Then when he emptied it, it made things worse because the water table was so high it just floated the pool. If you are on highly expansive clays, you need to be very concerned about the subgrade prep regardless of what kind of pool you put in. There are things that can be done such as installing the pool on piers, moisture treating the subgrade, installing a drainage system and/ or over-excavating the dig and putting in select fill. I would highly recommend getting a structural engineer involved through the PB. If the PB says not to worry about it, they do this all the time and it will be fine; then look for another PB! Good luck!

I know of one engineering firm in California that will perform forensic tests on the shell to determine the problem. So many things can create cracks in a shell such as unstable/unsuitable soil conditions, improper placement of rebar, type of rebar, amount of rebar, improper coverage and or cement ratio and content of the shotcrete. Groundwater can affect a shell as well. There may be rebound in the mix which most certainly causes cracks. Rebound is the material that "bounces" off the surface when the shotcrete is applied. It does not provide a mechanical and chemical bond needed and must be shoveled out of the shell during the shoot. That is customary during this process. Shotcrete crews may offer a warranty or be responsible in some aspect if their mix was poor and not to standards. But, they will generally be under the impression the PB will have the pool prepped properly to meet the approved plan. Your situation is horrible and I feel terrible for you. If I looked at your pool in it's present condition, I would probably recommend removal and start all over again. I think problems will continue and although the Torque Lock is a great product, a 100' crack is a lot to mend. Others may differ on opinion. You can make the repair and see if it holds, but understand it may not go away.

I just found your blog while doing my initial research on pool builder (found it in your Yelp review). I loved reading about your experience and seeing the pics along the way! Thank you so much for the wonderful insight. I have to say that your pool installation has made me so excited to pull the trigger on our own, and now when I need a break at work, I go to your blog -- my new "Happy Place".