All we wanted was a simple pool to help her daughter with her physical therapy, but it was a disaster from day one.
August 4: We insisted to the saleman that we see the layout of the pool prior to digging. He spray painted it out on the grass, but noted nothing about elevation. We were assured the back of the pool would only be a little out of the ground due to the slope of our yard and that could easily be backfilled when we landscaped since the pool edge is only two feet from teh fence.
August 6: Excavation crew arrives but refuses to dig until the tree the designer promised us was not in the way was removed. We explained the tree was supposed to be left there per the design plan, but he wouldn't dig. We gave in and let them dig up the tree. They replanted the tree too deep and probably killed it, though we're trying to save it.
The curve on one side of the pool was much more excessive than the design plan showed. Luckily we caught it and made them fix it. Then the north side of the pool wasn't in line with deck as the design showed. Again we caught it and had them fix that.
After the hole was dug and the stakes in the ground, the construction supervisor Jon left without asking if we had any questions or inforing us of when they would be finishing or returning for the next stage.
After he was gone, and the crew finished with the forms and left, we realized the back of our pool would be 17" out of the ground. The side of the pool running parallel to our deck was 18" away from the deck on one end and 12" away at the other. This was all supposed to be even with the deck which is even with the house. I called Jon and explained these problems and that they would need to be corrected before the next stage. Since it was Friday, he said he would come out on Monday.
Our information package arrived in the mail that afternoon.
August 7: Our saleseman/designer Greg came out and agreed these were problems that needed to be fixed, but since digging had begun he could no longer help us though he did call Jon and explain the problems again. I asked him to have Jon let me know what time he would meet with me on Monday.
August 8: I left a message on Jon's cell phone again requesting a time for the meeting since I would be at work and would need to come home to meet with him.
August 9: Jon called at 7:00 A.M. To say he'd be out sometime today. I explained that I needed a specific time since I was leaving for work. He said between 11:00 and 1. Again I stressed I would be at work and needed a time. He said he'd call when he was on his way. He did call and said he was on his way and I said I'd meet him at 1.
1:05 P.M. I arrive to find the crew laying rebar in the pool. I made them stop until I could talk to Jon. Jon came out of his truck and his first comment was "What's the problem?". He argued about the design and plan and kept saying "You signed off on the plan.", which we had not. He was rude and condescending. My husband finally told him he was fired, at which point he became cooperative and wanted to work things out.
He went to his truck and came back with a new plan, but it would cost us another $500. After so much arguing and frustration, we finally gave in just to have the problems fixed.
My husband reminded him about the problems with the tree and he promised to have his crew fix it. They did not.instead the back hoe operator bent the fence post in half, the same post he had worked around with no problems just days before and we had been told did not need to be moved.
The crew did fix the pool layout problems, but again Jon left leaving us in the dark.
August 10: We call a differnt Hoebert office where we were told about the website with schedules and how to log in since our representatives had not given us that information. We try to log in, but are blocked. Even the home office cannot log in to our schedule.
August 12: My husband comes home to find the plumbers have been there. The equipment pad is completely unlevel and set on loose dirt that will wash away with the first rain. There was no return where one should be. The fill line is attached to our house faucet with a hose bib rather than the main water line. The water lines are only 2" underground and in some place even less. The equipment is leaking and all the plumbing had been placed where we told them we would be planting another tree.
I called David, the construction service manager, and explained that based on Jon's attitude we did not want to deal with him anymore and that these problems needed to be fixed before anything else was done. He set an appointment to meet with us at 9:00 on Saturday morning.
August 13:6: 20 A.M. We are awoken to a gunite truck in our backyard. We stopped them, and they called Jon. Jon arrived again with a hostile attitude. I explained we did not wish to deal with him and were meeting with David tomorrow morning and that all work was to cease until problems were addressed. He said David sent him out (which he didn't) and wanted to know what problems, so we tried to show him, but his responses were hostile or just "That's how we do it." No explanations were given at all. He continued to be argumentative and told us he would charge us $500.00 if he pulled the gunite crew. We told them to leave our property immediately.
I called David and left message again explaining that we did not want to deal with Jon and why was the gunite crew sent out.
I later called Linda, the construction coordinator. She explained David would be in meetings most of the day, but that she knew he was scheduled to meet with us the next morning. She took notes on our concerns and agreed with us that the elevation of the pool is not noted on the plan when it should have been and she also could not log in to the schedule page for us.
Later that day there is water standing in the pool due to a leak and the pressure gauge on the filter is full of water too.
August 14: We met with David and Hoebert. We went through our list of problems and each was addressed with an explanantion. We were promised everything would be fixed, the tree replaced if it dies, and the bent pole replaced to our specification. They would not take away the $500 fee for adjusting the pool elevation despite our complaint that it was not marked that way in the plans or described that way to us by the designer.
August 16: David and crew arrived to correct plumbing problems and gunite the pool. The tree was replanted and cleaned up, but they forgot blocks to level the equipment pad and the gauge that needed to be replaced. We gave them blocks to use and were told they would bring the gauge the next time.
August 17: Sol Tile and Coping arrive to tile the pool. Two tiles fell off while they were placing the coping. These were replaced incorrectly and grouted with thin set, which was a different color than the rest of grout lines. My husband, who does remodeling and lots of tiling for a living, stopped them from using a rounded coping on a square corner.
After they left, he discovered approximately 25 tiles that had been incorrectly set without enough thin set to hold them in freezing weather.
August 18: The electricians arrived. They installed the wrong light and started to throw out all of the operators and service manuals until my husband stopped them. They left copper wire run around the pool clamped to rebar. None of it was buried. They grounded the wiring to our galvanized fence post that is set in concrete rather than using a ground rod.
My husband called David and explained new problems. He said our light was on back order and they didn't want us not to have a light right now, but would replace it when the correct one arrived, but it would take two weeks. He would also have the wiring problems fixed. David admitted light he had installed has had many problems which we were also told by the salesman and Linda.
August 19: Linda calls to schedule the plastering for the next day. It had already rained 2 1/2" that morning, and it was still raining. She agree the plastering could not be done until everything dried. She said she heard David ordering our light on the previous day. We again gave her a list of the problems including the drain that had been broken when the clean up crew arrived that morning (in the rain) to pump out the pool and prepare it for plastering. She agreed problems needed to be fixed and would let David know. All of the clean up could not be done due to weather though the schedule shows it completed. Pool filled back up about 7" due to rain. Gunite is dripping it's so wet.
August 20: Tile crew arrives at 9:20 to repair mislaid tiles and incorrect grouting. Around 9:30 Linda calls to tell us they are on the way.
We have put more than 30 hours into dealing with these problems and supervising the construction since no supervisors are on site. We have over 100 pictures of the problems. If my husband was not in the construction business and knew that these things were being done incorrectly, we would have one disaster after another once this pool was finished and running. The first freeze of the year would set it in motion. This makes me wonder how many other pools Hobert has built with such poor quality, but the owners don't realize it. This is a special concern to us since we were told the majority of the work would be done by Hoebert employees, yet only the plumbing and excavation were actual Hoebert crews. The rebar, tiling, coping, and wiring all appear to be subbed out. We try to talk to the workers, but very few speak much English.
We hope to have this pool finished soon, but don't know. I have never seen such poor workmanship or communication in any project and strongly recommend people do not use this company. We checked the Better Business Bureau and other sources before chosing Hoebert, and maybe we're the exception, but I find that very hard to believe. I'll send an update when this nightmare finally ends.
Elizabeth
Sanger, Texas
U.S.A.
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