Help- Our stacked rock is flaking!

15 years ago

We just finished the masonry phase of our project, and after a walk through I realized that the stacked rock wall (18 inches) against the back of the pool and the sitting wall had some thin pieces of rock that were different from the other type. Generally the Red Mountain rock is solid, but these few pieces will start disintegrating when you scrape them with your fingernail! Yikes.

My PB is expecting payment for the masonry phase, but I have told him I will not make payment until this is fixed. It would mean taking some of the masonry apart.

Do you think I am being out of line? Should I pay them and move forward or hold my ground. We chose this rock because we were told by PB that it does NOT flake. I expect some flaking, but his is a lot of flaking. I will try to shoot some pictures and post them here. Any feedback would be appreciated- thank you.

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Comments (7)

sandrasmith140
Original Author
15 years ago
Photo of Rock
tresw
15 years ago
Wow, that is really bad. You are quite right in demanding that it be fixed. Hopefully he'll understand your concerns and not expect payment until it's resolved.
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gina171
15 years ago
No, stand strong on this. They might make you feel like you are over-reacting, but don't fold. You saved a long, long time for this, right? You deserve to have it right.
sandrasmith140
Original Author
15 years ago
Yes, the mason totally made me feel like I was over reacting!"stone flakes, it's a natural material, blah, blah, blah . . ."

Since all the rock is delivered on palates, he doesn't want to throw away the imperfect stones and run short. Which kind of makes me think that the building supply company should be doing a better job on their quality control. So now I am going to the pool builder to get them to make it right. We will see.
barco
15 years ago
The are going to tell you its a "natural" product. You don't have a shot in the dark to get them to replace this. Rock crumbles, breaks and turns back into sand. Its the nature of stone. You can't tell from one pallet to the next or one box to the next whats inside. I am laying slate and each box is a complete surprise and doesn't look anything like the box before. They are not even all the same size making laying them very difficult.

You can ask...but don't kick yourself too hard if they tell you no way....it is what it is. Good Luck.
donnawb
15 years ago
I would stand my ground until you are satisfied.
sandrasmith140
Original Author
15 years ago
I am standing my ground right now. Not all the rock is bad - just some of the pieces, so it's obvious that it's not the "nature" of this stone. We picked it because it was not supposed to flake - per the contractor.

So, although I am not expecting perfection, they will have to at least remove the soft pieces. So, thank you for you guys supporting me and not letting me cave in on this one! I just question myself since I have not built a pool. I do know bad rock when I see it though :-)

Help- Our stacked rock is flaking!

Comments (7)

sandrasmith140
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tresw

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Help- Our stacked rock is flaking!

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