Demolition mysteries!

[Gourockian]

The demolition or chipping crew (9 guys) came today and removed the old marcite surface of my pool and spa, as the first stage of the renovation process. The pool is not too big so after three hours of solid and very noisy work, they had finished and cleared up. The foreman mentioned that it looked like there had been a couple of fixtures above the large swimout which had previously been removed and plastered over.

After they left, I took a close look and found that both of the plaster 'plugs' were loose and were only held in place by the waterline tiles. I decided to break these out and clean up the openings, the plan being to plug them permanently with concrete and allow them to cure before the Pebblesheen crew arrives in a few weeks time. The chipping crew were not supposed to come until another three weeks but they had a cancellation so arranged to come early, thank goodness!

I was expecting to see some plumbing once I removed the plugs which consisted of a very sandy mortar covered in thick marcite. However, there was no sign of any pipes so I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what the openings may have been for? The base and sides are approximately 5-inches wide by 6.5-inches tall and go right back through the 6-inch concrete to the dirt. The openings are not symetrically aligned with the ends of the shelf so I'm wondering if the previous owner cancelled whatever was planned to go there because of this mistake.

The next thing is that they exposed what looks like some kind of brown fiber board which looks like thick hardboard in the wall of the spa. I don't know if it had been used as a flexible former when the curved wall of the spa was constructed but it will be coming out also.

Finally, I had already decided to have the skimmer replaced, only because it had been there since 1992 and it seemed wise to do it before the new finish was applied. After the demolition was done, a fairly large hole was found just behind the marcite, alongside the skimmer. The dirt behind it was damp and there were the remains of some kind of slender root system growing. That should all be taken care of when the new skimmer is installed.

Now I'm wondering what else remains covered up and unseen.

 

[1poolman1]

The demolition or chipping crew (9 guys) came today and removed the old marcite surface of my pool and spa, as the first stage of the renovation process. The pool is not too big so after three hours of solid and very noisy work, they had finished and cleared up. The foreman mentioned that it looked like there had been a couple of fixtures above the large swimout which had previously been removed and plastered over.

After they left, I took a close look and found that both of the plaster 'plugs' were loose and were only held in place by the waterline tiles. I decided to break these out and clean up the openings, the plan being to plug them permanently with concrete and allow them to cure before the Pebblesheen crew arrives in a few weeks time. The chipping crew were not supposed to come until another three weeks but they had a cancellation so arranged to come early, thank goodness!

I was expecting to see some plumbing once I removed the plugs which consisted of a very sandy mortar covered in thick marcite. However, there was no sign of any pipes so I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what the openings may have been for? The base and sides are approximately 5-inches wide by 6.5-inches tall and go right back through the 6-inch concrete to the dirt. The openings are not symetrically aligned with the ends of the shelf so I'm wondering if the previous owner cancelled whatever was planned to go there because of this mistake.

The next thing is that they exposed what looks like some kind of brown fiber board which looks like thick hardboard in the wall of the spa. I don't know if it had been used as a flexible former when the curved wall of the spa was constructed but it will be coming out also.

Finally, I had already decided to have the skimmer replaced, only because it had been there since 1992 and it seemed wise to do it before the new finish was applied. After the demolition was done, a fairly large hole was found just behind the marcite, alongside the skimmer. The dirt behind it was damp and there were the remains of some kind of slender root system growing. That should all be taken care of when the new skimmer is installed.

Now I'm wondering what else remains covered up and unseen.

In the era that pool was built, it still wasn't unusual to have spa jets installed at a bench like that unless that is a spa. Those openings may have be there for ones that were decided against when the pool was built. They are a bit high for that, but who knows?

 

[Bperry]

Those openings may have be there for ones that were decided against when the pool was built. They are a bit high for that, but who knows?

Maybe that’s why they were canceled?

 

[Gourockian]

In the era that pool was built, it still wasn't unusual to have spa jets installed at a bench like that unless that is a spa. Those openings may have be there for ones that were decided against when the pool was built. They are a bit high for that, but who knows?

My son thought they were perhaps for spa jets but there already is a separate spa. I would not have thought they would have such large holes for jets, particularly as they seem to be more or less rectangular openings.

One of the existing spa jets sticks out about two inches from the concrete shell, which explains why the wall seemed to bulge a bit as they had to build up the marcite to match it. I'm convinced this pool was built by a bunch of Florida rednecks.

 

[Gourockian]

I'm in the process of having our pool and spa resurfaced but all that has been done so far is the old marcite was chipped off on March, 10th. This was earlier than expected as the crew had a cancellation.
Initally, the remaining water was just around 1 - 2 inches above the main drain but over the course of about 10 days, this gradually dropped to where it was only in the body of the drain. As of today, there is only approximately 2 inches left in the drain, so the water table is obviously very low.

However, I've noticed that the area surrounding the drain has never dried out, unlike the rest of the pool surface. This is depite the local Florida temperatures reaching the high 80's F over the last few days and very little in the way of rain.

Is it possible that groundwater is somehow seeping up through the concrete shell or is it more likely that there is some sort of gap between the concrete and outer drain body. Would I be correct in thinking that in either case, the problem would be fixed when the Pebblesheen is sprayed on in due course?

Al