Best way to fix broken tiles above water line? Exposed for longer than it should have been.

[Jweber42]

I've been an irresponsible pool owner and unfortunately I let this sit for quite a while due to life happening. What's the best way to clean, seal, and replace the tiles? I have the original tiles that came off in a plastic bag.

And is there any way to reinforce/proactively do something to the rest of them to prevent this from happening elsewhere? Thanks for the help!!

 

[ajw22]

That horizontal crack indicates an expansion joint problem and possibly a cracked bond beam. Read Expansion Joints and Coping - Further Reading

Show us pictures of your deck and coping around the crack area.

You must clean the area well and reattach the tiles with thinset and grout. Preparation of the surface is 70% of the work.

Waterline Tile Installation - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Tile

e-zpatch.com

Are the 6 pictures you posted all of the same area or different areas?

 

[Jweber42]

That horizontal crack indicates an expansion joint problem and possibly a cracked bond beam. Read Expansion Joints and Coping - Further Reading

Show us pictures of your deck and coping around the crack area.

You must clean the area well and reattach the tiles with thinset and grout. Preparation of the surface is 70% of the work.

Waterline Tile Installation - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Tile

e-zpatch.com

Are the 6 pictures you posted all of the same area or different areas?

All pictures are from the same area, soon as I get home I'll send pictures of the surrounding area. Any particular cleaning method? Or just soap and a hard bristle brush?

 

[ajw22]

All pictures are from the same area, soon as I get home I'll send pictures of the surrounding area. Any particular cleaning method? Or just soap and a hard bristle brush?

Looks like you have algae all along your tile and grout. You need to scrub it with a chlorine solution and brass bristle wire brush until it is clean and dry.

 

[Jweber42]

Th

Looks like you have algae all along your tile and grout. You need to scrub it with a chlorine solution and brass bristle wire brush until it is clean and dry.

Thanks! Here are some more pictures too (just put more chlorine in and it's due for a brush/vacuum.). There is a faint crack, but only on this side of the pool nowhere else. Is this indicative of an expansion joint issue?

Red arrows in the pictures point to where the tiles came off.

 

[ajw22]

You have a fundamental construction problem.

The deck and the pool are two separate structures that need to move independently. If they are structurally connected, as yours are, they will put pressure on each other, and things will crack.

Your deck does not have an expansion joint. It is poured concrete cantilevered over the pool bond beam. It is not visible if the correct isolation joint was placed where the deck overlaps the pool bond beam.

Then, the edge of the deck was capped with bullnose tile and connected to the waterline tile with grout. There is no where for the deck to move independently of the pool without the cracks you see.

There is no simple fix until you replace the deck and coping around the pool. You can replace tiles and expect new cracks over time.

 

[Jweber42]

You have a fundamental construction problem.

The deck and the pool are two separate structures that need to move independently. If they are structurally connected, as yours are, they will put pressure on each other, and things will crack.

Your deck does not have an expansion joint. It is poured concrete cantilevered over the pool bond beam. It is not visible if the correct isolation joint was placed where the deck overlaps the pool bond beam.

Then, the edge of the deck was capped with bullnose tile and connected to the waterline tile with grout. There is no where for the deck to move independently of the pool without the cracks you see.

There is no simple fix until you replace the deck and coping around the pool. You can replace tiles and expect new cracks over time.

Dang, well that's definitely not what I was hoping to hear. Thank you so much for the helpful advice and guidance. Sounds like that would be around a 10K plus type of project, and unfortunately I have nowhere near that in the budget right now so will have to save up.

Luckily these tiles are the only ones that have come off in the last 3 years, and I'm in South Florida so not much temperature variance for the most part. This pool is original to the house which was built in the 1980s so I assume that's why maybe it wasn't done to modern standards. Thanks again for all the help!