Well, it's been about 7 months since the dream of our pool remodel began. Originally, we only intended to do a replaster only, however, we changed our minds and ended up re-doing most of the backyard. Even after the lengthy delays and slow pace we are generally happy with the results and if we were to rate our experience with Burkett's I'd have to give them a 6 out of 10.
6 out of 10? But your backyard looks great...some might say...but the reality is that there are a few things that we aren't 100% happy with, but lets start with what went right:
What went right:
1. The salesman was great
From picking out colors to selecting finishes, Leo was a great help bringing our vision to reality based on his opinions and past experience. I think the colors that were selected were perfect and Leo definitely helped leaf through the multitude of options. He was also great at walking us through more cost effective solutions (like the concrete vs brick coping) in areas where we felt we needed to save some money.
2. The job site was clean- every day
There is nothing worse than coming home to find contractors leaving garbage, food and just a general mess- Not with Burkett's. They cleaned up, swept and even hosed down areas after each day. They even did a full hose down of the walls and windows of the backyard to wrap up the job.
3. The workers were courteous and professional
Burkett's had a different crew responsible for each aspect of the job. That meant a lot of different people were on the site during the whole process. Every time I came home for lunch or got home before they left and had to chat with any of the workers- they were extremely courteous. Kudos to Burkett's for finding a team of skilled, respectful and courteous workers.
4. They were very good at communicating
I'm not comfortable with leaving the gate to my backyard unlocked only to let anyone gain access and fall into a 10 foot deep empty pool, kill themselves and get sued. Burkett's would call the evening before EVERY visit to let me know that they were coming the following day, what time they would be coming, and what they were doing. They would also call if there was some sort of job delay due to weather or other factors. This was great.
5. The job showed a lot of skill
The things that were done right- were done well. They're weren't any lengthy delays caused by public inspection because they needed to change something. The tile turned out fantastic, the plumbing- impeccable. We love the compromises we made to get a larger patio area. This all turned out great- h
owever, there were a number of things that went wrong:
What went wrong:
1. Mismatch between coping color and deck color.
When Leo the salesman originally came in to quote on the job he showed us a number of previous jobs that Burkett's had completed. We really liked one of the pools that had the concrete extend right to the edge of the pool with few seams. It was all one color and looked great. We wanted the same thing, however, when it came time to pour the concrete the color of the coping and the deck turned out to be done on different days, and did not match. I think it would have been different if we purposely tried to make the deck and coping be a different color. If this was our plan we would have chosen a more contrasting color, however, the way that it turned out, the concrete had a variation in shade that just looks like it was a mistake. The specified color was Omaha Tan with Nutmeg release and as you can see below the coping is clearly different from the rest of the concrete.
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| Deck and coping color mismatch |
2. Numerous concrete cracks including one that's 53 inches long.
I understand that concrete shrinks when it cures, however I read that there are ways to minimize this depending on the concrete formulation, temperature that it is applied in, and expansion areas.
A 53 inch long crack developed in a high traffic, highly visible location on the deck in the days during the curing process. I brought this to the attention to Mike at Burkett's and he said that he's have to have the boss come in to look at it...It's been more than a month and I keep asking, but nobody ever comes. Frankly- I'm not happy with the crack and because it's wide enough, has steel re-bar in it, plus our pool is a salt water pool equals a recipe for rust and rapid deterioration. This is on top of the numerous other cracks that also developed during the curing process. I'm sure if I were to get a concrete guy in here he'd be able tell me exactly what happened and how it could have been avoided. But to have such cosmetic defects this soon after the completion of the work is disappointing...how is this going to look in 5 years?
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| The upper section of the 54" long crack |
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| Pretty large crack in retaining wall |
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| Smaller, yet noticeable crack |
3. Discoloration and crazing in plaster job.
We selected the Burkett's Ultimate finish plaster in the pacific coast finish- A color on the darker end of the plaster spectrum. We chose it to have a richer more expensive look, and to absorb more sun and heat the pool better. If we would have been told that there was a risk that plaster would not come out unevenly colored- we would have opted for something lighter or even a pebble finish, but we weren't told about the risk, and we aren't happy with the results. We also immediately noticed crazing- or fine cracks in the plaster after filling- which is even more noticeable in the dark plaster. The pictures don't do it justice and it's very, very visible to the naked eye.
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| Swirl marks from the plastering |
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| Crazing |
4. Slow drain of Hot tub into the pool.
Burkett's plumbed the hot tub into the pool automation system and as a result, the hot tub slowly drains into the pool. This is likely a faulty check valve or one of the valves on the actuators. Because the hot tub will drain to the point where the system begins to pull in air while the pool pump is on...I can't go away for more than a couple of days without this being fixed or else risk damage to the pool pump.
So what will turn our review from a 6 to a 10? Well I think first of all that won't be possible without redoing the entire concrete and plaster job. Something that neither we or Burkett's would like to go through again. However, if Burkett's is willing to work with us to make a few changes, we'd be a lot happier:
- Replace the concrete, or repair the 54" crack. We are willing to let the other 2 cracks go.
- Give us some options for fixing the concrete color mismatch.
- Redo the plaster job and do a pebble finish.
- Fix the hot tub draining issue.
If any of the above aren't possible we would consider a cash discount (or refund now that it's already paid in full)
In conclusion, we are generally happy with the way the backyard turned out, but it can be the little things that really take away for the final product. I hope that Burkett's understands that the power of one's voice on the internet is strong these days and that thousands of people will come across this blog when searching for a Bay area pool plastering or a pool remodel company in the future.
I hope that Burkett's is willing to make some of these things right- I'm not really asking for a lot- I'm just asking for what I paid for.
I will let everyone know of the progress with Burkett's- if any.
