Fiberglass repair

[rstreet]

Hello Everyone,
I discovered a long crack in the deep end (6') of our fiberglass pool today that wasn't there last week. The crack is about 18" from the front wall and about 12" from the side wall and 8" long +/-. Any recommendations on what I can use to repair it. I live in eastern NC between Sounds and the Beaches so we have a lot of ground water along with a lot of rain this summer. I've been told it's not a good idea to drain a fiberglass pool all the way down since it can cause the pool to rise and crack from the pressure. I have concrete completely around the pool 5' on one side and 15' around the rest if anybody knows if that will help with draining the pool.
I need something that can be applied under water and will stay in place.
Any suggestions or recommendations will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Ron

 

[DOMO]

Hi. Sorry to hear about the crack. I believe your are right in being extra careful considering the ground water issue, as that is a concern. Do you have a sump drain? Can you tell if the crack is surface/gel coat related or are you certain that the FG is cracked? What brand pool is it? And how old is it? You may want to contact the manufacturer regarding draining. Do you have any idea what is causing the crack?

 

[mcaswell]

Ron,

The concrete may or may not be able to keep the pool from floating, but even if it's able to hold it down, if there's groundwater present, there will still be hydrostatic pressure exerted against the shell, which would likely result in the bottom splitting open.

As DOMO said, if you do end up needing to drain thr pool, the first thing to check for is some sort of groundwater removal system. This could be a large tube near the deep end of the pool (covered with a skimmer lid) into which you drop a submersible pump, or possibly a normal sized piece of PVC pipe that doesn't seem to have any purpose (the other end would terminate under the shell and allow a pump to suck out the water).

--Michael