Hi all. Long time lurker (6 months), first time poster. The wife and I bought a home with an in ground swimming pool. Since it came with the house, we do want get some use out of it. We FINALLY got it "started up" for the summer last week, only to find we have a leak under the skimmer (which explains the settling of parts of the pool deck and gazebo). Being a cheap wad I decided I would spend a good part of my weekend trying to fix it only to find the nearby vegetation to be a pain. Regardless, what I had hoped to be a split in the line somewhere between the skimmer and the pump has manifested itself to be true, but in the highly unconvenient location directly under the basket somewhere. Well, I guess it is possible for it to be anywhere in the skimmer basket itself.
What has me perplexed is it doesn't leak when the pump is not operating.
Since I've already dug around the pool and found the leak to be under the skimmer, the sure fire fix is to rip the whole thing out and rebuild. I've got a whole slew of questions regarding the removal of the old skimmer. I'm most worried about the treatment of the water. I've been running the pump a bit to keep everything circulating as best I can. But I'm sure if I tested the water it would be insufficient.
With that said, I'll most likely pay a professional to do the work to save myself the headache IF there are no other ideas on how to fix it. I'm sure you'll all tell me to hire the pro, but I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything. A couple grand means different things to everyone.
And just for my curiosity, how does one properly remove a skimmer cemented in? A Jackhammer or hammer drill would cause me to worry the pool itself would undergo some damage.
View of Skimmer
Settling in decking
View of Skimmer with soil removed
Skimmer attachment to pool
What has me perplexed is it doesn't leak when the pump is not operating.
Since I've already dug around the pool and found the leak to be under the skimmer, the sure fire fix is to rip the whole thing out and rebuild. I've got a whole slew of questions regarding the removal of the old skimmer. I'm most worried about the treatment of the water. I've been running the pump a bit to keep everything circulating as best I can. But I'm sure if I tested the water it would be insufficient.
With that said, I'll most likely pay a professional to do the work to save myself the headache IF there are no other ideas on how to fix it. I'm sure you'll all tell me to hire the pro, but I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything. A couple grand means different things to everyone.
And just for my curiosity, how does one properly remove a skimmer cemented in? A Jackhammer or hammer drill would cause me to worry the pool itself would undergo some damage.
View of Skimmer
Settling in decking
View of Skimmer with soil removed
Skimmer attachment to pool