I have a pool spa combo, that had two cracks in it, I had the pool refinished with Pebble sheen and I had the cracks repaired carbon fiber stitches, v-cut, epoxy, and hydraulic cement. Now 5 months later I see a crack forming again where one of the old cracks were very unfortunate and I'm very disappointed, I put a lot of money into this and apparently I need to take a new approach. Any advice on what I should do now?
Cracks
- Thread starter Rob36
- Start date
Find out why it’s moving, fix that, and then use metal staples when repairing it this time. Moving concrete tends to mean moisture in the ground, but not always.
Also, did the folks doing the repair provide a warranty? I’m guessing no.
You can always ask but sounds like it’s lots of words to essentially say you have no warranty. “Not responsible for cracks discovered after work is complete”…
I had several large cracks in mine and used this product. They have lots of videos detailed different staple products and why the carbon staples aren’t any good and why epoxy injection isn’t useful.
Torque Lock Structural Staples
The Torque-Lock ™ staple is a revolutionary technique used to repair structural cracks on any solid cement based surface. Using its patented Cam Lock technique, it stabilizes the concrete crack by creating up to 5000 lbs of compression torque for each staple installed.
torque-lock.com
But nothing will hold up if the ground is moving. Was there any studies done or explanation of why it cracked in the first place? Mine was moving due to a long term skimmer leak that wasn’t repaired in time.
First, I want to say thank you for your response, it's appreciated. I did speak to the contractor about torque lock Staples but he swore that the carbon fiber was better. As far as the warranty goes I read the whole thing and I don't see where it says anything about not being responsible for cracks. Just where it speaks about leaks. Also this pool is not leaking yet by way of a bucket test. And a die test. Which I performed immediately once I saw the cracks. I only found these cracks yesterday, so at this point right now could this just be delamination? But I don't think it's any coincidence that these cracks are appearing right where the previous crack was. I will be on the phone to get in touch with him first thing Monday. I will also make contact with a foundation stabilization company. And try to see if there's any way to stabilize this pool? I'm sorry I ever bought this house. I do! Thank you again for communicating with me about this.
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It’s item “C”. If you have a crack (other than minor spalling) I can almost guarantee the crack is leaking. The plaster/pebble finish is what waterproofs the shell and if that is cracked, water is able to get through which is the definition of the word “leak”. It may be very slow right now, but water getting into the soil underneath will cause further damage.
If the crack reappeared right where the repair was, it seems carbon fiber is no match for the tons of pressure exerted on the shell from all the water in the pool. I’m not sure why he think the carbon is better in this case given that it broke in less than 5 months. But if the cause of the original crack was not repaired, then don’t expect anything (even steel) staples to hold it together. The original gunite shell is held together with steel rebar.
I guess you’ll need to see if he fixes it and what he proposes to fix it with.
Would you happen to know if a foundation stabilization company could stabilize the pool with maybe helical Piers or some kind of grouting injection into the soil or any other ways?
I had looked into soil stabilization in the past I had gotten an estimate, probably should have done it then. But I just looked at the estimate again, it says "deep injection chemical grouting," "poly mobilization" and it will cost about $10,000. I think that's the route I'm going to look into. Any thoughts on this?
I don’t know much about that so I’d probably look for an expert like that on soil stabilization.
Thanks again, I think injection grouting is going to be my strategy, I have a reputable company by me, I'll be making phone calls tomorrow.
It would be money well spent to have the system pressure tested for any leaks as well as skimmers checked for leaks. Those are a definite cause for concern and I wouldn’t spend any money on the soil stuff until that was triple checked to be ok. Also check any home drainage or natural ground water. You may need some kind of sump pump or drainage to keep the soil dry.
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Thanks, already got a history on all that. Everything already tested multiple times by leak detection companies, also I'm on a high elevation, low water table. I am even with some other houses roofs, hence probably the problem of unstable soil/sand being in Florida at the top of a slope although I do have a retaining wall and a concrete footer going around the pool that the lanai is anchored to
House was built on backfill, And house has already been stabilized with underpinning previous to my buying it. I guess it's time now to stabilize the pool
I do have a geotechnical soil report from the previous owner, it was done as a sinkhole investigation, no sinkhole evidence was found, but it was found that there was backfill used pre-construction, in the report it states that organic matter was found a certain depth below the house.
So I think chemical grout injection soil stabilization on the trouble spot around the pool will take care of the problem. I was just rereading the previous estimate that I got from the foundation stabilization company, there are actually two options listed, 1. Deep Injection of the grout all around the pool that will cost 10 grand. Or 2 they will deep inject the chemical grout just where the trouble spot is and put Polly foam all around the lanai under the pavers on the whole Lanai, but the only deep injection would be only where the trouble spot is, that will only cost $1,900. I'm leaning towards option 2. I'll call them tomorrow. I probably should have done this before I had the resurfacing and the repair done. Again, thank you for listening and your responses.
Do you have pictures of the cracks and where they are in relation to your pool/yard? Is the area flat? I ask because if one portion of the pool is moving relative to the other then stabilizing the whole moving side might be the best option. Note, I’m not an expert in this stuff, just spent a lot of time studying mine before repairing it to make sure I didn’t waste money.