Scott, the situation is very complicated. The original pool company stopped showing up, returning our phone calls, or replying to emails immediately after giving them the fourth of a series of five payments. The only payment that remained was the final payment and the only work left to be done was the screen enclosure and pebbling. Before giving this fourth payment, I complained that the paivers were not installed well because many of them wobble when you step on them. You can hear the sand move below them and can physically feel the paver move when stepping on it. This was for about 75% of the pavers over area. Additionally, the coping tile which is coral in color has white grout scattered all over them. The company told us these were minor things that are taken care of at the end of the project. They explained that they will fix the paiver installation and clean everything once all of the construction is done. So I reluctantly gave them payment number 4 assuming these were honest people. We never heard from them again after handing them this check. After four weeks of nothing (giving them the benefit of the doubt and expecting they are working on permit papers or subcontract schedules), I drive to their office to see that another pool company is displaying a 'lawn sign' out front. This new company is owned by the brother that owned the original company. He explained that his brother left town and there was not enough money to finish the pool. He told us we needed to pay an additional $20,000 (above the original contract amount) to finish the pool. This is because 7 subcontractors had not been paid for work that was already done.
This brother offered to finish the pool if we would pay for the cage and the subcontracts. Of course we have filed with the Attorny General's office and are currently taking action against the original company. We agreed to pay the cage and are working with subcontract companys to make payments (I am a younger aged working class without $20,000 just laying around), but we told the brother (second company) that there were issues that still need resolving (the paivers and grout). We talked him into signing a contract to finish the pool that included language that says they will clean the coping and correct the paivers. They have now finished the pool (we are swimming) but never came to fix the paivers. They brought out a bag of playground sand and gave me instructions for fixing it myself (which I did in about 1/2 day of work). They have made no effort to clean the coping tile, but on Saturday their water chemistry person showed up with his personal pressure washer to clean the coping tile. The pressure washing did nothing and I suspect that will be the last effort we see from this company. We are already fighing one company with the contract, and do not have the energy or money to go after this second company.
So, back to my original question. How can grout residue be removed from coping tile? Likewise, how can the white spots on the paivers be removed? I would rather not use an acid wash, but this may be our only option.
No one should go through the nightmare we have gone through with dishonest pool companies. I am sick of them and want to finally be excited about owning a pool (should we all not be happy about swimming in your own pool?), but the appearance around the pool is pretty awful. I would certainly appreciate some suggestions.