Are these cracks in pool surround on sandstone an issue

[GoofustheDoofus]

Hi TFP team -

Wanted to grab your opinion on this - here is an overview of my pool: We have been in the house a couple years, believe the previous owner had it installed around 2008:


I have noticed some cracks between the sandstone? surround of the pool in the seams betweeen stones. Are these something I need to address, or is that just cosmetic?

On a separate note, this sandstone seems to be constantly slowly falling apart and turning into dust (some more than others, the below rock is one of the worse examples)... any recommended sealers to slow this down or stop this? Or is that just a property of this stone I'll have no matter what?
Thanks in advance

 

[ajw22]

The cracks in the joints between stones are not a big problem and can be patched with Type S mortar.

The crumbling stone is likely due to the stone quality. There are stone sealers in TX and I will let the folks in your area comment.

@Jimrahbe thoughts?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Dd,

I have a pool with the same flagstone coping and the same basic problem. About half the stones are just like new and the other half are slowly flaking apart.. Good and bad stones right next to one another.. I have to assume it is the natural way cheap flagstone works.

I am not sure a sealer will really do anything, so I don't use it. This particular pool has had the flagstone coping for about 9 or 10 years and I expect it will last another 10 years.

I would want to get the gaps between the stones fixed, as it is going to let the water attack from the bottom.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[GoofustheDoofus]

Thanks for the response guys, I will look into patching up those crack spots.

@Jimrahbe - sorry a bit new to this, when you mention it 'attacking from the bottom' what should I be concerned about specifically? I thought that the job of the coping was mostly cosmetic, but is there a part of the pool structure it is protecting like the rebar framing within the concrete?

 

[Jimrahbe]

when you mention it 'attacking from the bottom' what should I be concerned about specifically? I thought that the job of the coping was mostly cosmetic, but is there a part of the pool structure it is protecting?

Dd,

Sorry, I should have been more clear.. You do not want water to get under the coping, as this can degrade the mortar between the coping and the "bond beam", basically the gunite part of the pool where the coping sits. If you let water get under the coping it can cause the coping to detach from the gunite. It will not cause any real damage to the gunite pool structure, your coping will just fall off..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[jimmythegreek]

It's always wise to keep water away from pool. Its your enemy unless its ur friendly pool water in the pool. I use a sealer on all stone no matter what and in TX I'd be using one with UV protection

 

[GoofustheDoofus]

Thanks @Jimrahbe for the additional context!