We live in Minnesota, and our inground pool was installed in the late 80's. I have a short (~1 foot) piece of coping that has come loose and I'd like to find out the best way to re-support it. I tried to show in the photos (shutterfly link below) where the break occurred. In my case, the top of the coping has a lip that was supported by the concrete when the concrete sidewalks were poured around the pool. You can see that the top of the concrete has cracked away over the years allowing the top of the aluminum coping to pull away. The coping is still well anchored at the bottom (where its under the sidewalk) and still supports the liner as it should. I've cleaned out all the broken concrete and now wondering what to do next. Idea's so far:
1. A couple Tapcon screws into the face of the coping to pull the coping back flush with the concrete. The guy who has serviced my pool cover in the past (whom I respect) suggested that the tapcons could be problematic due to dissimilar metals where they contact the aluminum coping. Could be problematic in the long run.
2. Fill the void between coping and concrete sidewalk with self-leveling caulk and clamp it in place for a few days while it dries. My concern is that the self leveling caulk may not be strong enough to keep the coping from pulling away again. The pro of this solution is that it keeps water out of the gap between coping and concrete.
3. Same as above except use 2 part epoxy concrete patch to fill the void and keep the coping attached to the concrete. Again, I'm concerned that it may eventually pull away again.
https://pix.sfly.com/S-0OY7
Any other ideas? I keep thinking that some kind of mechanical fastener (such as tapcon) might be best, with the freeze - thaw cycles we have here, but am by no means any kind of expert on pool construction.
1. A couple Tapcon screws into the face of the coping to pull the coping back flush with the concrete. The guy who has serviced my pool cover in the past (whom I respect) suggested that the tapcons could be problematic due to dissimilar metals where they contact the aluminum coping. Could be problematic in the long run.
2. Fill the void between coping and concrete sidewalk with self-leveling caulk and clamp it in place for a few days while it dries. My concern is that the self leveling caulk may not be strong enough to keep the coping from pulling away again. The pro of this solution is that it keeps water out of the gap between coping and concrete.
3. Same as above except use 2 part epoxy concrete patch to fill the void and keep the coping attached to the concrete. Again, I'm concerned that it may eventually pull away again.
https://pix.sfly.com/S-0OY7
Any other ideas? I keep thinking that some kind of mechanical fastener (such as tapcon) might be best, with the freeze - thaw cycles we have here, but am by no means any kind of expert on pool construction.
