Spa spillover wall repair

[Y2K]

Hi all,

I need some advice on repairing my crumbling (ugly) spillover wall in my pool. The wall separates the spa and the main pool. I had this problem (although not to this extend) a few years back when tiles were falling off and some small cracks appearing and even though I am not a stranger to concrete/tiling DIY work I decided that it is better to leave it to professionals in this case. So I hired a pool company to do the "professional" repair for me. They cut off the top two inches of the wall off (basically to make it flat) then re-built the concrete and tiled over it. It looked really good for one season! I was very careful about maintaining chemistry in the pool and I made sure that my water level is below the tile line during winter (as I always do) since it can get really cold in MA. As you can see from the pictures below, now two years later all the work that they did fell apart and now it is actually worse than it was before because since they cut a big chunk of old concrete off and the new concrete they poured did not attach well, the damage is more extensive. I tried contacting the contractor several times with no success and honestly at this point I don't want to deal with them anyways so I would like to attempt to repair it myself. I really do not think I can do any worse then what they did so I am ready and willing :-D The wall length is about 9 1/2 feet. Some questions I have before I jump right in:

1) After removing all loose and cracked concrete, I am planing on building a form to put on top of the wall so I can re-pour the top and re-build the spillover. What concrete mixture I need to use for this application? What is the best way to make sure the newly poured concrete attaches well to the existing foundation? How long to let it cure before tiling?

2) After concrete is cured, what is recommended thinset to set the tiles on? Same question about grout? Do I need to seal it?

3) The problem area usually starts around the spillover opening so instead of using tiles, I am planing on using something larger to minimize the grout lines. Any recommendations on what to use?

4) Any other advice from someone who attempted such repairs? Any gotchas? Any alternative way to address this issue instead of rebuilding it the same way it was (removing the wall completely is cost prohibitive for me but maybe other options)? I would appreciate any feedback.

Finally some pictures of the ugliness (please ignore the stuff on the bottom, I haven't vacuumed the pool yet):

 

[Glock]

Do you have a pic of what it should look like?

 

[Glock]

That is very worrisome if the part that is crumbling was poured at the same time as the pool itself. Personally, I would lower the water and remove it down to just below the tile and rebuild it yourself. You will probably need some kind of steel in it too. I would chip away until you get to the pools rebar and build your own form and pour it yourself. Pray its not just crappy mix, especially if the entire pool was poured the same.

 

[Y2K]

Do you have a pic of what it should look like?

Could't really find a good picture of the pool where the wall is shown. This is the best I found, hope it gives an idea.

 

[Y2K]

That is very worrisome if the part that is crumbling was poured at the same time as the pool itself. Personally, I would lower the water and remove it down to just below the tile and rebuild it yourself. You will probably need some kind of steel in it too. I would chip away until you get to the pools rebar and build your own form and pour it yourself. Pray its not just crappy mix, especially if the entire pool was poured the same.

The thing is, the part that is crumbling is really the patching work that previous company did. It started with a few tiles falling from the wall. I took all loose tiles and called the professionals. They came in, found some small cracks underneath and recommended to take all tiles off from the spillover wall, remove loose concrete on top (they grinded it out), re-pour top concrete, and re-tile. That's what they did. But two years later it is back to where it was plus the concrete that they poured on top is all cracked up too.

Any idea what concrete mix needs to be used for something like this? Hydrolic cement? I have not done concrete work in the pool yet so I want to make sure it's done right.

 

[Glock]

That is alot missing. Yeah it sounds like the "professionals" had their heads up their chocolate wizwang. It sounds like they used the wrong mix. I would still ship down to the rebar or drill holes and plant your own steel. I don't know anything about mixes but if it were me, I would call a concrete plant and ask them what mix they would use on an exposed aggregate pool. that should hold up nicely.