The problem here is you don't know what's wrong, and so you go to replacing stuff that doesn't need replacing, and fixing stuff that doesn't need fixing. The truth is - we've all done the same thing at one time or another. It's the way untrained mechanics get things done, or not. I used to supervise large construction projects, and we had a lot of heavy equipment. We also had a full time "backyard mechanic" to fix the small things that went wrong. Once he worked on a 20 ton yard crane for three days trying to get it to run. I finally realized he had no idea what was wrong, and called Cummings diesel. The guy came out and in less than 30 minutes found the problem. I learned something that day. I learned it's easy to fix the stuff you know is broke, but sometimes when you don't know what it is - it's better to take it to someone who has seen it before, like a dealers service department, as hard as that is to take - it might turn out to be cheaper.

I can't see any reason not to do it if it's what you want. As long as the other sides are the same, it should look just fine. I would check with the fabricator to make sure the thin width won't be an issue... one guy told us that there would have to be seams on our deck... a single piece might break. Thankfully that wasn't true. Something like this might be an option. You can keep some of the width but still have a thinner entrance.

Two or three bubblers- but it depends on the look you want. If you're going for Bellagio Las Vegas style water works, go for more. :-) Zero deck jets. Love my bubblers, the deck jets were a waste of money. Too loud and annoying. We have 4 deck jets on the back wall of our 44 foot long pool. Question: Why the bubblers on the first step? If I'm envisioning correctly, the step runs the length of your sun shelf. If you're sitting on your sun shelf with the bubblers behind you, it's going to be loud. Not roaring, but just enough to have to raise your voices when speaking. And the jets on your feet as you're sitting on the shelf feels so nice. We have 2, on our 6x10 shelf.. It's pretty and sounds nice but after a while I shut them off because they're difficult to talk over. And we've got them on low. I think if you're going to use more then 2, and they're directly behind your seating area you'll not use them often.

They need to be installed when the plumbing is put in and before your deck is poured. Otherwise you're going to be ripping up a lot of work that's already done. If you know how to do it yourself, put them in as the pool is built not after! Is the $400 per jet just for labor? Another thing you have to think about is if they don't work right, you'll be responsible for any repairs cuz I'm sure the PB won't warranty any work other than his own.