I recently began doing a chip out of my 70's era pool. I opted for a smaller jack hammer with flat tip chisels to kind of shave the plaster off without damaging the shell. When I got to the pool floor, the plaster was coming up with quite a bit of the shotcrete attached to it. Upon closer inspection, it appears that the shotcrete on the floor is only ~1/2" thick and very poorly consolidated. There's no sign of any sort of reinforcing steel in the floor at all. Some of the recessed areas in the walls near the returns show some steel wire, indicating that there's likely steel mesh in the walls.
Despite the soil being very hard, rocky, and having virtually no clay content, I'm still surprised that there weren't any cracks in the thin shotcrete shell or the plaster with such a weak, thin floor. The pool is nearly 40 years old, and while the top layer of plaster was chipping off, it was otherwise in great condition. I'll likely be able to get away without a super thick floor and tightly spaced rebar, but I also can't plaster directly over soil. If I install a shotcrete/gunite floor, I'll need to figure out how to connect it to and bond to the walls.
I really need to find a good pool builder to help me figure out what my options are. Anyone in the Tucson area have someone they can recommend?
Despite the soil being very hard, rocky, and having virtually no clay content, I'm still surprised that there weren't any cracks in the thin shotcrete shell or the plaster with such a weak, thin floor. The pool is nearly 40 years old, and while the top layer of plaster was chipping off, it was otherwise in great condition. I'll likely be able to get away without a super thick floor and tightly spaced rebar, but I also can't plaster directly over soil. If I install a shotcrete/gunite floor, I'll need to figure out how to connect it to and bond to the walls.
I really need to find a good pool builder to help me figure out what my options are. Anyone in the Tucson area have someone they can recommend?
