Hi! We are in the process of building our first pool in TX and seem to be running into a lot of issues with our pool build. They act like everything is fine and normal but I’m starting to wonder how much I need to push back. The pool is basically done but as soon as it was filled with water 2 weeks ago you could see that it wasn’t level by the water line on the tile. When I pointed this out to our project manager he blew me off that it was just a cosmetic thing. Then when we turned on the spa spillover water only spilled over one side making it pretty obvious that the pool isn’t level. They shaved down one side of the spillover so it would function correctly but now the tile is obviously crooked because they had to make the wall uneven so that it was level in a crooked pool. Now the pool builder is admitting that pool is crooked but are blaming the soil and saying the pool shifted even though we did soil injections. My questions is should I be concerned that pool has already shifted if that is the case? Or is it more likely that pool was just poorly installed? Any advice or direction would be much appreciated. I don’t want to overreact but I’m so nervous that this is going to turn into an even bigger headache down the line.
New Pool shifting?
- Thread starter VirginiaR
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,897
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Welcome to TFP! 
Boy. I hate ot hear these kind of stories. In my area around S.A., we have that black gumbo clay soil that is basically worthless for any structural support. Still, a good builder recognizes what is required locally to complete a stable (and level) build. Leveling a pool is construction 101, so they definitely failed you there.
The issue now becomes what to do next? I don't see an easy answer. They tried one fix at the spillover, but as you learned it came with a compromise - the tile. I suppose a complete waterline tile re-do may help conceal the unlevel waterline areas. At this point, I couldn't imagine a builder ripping everything out and starting over, nor do I suspect you want that either. You may have to work together to find a compromise in this situation (i.e. the waterline, some $$$ credit, etc).
If it helps, often times things like this go unnoticed by visitors. Only us as the pool owners really key-in on it because it's ours and of course we paid big $$$$$$. But try to keep a cool head. Keep the dialog civil, and see what you can do. In the meantime, maybe post a pic or two of the bad areas. I'll tag @bdavis466 and @jimmythegreek for some help.
Boy. I hate ot hear these kind of stories. In my area around S.A., we have that black gumbo clay soil that is basically worthless for any structural support. Still, a good builder recognizes what is required locally to complete a stable (and level) build. Leveling a pool is construction 101, so they definitely failed you there.The issue now becomes what to do next? I don't see an easy answer. They tried one fix at the spillover, but as you learned it came with a compromise - the tile. I suppose a complete waterline tile re-do may help conceal the unlevel waterline areas. At this point, I couldn't imagine a builder ripping everything out and starting over, nor do I suspect you want that either. You may have to work together to find a compromise in this situation (i.e. the waterline, some $$$ credit, etc).
If it helps, often times things like this go unnoticed by visitors. Only us as the pool owners really key-in on it because it's ours and of course we paid big $$$$$$. But try to keep a cool head. Keep the dialog civil, and see what you can do. In the meantime, maybe post a pic or two of the bad areas. I'll tag @bdavis466 and @jimmythegreek for some help.
Thank you for the replies! The first two are photos from before they shaved down the one side of the spillover. The last one was after where you can see along the top edge the grout line is about an inch thicker on one side
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My main concern is if the builder is claiming the pool shifted at some point before it was even plastered it makes me worry about the structure in general long term more than the cosmetic aspects of this. They recommend soil injections which we paid for. How could it shift almost immediately after soil injections if everything was done properly? I just can’t wrap my head around that.
Jimmie48
Well-known member
Is the problem only in the spa? On a really calm day can you tell if the water line is level across the main pool area or is it a bad tile job tricking your eye? I personally dont think it looks horrible by any means but I may have them at least attempt to get the tile straight....
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
I would be worried that the shift in the pool would have cracked the plumbing down below. Sure you can re do the visible stuff like adding a "wedge" to allow the spill over to look right.. but the plumbing must be under a huge amount of stress underground. Having not seen the construction as it was in progress, I am only guessing. That would be my biggest worry years down the road. Others that have had nightmare post build issues have contacted the Contractors Licencing Board (CSLB) for their state and county for some guidance.. you might want to start getting those ducks in order.
Its the whole pool thats off by about an inch . You can mostly see it along the waterline on the spillover wall (it’s a little hard to see in the pictures) the water also sits higher along the back of the pool not the side closest to the house where the skimmer and overflow are. There’s a sun ledge across the one side if you look at the tile on that side on the corner closest to the house you can count three 1” tiles down before the water line starts and on the other corner it’s 2 tiles down
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mguzzy
Gold Supporter
Thank you! I was worried about the plumbing also. The spa wasn’t holding water for about 10 days and after several attempts to fix it they finally sent a diver in and found a leak around the light since then it seems to be holding water but it did cross my mind that something bigger could be wrong due to the pool being off level or shifting. I do have picture of the plumbing before the gunite but if we assume this happened after the gunite I’m not sure how helpful that picture would be. I also wonder If the ground was properly prepared for the pool is it really likely that a pool could shift a whole inch in a few months or weeks?
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,100
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
It is hard to know what is true and level and what is not once surfaces are off. I would obtain a rotating laser level and put it on a tripod in the pool. It will project a laser line and you can then see how everything lines up or is off. Then it is time for discussions with the builder.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,100
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Here is a thread on a problem pool in Austin...
www.troublefreepool.com
Need urgent help with cracking/leaking pool on a hillside in Austin, TX!
Hello! I have a pool that is a little over 2 years old. It is on a hillside in Austin, TX so the back wall of the pool is about 13' tall. The front side meets up with our back patio and no wall was built on that side. The pool builder originally sprayed gunite on 3 walls with rebar (not the...
www.troublefreepool.com
Uggg...
My first guess would be they simply put the tile line in out of level. Perhaps they had an uncalibrated laser or a uncalibrated operator. Of course that really doesn't explain how they got the overflow uneven, you would think they would have thrown a level on that when they were installing the tile. I would suspect if it was the pool settling you would see other issues arising for example in the deck or cracks in the wall.
Is the lowest part of the pool where the deep end is IE.. the most likely to settle?
Do you have any pictures of just the excavation before rebar?
My first guess would be they simply put the tile line in out of level. Perhaps they had an uncalibrated laser or a uncalibrated operator. Of course that really doesn't explain how they got the overflow uneven, you would think they would have thrown a level on that when they were installing the tile. I would suspect if it was the pool settling you would see other issues arising for example in the deck or cracks in the wall.
Is the lowest part of the pool where the deep end is IE.. the most likely to settle?
Do you have any pictures of just the excavation before rebar?
Thank you. I just have this one before rebar unfortunately it’s not a great picture. We had a good amount of rain between rebar and gunite and the dirt collapsed behind the rebar along the back wall and near the spillover wall but the PB said it wasn’t any cause for concern they just put peg board behind the rebar along the back. They didnt backfill the big holes until two weeks ago after the plaster was done so they were constantly filled with rain water. Our build has been taking some time due to rain they broke ground on Jan 8th. I’m not sure if any of that is relevant in any of this just thinking through the process and the possibilities.
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Did they remove all the loose soil that washed into the pool? That is usually a very difficult time consuming process. The pic does show a lighter colored material in the same area that looks like it had already collapsed. If the wall only collapsed in one particular spot where the soil is a different color, that could be a indication that there was a previous excavation in that area (unless of course that just happens to be where surface water was running into the pool)
Not backfilling and having that water saturate the hole with that type of material certainly was not the best idea. Very difficult to say if that could have been the reason for any settlement.
When was the deck poured?
When was the tile installed?
Thanks, Rich..
Another important question would be.. How high did the water get on the outside of the pool? When it was at its highest was there also water inside the pool at about the same level. If for some reason they had the main drain plugged the pool could have floated.
The water against the outside of the pool was higher the holes along the back were deep but narrow I’m assuming it’s where they dug out to put the pegboard behind the rebar so they were more like a big gaps between peg board and the soil There was water in the pool from rain but that was mainly on the bottom of the deep end and when they would pump water out of the pool they would leave it in the holes they were often filled to the top with water.
They broke ground on Jan 8th did the rebar January 10th, the gunite was done on Jan 27th the tile was Feb 14th the decking was done Feb 28th. I’ll include some extra pictures. I don’t have a picture of the gaps along the back but have one that was in the front that I’ll add to give you an idea
They broke ground on Jan 8th did the rebar January 10th, the gunite was done on Jan 27th the tile was Feb 14th the decking was done Feb 28th. I’ll include some extra pictures. I don’t have a picture of the gaps along the back but have one that was in the front that I’ll add to give you an idea
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Here is my best guess at what happened. There seems to be more evidence pointing towards the pool moving the inch rather than them installing the tile unlevel.
1. I cannot imagine them installing the overflow that much out of level.
2. The picture show a lot of soil washed into the hole and is up to the top of the rebar in the deep section. If this was not properly removed that entire section of the pool was sitting on four to six inches of soft unstable soil.
3. Add the fact that the spa was leaking adding water directly to that area as well as ground water running down the sides keeping the entire area wet.
I would assume the pool was installed level and the tile was put on a level pool. then after adding the water the extra weight pushed any loose soil out enough to drop the pool an inch in that corner.
it is part of my job to install things plumb level straight and true everyday, so I personally could not look at that everyday without my stomach turning, my eyes would be drawn to it like a magnet. As mentioned before it is something that most people will not even notice. If it were me I would ask them to re-tile the pool at their expense. If you think you could live with it you could perhaps just ask for a large discount.
There is a large concern for potential cracks in the future seeing how there might not be rebar in the gunite on the deep end and just having the pool shift like that puts tremendous stress on the entire shell. I don't think you'll ever talk him into demolishing the pool on the possibility of getting cracks in the future because in reality the pool could very well be done moving and you may never see a crack. So that would have to be addressed if the cracks come in the future. Be sure to save all pictures and documentation.
1. I cannot imagine them installing the overflow that much out of level.
2. The picture show a lot of soil washed into the hole and is up to the top of the rebar in the deep section. If this was not properly removed that entire section of the pool was sitting on four to six inches of soft unstable soil.
3. Add the fact that the spa was leaking adding water directly to that area as well as ground water running down the sides keeping the entire area wet.
I would assume the pool was installed level and the tile was put on a level pool. then after adding the water the extra weight pushed any loose soil out enough to drop the pool an inch in that corner.
it is part of my job to install things plumb level straight and true everyday, so I personally could not look at that everyday without my stomach turning, my eyes would be drawn to it like a magnet. As mentioned before it is something that most people will not even notice. If it were me I would ask them to re-tile the pool at their expense. If you think you could live with it you could perhaps just ask for a large discount.
There is a large concern for potential cracks in the future seeing how there might not be rebar in the gunite on the deep end and just having the pool shift like that puts tremendous stress on the entire shell. I don't think you'll ever talk him into demolishing the pool on the possibility of getting cracks in the future because in reality the pool could very well be done moving and you may never see a crack. So that would have to be addressed if the cracks come in the future. Be sure to save all pictures and documentation.
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
I wonder if it would be worth it to consult with someone that refloats pools that have popped out. That seems like this would be within the realm of their expertise.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,100
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60