Beyond Aggravated

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Captain 776

Captain 776

0
Bronze Supporter
May 2, 2016
165
Thailand
My builder was an inexperienced idiot~!!
pool is leaking.
He did not glue the joints on the half inch electrical conduit going to the lights nor did he compact the soil so now the soil has caught you know the soil went down when the lighting conduit sleep and soaked everything and then the ground settled. The conduits down pull them apart so we fixed all the electrical conduit it’s all properly glued together but now my pool is still going down we have drilled half inch test holes everywhere around the apron of the pool drill a half inch hole and then stick a little piece of stick down the end it’s about to meet tomorrow and see if it’s wet and all the places that we’ve drill the hole with the return With the returns come in with the vacuum is where the skimmer is we drill test holes everywhere the test holes are coming up dry I hope it’s not the bottom main sump anyone has anything they can tell me how to isolate leaks I’ll be willing to listen
 
Sorry for your troubles. Please start at the TFP Pool School - Leak Detection page. Remember, water will tell you where the leak is when it stops dropping. So if the leak is still around the light area, or somewhere else, the water will stop dropping at that level. Try to inspect one area at a time when it comes to plumbing, and good luck.
 
I will go check pool school now.
I let it go down by itself and kept track with a piece of blue painting tape.
it dropped 4 inches in 24 hrs.
Yesterday I put a 1.5” expandable test plug in sump pipe, left it 24 hrs, pool still went down 3/4 inch, hopefully that rules out my worst night mare.
This morning, I pumped it down below 3 returns, vac port, auto fill port, and lights and marked the level.
If it stops now, then I know it is one of the 3 items above.
If it keeps going down, sump box is leaking or going thru tile.

They do the main structure poorly here....(Thailand)....they make a form using 3” block, then pour 6” on concrete between the 2 rows of 3” blood ck.
I have been in construction 45 yrs, never saw that movie.
 
Capt, really sorry for your woes, I know this kind of stuff is frustrating. Hang in there. There is an answer and we'll help get you there.

As Pat said, keep watching and making notes. So, 3/4" is a lot better than 4". Not sure how windy and sunny [or rain], but if you have a 5 gallon bucket, fill it to almost about 2" from the top, and place it near your pool that receives the same amt of wind and sun. If it's super windy and sunny, your pool and bucket will have the same amt of evaporation if there's no leaks in pool at certain point. In West Hou, 1/2" per day could be acceptable on hot windy days, so you are not far off from that. want to make sure evap is not giving you false readings.

Keep good records and have plenty of dye around...some of your tests might be late in night when there's little to no winds....

Good luck and we'll help you figure out your issue...tstex
 
I pumped it down below returns, vac port and lights........water never moved. Thats good, not leaking thru structur or in main sump.
Today, I want to seal around all wall flanges and where lighting conduit comes thru the tile, let it set up, then fill to above lights and see if water holds there.

what is the correct caulking/ sealer to use around those flanges where returns and vac port is.

I have lost a lot of water during this exercise, I drilled 1/2” test holes every 5 feet or so in tile joints all along the run from returns to pump house at the 4 corners and stick a stick down there, soil is dry under there.
i am hoping sealing the flanges and lights works.
Maybe we disturbed the seal at lights when fixing the unglued electrical conduit

stand by
 
Here in the states, we typically look for items like AB Epoxy, silicone, or marine products designed for underwater use. In your area, you'll want to see what is available to see what requires cure time above the water level, or perhaps what can be applied when the pool is filled back up just in case you suspect a leak again later. Since you are repairing items that are still above the water line, a grout or cement product might even be better. Of course all products dry differently, so the final cosmetic result can vary.
 
UPDATE:
After putting Hydrophilic Putty in the ends of the light conduit, letting it set 8 hrs, then filling pool to an inch above the lights and wall flanges......marked the wall with painters tape and 8 hrs later, water never moved.
I figure......problem solved. NOT~!!
Filled the pool and added 250 pounds of Salt and put it back in service and let the pump run to get Salt and Chlorine levels back in range.
Next morning, pool is down 2.5 inches.......GRRRRRRRRR
Now I just keep marking the wall and let it go down by itself to see where it stops.
I ran the pool for a few hrs so I dont let my water get green.
i noticed it went down 1/4 - 3/8 inch in an hour, so let it keep running a few hours and it was down 2 inches.
Now it must be a problem in the return line.
Had the pool company (real pool company, not the clown that built it) come and broke thru to expose the furthest return jet piping.
I have been in Construction for 45 yrs and NEVER SAW ANYTHING LIKE THIS.......they dont use wood or metal forms, they make paralell walls out of 2” x 16” cinder blocks, that is the form, they they pour concrete in between the blocks.
As he is removng the tile and chipping concrete, everything is powder DRY.
When he gets 1 1/2 inch PVC exposed, I trun on pump to see if anything was visible leaking.........nothing.
After the pump runs for an hour, the concrete is getting wet at the top of the wall.........puzzling?
It appears, one or more of the 3 braches of return going thru the concrete wall is leaking or somehow damaged and able to come to the top of the wall.

I think.......this is a result of domino effect, ground was never compacted, hole filled with anything and everything incuding rocks 12 inches in diameter........when the lighting conduits were leaking, so much water entered the area around the pool, it further settled the uncompacted soil allowing this secondary problem to happen.

It lQQks like.......we may be completely demolishing the end of my pool down to the level of the return branches.
Pool company boss will come and see me Monday.

I bought this house brand new 3.5 yrs ago at 85% complete. The pool was already in and backfilled but not yet tiled, if I was here during construction, he would never have got away with this.
All piping would have been Schedule 80 with a foot of sand bedding and at least a foot on top.

thanks

Stay Tuned
 
Keep at er, you will get it sorted. Not sure if you really need sch 80 unless your area is prone to ground movement.

BTW, unrelated, castles are made similar to that with a outer and inter stone block wall and a filled center, so the theory is sound but if the construction is shotty it doesn't matter.
 
Alas........we finally found the source today when we broke out 4 more patio tiles above one of the 3 returns.
It leaks out pretty good by gravity and when you turn on the pump, it sprays out.
Not going to be an easy repair ro get to.

stay tuned.
 

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Wow that sucks! I hope you have some recourse over there it would be wrong if you had to pay for their mistakes. The pool does look beautiful I'd love to see more pics!
 
The pool is 3.5 yrs old, so I own it.
excavaring, repair, and surface restoration is going to be around 650 dollars..........the guy who built this is a neighbor, I have a better chance of getting pregnant than any reimbursement

thanks
 
Captain 776 said:
The pool is 3.5 yrs old, so I own it.
excavaring, repair, and surface restoration is going to be around 650 dollars..........the guy who built this is a neighbor, I have a better chance of getting pregnant than any reimbursement

thanks
Click to expand...

$650? Wow must be nice! I can tell you if that happened in my neighborhood it would be $15,000. Glad this isn't a huge financial burden!
 
PoolGate said:
$650? Wow must be nice! I can tell you if that happened in my neighborhood it would be $15,000. Glad this isn't a huge financial burden!
Click to expand...

That is another of the good things about living in Thailand, the cost of living is about 1/3 of USA which means your money goes 3 X as far.
The going rate for an 8 hr day unskilled labor is 300 BHAT @ day........thats 9.75 USD For the DAY, not per hour.
The pool company charges me 500 BHAT (15.00 USD) per day, per tech.
I feel bad only paying them that low.
the 2 piping guys got here at 2 pm and worked until 7 pm, they did a good job with the piping, except I would have preferred 45’s on the return line than back to back 90’s.
I gave these guys a 500 BHAT tip each for staying and finishing the job and doing a quality job.
Our Maid is excellent and very honest, she actually worked to build this house, she can do everything and anything, she would be happy if we gave her 300 BHAT @ day...........we give her 600 a day and she is worth every penny.
 

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