NJM Pools, LLC
Ned Michael was found in Breach of Contract, Oconee County Superior Court. Two years after signing the contract and a $130,500 investment, we were left with $54k in damages and a judgment against Ned Michael. Learn what you may expect from choosing Ned and Jackson Michael to build your pool. From contract to court, making excuses all the way.
Oconee County Superior Court Disposition Finding Ned Michael in Breach of Contract
During the entire 18 month period prior to legal action being taken, Ned and Jackson Michael spent a total of 7 man hours on site overseeing, inspecting or supervising. I sent over 120 text messages, made dozens of phone calls, sent a dozen emails and even two registered letters trying to get them to handle their responsibility. Every attempt I made to get them to address issues was ignored. Their negligence and breaches have resulted in major damages totaling over $54k. Below are a few photos of their ‘workmanship’.
This is a photo of Jeff the plumber in action. He was installing our electrical, without a license, under an affidavit listing a licensed electrician, without that electricians involvement or consent. The result, all the electrical had to be torn out and replaced due to code violations including no GFCI breakers, wire gauge rated at 55 amps on a 100 amp service. When I confronted Ned with the code violations, his response was ‘we do it all the time, it’s nothing more than wiring a plug’. .
Below is some of the mess the plumber playing electrician left for me to clean up.
Below is the 6 gauge aluminum wire, rated at 55 amps, that Jeff installed on a 100 amp circuit placing our family at risk of a fire hazard due to Ned Michael using an unlicensed (and incompetent) person to install electrical. I notified Ned Michael of the code violations and everything had to be torn out and replaced. And the second attempt also had numerous code violations. More to come on that!
More from Ned Michael’s contractor Jeff.who failed to secure the conduit.
The conduit body was not glued to the conduit. Besides being sloppy and unprofessional work, it’s another code violation.
The electrical will later be redone with another ‘electrician’ who could not tell me his license number and the electrical affidavit was not updated with Madison County. More to come on the second electrician later.
SPA that has NO ACTION
The spa we contracted for was to have a dedicated jet pump, but due to incompetence and/or negligence, Ned Michael failed to have the required plumbing installed. When his plumber, Jeff, notified him over the phone while I was present, Ned told Jeff to ‘find a way’ to connect the jet pump at which point Jeff declined saying it ‘would be of no benefit’. Ned Michael told me later that we didn’t need the extra pump we were told we would get, contracted for and purchased. Our spa is nothing more than a small heated pool!
Photo above shows one set of drains. A two pump system would have had two sets and while I did not know that at the time, a competent builder would have noticed. So the question is, did Ned Michael notice and just keep his mouth shut or is he incompetent? Either way, he never offered to repair it until just before we went to Superior Court. By then, we had gone to mediation and magistrates, where it got transferred. Ned Michael told both the mediator and my attorney that he would not pay unless a judge ordered him. Even then, he did not pay until we secured a FI FA placing a lien against him. Ned Michael, refusing to accept responsibility every step of the way!
Photo below is cosmetically unsightly. This was not an economy pool build, this was over $130k. When I showed Ned Michael, once again when he came for a draw, he said the repair ‘won’t be happening’. When I tried to ‘work things out’ prior to court, by his statements his concern seemed to be if he was going to lose money rather than doing what it took to make things right.
Bootprints left to harden in the bottom of the spa. I showed Ned when he came for his draw and his only comment was “they usually try to make it look a little better”. I will say, when it comes to payday, you can count on Ned Michael to be there when he says.
Spa Leak Unaddressed for sixty days, leading to 30 foot long deck crack
Following the application of plaster, I began filling the pool. I noticed the spa level dropping and reported it to Ned Michael. Forty two days later, I saw water seeping out the side of a retaining wall and realized that the leak was underneath the deck. I notified Ned via text. Email and registered letter and told him this was a high priority and he would be held ‘both legally and publicly accountable’ if there were any damages. I got no response to any. I also contacted Ned’s concrete contractor directly the same day and asked if the ongoing leak could compromise the fill base and he replied with a single “Yes”. The leak was capped off by Ned’s plumber. exactly 60 days after I initially reported. By then an estimated 2880 gallons of water had seeped underneath the deck. Ground penetrating radar confirmed two voids present, one 2.4 feet deep thirty feet long where the crack was, another 1.2 feet deep running between the spa and to the exact location where I observed and reported the seepage to Ned.
Seepage from retaining wall reported to Ned Michael 42 days after initial leak reported.
Leak reported to Ned from equipment pad unaddressed for sixty days.
LED conduit was crushed at base of spa during compactionf. Leak at conduit was stopped with installation of LED in spa conduit.
Much more to come but in the meantime, you may visit Michael Enterprises Pool and Spa Reviews | Statham, GA
Below is one of the skimmers AFTER the pool was ‘cleaned’ in prep for the plaster. I reported it to Ned Michael but they once again failed to address so I had to clean it myself.
Dirt and debris left around the pool drains AFTER it was ‘cleaned’ in prep for plaster.
More dirt and debris left AFTER the pool shell was ‘cleaned’. They would have plastered over this had I not cleaned it.
This is one of over a dozen cracks in the flagstone coping surrounding the pool. Ned Michael failed to have an expansion joint put between the coping and pool deck which created this issue. Ned’s solution was to simply put mastic in the groove without addressing the cause of the problem.
More information to come including court documents, emails, registered letter content, text messages and voice mails. But until then visit:
http://michaelenterprisespoolandspareviews.com
Ned and Jackson Michael dba, Michael Enterprises Pool and Spa and NJM Pools LLC - Turning a dream into a nightmare and making excuses every step of the way!
