This brutally hot summer with basically zero rain has shifted either my concrete pool deck (most likely) or my pool--see attached pics. The pool and deck is 25 years old, and I had it replastered with new coping a year and a half ago. I haven't had any issues with this at all until just this past few weeks. The water line is level on the tile all around the pool, so I don't think the pool has shifted. The pool deck concrete is lower than the coping in some areas, and higher in others. Most notably, it is higher around a skimmer and I think it's pulling the skimmer up relative to the pool (I'm hoping the plumbing doesn't become damaged). The coping has cracked by the skimmer as well. How can I fix the pool decking? I can see raising the parts of the deck that are lower than the coping, but how would you go about lowering the deck by the skimmer to make it level? Could it instead all be a problem with how the coping was installed? Does coping shift at all?
How do you level a concrete pool deck that's being pushed higher than the coping?
- Thread starter beezar
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 48,011
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
I'm not so sure you can. I have been battling the shifting soil for years, and this year I finally had to dig out my suction line and around the skimmer to inspect as I suspected my skimmer was getting damaged. It did indeed have a a few stress cracks and the suction line underneath was not in its original position. We also had a company inject foam under the decking in areas we felt it had dropped, but for any decking that appears to be higher, I don't think there's much you can do other than live with it or tear it all out and start over with a better base. Very frustrating.
Our clay soil can swell when it gets over-saturated, but that really hasn't been an issue yet this year unless you shoudl have a water leak in that area.As parts of the deck sink, they can act like a lever and lift up other parts. Unless you have a tree root pushing parts up.
It's to the right. The coping is lighter colored and the concrete deck is darker (yeah, it's very dirty, I know...)
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So if the sunken part of the deck is raised, that may lower the other end of the deck (by the skimmer in my pics) hopefully closer to level with the coping? Is that possible? Because that would be great
Usually it’s not the water side that rises. It’s the opposite that sinks and makes the water side just look like it rises. But maybe you got something weird going on.
Typically coping doesn’t shift at all unless the pool shifts with it, in the last picture the cracked coping is inline with the end of the bond beam of the pool shell, this also leads to the probability of the the pool staying level and your deck is moving in different directions. The skimmer most likely is not completely incapacitated in Shotcrete so it’s able to shift, how the plumbing is not effected yet I can’t explain.
It's probably encapsulated enough that it's monolithic with the shotcrete.
I'd wager the the collar is detaching, or an extension was used and it's bonded better to the concrete deck than the travertine coping.
Ok that's good to know, thanks for the input. Hopefully the plumbing is ok. So would a concrete leveling company/foundation company able to stabilize and possibly fix the issue? Is that who I would call, or would I need a pool company to come out? Thanks!
Actually not knowing much about pool construction, this was my original thought, that the skimmer was moving with the deck movement. Should I call a foundation company or a pool company (? a builder or ?) to come out and fix the issue? Thanks for your input
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,526
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Call them all. It is not about the company but about the person who comes out and if he is knowledgeable about how to tackle the problem. See what various folks tell you.
I would expect to what that they really cannot say for sure what is going on until they remove part of the deck and coping and see how the skimmer was attached to the pool and the condition of the ground under the deck.
You may want to contract with someone for the exploration surgery and then reassess once you see what you are dealing with.
Until you open it up everyone is just guessing.
- Nov 12, 2017
- 11,941
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Following the thread, because my deck is sinking in some spots. I'm hoping a company can inject foam to bring it back up. No spots are higher so I can't advise on that.
For many years it was fine, then it started dropping, but would then come back up a little. Best guess is it is tree roots expanding and contracting with the seasons. Or maybe gophers, but there is no evidence of their presence where the deck has dropped (their excavation piles would show up somewhere close).
I haven't started looking in earnest, but I think most concrete contractors are just going to want to replace the deck, so be prepared for that. I assuming we'll need a contractor that specializes in this issue, not just any ol' concrete guy or pool builder. I'm going to start calling concrete contractors and maybe either one will offer this service, or know someone that does.
Like mine, your expansion joint is pretty torn up. And that doesn't help this type of problem. Allowing rain and pool splashes to penetrate the seal between deck and coping can't help, as that water has to go somewhere and perhaps take soil with it. Once we get this fixed (or replaced), we have to better maintain that expansion joint.
For many years it was fine, then it started dropping, but would then come back up a little. Best guess is it is tree roots expanding and contracting with the seasons. Or maybe gophers, but there is no evidence of their presence where the deck has dropped (their excavation piles would show up somewhere close).
I haven't started looking in earnest, but I think most concrete contractors are just going to want to replace the deck, so be prepared for that. I assuming we'll need a contractor that specializes in this issue, not just any ol' concrete guy or pool builder. I'm going to start calling concrete contractors and maybe either one will offer this service, or know someone that does.
Like mine, your expansion joint is pretty torn up. And that doesn't help this type of problem. Allowing rain and pool splashes to penetrate the seal between deck and coping can't help, as that water has to go somewhere and perhaps take soil with it. Once we get this fixed (or replaced), we have to better maintain that expansion joint.
There are YouTube videos on how to do the foam lifting yourself. I haven’t tried it but I did successfully lift my deck that had sunk/shifted 6” and repack the ground underneath. Cantilever decking might be a bit easier in that regard because the bond beam is holding up one side of it. I’d think grout or foam jacking might be the only option with decking separate from the coping.
- Nov 12, 2017
- 11,941
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I will look for those, thanks! I have about a 40' section to jack up all at once, part of which is at a 90° angle from the rest. That's what makes doing it myself sound daunting. But since I have no idea how this work is actually done, I'll see what I can find on YouTube.
I'm guessing a new pool deck would be in the $10-20K range, so I don't really have anything to lose. Except the colored pool deck matches the entire yard's colored decking, complete with flagstone inlays. It would likely be impossible to match, and there is no good place to cut the areas apart.
I've also considered grinding down the edge of the coping to match, and just living with it like that. The coping is flagstone, so I imagine cosmetically it wouldn't be so bad. But if I go that route, and later need to jack up or replace the deck anyway, I'll have ruined the coping for nothing.
Of course, if I was to replace the deck, I'd replace the coping too, I suppose. What's that, another $10K?
The correct fix is to tear out everything, have the soil properly prepared (which was likely never done correctly), and re-pour everything. So what's that? $50-75K?
And I know that what I think something might cost is usually off by 100%.
All my options suck. And none of them are a guarantee that it won't happen again.
I had a similar 60+ feet of decking to lift (kidney bean pool) and I simply rented a concrete saw and cut additional expansion joints into it to create more manageable sections. You can check out my pool renovation thread if interested in the details.
There are both foam lifting and grout lifting services available. Both were similar quote at around $5k but they only lift and level concrete so any that has shifted isn’t likely to be moved back. That was why I ultimately chose to DIY.
- Nov 12, 2017
- 11,941
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
You mean slice all the way through, right through the rebar, or just make more shallow control joints, to hide the inevitable new cracking?
They didn’t use rebar in mine so I cut all the way through. Not sure how to handle rebar might be able to cut 2” deep and let it crack at the new joints.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,526
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Be careful there. The deck floats over the bond beam and does not make contact with the bond beam to allow for the expansion joint.
If you lift the cantilevered deck and it makes contact with the bond beam you will have compromised the expansion joint and can create cracking problems with the pool.
I suppose if I was redoing it all, the ground would be built up to do all the supporting of the deck, but in my case the deck is sitting on top of the bond beam and can slide over the top a bit, albeit as much as a 1500lb flat rock can “slide”.