A Cortlandt Manor couple is demanding $250,000 to fix a $76,000 swimming pool and hot tub that they claim sprung leaks less than a year after installation.
Thomas and Thammasack Gatto accused Lang Pools Inc., Grumman Engineering and engineer Ralph G. Mastromonaco of negligence, in a complaint filed Jan. 23 in Westchester Supreme Court.
“It will cost at least $250,000 to repair and cure all of the defective and deviating conditions throughout the pool and hot tub,” the complaint states, “and to bring the pool and hot tub into compliance with the contract.”
Mastromonaco, a professional engineer based in Croton-on-Hudson, called the lawsuit frivolous.
“My firm had nothing to do with the design of the pool,” he said. “This is an example of attorneys looking for a deep pocket. Nothing more.”
Lang Pools and Grumman Engineering, both based in Norwalk, Connecticut, did not reply to email requests for their sides of the story.
In 2018, Thomas Gatto made a deal with Lang Pools to install a 23-foot-by-40-foot concrete swimming pool and raised wall spa for $72,450, according to the contract. Lang Pools allegedly hired Grumman Engineering to help design the pool.
Gatto hired Mastromonaco to prepare a site plan and building permit application, for $3,000 to $4,000, bringing the costs to as much as $76,450.
Work began in March 2020. In May 2020 the location had to be shifted because it encroached on a restricted wetland area, the complaint states, and a portion of the original excavation had to be backfilled.
The job was completed in August 2020. The following November, the pool and spa were closed for the winter.
When the Gattos opened the pool in June 2021, the complaint states, they noticed cracks. They hired Thornton Tomasetti Inc., a structural engineering firm, to explain what happened.
Thornton Tomasetti Inc. concluded that the hot tub and portions of the pool had settled because the soil was insufficiently compacted, according to the lawsuit. The firm recommended demolition and reconstruction.
The Gattos estimated the cost of the project at $250,000, including temporary repairs made to prevent more damage, demolition and new construction, fees paid to Thornton Tomasetti Inc., and the cost of buying water to continuously fill the leaky pool.
They sent a claim to Lang Pools and Grumman Engineering, according to the lawsuit, but the businesses have failed to fix the problems or compensate the Gattos.
The Gattos are represented by White Plains attorneys Thomas S. Tripodianos and Frank Gramarossa.
