So who else here has fallen victim to "youtube DIY Fraud"?
We had this brilliant idea last year of doing our own landscaping and paving stone walk ways, armed with more confidence than sense, an overly supportive spouse and a bunch of 20 minute youtube videos we figured we would be able to tackle our own landscaping. I mean how hard can something be if there's a video on how to do it from both Lowes and Home Depot? What did it matter that I've never down reverse cuts with a stone/concrete saw (my kids can learn to count to ten on their own fingers!) What took 20 minutes on youtube, took 3 weeks in real life, and 5 years off my mental health. In the end we got some walkways done, and abandoned everything else (the professionals are coming to finish what we started last year in a couple of weeks).
We figured that if we were going to go through another DIY adventure at least we'd share our experience with this community.
So we purchased our home several years back and completed an infill project. We inherited a pool that we didn't know anything about. We were told it didn't leak (don't believe it) and that there were no problems (if anyone ever tells you this, ask for their first born as collateral). We knew due to the relocation of the pool equipment we would be running a new gas line and new plumbing.
Unfortunately after we spent lots of money running new plumbing, and a new gas line we filled the pool and discovered we had a leak or multiple (which we tried to solve in this Original Thread). We also learned we inherited an species of pool that would qualify for the endangered species list of pools, a rare hybrid pool. For those new to hybrid pools, this is a concrete base pool with fibreglass panel walls. What this meant for us was that there were no pool companies in our area with knowledge on how to rehab/restore the pool.
Despite these challenges we manage to limp the pool through the last couple of weeks last season.
Unfortunately this year as we look forward to pool season we still have leaks that need fixing.
I believe I have four basic problems to solve and I'll add to this thread as I go through each section.
1. Concrete basin
2. Seam where the basin joins the fibreglass panels
3. The Fibreglass panels
4. The Seals between the fibreglass panels
Concrete basin
The concrete basin has been painted with an epoxy pool paint (I was tempted to send off some samples to some companies to figure this out what the coating was, when my wife aptly pointed out the empty epoxy pool paint cans left over in the back garage from the previous owner)
We've also noticed that we have a funny leak problem. There is water seeping INTO the pool when it's been drained for cleaning.
Our plan:
- Hire someone to come sandblast off the layers of old paint until we get down to the concrete layer.
- Repair any concrete cracks
- Recoat the concrete basin
At this stage we would love any advice or threads that discuss concrete crack repairs, and concrete re-coating options. (No one is able to come plaster so it likely will have to be some sort of paint).
I'll continue to update this thread as our work (and challenges) continue. Hopefully this will inspire others to take on "20 minute" youtube video projects.
We had this brilliant idea last year of doing our own landscaping and paving stone walk ways, armed with more confidence than sense, an overly supportive spouse and a bunch of 20 minute youtube videos we figured we would be able to tackle our own landscaping. I mean how hard can something be if there's a video on how to do it from both Lowes and Home Depot? What did it matter that I've never down reverse cuts with a stone/concrete saw (my kids can learn to count to ten on their own fingers!) What took 20 minutes on youtube, took 3 weeks in real life, and 5 years off my mental health. In the end we got some walkways done, and abandoned everything else (the professionals are coming to finish what we started last year in a couple of weeks).
We figured that if we were going to go through another DIY adventure at least we'd share our experience with this community.
So we purchased our home several years back and completed an infill project. We inherited a pool that we didn't know anything about. We were told it didn't leak (don't believe it) and that there were no problems (if anyone ever tells you this, ask for their first born as collateral). We knew due to the relocation of the pool equipment we would be running a new gas line and new plumbing.
Unfortunately after we spent lots of money running new plumbing, and a new gas line we filled the pool and discovered we had a leak or multiple (which we tried to solve in this Original Thread). We also learned we inherited an species of pool that would qualify for the endangered species list of pools, a rare hybrid pool. For those new to hybrid pools, this is a concrete base pool with fibreglass panel walls. What this meant for us was that there were no pool companies in our area with knowledge on how to rehab/restore the pool.
Despite these challenges we manage to limp the pool through the last couple of weeks last season.
Unfortunately this year as we look forward to pool season we still have leaks that need fixing.
I believe I have four basic problems to solve and I'll add to this thread as I go through each section.
1. Concrete basin
2. Seam where the basin joins the fibreglass panels
3. The Fibreglass panels
4. The Seals between the fibreglass panels
Concrete basin
The concrete basin has been painted with an epoxy pool paint (I was tempted to send off some samples to some companies to figure this out what the coating was, when my wife aptly pointed out the empty epoxy pool paint cans left over in the back garage from the previous owner)
We've also noticed that we have a funny leak problem. There is water seeping INTO the pool when it's been drained for cleaning.
Our plan:
- Hire someone to come sandblast off the layers of old paint until we get down to the concrete layer.
- Repair any concrete cracks
- Recoat the concrete basin
At this stage we would love any advice or threads that discuss concrete crack repairs, and concrete re-coating options. (No one is able to come plaster so it likely will have to be some sort of paint).
I'll continue to update this thread as our work (and challenges) continue. Hopefully this will inspire others to take on "20 minute" youtube video projects.
