Community pool remodel disaster - contractor abandoned us

[Henry_R]

Our community pool was to be replastered, but the contractor abandonded the job. We have to find a new contractor which we have in the works.

I think there are some errors in what the contractor has done with the removal of the plaster too.
There are chunks where layers seem to be there.

Can somone look at the photos posted here and tell me what they see as far as the plaster removal being done right? http://s468.photobucket.com/albums/rr48 ... 20remodel/

Also, do those coping stones look to be placed correctly? The deep end stones seem to be higher and lower which I can tell. Anything else? The light fixture had a leak in teh conduit. It was to beixed which is why it's hanging. It also has not been working since at least 1998.

Finally, we have an abiguity over whether we are required to have a main drain under our state code or local ordinances. Is there any TX code that absolutly requires a main drain? Ours has been plugged at the skimmer for upwards of 20 years so we were just going to fill in he main drain and eliminate the problem altogether.
There is only one suction line and one return so the drain would go through the same line as the skimmer.
The pool is described in the sidebar and under our local ordinance is a private pool since our community has only 30 units. We have verified this with the Houston Pool dept.

Any help, suggestions, or ideas will be appreciated.

I don't expect and advice on the legal aspects. I realise no one can do this.
These are being refered to our association attorney.

Thank you,

Henry

[geeman]

The brick work is shoddy in appearance. The expansion joint is very wide in some areas and almost non-existent in others. You should be able to lay a 4 foot level along the coping and it should be level within reason. If they were contracted to remove all of the plaster, then they still have some work to do. If not, then they would only remove what is loose.

[Henry_R]

Thanks for the comment.

The expansion joint was to have been filled in, but the contractor never got so far as that. With the coping not being even to the deck what should we do? Can we replace part of the deck and re-slope it to match the coping? Or do we need to chip out all that coping and trim tile and start over?

One contractor wants to cut 4' of deck back from the coping and lay new decking to match the slope of the coping. This is deemed less expensive than removing the whole of the coping which we cannot afford at all. I think that would create a very sharp slope since the deck at about 8'-10' from the coping to the fence,
but I'm being ignored in my complaints. Isn't there a uniform building code required minimum and maximum slope of a pool deck? For a public pool here in TX it's 1/8" per foot for current pools. Mind you this is a private pool though it's "class c" under state code. We were told by the city of Houston we are not required to have a permit nor be subject to inspection. They won't even come out to tell us what is up to code or advise us.

I think the contract said they were removing only all the loose plaster. That said there are many patches where the plaster had delaminated from age and they left the areas around them mostly intact. There's no telling if they will eventually delaminate further.

What kind of tools should they have used to level the coping. We've been told a surveyor's transist to get the level correct. I recall seeing them usings a normal 6' level and a mason's string along the front, but no transit that I recall.