leak repair reco in DFW? structural repair needed

[heyitsme06]

my parents pool has a structural leak. Their pool guy recommended a leak repair company. $350 later they pressure tested all lines and found 2 leaks in the spa return lines and also a leak in a crack. Fixed the spa return lines and ground into the crack with an angle grinder. The crack was filled in with a water proof epoxy but it re cracked. needless to say, my dad was pretty upset that they said this would fix the pool leak.

before the "repair" the pool would lose about 3-4 inches of water a day!!! now its about 1-2 inches but still a very big leak. the guy recommended cutting into the shell of the pool and clamping/stapling (terminology they used) the structure. basically he found a couple of staples as he called them in the crack that he says have failed...he claims they were installed incorrectly...now all previous work to this pool was done by the previous owner as my parents just bought this house.

What are some thoughts/opinions? anyone deal with this kind of repair before?

they want cut/drill until they find the rebar of the shell as they claim the water leak must have "cut"/broken the rebar there and thats why its leaking...their reco is to weld a staple (piece of rebar?) on the broken rebar to restrengthen the structure in that part...at $300 a staple, he thinks it needs 3 to 4.

needless to say, they don't want to work with that company anymore as they feel cheated, but I wanted to check if there are any recommended companies in the DFW area for leak repair of this magnitude.

any feedback is greatly appreciated.

PS: their pool is an inground concrete plaster freeform about 20k gallon with spa attached. 48sqft pentair de filter, 2HP Challenger pump.

 

[one_knight4u]

How reputable is the pool repair company? How long has the worker worked for the company? Is the company insured/bonded? Will they give a warranty? If they can give the right answers and show proof, that would make what they have to do a bit more attractive. Just some musings and thoughts after reading your post......

 

[heyitsme06]

they're a small company, don't really know any of the answers, Im guessing no to a lot of those. They're taking this as a learning experience, they did a good job on the new tile, just not so great on the leak repair...

is there a place on the forum that I can search for recommended companies?

 

[one_knight4u]

Not that im aware of, possibly some other members from the Dallas area will chime in with their recommendations.

 

[poolcritic]

Stop. Let's look at this problem carefully.

#1.) Establish for sure that this crack is taking dye. Any expert worth his weight in gold will show you video of the dye uptake into this crack. (Of course an expert will have scuba gear or air supply, and will clear out crack with high pressure air supply prior to dye testing) No dye uptake = Not a full thickness crack = Not as big a problem = rout out v-notch apply high mod epoxy and plaster patch and look for the leak elsewhere (tile/skimmer interfaces, pipe penetrations at fittings, p-test all lines, check b-wash line, etc.).

Crack presents with marked uptake of dye confirmed by video evidence = Bigger problem.
-- guidance for this type of crack is consult with structural engineer for options.
-- what you can expect structural engineer to say;
-------a.) the structure has failed and best choice is to remove and rebuild for soils at the site or fill it in.
-------b.) if the crack is active = high pressure PU injection with stabilization using carbon-carbon matting or carbon fiber staples
-------c.) if the crack is not -active = low mod epoxy injection to refusal with carbon fiber staples
-------d.) least expensive is v-notch and topical low mod epoxy gravity fill
-------e.) DIY option is purchase hyperflex polyurethane grout made by sealguard (dive the pool and apply yourself into the crack where dye uptake is observed-this stuff works pretty good and might just solve your problem - just don't squeeze out too much and wait about 30 min. after injection into crack to clean up reactants on surface of water)

Of course, there is another option but it's pretty expensive and requires removal of a section of the pool where the crack exists then re-install steel and re-apply shotcrete. The only thing about this option is that the cause of the cracking, be it soil or otherwise needs to be corrected or failure can re-occur and now your back to remove and rebuild.

If you have a structural crack then accept that the structure has failed. Accept that from now on everything you do is crack management. Only a qualified pool professional with expertise in failure determination and forensic evaluation together with engineering consultation can evaluate the structure to determine the cause of the failure. It could involve draining the pool, removing up to 6 inches of plaster from both sides of the crack, using NDT rebar detector to determine depth of coverage over the reinforcing steel, making a determination if carbonation of the substrate exists, coring the structure for petrographic analysis, etc. this is costly$$. So you see there is a big difference in having a "pool person" and a credentialed professional with expertise in failure determination and forensic evaluation working for you and giving you guidance but that usually happens when lots of money is involved and the suits are being called in.

I have seen many of these structures actually crack not because of stress in the shell but instead something worse, poor workmanship, poor concrete quality, poor coverage of concrete over the reinforcing steel and a complete lack of quality of construction. There is not one, not one, pool professional in the DFW marketplace that has the credentials and certifications necessary to help you with your problem that I could refer you to with good conscious.

There are few companies out there that do leak detections and have some of the materials necessary to accomplish what you MAY need, they just go through the motions and don't really know what they are looking at or why they are doing what they do but you don't have many options.

Hope this helps.