Should I Replace Concrete Under Pump?

[my12by60]

My 13-year old, in-ground pool has two motors. One is a two-speed that drives the cleaning system. The other is a single-speed that drives a waterfall. The original pool equipment install included two, separate, small (2 ft. by 3 ft.), pre-made slabs of concrete. I'd estimate each slab is about 2 or 3 inches thick. On one slab is only the base of the two-speed motor. On the other slab sits the base of the one-speed motor and the base of the cartridge filter. The base of each pump is screwed into each piece of concrete. At the time of the original install, these small concrete slabs were just hand carried to the pool equipment area and placed on the dirt under the pumps.

Both of these slabs are starting to crack up and deteriorate. The slab under the two-speed pump now has exposed rebar and numerous cracks. The slab under the one-speed pump and filter is in better shape but still looks pretty cracked up.

My questions:

How important are these slabs in proper operation of the pumps?

Replacing these would be a bit of a project. I am not looking to make work if the issue is only appearance.

If the recommendation is to replace, should I just replace them with another pre-made slab?

Or can I just buy a stepping stone or some other hard surface solution?

Or should I just make a frame and mix my own concrete? How thick is thick enough to last a long time? Rebar required or just plain concrete?

Thanks.

 

[Divin Dave]

The biggest issue with this I think is when the pump position shifts as the concrete becomes unlevel, then there is stressed induced on the plumbing and could possibly over a long period of time end up cracking the pipes into and/or out of the pumps and filter. The plumbing should be relatively stress free in order to prevent this type of thing from happening. Of course the likliehood of this happening depends on how much shfiting occurs.

You could use concrete pavers to replace the existing pads but it would be important to install them correctly so they wont become uneven also over time. You would want at least 2 inches or maybe even 3 inches of paver sand under the pavers to make a good level and long lasting paver base.

It would be easy enough (prolly easier than pavers) to pour new pads using bags of quickcrete. There are mixtures of it that do not require steel reinforcement. For the standard quickcrete, really all you need for that would be some concrete mesh and is available at Lowes and other DIY and Home Improvement centers. Typcially concrete pads are 4 inches thick.

In either case, I really don't think you need to bolt the pumps down, but others opinions may vary. None of my equipment is bolted down and it's just fine.

hope this helps,

 

[my12by60]

Thanks for the feedback. I like the idea of pavestones due to the ease of removal in case I ever need to do any digging to get at the buried plumbing. I thought I had to have something to screw the pumps down into and concrete works better for that. But since screwing down the pumps is not that important, I will look into pavestones.