New build not level

[SouthernM]

All,

We’ve had record rain in my area and our gunite shell is lifted about 4-6 Inches on one side. My PB says everything will be fine and they will make it right or even demo it if we have to. However I’ve got a few second opinions and they vary wildly from it is recoverable to the shell is now garbage.

Our pool is a 20x40 play pool with 4 ft ends and 6ft in the middle with a spa attached to one side. The spa side is fine. Our skimmers are off 3 inches so I know they have to drop one down and retile but my main concern is the shell.

What should I expect the builder to do? Should I get something separate from our contract in writing to cover the situation if I have problems down the road?

 

[darkrider]

I question whether the rain actually caused it, or if it was not level from the time of shooting the shell. To have that much water in it, I assume it has a hydrostatic valve, as that's unlikely to all be runoff. I've never heard of a gunite shell floating, but settling would be possible. At this point, what's done is done... Absent cracking, I don't see what damage it would cause. Your only real options are to lower one end by cutting the concrete, or to raise the other end by tying into the rebar and shooting additional gunite. Both have pros and cons. Saw cutting the concrete may reduce your depth to an unacceptable level, and I definitely wouldn't want to chip or disturb the floor. Raising the low side will require both additional cure time, and may risk future cracks due to the new gunite (or possibly hydraulic cement) only being a couple of inches tall.

 

[SouthernM]

I question whether the rain actually caused it, or if it was not level from the time of shooting the shell. To have that much water in it, I assume it has a hydrostatic valve, as that's unlikely to all be runoff. I've never heard of a gunite shell floating, but settling would be possible. At this point, what's done is done... Absent cracking, I don't see what damage it would cause. Your only real options are to lower one end by cutting the concrete, or to raise the other end by tying into the rebar and shooting additional gunite. Both have pros and cons. Saw cutting the concrete may reduce your depth to an unacceptable level, and I definitely wouldn't want to chip or disturb the floor. Raising the low side will require both additional cure time, and may risk future cracks due to the new gunite (or possibly hydraulic cement) only being a couple of inches tall.

We just filled the pool up about a week ago so it has been pretty much empty so I know the side has popped up the 4-6 inches. I guess the PB wants water in it to keep it from moving any more. I'm not sure about the hydrostatic valve. I never really saw anything but maybe it was part of the main drain down there. Yeh I was leaning towards cutting things down and going from there verse having to deal with leaks if we add a thin layer of concrete on the other side.

 

[duckcmmndr]

We just filled the pool up about a week ago so it has been pretty much empty so I know the side has popped up the 4-6 inches. I guess the PB wants water in it to keep it from moving any more. I'm not sure about the hydrostatic valve. I never really saw anything but maybe it was part of the main drain down there. Yeh I was leaning towards cutting things down and going from there verse having to deal with leaks if we add a thin layer of concrete on the other side.

It's really more than just leveling it out. All of your plumbing moved too. Is it still free from leaks? What kind of stress is it under? Will it work for a year then the stress causes a failure? Will the pool settle once the water table goes down?

I have zero experience with gunite pools, but if that was mine I would want the whole thing busted out and start over from scratch. I just feel like you are inviting all kinds of issues down the road if try to make this work. I could be completely wrong...but at this point I would want no part of that pool to stay.

 

[Toxophilite]

Do you remember at least the PB cutting and leaving 4 or 5 weep hole in the bottom to protect himself and your shell in case of a flooding rain? Hydro static valve or weeps, a cement boat with holes in the bottom can't float and fills on it's own if in deep ground water.

 

[SouthernM]

It's really more than just leveling it out. All of your plumbing moved too. Is it still free from leaks? What kind of stress is it under? Will it work for a year then the stress causes a failure? Will the pool settle once the water table goes down?

I have zero experience with gunite pools, but if that was mine I would want the whole thing busted out and start over from scratch. I just feel like you are inviting all kinds of issues down the road if try to make this work. I could be completely wrong...but at this point I would want no part of that pool to stay.

The plumbing broke on that side and they are coming out to fix it and pressure test the whole system next week. But I’m with you on the stress we can’t see. I’ll have them redo each of those connections now before the deck goes down.

 

[SouthernM]

Do you remember at least the PB cutting and leaving 4 or 5 weep hole in the bottom to protect himself and your shell in case of a flooding rain? Hydro static valve or weeps, a cement boat with holes in the bottom can't float and fills on it's own if in deep ground water.

No I don’t. For now I’m keeping it full of water and they built a dirt wall around the pool to move rain water around the side. There’s a sump pump in a 10ft deep hole on the high side where the pool lifted up. I’ll keep running that since we’ve got more rain in the forecast.

 

[SouthernM]

Quick update for anyone who may run into this in the future. We fired our original builder and started with someone new. They were able to dig out the back side of the pool and drain water that had accumulated under there. Once that pressure was gone the pool settled back close to level. All the cracks have been rebar stapled and patched and the pool is essentially back to where we started with a slight difference in the skimmers. Before backfilling the back side of the pool they dug out under the pool and poured in concrete footings so we wont have any sinking over the years.

We should be swimming in a couple weeks. I’ll post a final picture when we are done.

 

[sktn77a]

You were very lucky to find anyone to repair what the first guy did wrong.

 

[Michael#123]

Hi SouthernM, I'm in the Memphis area too, and my pool shell was poured in April when we were having record rain fall. There was a crack in the floor of the shell, but the PB said it was just a surface crack, and he thoroughly cleaned it before plastering. Said it shouldn't be an issue. We've been swimming for over a week now, and no indication of any issues with the plaster, but I seem to be losing water at a greater rate than just evaporation. PB is going to keep an eye on it and let me know what he thinks. I wouldn't mind getting an unbiased third party to look at it. Just wondering if you are able to tell me who you used to do your repair when you fired your original PB. Thanks.

 

[sktn77a]

The plaster should be completely waterproof such that a crack underneath it in the shell shouldn't leak. Is the plaster cracked where the shell crack was?
Is your pool exposed to the sun all day? Have you done a bucket test?

 

[Michael#123]

The plaster should be completely waterproof such that a crack underneath it in the shell shouldn't leak. Is the plaster cracked where the shell crack was?
Is your pool exposed to the sun all day? Have you done a bucket test?

No, the plaster is not cracked where the shell crack was. Pool is exposed to the sun most of the day. Sunshine and temperatures near 100 degrees for the last two weeks.

 

[SouthernM]

Everything is up and running now but the plumber still needs to set our fire/water bowls and hook up the heater. Hope to have that done in the next week or so.

 

[SouthernM]

You were very lucky to find anyone to repair what the first guy did wrong.

Agreed, I had a couple folks interested but most couldn’t work us in this summer so I had to call in a favor. Then the rest wanted to demo and start over. Makes me want to vomit thinking about starting over again.

 

[SouthernM]

Hi SouthernM, I'm in the Memphis area too, and my pool shell was poured in April when we were having record rain fall. There was a crack in the floor of the shell, but the PB said it was just a surface crack, and he thoroughly cleaned it before plastering. Said it shouldn't be an issue. We've been swimming for over a week now, and no indication of any issues with the plaster, but I seem to be losing water at a greater rate than just evaporation. PB is going to keep an eye on it and let me know what he thinks. I wouldn't mind getting an unbiased third party to look at it. Just wondering if you are able to tell me who you used to do your repair when you fired your original PB. I doubt you’d have anything leaking from the shell

Hi SouthernM, I'm in the Memphis area too, and my pool shell was poured in April when we were having record rain fall. There was a crack in the floor of the shell, but the PB said it was just a surface crack, and he thoroughly cleaned it before plastering. Said it shouldn't be an issue. We've been swimming for over a week now, and no indication of any issues with the plaster, but I seem to be losing water at a greater rate than just evaporation. PB is going to keep an eye on it and let me know what he thinks. I wouldn't mind getting an unbiased third party to look at it. Just wondering if you are able to tell me who you used to do your repair when you fired your original PB. Thanks.

If you are losing water then get on the leak detection company’s schedule asap. I hear they are 30 days or more out. I think it’s about 600$ and they will dive your pool, plug everything, run gas through the lines, and figure out exactly where the leak is. I highly doubt a crack is causing the leak so shortly after plastering.