Continuously Wet Spot where Deck meets House Wall

[wwtennant]

I have a "spot" where the decking meets the wall of my house that is always wet despite us having no rain for quite awhile and us not using the hose in that area for a long time. It is circled in the attached photos in ORANGE. The first photo also has a number of items near it circled in BLUE- those items in order from top to bottom are 1) Pool overflow cut-off valve, 2) Skimmer, 3) Auto-Fill Float Control, and 4) Drain for the deck.

My question is why this spot might always be wet like this and what I should do about it. I imagine there must be a leak in one of the other areas (likely the Skimmer or Auto-Fill) that is slowly leaking and pooling up in that area by the foundation and being absorbed into the wood there against the house that serves as an expansion joint.
- Any thoughts from the experts on what is going on here?
- Who do I call to get this fixed? Pool builder? Decking company? Foundation company??

As always... many thanks!!

Stay Healthy Out There,
Warren

 

[sktn77a]

Certainly looks like something is leaking under the deck. Don't see any simple solutions that would avoid taking up the deck. Maybe one of the pool Builders on this forum will have an idea. I'd probably just live with it.

 

[JJ_Tex]

I would try to rule out the obvious first:

1. Is there anything above the area in the overhang of your house like the overflow pipe from your A/C attic unit? What about gutters, could they be leaking?

2. Is this area a natural low spot for water to go instead of the drain?

3. If nothing on #1 or #2, then try to isolate the possible issue areas and observe any changes in the spot:
- Turn off the auto-fill and see if it dries up after a period of time
- Try putting a hose in the drain pipe for a few hours and see if there is any change in the spot
- Overflow the pool so the overflow pipe gets used
- Turn off the skimmer

 

[Newdude]

The first two places I would look would be up like JJ_Tex and then inside. Any pipes in that area of the home that could be sweating inside ? Is there access by basement or crawlspace to see inside ?

 

[zea3]

What is on the opposite side of the wall inside the house? Is there any kind of plumbing in that area inside? Since the wet spot lines up with the auto fill, I'm thinking there is plumbing on the opposite side of the wall that the autofill is using for a fresh water connection, and it may be leaking. Try shutting off all the water in the house. If you have any faucets that drip or toilets that run shut them off at the valve and see if the water meter still runs. Be sure to tell everyone not to turn on any water or flush toilets for 5-10 minutes while you are checking things out. If the water meter still runs you have a leak in the system and the autofill line is the most likely culprit.

 

[wwtennant]

Many thanks to everyone for replying. I should have noted that there is nothing above the wet spot that is leaking- it is the gutter but no leaks and there is not an AC Drip Line. On the other side of that wall is the garage and there is no plumbing there that I know of. You can see a hose in the first photo above and it is attached to a water spigot that is about 8 feet from the wet spot but that is the farthest that the water goes out from the house to my knowledge. Also, they did not tap into that spigot to my knowledge as they never disturbed the brick or anything at the time of build.

I attempted to turn off the AutoFill today per the suggestions to try to trouble shoot it. Wasn't sure how to do that but watched a video or two and it all seemed to be at the backfill so I cut those off by turning the valves perpendicular (the photo below only has one perpendicular but I tried with both). This did not cut off the water to the autofill however. See the photos below of my set-up. Any other ideas of where I would cut off my AutoFill water supply?? Maybe the one that I circled near the pool heater??

Thank you,

Warren