Skimmer Leak : Patch or Replace?

[JKomorek]

The attached photo says it all. My skimmer has a large hole, exposing concrete behind it. I am guessing this started as a crack and previous owners attempted to patch, because there was some epoxy which fell right off and the concrete around this area has shifted.


Is it worth trying to repair this skimmer or should I just replace it? Pool is 19k gal. gunite and skimmers are buried in concrete.

[attachment=0:3nvwof73]IMAG0304.jpg[/attachment:3nvwof73]

 

[JasonLion]

If you can replace the entire skimmer, by all means do so. However, replacing in-ground skimmers isn't very easy. It will probably be much simpler to repair (not that that will be all that easy either).

 

[Qwaxalot]

You could, maybe, get away with a whole bunch of A-B Epoxy putty jammed in there, however void behind the hole will be a problem. And you'll be redoing it regularly.

Replacing the skimmer is the best long term solution, but as said above, it's not easy at all. Hire it done expect to pay anywhere from $800 to $1500.

 

[JKomorek]

Thanks for the information, I am going to have to think about this one a bit. I would go ahead with the replacement since that's probably going to save me more money in the long run, though I am a little nervous that the ground may continue to shift with a new skimmer and wreck that one too. Hopefully, stopping this leak will also stop the concrete from moving...

 

[Qwaxalot]

When a skimmer is replaced, a section of the deck surrounding the skimmer has to be cut out and, ultimately, replaced.

If done correctly this leaves the skimmer and the deck patch independent of the rest of the deck.

If the pool is level in the ground, and the rest of the deck is not moving all around the repair should be good.

In SC you shouldn't be having freeze/thaw problems, so I would suspect that the problem is associated with fill and settling. That means, that if the installation is mature, you would not expect a recurrence of the problem.