Question on weeping water prior to pebble sheen going in

[Stpt2011]

Currently undergoing a pool build. At the stage where pebble sheen is about to go in. Pool builder has sent guys a couple times to drain pool out as it had a little water in it each time even with no rain. From what I gather there is a small leak or "weeping willow" as my pool builder calls it in the Gunite. It is still slowly weeping water but has now been covered with some hydraulic cement and the pebble sheen should be going in next week. Even after it's been covered by the hydraulic cement there is still some water slowly weeping through. I don't know much about pools but this doesn't seem right to me. Pool builder is advising pebble sheen will go over and be sealed and I won't have issues. Seems to me this is asking for a leak to develop or something?

The pool was over excavated by 3 feet by accident during excavation. Not sure of any other pertinent info I can provide. Thank you for your help.

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

Gunite and concrete are not waterproof. Some water weeping through is normal.

Pool plaster is what waterproofs the pool.

Usually the plaster company will require the pool shell to be dry for plaster application as weeping water can cause stains in new plaster. Sometimes plastering needs to wait until a dry spell when the weeping stops. Or sump pits are put on the outside of the pool shell to pump water away to dry the shell for plaster.

 

[Jimrahbe]

S,

You can't stop weeping by adding anything to the inside of the pool. To stop any weeping you have to remove the water outside of the pool.

In my case we had to install a drain system and a sump pump..

I am not sure if you have enough weeping to be a problem. I had a massive amount of weeping and the plaster company would not apply the plaster until the problem was fixed.

The plaster company holds the warranty for the plaster and will not install it if there is too much weeping. Almost all pools have some weeping.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JamesW]

You should have a way to control the water table when the pool is drained.

This is usually accomplished by using a sump tube near the pool.

A sump tube is just a large diameter pipe that goes into the ground where you can put a submersible pump and pump out the ground water.

Did you hit water during the dig?

Are you near any body of water like a lake, stream etc?

If yes, what is the elevation of the pool bottom in relation to the water surface?

 

[JamesW]

 

[Stpt2011]

You should have a way to control the water table when the pool is drained.

This is usually accomplished by using a sump tube near the pool.

A sump tube is just a large diameter pipe that goes into the ground where you can put a submersible pump and pump out the ground water.

Did you hit water during the dig?

Are you near any body of water like a lake, stream etc?

If yes, what is the elevation of the pool bottom in relation to the water surface?

 

[Stpt2011]

thank you for all the reply's. Yes they did hit a little water during the dig and yes they did have the sump pump but honestly it hadn't been running for quite a while. We had very minimal water and then recently some more rains in our area. We are not right on a lake but there are several man made lakes in the somewhat close vicinity like a block away in our master community. Not exactly sure the answer to the elevation of the pool bottom.

Anyhow, pebble sheen was sprayed today and there are a couple stains through the pebble sheen already. Pool guy tells me they will go away with the acid wash tomorrow. See pic of the two. One on the bottom and one in the corner. Does this seem normal?

 

[JamesW]

What is the elevation of water in the pvc pipe in the main drain?

 

[Stpt2011]

What is the elevation of water in the pvc pipe in the main drain?

I don't see any water today in the vertical pipe hours after the pebble sheen is finished but I can't really see all the way down. There's some water in the drain which is flush to the bottom with the pebble sheen

 

[JamesW]

I don't see any water today in the vertical pipe hours after the pebble sheen is finished but I can't really see all the way down.

Check with a flashlight or use a stick to put in the pipe to check the water level.

 

[Stpt2011]

Check with a flashlight or use a stick to put in the pipe to check the water level.

I marked on a stick just about where the top of the pipe would be and then stuck it in the hole. It seems to not go all the way down and hit some dirt or sand about 8-12 inches before it gets to the complete bottom of where it should be, and then when i check the stick there's about 6-8 inches of wetness on it, see pic.

 

[JamesW]

So, how far is the water above the plaster?

 

[Stpt2011]

I marked on a stick just about where the top of the pipe would be and then stuck it in the hole. It seems to not go all the way down and hit some dirt or sand about 8-12 inches before it gets to the complete bottom of where it should be, and then when i check the stick there's about 6-8 inches of wetness on it, see pic.

Sorry not the best picture you can see the water line on that stick but not where i marked it on the other side.

 

[JamesW]

So, how far is the water above the plaster?

 

[Stpt2011]

So, how far is the water above the plaster?

I mean it's hard to tell like I said, you hit sand before it even gets to the bottom but based on the stick id say there there's water about a foot and a half up the pipe or so assuming the water is coming up through the sand.

 

[JamesW]

In my opinion, they should have controlled the ground water before doing the plaster.
It might or might not cause problems; it's hard to tell for sure.

You never want water streaming in from behind the gunite when you are plastering.

 

[Stpt2011]

In my opinion, they should have controlled the ground water before doing the plaster.
It might or might not cause problems; it's hard to tell for sure.

You never want water streaming in from behind the gunite when you are plastering.

Not very reassuring

 

[Stpt2011]

In my opinion, they should have controlled the ground water before doing the plaster.
It might or might not cause problems; it's hard to tell for sure.

You never want water streaming in from behind the gunite when you are plastering.

Should these stains at least easily come up with the acid wash?

 

[JamesW]

Should these stains at least easily come up with the acid wash?

No way to tell for sure until they try it.

Most likely, the stains will probably remain visible for a while.

It probably won't be superbad, but there will probably be some visible stains.

 

[Stpt2011]

So 12 hours into the cure and i absolutely have water weeping (very slowly but you can see glistening moisture on top of the pebblesheen) can you explain how this would not result in a pool leak if water is still getting in how will water not get out?