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Pools & Spas Plumbing Design Dilemma

Spa Jet Niches Forgotten...

last year

Hi all - our pool builder forgot to install our Waterway Spa Jet Niches...

We have 2 1/2" pipes, and the jet housings won't fit because of a small raised portion of the shaft of the housing (red arrows in photo)...

My question is this: can we carefully sand down the spa jet housing shaft and put it directly into the wall pipe of the spa (the internals are present), or is there something special about the niche that we'll be missing? Alternatively, we could attempt to rout out the PVC to fit the housing, but that seems riskier.

From the install photos, it looks like it is convenient to have, but maybe not functionally necessary if we can modify the part to slide all the way flush...

If this fails, we chip out concrete and repair that and the pebble coat, but thinking about it, it seems that a minor modification and attempt may be worth it?

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!

Adam

Featured Answer

PRO

Patricia Colwell Consulting

last year

IMO you get the pool company to come back and deal with this I would not attempt to DIY this .

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Comments (8)

M Riz
last year
Exactly, its the pool builders oversight, they should be happy to remedy it. Good luck.
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Adam F
Original Author
last year
The pool builder will DEFINITELY remedy, but I’d love to not have pebble patched if we can avoid it without ill effect. Also, less downtime. I would never DIY, but if they can modify and make it work, I’d be happy with the quick turnaround, and maintained integrity of the pebble coat. No?
PRO
Mystic Pools, LLC
last year
We use Waterway jets exclusively and the plaster niche is always used.

In order to install the plaster niche, they will have to chip around the 2 1/2" pipe, cut it back enough to allow the niche to finish flush. The niche glues onto the 2 1/2" pipe. It allows the jet assembly to sit flush.

Waterway sells the complete assembly with a plaster niche or it can be purchased separately.

Whatever patch they do will certainly be noticeable especially on a heavy pebble and you probably won't be happy.
Adam F thanked Mystic Pools, LLC
Adam F
Original Author
last year
Mystic Pools - that's what I'm trying to avoid - any suggestions? I'd like to have them find a way for the jet body to fit without the niche. Seems doable.
HU-178658043
last year
If it can't be made unnoticeable, maybe it could be worked into some kind of artistic feature.

JM$.02W
PRO
Mystic Pools, LLC
last year
AdamF

I honestly have never had to do this with these jet bodies as I always use the plaster niche.

We have on several occasions core drilled for wall fittings and patched the plaster, but it was still noticeable.

The heavy pebble makes it difficult get a clean interface.

It may be possible to very carefully cut away the pebble with perhaps a Dremel tool around the pipe perimeter. The Dremel tool is more precise for detailed cuts.

The threaded assembly may fit a little closer to the pipe.
Adam F
Original Author
last year
Hi all. We sanded down the jet bodies and they fit. Worst case, we lost a few dollars in parts. If it doesn’t work, we’ll consider major demo.

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