Grout Falling Out

[BlueSky]

First of all, a BIG thank you to this site. I have learned so much. Our pool is trouble free, and the family loves it!

One issue is the grout below our coping stones is falling out, and the skimmer basket cover no longer holds. How should I fix these? Is it a DIY project?

 

[pooldv]

Ours is doing the same thing. I don't know why they use grout right there, they should use polyurethane caulk. Do you have an expansion joint with caulk between the coping and the paver deck? You can repair using foam backer and polyurethane caulk. A little caulk should hold that skimmer ring in too.

 

[aerangis]

I used Decoseal to fill in the gaps after grout fell out in several spots under our coping and rubbed white sand on the outside surface to mimic the color and texture of the grout. It's held up for 5+ years.

 

[gwegan]

This may be a sign of a larger problem.

The reason they use MORTAR (not grout) here is because the Mortar holds the coping to the bond beam. It may be taking a beating from the expansion and contraction of the pavers behind the coping. So my concern is that the material that is failing here is the material that actually holds the pavers to the coping.

If were were talking about a deck the posters above would be correct but this appears to be the material that is holding the coping in place. You may want someone to come in and evaluate and reset the coping that has problems. As PoolDV points out in your situation a expansion joint between the pavers and the coping is critical in this application. It should be polyurethane caulk.

 

[BlueSky]

Thanks for the feedback. There is no expansion joint between the coping and paver deck. Just the pavers slightly more open near the coping stones. But with sand between the pavers, maybe they don't have room to expand? I don't see any polyurethane caulk anywhere. A pool builder came out, and said to just fill those gaps with polyurethane caulk and I would be fine. With the busy season the PBs are swamped right now. Is there a way to find out if it was built properly with a bond beam, or how best to direct a pool builder or myself to fix? Do I need to pull up a coping stone to see if it was constructed properly? The issue only occurs near the paver side, so it's definitely related.

 

[pooldv]

Lowes has lots of polyurethane caulk. The issue is that the deck is expanding and pushing against the coping. It would be best to pull up the first row of decking, clean it out and put in foam backer and polyurethane caulk about 3/8"-1/2".