I am currently having an 18X36 vinyl liner pool built. The contractor just poured the concrete pool deck but he did not put any rebar or mesh underneath. His response is that it did not need it because he was using flex mesh in the concrete. Should I be concerned and is my pool deck more likely to crack because of this? Thank you.
New Member, New Concrete Deck Concern
- Thread starter batesp1
- Start date
I'd ask for a little better explanation of the what he meant by "flex mesh". You can reinforce concrete with a fiber additive.
Thank you for your comment. I will try and get more information about it. I have viewed numerous videos of pool decks being poured and I saw all of them used the rebar underneath, so I am concerned with cracks later on.
Fiber mesh is an acceptable way to reinforce concrete. A pool deck doesn't see a very heavy load so you are probably ok. There are a couple of people in the building trades that post. I'd bump this every once in a while and see if they will comment.
There are some pretty experienced concrete contractors and pool builders on the forum so they will probably be along soon. Without the bonding attached to the grid in the concrete, I would be curious how they did your electrical bonding. Does you location require inspections during construction? If so, was the pool bonding inspected.
sktn77a
Gold Supporter
We had fibre mesh reinforced concrete for our driveway. The concrete guy said "we add this to the mix and it's as trong as rebar". RUBBISH! Within 6 months, we had cracks starting in the driveway and, of course, the guy was long since out of business!
Always remember, concrete does two things: 1. get hard, 2. crack. Now, it should only crack at the control joints. Some small shrinkage cracks may appear elsewhere but if you are noticing major cracks open up and/or the slab becomes uneven you may have underlying subgrade issues. I see you are in Georgia, I imagine you don't have much of a feeze/thaw cycle that could heave and potentially crack the deck so I wouldn't be too concerned.
Thanks for commenting. I'm sorry to hear about your driveway cracking.
Thank you so much for your comment. I'm hoping I don't have any cracks.
So we had an approx. 1500 sq ft deck concrete deck poured. Our guy kept insisting fiber mesh was the way to go. To tell you the truth I’ve had a nightmare build and I’m exhausted and just gave in. My concrete is almost 4 weeks old and I have 3-4 surface cracks already. The cantilever coping is super rough but I have no idea if it’s normal or not. Now we are trying to figure out how to smooth the concrete before liner goes in and my pool guy is insisting this is normal and why we now should pay to spray deck it ?we are so far out of budget it’s not happening so now I’m praying cracks don’t get worse.
Bottom line - I should have stuck to my guns on rebar I think. I’m hoping by the time I put out all deck furniture and potted plants that won’t be as noticeable ??
Bottom line - I should have stuck to my guns on rebar I think. I’m hoping by the time I put out all deck furniture and potted plants that won’t be as noticeable ??
Concrete shrinks as it cures. It will crack regardless of reinforcing. That is why control joints are necessary. Fiber reinforced concrete for a deck is very acceptable. Surface cracking may indicate improper curing.
Ill post pics once I’m home from traveling. Are we supposed to seal it? I was told no but now I’m Leary of everything contractors told me. Quality work is hard to find these days.
tabitha_599
Well-known member
Ours was poured just a few weeks ago (fiber mesh stuff too) and we already have a pretty good surface crack
And I have this dark spots on the inside edge close to the water line that always look week even they they aren't. They have no explanation for it and said there is no way to fix it
So frustrating to spend so much money and not even get one season of it looking great. It concerns me more what it will look like in 5,10, etc years. My husband is about to buy a grinding machine to try and smooth coping. Anyone have an opinion if this is a good or bad idea?Ours was poured just a few weeks ago (fiber mesh stuff too) and we already have a pretty good surface crack
Ps I have big brisk stroke dark spots too. They keep saying they will go away with curing but I’m 99% sure that’s a lie.