Hi Chas,
Thank you for replying. I'm glad to hear that someone who has done it before sees the same problem I see. I tend to be obsessive sometimes, so I wasn't sure if I was right.
One of the guys said he thinks there is gunite under the bricks and even if he pulled out the bricks, he couldn't pull out the gunite. Now, I'm wondering about this because I, myself, was able to use a jack hammer and drill drainage holes in the floor of the old spa. (I had to do this myself due to the fact that when I spoke of drainage, I got the same "you're a dork" attitude. I tried to explain that I don't know how long everything will take, and so I need drainage blah blah blah, but . . I'm getting off the subject.)
So is it possible to remove the gunite enough to allow for a full four inches of cement? Also, will any gunite left be okay under the cement? Any helpfull insight will be appreciated.