Need urgent help with cracking/leaking pool on a hillside in Austin, TX!

[ajw22]

We did hire an engineer and he wants us to make a hole from the center of the pool to the bottom of the outside wall but I am not sure who I hire to do that?!? He said this will give us a good cross section of the construction thru the crack.

...

Any ideas on who I would hire to make the hole in the pool that the structural engineer is asking for?

Make a hole into the plaster to expose the gunite? Or jackhammer the gunite to expose the rebar and open up a trench down to the soil along the bottom?

Will the engineer be on site supervising the crew making the holes? Saying where and how deep and saying when to stop because he can see what he wants?

No way I would hire someone to make the holes without direct supervision as it is being done.

A pool builder would know or a construction company. Talk to your home builder about which of his contractors can do it. I would want a hands on engineer who knows the construction companies and who can open things up with his supervision.

 

[JamesW]

I would suggest that you have your engineer communicate with the builder's engineer to coordinate their efforts and so that there's no conflict, especially if you're going to start cutting holes in the pool.

Your engineer can evaluate the proposed reinforcements and discuss the reasoning and options.

 

[martuned]

I would lawyer up while you evaluate at the same time and only accept a full tear down and rebuild or they tear it down and you get your $ back. I would not want to eat the cost of that demo job.

Here in California there are laws in regards to new homes and warranties, not sure how it is in TX. My builder of the homes (18 homes total) is about to get sued by a couple of the other owners due to some issues they have with the build out.

 

[JamesW]

Any progress?

 

[atxneedshelp]

Hey there. Just following up on my pool. Our home builder used an engineer who drew up plans to add 8 piers under our pool with capitals at the top. They dug 8 huge holes in the pool that went all the way down to the limestone to build the columns which are tied into the existing rebar so we are told it will support the weight of the pool. They redid the pebble finish, replaced some cracked patio tile, etc. And we are back to swimming again.

 

[Gladius Nova]

Hey there. Just following up on my pool. Our home builder used an engineer who drew up plans to add 8 piers under our pool with capitals at the top. They dug 8 huge holes in the pool that went all the way down to the limestone to build the columns which are tied into the existing rebar so we are told it will support the weight of the pool. They redid the pebble finish, replaced some cracked patio tile, etc. And we are back to swimming again.

Can you post a pic of the outcome?

 

[kimkats]

with capitals at the top

Care to teach the teacher? What does that mean?

I would LOVE to see some pics. I know of someone who would love to see the pics that were in your dropbox account. He had some worries about his "high wall" pool like yours so I used your build as an example of what could go wrong. THANKS!

 

[Arizonarob]

Thanks for the update. There were a few of us looking to see how this turned out. @JamesW @ajw22

 

[atxneedshelp]

Hi! Yes, I sent the other poster the pics from my Dropbox account (which probably reassured him of the quality of his build).

A "capital" is the flared/wider portion sitting on top of the column (per the structural engineer). This probably helps put the load across a wider area to avoid the pier/column from punching through my pool later on!

Our pool now looks the same as it used to (just without the cracks) so I will post a picture of the work they did and what it looked like before!

 

[kimkats]

wow! That is some work done there! Thank you SO much for the follow up! How long has it been since the work was done? Is the grass on the other side of the wall dry now???

 

[Arizonarob]

So looking at the work they did, how did they tie in the rebar to the existing shell with the areas that were cut open?

 

[ajw22]

I am glad you had a Home Builder involved who stood behind the design and Pool Builders work. I am not sure how the problems would have turned out if handled by the average pool builder.

I hope your family enjoys years of joy in your beautiful house and pool.

 

[atxneedshelp]

You can kind of see how they tied the rebar into the existing shell in this picture. I think there is another grid a bit lower in the holes as well.
Then they poured the concrete and let that dry. Then they scraped out the existing pebble (or roughened it?) and redid the interior tile on the steps (necessary to have tile there for my son who has depth perception vision issues and wouldn't be able to see the edge of steps otherwise). They redid the pebble coating too. They re-stucco'd (?) the back wall so the cracks aren't visible any more. They put a french drain at the base of my pool so if there is a lot of water splashover or another leak, it won't leave my yard a swampy mess (and that happens to be the low point of the yard too). So we can finally walk back there since it is dry (unsure if that is due to the pool not leaking or due to the french drain)! They did re-sod that area as well and the path for the equipment. They still have a few more things to do from my gigantic list but they have knocked out most of the big stuff!

 

[JamesW]

What a long ordeal. Very stressful, I'm sure. Hopefully, it will be good from here on out. Thanks for the update.

 

[DB-Cooper]

Thanks for coming back to tell your story. I appreciate you responding to my note as well. I'm impressed with what your house builder did to make that right. It's such a gorgeous home and pool!

Cheers!