Need advice on leak.

[mattkc02]

My girlfriend and I just bought our first house. The house has an in ground concrete/ plaster pool running salt water with all Hayward components. We were out in the yard cutting out for a large flower bed behind the rock waterfall and noticed a gap between the soil and the bottom of the pool surround slab. While forcing dirt to the back of the gap I noticed the top of a 1.5" PVC pipe sticking about an inch out of the dirt. I figured it was a drain line of some sort that was never connected to the rest of the drainage lines (the pool functions properly i.e. filter, valves, waterfall, etc.) so I decided to get a 45 degree elbow and a length of pipe and extend it myself out past the new flowerbed and towards the woods behind us. During this process I determined that the PVC wasn't connected to anything at the bottom and I could hear the suction sound when pulling up and down... so I start digging to find the water.

This leads me to the real question:

The plaster box around my skimmer is leaking from the bottom corner. I dug out all the way below the back corner and under about 6" to expose the gap (not crack) in the plaster where the water is dripping out. It's not a fast drip, but I want it stopped. I went to the pool store and bought the putty, but can't get the plaster clean enough. The water forms a pocket and ultimately forces the putty to fall off. What other products are out there that might do this.

Also, where might the leak be coming from? I used dye and a syringe to check all along the mouth of the skimmer, the tiles about 4ft in either direction, and the skimmer from inside. There is absolutely no movement in the dye other than dissolution. Any ideas anyone?

 

[zea3]

Re: Need advise on leak.

Hi, welcome to TFP! You may need an epoxy putty designed to be used underwater. If your pool store doesn't have it the hardware store probably does. You could also try draining the water below the skimmer while the repair is being made.

 

[mattkc02]

Re: Need advise on leak.

Thanks for the welcoming. I was using a two part epoxy w/ hardener that is suitable for under water. I bought it at the pool store when we were there ealier today just to have it handy. I might try to find some fast set putty at a different pool store and try that tomorrow.

I'm thinking of trying multiple things before I drain and let dry as this is prime pool time in Spring, TX. I'm still wondering where the water is coming from...

 

[zea3]

If you can post any pictures of the problem we may be able to offer some suggestions.

 

[mattkc02]

I wanted to try one more approach before I posted pics and wait for better ideas. I found that West Marine sells a two part Epoxy putty stick that has a 7 minute work time and completely cures in 30 minutes. The problem I was having was that as the putty was trying to dry and cure, the water was building up behind it and ultimately forced it away from the plaster. With this fast curing stuff I was able to patch it in small sections until I had it down to a small pin hole, letting it cure between patches. Then i used the last bit that I had to cover the pin hole and held pressure on it for exactly 7 minutes. No more leak!!

This fall when we stop using the pool and start using the hot tub, I will likely get someone out to determing where the leak is at in the skimmer; I'm thinking it must be in the plumbing underneath, but for now I'm gonna enjoy it.