Pool disaster

[Yargnits67]

Hello smart folks of TFP,

I've had a struggle with my pool for over a year now. We kept losing water and eventually it was proven that the shell is cracked. It's been cracked for over a year, close to 18 months. Luckily this is all under warranty and isn't costing me anything, yet.


The gunite company came out today and followed the crack by removing tiles. The picture above is one tile away from the corner of the pool in the deep end. Well, the crack was much longer than we could see on the surface. It went the entire length of that wall and wrapped around to the stairs. It's the wall closest to the house.



Yes, the water is a disaster because I couldn't keep chemicals in it and just gave up the fight. Anyway, it's fully drained now. After they removed all the tiles and revealed the full length of the crack they started cutting away the gunite for the entire length of the crack.





I'm being told tomorrow they are going to back fill behind the shell with gunite/concrete, and then respray the section they removed. They are currently adding holes to add new rebar because they said the rebar was laid improperly and it what likely caused the crack. idk. How well is this fix going to work? How do I not still have two large seams that run the entire length of the pool? Wouldn't it still leak water?

Also, does anyone know how the surface should be repaired? I was told they are going to resurface the entire pool, but how does that work with the tile that is already in place and with things lining up properly? I thought the surface (pebble finish) was a few inches thick.

I'm just confused as to how this is actually going to fix anything and not sure how the surface would be redone so things line up without a 2-3" ledge around the pool.

I'm sure I explained some things pretty poorly so if you need me to clarify anything just ask and I'll do my best.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[ajw22]

That cracked bond beam is caused by not having the correct expansion joint between the pool and deck. Your deck is coupled to the pool and movement of the deck puts pressure on the bond beam and cracks it. The pool and deck need to be separated by a flexible expansion joint allowing each to move independently.

If you don't fix the expansion joint your pool will crack again.

It is not clear to me if you have a cantilevered deck or coping on the bond beam.

Read Expansion Joints and Coping - Further Reading

 

[Yargnits67]

AJW22,

It is a cantilevered deck.

I will read the article you posted. Thanks for your response. My biggest concern is I do not understand how this is a fix. How does the new gunite that will be sprayed bond with the existing that will now be above and below it? It'll have two seams. Then, how the heck does a new interior finish get added to the existing structure without creating a lip under the tile.

I'm frustrated with this process.

Thanks for the information!

 

[ajw22]

It is a cantilevered deck.

With a cantilevered deck there needs to be slip material, roofing paper or plastic sheets, that keep the deck from coupling with the bond beam. I will bet you have a compromised slip joint with the deck laying on the bond beam.

The fact that it happened with the deck next to the house wall is a clue. The house wall prevents from the deck moving in any direction other then towards the pool bond beam. On the other sides that do not abut a wall the deck can expand in the other direction away from the pool.

My biggest concern is I do not understand how this is a fix. How does the new gunite that will be sprayed bond with the existing that will now be above and below it? It'll have two seams. Then, how the heck does a new interior finish get added to the existing structure without creating a lip under the tile.

Plaster is put on top of plaster when a pool is replastered. A bonding coat can be put on top to help adhesion.

Look at the thickness of the pebble plaster where they took off the tile. It is probably a half inch or less. Plaster is not a few inches thick.

One seam will butt against the tile. It depends how good the plaster crew is if they can mix new stuff that matches your existing plaster and feather it in so the seam is not visible underwater.

 

[Yargnits67]

With a cantilevered deck there needs to be slip material, roofing paper or plastic sheets, that keep the deck from coupling with the bond beam. I will bet you have a compromised slip joint with the deck laying on the bond beam.

The fact that it happened with the deck next to the house wall is a clue. The house wall prevents from the deck moving in any direction other then towards the pool bond beam. On the other sides that do not abut a wall the deck can expand in the other direction away from the pool.

That makes a lot of sense. So I am guessing I am kind of screwed then. I will talk to the pool builder but I doubt he will do anything about it.

One seam will butt against the tile. It depends how good the plaster crew is if they can mix new stuff that matches your existing plaster and feather it in so the seam is not visible underwater.

I guess we will find out soonish.

Thank you so much for explaining things to me. I feel better about things. I will post pictures of the progress as things get completed.

 

[Yargnits67]

Here is their fix. Next week they are coming out to tile everything and then apply the finish.







We also found 4 other cracks and cut those out and patched them.







We will see what happens this week but they said tile and then finish.

There is a lot of gunite everywhere, especially in the bottom of the pool.



We have a pebble finsh that is sand colored and it's all covered in gunite. So I have no clue how they are going to fix it. I was told they would redo the entire finish, but my brain can't figure out how that will work since everything is already flush now. Adding another 1/2" woudl create a 1/2" lip around the entire pool and all the lights and jets. Am I wrong? Does anyone know what they do and what I should expect?