We were told to fill the gap with some kind of caulking (after 2 years). We have to pull out the plastic filler material first & then seal the gap around the pool. I don't mind it being open. Will it cause repair problems if we don't seal it ... Water seaping under & cracking due to freezing & thawing?
Do you really need to fill gap between the concrete & coping
- Thread starter shazza
- Start date
- Jan 21, 2009
- 562
- Pool Size
- 21000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite Pro (T-15)
Could you post a pic?? I can;t answer your question, but a pic will help those who can :-D
Welcome to TFP
Welcome to TFP
Water seaping under & cracking due to freezing & thawing?You got it. Every splashout of that pool deposits water under your decking. Even if it doesn't freeze, that's not good for several reasons.
Polyurethane caulk will give you the best, most permanent seal but is touigh to work with. Silicone is easier but doesn't look as nice. Acrylic will ineveitably shrink and reopen the crack.
Why did they wait two years to tell you?
Polyurethane caulk will give you the best, most permanent seal but is touigh to work with. Silicone is easier but doesn't look as nice. Acrylic will ineveitably shrink and reopen the crack.
Why did they wait two years to tell you?
Anthony & Sylvan told me to wait 2 years before doing it. I don't know why you have to wait.
kevreh
Bronze Supporter
I paid about $300 for a professional to come out and do the caulking between the coping and concrete pads around my pool. My biggest concern was water getting in under the concrete and freezing. It took him a good part of a day. What he did;
- Clean out old caulking. They used a razor to "free" it between the caulking and concrete then pulled it out.
- Prepped the concrete by cleaning with a wire brush on a drill. Just the inside, not the top/face.
- Taped off the top two sides so any spill-over caulking would be easy to clean up.
- Mixed a 2-part caulking solution
- Put it in a large grouting (or icing) funnel bag
- Carefully applied
Pretty straightforward, just tedious. After they applied it can't remember if they just let gravity settle it or if they came back with a tool and smoothed it.
HTH,
Kevin
- Clean out old caulking. They used a razor to "free" it between the caulking and concrete then pulled it out.
- Prepped the concrete by cleaning with a wire brush on a drill. Just the inside, not the top/face.
- Taped off the top two sides so any spill-over caulking would be easy to clean up.
- Mixed a 2-part caulking solution
- Put it in a large grouting (or icing) funnel bag
- Carefully applied
Pretty straightforward, just tedious. After they applied it can't remember if they just let gravity settle it or if they came back with a tool and smoothed it.
HTH,
Kevin
I'm getting ready to use joint sealer between my coping and deck and see a large price difference between these joint sealers. Does anyone know if the more expensive brands are better; like Deck O Seal or Velkem?
Keep us updated...we are pouring our concrete pool deck this week (DIY project) and I have no clue how to seal it. I am learning with you! Hang in there!!! 
Can you give examples of brand names for the Polyurethane and Silicone?duraleigh said:
I decided to use Vulkem 45 which is a polyurethane sealant. As soon as it arrives and I try it out I'll report on how it went.
Tried to upload photo but was unsuccessful. Sounds like you all know what I'm talking about.
kevreh
Bronze Supporter
Thats too bad, would be nice to see the finished job. Is the photo a .jpg file? Decent size (no more than about 500x500 pixels)?
If you want send it to me at [email protected] and I'll post it for you.
Kevin
If you want send it to me at [email protected] and I'll post it for you.
Kevin
shazza said:
Open a Photobucket.com account (or similar-many free sites offer photo hosting). Upload the pics there (select the "large" size when you do) and then copy the "IMG" code - it will give you several choices of code - then you just past the IMG code into your message here, and voila, the pic appears. SSSooOOO easy.
frustratedpoolmom said:SSSooOOO easy.
So easy a frustratedpoolmom could do it?
Sorry - couldn't resist.
Does the original filler look like this? Our pool builder never said anything about having to replace this stuff! We have been wondering about it though, because the stuff looks like it is slowly disappearing. This is our third summer.
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Yes this is exactly what I'm talking about. Our pool company told us to wait 2 years, pull out the plastic bubble stuff & seal the gap.
Will tackle "filling the gap" project this month. I hope to post photo and level of difficulty - haha!
Did you ever get your "gap" filled? How did the project turn out? Just wondering because we will have to do the same project sooner or later. Hoping to learn from your experiences. 
Unfortunately we had other projects to do and we did not get to it. The pool is being closed today. We may still try to do it this fall if the temperature cooperates. We'd have to undo the safety cover to do it. It will definitely get done in the Spring. Top pool priority.