My situation involves the installation of an in-ground swimming pool. After obtaining quotes from several pool contractors, and checking with the Better Business Bureau, I selected Jack Anderson of Custom Pools, Inc. The pool construction
proceeded normally throughout the project, save for a problem with the shell that required a repair. Shortly after
the completion of the pool, we began using the pool. Then, one morning as we prepared to leave on a cruise to the Caribbean, we observed that water was pouring into our basement. It had been raining very hard outside, and the water was coming in at 2 basement windows. Our basement is fully finished. Well, we had not purchased cruise insurance,
so we went ahead and left, but, hired someone to clean up the water. This is where all of the problems start. The concrete decking that was poured around the pool has been sloped incorrectly, which causes any rain water to drain toward
our house, and when enough rain enters the window wells, it pours into the basement. We have had to install 2 sump
pumps into the window wells to pump the water from this area. Now we have the issue of rain water coming into the basement from the window wells if there is heavy rain and the pumps cannot keep up, or the power fails. Plus, every few
months, we have to clean the pumps of mud and muck to keep them in working order, not a pleasant thing, and all due to improper grading of the concrete decking toward the house instead of away from the house. The next problem is
that Jack charged us $660 for a sump pump that was to be installed into a tube next to the pool. It is a fiberglass
pool, so it is important to keep water from collecting under the pool, (says Jack) hence the reason for the sump well and pump. The problem is, we have paid for this, but, Jack refuses to come and install the pump.
(Jack has since promised to install the pump 3 different times.) The next problem is concerning an inflatable dome that was to be installed late in Sept. 2004. My wife is disabled, and the injuries that she sustained that made her disabled make it very difficult for her to do the exercise necessary to maintain mobility. She must use a wheelchair whenever she goes to the mall, shopping, Wal-Mart, etc. She needs use of the pool all year, hence the reason for the dome. Jack charged us $6600 for the dome, 1 install, and 1 removal, as it is removed for the summer. He kept putting us off as to why he could not deliver the dome. He did this for several weeks. For a time, he began refusing our calls.in the end, the dome was eventually installed, but, we found it to be unusable because the air temperature inside the dome was the same as the air temperature outside the
dome, so, at 10 degrees outside, it would also be 10 degrees inside the dome, hardly swimming weather! We called the company, and they indicated that Jack, the pool installer had been informed of this when the dome was ordered, but,
that we as a customer had supposedly been informed of this, and wanted it anyway. This made a $6600 inflatable dome useless. The sump pump has NEVER been installed next to the pool, and all we have is a hole in our concrete deck next to the pool. Do your homework before hiring any contractor to do any work in or around your home!
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