Took Pool Cover off and discovered this

mterrell77 · Apr 25, 2018

This is my second opening so my pool is under 2 years old. I took the pool cover off to find the steps had huge chunks of plaster missing from my gunnite inground pool. It is only on the steps also. Any thoughts what could have caused this? The gouges are very deep too...

mterrell77 · Apr 25, 2018

And it keeps getting worse. Upon further looking at my pool I found the light has protruded out through the pool. What in the world has happened???

Texas Splash · Apr 25, 2018

Ugh.

We'll ping a plaster expert and see if we can't get you some advice.

JoyfulNoise · Apr 25, 2018

Did you have a lot of freezing weather this winter? Sounds a lot like freeze damage to me and the steps would be highly susceptible since the water there is a lot more shallow than the rest of the pool. Frozen water may have gotten behind the light in the niche causing the lamp housing to be pushed out. You should contact your PB and see what will be covered. Likely your plaster will be covered by the plaster applicator, but your PB may charge you for any fix or damage to the light niche.

Did you close this pool yourself? Was everything winterized appropriately?

mterrell77 · Apr 25, 2018

We did have alot of freezing. Now the plaster is the least of my worries. So not only did that one pop out I looked at the other one and it is bulging looking like it will pop out at any time. How would water get in there and freeze if those pipes arent connected with the jets or returns? And this was the first time we closed it ourself

mterrell77 · Apr 25, 2018

So here is the image (sorry about my finger) of the light that came through. I just checked the other one and it is bulging out like it could pop through any minute.

blakeusa · Apr 25, 2018

Please post pics of your lights.

As far as your plaster... many plaster pools are subject to hard freeze thaw cycles.. like in New England and Canada........ however the plaster normally does not peel up.

The only way I can see this happening is that there were small air pockets (or small pin holes or chips) under the plaster that water got into.. and when it froze it chipped off.

This can easily be repaired by buffing/ wet sanding the steps with 220 grit sandpaper to normalize the color and texture on the steps. You would just need to drain the water below the
damaged steps. It could be done with air tools underwater since it is a small area.