Can you re-gunnite a pool without disturbing the surrounding concrete deck?

[Bperry]

It is an HOA pool, and yes we do know when it was installed. It was installed in 2015. The pool is not 5 years old now, but I have reports of it leaking since 2020, when it was 5 years old. That's when the putty/epoxy whatever seen in the pics was put in. And that is only the gunnite itself.

It was previously a vinyl liner pool, so the surrounding concrete was already there. Someone broke the vinyl irreparably so it had to be replaced. The gunnite was done as an "in-place" replacement. So as I understand they did not mess with any of the concrete deck (or perhaps only around the skimmer, but considering all the leaks and how old the model of the skimmer is, probably not), just took out the vinyl liner, and put gunnite in. Officers of the HOA who were on the board when this happened have told me this is what occurred.

It was done "on the cheap" because the total cost was around 6k for this. <-- Those are the only items I have not been able to verify myself and simply repeating what I was told. The gunnite was for sure put in in 2015 and it was not a total redo.

It also looks like no permits were pulled, so that would seem to be on par with "on the cheap". It was installed by a "contractor" the at the time board president knew. The then president owns some real estate and this was one of their go to guys. I don't know who exactly though and there is no warranty.

Are you sure you don’t mean “plaster” when you say “gunite”? Gunite is not waterproof but plaster is. Gunite is typically the structural shell of the pool and some kind of waterproofing material is coating the gunite on the inside where the water is.

If there were cracks previously the putty repairs don’t last very long and very likely leaked again.

 

[ajw22]

It was done "on the cheap" because the total cost was around 6k for this. <-- Those are the only items I have not been able to verify myself and simply repeating what I was told. The gunnite was for sure put in in 2015 and it was not a total redo.

It also looks like no permits were pulled, so that would seem to be on par with "on the cheap". It was installed by a "contractor" the at the time board president knew. The then president owns some real estate and this was one of their go to guys. I don't know who exactly though and there is no warranty.

I think this on the cheap build for $6K is contributing to your cracking problem. See if there are any engineering plans of that build in the HOA files or at the town building department where permits may have been issued. I see where this is in Alabama where permits and inspections may be more loose.

A vinyl liner pool has simple steel walls erected that support the liner. The pool walls take little stress and can flex with the liner and water.

A gunite pool begins with a rebar cage being built, then gunite is sprayed onto the rebar to encapsulate it with a 6 to 10 inch thickness. The gunite is not waterproof and a layer of plaster is hand applied on top of the gunite to waterproof it and have a smooth finish.

You can find pictures of liner pool construction and gunite pool construction in various threads in the Under Construction section to see the difference.

I doubt a properly engineered rebar structure was built to hold the gunite together. Without rebar gunite/concrete will crack. Whereas the liner pool and wall can flex under stress the gunite structure needs to be strong enough to stand up to any ground forces.

I think the HOA needs to do some exploratory digging and figure out exactly what layers of materials you have in the pool structure. Then it will become clearer what needs to be done.

 

[JamesW]

I don't know who exactly though and there is no warranty.

Find out who did the work and call them out to tell you what's what.

Who did they write a check to?

You have to have records of who did the work.

There should be pictures of the work.

We basically have no idea what the pool is.

Unless you can find out a lot more details including pictures, you will probably need to to some demo to investigate exactly what you have in terms of a wall and floor.

Most likely, the structure is not structurally sound and it is not fixable.

You can do patches and replumbing, but the problems will probably reappear fairly quickly.

A complete redo is probably the only solution that will give you a proper structurally sound pool.

Most likely, the soil will need to be compacted or you will need piers or piles to provide support.

 

[JamesW]

the total cost was around 6k for this.

There is pretty much no way that they did a proper gunite shell and plaster for $6,000.00.

Maybe they plastered over the existing walls and floor?

Most likely, you will need to cut out a section of coping to see what you have and/or do some core drill samples in the walls and floors to find out exactly what you have.

 

[JamesW]

the pool was put in in 2015

It was previously a vinyl liner pool, so the surrounding concrete was already there.

It is not really accurate to say that the pool was put in in 2015.

I would call it a "Remodel" rather than a pool build.

There is no way that a full pool installation happened at a total cost of $6,000.00.

 

[Newdude]

A gunite pool begins with a rebar cage being built, then gunite is sprayed onto the rebar to encapsulate it with a 6 to 10 inch thickness.

I bet my 10 inch house foundation style walls would fare OK with plaster.




But no vinyl pools have structural floors and trying to convert one like mine would need the floor poured to match the walls. That alone would have eaten up the $6k done - through - a - friend - budget at the time. It'd be even more now. Then the plastering costs.....

My vote is for bad intel which @Sventory is neither resposble or at fault for.

 

[ajw22]

I bet my 10 inch house foundation style walls would fare OK with plaster.

View attachment 559337


But no vinyl pools have structural floors and trying to convert one like mine would need the floor poured to match the walls. That alone would have eaten up the $6k done - through - a - friend - budget at the time. It'd be even more now. Then the plastering costs.....

My vote is for bad intel which @Sventory is neither resposble or at fault for.

Your pool walls are not typical for a liner pool.

But that is why I said there needs to be some exploratory digging and figure out exactly what layers of materials are in the pool structure.

 

[Newdude]

Your pool walls are not typical for a liner pool

We're in an untypical situation.

Maybe it was supposed to be plaster and they ran out of money or changed their mind mid build and dropped a liner in the gunite shell.

 

[ajw22]

We're in an untypical situation.

Maybe it was supposed to be plaster and they ran out of money or changed their mind mid build and dropped a liner in the gunite shell.

Dig We Must then....

 

[Sventory]

Yes, bad intel. And no I can't find any pictures of the process. I'm new to the community and trying to improve it and they have been very bad at maintaining documentation. I did find an email in the HOA email account. It wasn't 6k in 2015. It was:

$25,000.00

· Convert existing pool to gunite pool.
· Add new pump, filter, and salt generator
· 2 new ladders
· New pool light
· 50yr warranty on pool shell and any leaks

So I guess with that cost for that year, it probably was a full redo?

Now it gets even juicier. The pool actually started leaking LESS THAN ONE YEAR after construction. We tried to get the company to come out on the warranty, they found a crack and tried to epoxy it, didn't help. The owner passed away, supposedly his wife and an existing worker took over. The HOA tried to sue the company, but never got anything out of it (can't find any resolution but know we didn't receive any payment). The company now no longer exists, no website, no page on the BBB (there was a link at one point its in the email which outlines the cost). It seems to have gone totally defunct now.

 

[Bperry]

Yes, bad intel. And no I can't find any pictures of the process. I'm new to the community and trying to improve it and they have been very bad at maintaining documentation. I did find an email in the HOA email account. It wasn't 6k in 2015. It was:

$25,000.00

· Convert existing pool to gunite pool.
· Add new pump, filter, and salt generator
· 2 new ladders
· New pool light
· 50yr warranty on pool shell and any leaks

So I guess with that cost for that year, it probably was a full redo?

Now it gets even juicier. The pool actually started leaking LESS THAN ONE YEAR after construction. We tried to get the company to come out on the warranty, they found a crack and tried to epoxy it, didn't help. The owner passed away, supposedly his wife and an existing worker took over. The HOA tried to sue the company, but never got anything out of it (can't find any resolution but know we didn't receive any payment). The company now no longer exists, no website, no page on the BBB (there was a link at one point its in the email which outlines the cost). It seems to have gone totally defunct now.

That’s the problem with warranties. The 50yr one is only good if you can find who it’s from.