Cracked concrete around railing anchors

[jayg30]

I'm talking with some pool concrete individuals to gather quotes and best approach to fixing what has become extremely bad cracking in our pool deck concrete. The cracks originate from the anchors that were installed back when the pool was built in 2004. The anchors used were aluminum. And the railing used was a set of "deck mounted 2 bend handrails" on either side of the steps. They are 40" width (supposedly).


The first question that came up was cutting out the cracked area of concrete and just replacing that vs removal of the whole section. The whole section is easily 10x the area of where the cracking is. I've been told they can cut out the cracked concrete, tie rebar into the existing concrete, and pour new. I'm no concrete expert but I can't imagine the old and new concrete would ever bond like freshly pouring the slab.

Second thing that I'm curious about is that one individual recommended moving to a different type of center mounted railing instead of the 2 on the sides. He seemed to imply that the side railings were more prone to cracking the concrete. This doesn't make any sense to me and from my research it seems like there are plenty of people with cracking from a center rail. Is there any validity to this?

I don't want a center rail. The pools steps are 4ft at the bottom step and a bit under 6ft at the top step. A center rail seems like it would intrude and crowd the steps.

The other question I have is replacing the anchors. I think that the aluminum anchors were a poor choice and probably contributed to the cracking. I've seen brass is recommended now. But I also came across the polymer based anchors from Saftron (and their railings). I sort of feel like the polymer anchors might be even better option over the brass. Curious if anyone has thoughts.

Finally, I was thinking we should replace the railings we have. I think they are an old S.R. Smith model. They have been extremely difficult to insert for many years now. I measured them and the center-to-center measurement doesn't seem like 40" but more like 40.5". I think this was why they've been so hard to insert for so long and might have even contributed to the concrete cracking. I was considering maybe moving to the polymer based Saftron railing in the same style. However, I don't really know anything about it. Are they worth it? Are there better options (that are still economical)? Are they going to be more resistant and longer lasting to chlorine or if we switch over to a salt to chlorine generator?

Thanks.

 

[Homebrewale]

I had the exact issues on my last pool as you have. Mine was fixed by replacing whole sections of concrete. The old concrete was cut at the expansion joints. New concrete was poured in the sections removed. For the handrails, Saftron anchors were used in the new concrete and Saftron handrails were added. Since there wasn't going to be a good match with the old and new concrete, a concrete overlay was installed over the whole concrete deck.

 

[jayg30]

I had the exact issues on my last pool as you have. Mine was fixed by replacing whole sections of concrete. The old concrete was cut at the expansion joints. New concrete was poured in the sections removed. For the handrails, Saftron anchors were used in the new concrete and Saftron handrails were added. Since there wasn't going to be a good match with the old and new concrete, a concrete overlay was installed over the whole concrete deck.

I'm not overly concerned about the old and new concrete matching. I guess that could be addressed later if necessary.

I'm curious, did you like the Saftron handrails and the anchors? They seem to be a good option. Although I did read someone say that they prefer using the brass anchors with the Saftron handrails because they seem to grip better. Not sure if that's a real issue though.

 

[Homebrewale]

I like them. I'm in the process of editing my first reply and adding two photos. Check back later to see them.

Make sure the new anchors are bonded. My concrete guy failed to do that. Originally I used the old chrome coated metal handrails and ladder. They started to rust even through they were stainless steel. An electrician measured a very low current in the handrails. The choice was to dig up the concrete to add bonding or to use the Saftron handrails and ladder. You can see what I picked.

Edit: Photos added

 

[jayg30]

I like them. I'm in the process of editing my first reply and adding two photos. Check back later to see them.

Make sure the new anchors are bonded. My concrete guy failed to do that. Originally I used the old chrome coated metal handrails and ladder. They started to rust even through they were stainless steel. An electrician measured a very low current in the handrails. The choice was to dig up the concrete to add bonding or to use the Saftron handrails and ladder. You can see what I picked.

Edit: Photos added

Thanks! I like how yours look. Are those the beige color?

I'm aware of the bonding. Our existing ones should be bonded. And regardless of which anchors and handrails get installed I'm going to ask for them to be bonded as well. Even if we ultimately are going to get the Saftron handrails and it's not "necessary", might as well bond it while the concrete is being replaced in case other handrails end up being used down the line.

Your picture actually gave me an idea to discuss with the concrete people that might end up helping.

 

[Homebrewale]

I'm not sure what idea you got but I will add that the old anchors were closer to the edge of the pool. The concrete had cracked between the pool and the anchor. When the new anchors were installed, the anchors were set further back from the pool and stairs.

They are beige color. It was the closest color that matched the stain used on the concrete overlay.

 

[jayg30]

I'm not sure what idea you got but I will add that the old anchors were closed to the edge of the pool. The concrete had cracked between the pool and the anchor. When the new anchors were installed, the anchors were set further back from the pool and stairs.

They are beige color. It was the closest color that matched the stain used on the concrete overlay.

I think our anchors are already set back from the pool edge more than yours. I don't plan to move them any closer to the edge for the fear of exactly what you mentioned. At most we might move the rails "forward" 6-8" because they were set back pretty far behind the steps.

The idea I had was regarding the "apron" or ring around your stairs. We don't have that. However, it occurred to me that perhaps the concrete guys could cut the existing concrete out all around the step like that. It would remove the cracked concrete and the anchors. They could then pour new concrete (perhaps even make it deeper) to form an apron. It will have a different color, but because it wraps around in a uniform way it might almost look like an accent. Better than just a randomly shaped section that's repaired. Eventually I suspect the concrete will "wear" to the point that the different won't be as noticeable. There's also the option of staining the concrete.