Demo went down to dirt... is this okay?

[Nutloaf]

We are fiiiiinally moving on this reno job that we got quoted in March... yikes, what a wait!

Demo was completed yesterday. There is an area near the middle of exposed rebar and, I discovered this evening, dirt. Cue my mental sirens... :taped:

Is this normal? The PB has said it will be taken care of during the refinish process. Am I wrong to be thinking we should still have a solid shell?? Surely this isn't the first time a demo team has jackhammered too far down, but, boy, it's hard not to panic a little.

I'm attaching a picture, of course. Thanks for any input!

 

[JamesW]

Yikes. Only the plaster should come off. The shotcrete should be more than 6 inches thick.

I would wonder how thick the shotcrete is everywhere if they are hitting dirt.

The rebar should be in the middle of the shotcrete. So, you should have a minimum of 3 inches of shotcrete above and below the rebar.

Even if they were very aggressive in removing the plaster, they should not hit dirt.

 

[Nutloaf]

Erg, that was my fear. I guess the bigger question is: how should this be dealt with? Is it fixable?

 

[Jimrahbe]

loaf,

Did they really punch new holes in the gunite or were those drain holes made when they built the pool and then filled with plaster??

I have two or three holes in the bottom of my pool about the same size that are filled with plaster.

Jim R.

 

[JamesW]

It can be patched. The bigger question is how thick is the shotcrete in general?

Maybe it's just a thin spot in the shotcrete. It's hard to tell.

Were there any cracks in the pool?

In my opinion, it looks like thin shotcrete and not a weep hole for hydrostatic pressure relief.

Weep holes should be round, not irregular.

Core drilling is best, but a round hole is important.

A non round hole can have an adverse effect on the structural integrity of the shell.

It's the same reason that airplane and boat windows are round. Force flows smoothly around rounded holes, whereas it tends to concentrate and radiate from corners.

 

[Nutloaf]

Jim, the circular hole in the background is the main drain hole. They did hammer through the shotcrete in the foreground -- the brown/rust colored patch is dirt and rebar.

James, none that I know of. I'm a little suspicious of a line on one of the steps, but there are no major cracks I'm aware of.

I will take a closer look at the depth of shotcrete above and below the rebar tomorrow.

 

[JamesW]

In my opinion, it's thin shotcrete and not a deliberate weep hole.

It might not be the demo people's fault. They were likely surprised that they broke through.

A weep hole should be round and in the deep end.

You can put one in the shallow end if necessary, but the first one should go in the deep end.

 

[sktn77a]

You'll need something between the exposed rebar and the new plaster to prevent rust stain-through.

 

[Nutloaf]

Thanks, sktn. I'm going to talk to the PB in a little more depth to see what the plan is.