We hear it so often about clients having trouble with contractors. Lies on top of lies and what really seems like a lack of empathy and care taken on projects.u
We just completed this project in Ormeau for a really lovely family with 7 children. They had a pool contractor start last year and had said they would finish in December. When we looked at doing the concrete works they were still waiting to have it finished. This was in May.
The homeowners had all sorts of problems along the way. The pool was set 200mm higher than the patio, their retaining wall was destroyed during excavation (which the homeowners had to replace at their cost and the surrounds had been left as a boggy mess for months on end. Their clothesline could only be accessed by traipsing through the mud too.
It was our job to try and make all this work - and make it look smart at the same time.
THE SCOPE
Prepare all the areas, getting correct levels and taking away the sludge that had been their pool area and paths.
Add drainage channels and pits in the pool areas and also the driveway extensions that always flooded during any significant rainfall.
Construct new concrete to all the areas. Some in exposed aggregate and others in plain concrete ready for resurfacing.
THE EXECUTION
Day 1:
Sludge was excavated out and removed from site. Areas had limited space, so a combination of micro machinery and good old fashioned elbow grease was used to get it ready.
New hard-fill was imported and compacted to the new formed heights.
Drainage channels and pits were set and connected.
Day 2:
Concrete areas to the rear were placed and finished. Because of the lack of space, the concrete was placed off the wheelbarrow. This limited mess and gave more control.
Expansion joints were added at strategic points to help with lessening the chance of cracking.
The day went very well and all tricky falls worked great.
Day 3:
Exposed aggregate concrete was placed in the driveway extensions. Unfortunately, the same aggregate could not be sourced anywhere (which is super common), so an aggregate was agreed on that had the same tones.
Once again, expansion joints were added.
Day 4:
After enough time had passed for the concrete to cure, we returned to resurface the pool area and paths.
The concrete was prepared and then a 600mm tile pattern was templated. The toe was set diagonal at the owners request.
The colouring was to mimic the quartz pool coping as close as possible with the colours available. A combination on 3 colours was used to achieve this final look.
Once textured, all the concrete was cleaned up, all sealing was done then a thorough site clean was completed.
All in all the job really came up great. No more mud and drainage problems.
The homeowners were delighted as were we.
We know we have that this is Decorative Concrete Done Right and the areas will look great for decades to come.
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