Flaking Pool Deck Has Homeowner Seeing Spots

Bob Brinkley thought he chose the perfect surface, but then something went wrong.

"It makes our dream to have a pool more of a nightmare," Brinkley said.

Pieces of color are flaking off the deck.

"We saw a few spots early. More spots later on. I was like, 'When is this going to end?'" he said.

Three and a half years ago, Brinkley paid Carolina Custom Concrete more than $13,000 to install the stamped concrete surface. About two years ago, he noticed spots of color coming off.

"It was just heartbreaking," he said.

Brinkley said he repeatedly called owner Mark Siver. After several months, a crew patched the spots."They were sort of surprised by it. They'd never seen this problem before," Brinkley said.

Two months later, the crew applied sealant.

Last year, the same problem started all over again.Brinkley called Siver and got supplies, then repaired and resealed the concrete himself.

This spring, even more of the spots popped up.

"Where's it going to stop? We had dozens of spots the first time, hundreds of spots the second time, thousands of spots the third time. So I guess that puts us on a track for tens of thousands next year," Brinkley said.

So Brinkley called Siver again. When he did not get satisfaction, he called Five on Your Side.

"It's been miserable," Brinkley said. "I tell you, I've been on the verge of being physically sick just thinking about it."

When Five On Your Side called Siber, he described Brinkley as a "pretty fussy guy". He blames Brinkley for the problem, saying he used "too much sealant" even though the flaking began long before Brinkley made repairs.

Siver agreed to pay half of the $4,600 it will cost Brinkley to hire another company to fix the problem.

Brinkley said he is glad to at least get the $2,300, but feels Siver should pay the entire repair bill.

"If something goes wrong, take responsibility and fix it. That's all I'm asking for. Just make it right," Brinkley said.

Siver added that Brinkley is the "one guy" in all his years of business who is "not happy." Brinkley said the new contractor will start work early next month. The work will involve taking all the color off and then recoloring the deck. He hopes that will permanently solve the problem.