Ugh! I'm afraid all I can offer is sympathy!
Why don't these guys check the weather reports & radar when it's so easy to do now?

Our house builder went ahead & poured our patio slab on a day with a 90% rain forecast. The tarp they put up was a joke & we had rivulets engraved in the surface. We were treated as if our complaints were nitpicking.

Maybe you could check with the diamond brite manufacturer to see what they advise?

I find it amazing they did not even have any plastic with them. I would not fill the pool with water since it will have to be drained anyway to have it fixed. what is you PB telling you? How does he plan on fixing it? Just don't pay them until its fixed. The condition of the Diamond Brite will determine how it is prepped so the new finish will bond to it. It looks like a very small pool, you could always asked to have them remove the Diamond Brite instead of going over it.

Keep us informed of what happens.

Just tell them you want them to take all the old plaster off first, sand blasted cleaned and then new plaster applied. They refinish pools all the time....taking the plaster down to the gunite. They them you want a pebble finish for the same price for your troubles and emotional agony.

I'm sorry that it didn't work out the way it should but it doesn't mean your pool is forever ruined.

Don't do anything to the pool...its their responsibility.

I find it amazing that they even considered plastering that day. IMHO, the PB is responsible for the damages, not your insurance company. I doubt his insurance will cover his stupidity.

Insist on them removing the botched plaster job. If they suggest that just going over the botched job will work, tell them no. You'll wind up with a blotchy job that could easily delaminate in a few years. Also, it would raise the cost of your next replaster in the years down the road because you don't want a third layer.

The more I think about this the more mad I get. Where do you live? We are in Orlando and battle the rain all the time, this should not happen. Make them tear out the Diamond Brite and finish the job right. Where was the PB all this time when he made your husband get the plastic? Insurance is not going to cover this. The PB needs to fix the screen as well. Don't be upset, it is fixable. If anything the PB should be upset.

You have all my sympathy... I am speechless.. really ! I hope that this gets addressed immediately ! All of the suggestions posted sound good to me... Sorry again... keep us posted!

Wow, that is just absolutely unbelievable. I can't imagine the insurance company will cover something that is clearly due to incompetence. As the others said, accept nothing less than complete removal of the plaster down to the gunite. I'd have them remove and replace the waterline tile as well. I hope you didn't give them the plaster check, do not pay them one more dime until this is fixed to your satisfaction (including repair of the screen enclosure).

Thanks everyone for being as dismayed as I was. The thing that makes no sense still is how quick they left. I mean they didn't even wash out their cement mixer or their wheelbarrow. The PB said he'd be back on Monday with a trailer to pick up the other bags of diamond brite that I guess are out on the side of my yard hardening. Or maybe he's taking the mixer. I don't know. He told me he'd call his insurance man on Monday and the insurance would come out to look at it. He was happy we were taking pictures. I was trying to cheer myself up and asked him if they would at least put the light in the niche and get the wiring through the ground and that made him mad and he left. It's just surprising how the PB complains that it's costing him $30.00 in gas every time he comes to my house but yet they don't try to do everything possible when they're here. And they had tried to get the wire through the niche hole before they started the diamond brite by using a stick and nobody could see the stick outside of the pool so suddenly I'm thinking the conduit they attached to the niche before they shot the pool has sunk or something. So I didn't think it was an unreasonable request. When the PB arrived this morning the first thing he said to my husband was "I'm surprised you don't have the light hooked up" to which my husband replied "it's not my job".

In answer to some of the questions:

Bella-Orlando: Our pool is 12x24 and about 4.5 feet deep so yes, it's a small pool, but according to our PB today, that was $900.00 worth of materials ruined. I have no idea what his plan is, I've asked my husband get the PB to put in writing what they intend to do. I found out that I couldn't have filled the pool up anyway, since the light niche has an opening that leads somewhere out the pool, but might not be above waterline level. We're in Spring Hill, FL on the west coast. The PB sent my husband to get the plastic because gas is so expensive and because while he said he would pay for it, it was put on our debit card. I can assure you the PB is upset that he didn't get his final draw today, not because I was impacted.

poolguynj: Thanks for the advice but I know that they're going to go over it. They're not going to remove it. They used stegmeyer (sp?) coping forms to make my pool coping. Something wasn't right with the mix. The pool builder tells me it's the best he can do. "You wanted the retro look, it looks retro". He didn't even know what the word retro meant until we met, and retro doesn't mean that it looks decayed and falling apart in two weeks. Here's a pic of my new coping along with what my pool looks like as they zoomed out of here.

{{gwi:2041317}}

tresw: I didn't give them the plaster check. The funny thing is that when he popped over yesterday to drop off the mixer, he told my husband that because we're "strange" that he wanted us to pay him in cash. Fortunately my husband had to get on a phone call for work right after that statement was made :-0, I asked for clarification as to what made us strange. Seems that we are the only people that he has ever done any work for that actually point out problems like holes in the waterline tile grout, or coping that has cured for a week that dissolves when the garden hose water hits it. So he wanted cash because he was worried we might stop payment on the check.

Just out of curiosity, how much do you still owe the PB?

Unless a requirement to pay in cash was put in your contract, I'd promptly ignore that request.

I too would require that the old diamond brite is removed. My spa was redone twice after the initial plaster, and trust me, you want the old stuff off. Otherwise, you do risk delamination. *It happened to me.*

Do not pay a DIME until everything is repaired to your satisfaction, including your screen enclosure. Do not call your insurance company on this.

Just for your own records, I would get an estimate for the redo of the diamond brite, the screen enclosure repair, and a redo of the coping. If he starts to skip out on you for this, be prepared to sue him for the total repair amount.

If I were a betting man, I would say you are going to have a lot of trouble with this guy. I would bet that he is not going to replace the coping nor the plaster.
I would give him a deadline to give you in writing what his plans are for a correct fix. In the meantime, document everything with pictures, dates, his responses to you and your husband. If he starts to drag his feet, tell him in no unceetain terms that you are starting a lawsuit against him and his company.
This guy is a lowlife... you have to treat him like one.

This PB seems to be having financial trouble.

1. he complains about $30 gas to come out to your house.
2. makes your husband drive to get the plastic to save gas.
3. Tries to claim this on his insurance.
4. He wants you to pay him cash.

Before you pay another dime have you PB get and supply you lien releases from every subcontractor that has worked on your project and for all the material that has been delivered out to your job site. In Florida you do not have much protection as a homeowner if your PB does not pay his subs or material. You could pay twice for the work!

Also don't pay your final draw until you know everything is working properly. This light conduit issue has me concerned. We always run the light and grounding wire at the time the plumbing is in. You have to leave enough wire for the light to be able to bring the fixture out of the water, set it on the coping to change the bulb. In all the counties we build pools in there is is a potting compound inspection. The inspector has to look into the light niche. Do you need that where your at? If you do and it has not been done make sure its done before the interior finish is applied. What county are you in?

Umm once you start plastering...everything including the light has to be basically water tight. You better go to documenting things...otherwise you may see them out there just plastering on top of the old stuff. Write a letter right away documenting your demands and I'm sure that you will be able to find lettering in your contract that says the work was not done to "good workmanship quality"....so technically, I am sure they are in breach of your pool contract. It is your job to notify them of that and make you demands to them on how they can make you "whole" again.

Yes, they should shody....my concrete guy was like this. Now I have a mess of a deck. When you can't pin people down there is typically an underlying problem.

After reading your latest post I was going to say the exact same thing as the last 3 posters- this PB sounds like trouble with a capital T and you need to fully document all conversations that are taking place. Since your husband bought the plastic I suspect they will tell you that the screen enclosure damage is not their problem. Also there's certainly no indication that they are planning on repairing the plaster properly. I hate to say it but your story is beginning to sound just like a lot of other stories around here in which the owner had to find another builder to finish the job. Hopefully that's not the case, but the warning buzzers are sounding!

sugarrush,

I have hesitated to comment on this thread because some might think my objectivity is a little clouded, but I really want to offer a little advice at this point. You may recognize me as the "Infinity Edge" pool girl, and we had to terminate our contract with the PB. We had a lot of red lights, but wanted to believe that our PB would make it right. Our PB made the same comments as yours about the gas money - he was forever complaining about it. We ended up going and buying extra tile when they ran out, and a host of really other stupid things when we look back. It's hard to think, or admit, that a contractor has taken advantage. Our worst mistake was letting it continue. Your PB should have done the light BEFORE interior, period. It was certainly not your husband's job, that's ridiculous. His statement about you being strange is, well, strange. It's any, and every, excuse to get cash from you. Asking for cash is a classic sign that a PB is in trouble. I have spoken with many people lately, and that seems to be the common denominator among a lot of the stories. The very idea that he wanted money after this disaster is LUDICROUS. You are going to need all of the money to repair your pool if your PB doesn't make it right. Make careful documentation of everything, and then meet with your PB. If he doesn't immediatley agree (in writing!) to fix everything the correct way (removing the ruined interior, etc.), terminate the relationship immediately. That should also include no more money to him until you are "right-side up" on this project. You see, sugarrush, we ended up terribly upside down on our pool build. Our contractor kept insisting on more money, advances, etc. and all we had left to pay him was 4000.00 at Interior. We have now spent over 30,000 to repair what was wrong, and to complete our pool. This guy is not building you a quality pool, anyway, is he? Get him out of your life quickly, end this misery, and then move on towards completing what will be a gorgeous and beautiful pool! Everything will be alright, you just need to take control back in your life. Do not give this PB choices. You are the homeowner, you are the one paying for the service, you own the property. It is YOUR choice, not his. You have every right to expect a quality product for hard earned cash you have given. Builders are falling left and right in the economy right now. If this guy is reputable, he will do everything in his power to make it right. If he isn't - you want to end your dealings with him quickly. I sincerely hope this goes well for you, and that he fixes this problem immediately. If not, do what you need to do to protect yourself. Hang in there, it's going to be OK.

I am so sorry to read this sugarrush. I read your old thread and realized you converted vinyl to gunite, something I have been curious about. I understand how devastated you must feel. We put our house up for sale (in this market), rehabbed our pool as much as we could w/in our budget, and then something comparable happened to my pool. We had a safety cover, monsoon rains, a sump pump on top, and then one night the motor of the sump pump just gave out. 500 gallons of water ripped the safety cover out of the ground where it was secured, and then proceeded to rip the coping completely off the wall, the liner ripped, it was awful. Such a blow. Hang in there. Follow everyones great suggestions on this board, they are very knowledgable.

What is the latest on your pool project? Did everything turn out fine?

Sugarrush...

Did they make good on your pool? I'm curious to know how everything worked out for you. I hope everything turned out okay!