California Hardscapes

In response to [redacted]:  I have the following questions:1. Pictures do not prove this was a stake?  this is an assumption2.  How deep was the pipe that was repaired? 3.  Why was Jeff from Valley leak detection not called to come to property and assess pipes and make repair?  He was our 3rd party4.  Is ** * asphalt who made the repairs a licensed pool contractor or plumbing contractor?

Hi [redacted], After reviewing [redacted]'s letter and timeline I want to explain my observations: On April 24, [redacted] states that "the result of the leak was near a stake". The leak detection Company stated that" the cause will be determined when pipe exposed". In addition, what [redacted] fails to mention is at...

some time before I began work at her property on Penwood Way, there had a tree removal company out to remove 2 established 30-50 ft. Sequoia Redwoods that were planted within inches of the pool plumbing.I have images of her pool deck prior to the tear out and there was significant concrete deck lifting from the roots of these trees. I also had a conversation with her husband Alan before I even gave them a proposal about adding an autofill for the pool because he said" he was constantly adding water to the pool." There was a hose in place for him to add water when needed. I strongly feel this pool had been leaking prior to my arrival. In addition, [redacted] did not give me adequate time to handle this situation. This is our busiest time of year not to mention the busiest we have been in the past 7 years. I always follow through however I explained the repair would be on my time. We made sure pool was functioning/filtering properly. The leak detector had the leak isolated. When my crew finish up another job we completed, we were going to go to Penwood and remove concrete section, repair pipes as necessary and have Valley leak detection return to property to inspect, as they were our 3rd mutual party in this event. . I explained this to her on my May 5th in a text. Recently, I spoke to [redacted] with Valley leak detection company to try to verify the cause of the leak, and he said "unfortunately he was not able to repair the leak or assess damage ,and that pipe was already repaired and covered when he came back to property. The leak detection Co. should have been the one to repair and decide cause of leak. J and S repaired the leak. They are not pool contractors, therefore should not have repaired the leak. In the end, there is no prove that the stakes damaged the pipe. The Leak detection Company needed to get in there and determine that. Also, the stakes for forming concrete do not go down more than 6 inches. These pool pipes should be minimum 12 inches per code under concrete, and 18 inches if in planters. It is my professional assessment that the roots caused the leak damage and cracked pipes prior to our arrival.. In fact, we experinced thick webs of Redwood roots prepping for concrete in these areas. Please call if you have any further questions or if you need more details. Best regards, [redacted]

Review: California Hardscapes was hired to remove our aging pool deck and replace with a new stamped concrete deck. Upon completion of the deck, it was noticed that the pool water level was dropping more quickly than before the construction. A leak detection company was called in and they found a significant leak in a return pipe underneath the new deck. Using their instrumentation they determined that there was a significant break in the pipe. The break was in the location of one of the concrete form stakes. We tried for 2 months to have California Hardscapes assess the cause of the broken pipe so it could be repaired. It states in his contract, "If we break it we fix it". California Hardscapes has refused to return. [redacted], the owner, in his last communication called us liars, saying that we had a leak prior to him starting work. He will not return until we sign a new contract, with us assuming partial responsibility for the damage. We feel this is unprofessional and a breach of contract.Desired Settlement: While we would have preferred the contractor to repair the problem, at this point the contractor has abandoned the contract. We will be pursuing a third party repair and would like reimbursement for the final costs of repair.

Business

Response:

Hi [redacted], After reviewing [redacted]'s letter and timeline I want to explain my observations: On April 24, [redacted] states that "the result of the leak was near a stake". The leak detection Company stated that" the cause will be determined when pipe exposed". In addition, what [redacted] fails to mention is at some time before I began work at her property on Penwood Way, there had a tree removal company out to remove 2 established 30-50 ft. Sequoia Redwoods that were planted within inches of the pool plumbing.I have images of her pool deck prior to the tear out and there was significant concrete deck lifting from the roots of these trees. I also had a conversation with her husband Alan before I even gave them a proposal about adding an autofill for the pool because he said" he was constantly adding water to the pool." There was a hose in place for him to add water when needed. I strongly feel this pool had been leaking prior to my arrival. In addition, [redacted] did not give me adequate time to handle this situation. This is our busiest time of year not to mention the busiest we have been in the past 7 years. I always follow through however I explained the repair would be on my time. We made sure pool was functioning/filtering properly. The leak detector had the leak isolated. When my crew finish up another job we completed, we were going to go to Penwood and remove concrete section, repair pipes as necessary and have Valley leak detection return to property to inspect, as they were our 3rd mutual party in this event. . I explained this to her on my May 5th in a text. Recently, I spoke to [redacted] with Valley leak detection company to try to verify the cause of the leak, and he said "unfortunately he was not able to repair the leak or assess damage ,and that pipe was already repaired and covered when he came back to property. The leak detection Co. should have been the one to repair and decide cause of leak. J and S repaired the leak. They are not pool contractors, therefore should not have repaired the leak. In the end, there is no prove that the stakes damaged the pipe. The Leak detection Company needed to get in there and determine that. Also, the stakes for forming concrete do not go down more than 6 inches. These pool pipes should be minimum 12 inches per code under concrete, and 18 inches if in planters. It is my professional assessment that the roots caused the leak damage and cracked pipes prior to our arrival.. In fact, we experinced thick webs of Redwood roots prepping for concrete in these areas. Please call if you have any further questions or if you need more details. Best regards, [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:The fact is, damage to two pipes were caused by stakes. A picture of the damage that clearly shows a single point of impact to the pipe is attached. It was the responsibility of this contractor to fix this damage. He still denies responsibility. We had to hire another contractor to repair his damage.

Business

Response:

In response to [redacted]: I have the following questions:1. Pictures do not prove this was a stake? this is an assumption2. How deep was the pipe that was repaired? 3. Why was Jeff from Valley leak detection not called to come to property and assess pipes and make repair? He was our 3rd party4. Is [redacted] asphalt who made the repairs a licensed pool contractor or plumbing contractor?