Reggie, Glad to be of help. No, I'm not an undercover rep, though sometimes I feel like I should be on their payroll given all the positive things I've said about them on this site. I must admit that they have been very good about sending me GC's when they get a referral from me (please mention me to your rep. Bob Lang knows me well). Trust me, that's not why I'm a fan. I spent a lot of time on this site prior to making my decision on a pool and after reading all the horror stories I had prepared myself for a lot of grief. I can honestly say there was not one minute of lost sleep dealing with this company. Though I can't say I loved everyone I dealt with (I'm not a big fan of Mike in the service dept), the company always came through and did the right thing. I really can't ask for more. In response to your questions: 1. The cover is the standard mesh Meyco cover that is part of the contract. Next time around, I may go with the solid cover for two reasons. 1. I had to check the water level in the pool throughout the off season and several times I had to pump out water because the level was getting to the skimmers. 2. The mesh does allow some dirt to get through (some some leaves also blew in from the sides..we are in a wooded area) and when we opened in the spring it was very scary. It took several visits from the company, 12 backwashes of the filter, lots of scrubbing and almost 2 weeks to get the pool back in shape. After that experience I did some research and found a chemical that supposedly binds phosphorus and prevents algae growth. You add it in the fall when closing, and then again in the spring. Hopefully it will help. The cover gets custom measured. After your pool is completed, Meyco sends people over to measure the pool and they take into account the elevations and build the cover to their measurements. Then they come back when its completed and install the anchors and leave the cover, storage bag and anchoring tools (they also left a few extra anchors, springs and sleeves for the springs. I am satisfied with all of my choices, but if I had to go back there are a few things I would have changed. 1. I enjoy the Jandy wireless system but the remote takes some time to start up and is slow to respond to commands. this is a known issue with the system. It's not a huge deal, but I would recommend also putting in the spa side 4 button controller that's hardwired to the control box. it's inexpensive and easy to do during construction. 2. I'm not sure what you're expecting from your spa, but it's different then a stand alone jacuzzi. Without the blower on its basically just a hot pool, no real pressure from the jets (we have 6 on a 2HP pump). With the blower on, its so forceful that the water bubbles over the coping and onto the patio creating a flood. I've had swimmor look at this several times and they assured me that everything is funtioning normally and that's just the way it is. We still enjoy it, but not exactly what I had in mind. Maybe you can get them to use different jets in the spa or possibly but a ball valve on the air line so you can adjust the flow of the bubbles with the blower on? Otherwise, I'm very happy with everything. One last thing since you have a large RBB like I do. I believe the standard contract includes one sheer descent. When we were looking at other customer's pools, I asked the same question as you about what should I change from standard and another customer recommended adding additional sheer descents because just one looks silly on such a long wall. We added two additional (required a separate pump) and it was absolutely the way to go! it looks beautiful. Hope I'm not too late to help. E-mail me if you have any other questions. Ian

I am having a similar problem with my spa. I live in Central Texas with heavy clay soil as well as hard water. I just contacted our pool builder about 10 days ago and we are going on their schedule. We reported horizontal cracks in the spa last year with calcium building up in them. They came out and inspected and said it was normal and nothing to worry about. Now, the spa has a vertical crack going from the seat to the waterline completely through the wall. The spa drains into the pool overnight so the crack is completely visible now appears to go completely through the spa wall. The pool is going on its fourth summer so it is relatively new. I also have a lot of calcium deposits all over the PebbleTec on walls in the pool with very few on the floor of the pool. I have not seen any cracks forming in the pool walls. However, the concrete patio has hairline cracks in several places going the full width of the patio. Do the calcium deposits indicate an underlying problem with the plaster or gunnite and will the cracking patio have any effect on the pool?

For control joints to break up the expanse of a large slab pour, it's fine. But as the others wrote, for a pool deck-to-coping joint, A self-leveling caulk is the better option. I use Vulkem 45, a self-leveling polyurethane sealant.

Back wall, you understand except I would go to the level of the the top of the rock on the right (picture #2). Request a 9" overlap, drill a standard anchor and use a "D" ring or short spring on the strap. At the drop off by the skimmer, put a small pillow to fill the space and keep critters out. Long straps for the front of the spa with standard anchors and springs. Note that th cover manufacturer make declare it non-safe because of the tangle foot trip hazard potential. The cover will hold a snow load Put a layer of vinyl under the cover where it meets the spa except for the wall. It will prevent chafing, ensuring neither the cover nor the rock surface is marred, scuffed or torn. Another pillow for the other side's rocks. WRT to the PB's suggestion of draining/we do it with public pools all the time, public pools don't have the jungle you have. The potential for difficult to remove stains like tree sap, acorns, leaves, etcetera, is high.There is also a potential for cracking but that is small. I don't recommend closing the pool and not the spa. The spa will need to be drained to winterize it's bottom drains. Raised spas can freeze solid. I know I wouldn't want to jump in a full and cold spa with air blasting out the drains. I don't ask those that work for me to do things I won't do either. Once the spa is drained and the drains are winterized, you can still refill the spa from the pool. This will lower the water in the pool below the tile or close to it, judging from the pictures. Only fill the spa to 12 inches from the tile line. This allows rain and snow melt to finish it when using a mesh cover (recommended to keep weight down). Put a step pump in the main pool to keep the water off the tile. Pool covers are much larger than spa covers. It is more important to keep the water level less than 15" from the bottom of the cover because a snow load will need it's support . Snow floats. Snow when wet is heavy. In early Winter and mid to late Spring, these weights happen and put a lot of stress on the cover. Having the water there keeps it from getting out of hand. Pools have a lot more surface area than spas. The materials used in fabricating them are the same. The smaller perimeter of the spa cover won't have to hold the same amount of weight as the pool's cover. Sorry, I tend to ramble. Scott