Pool is cracking/leaking due to deteriorating retaining walls. What to do?

[weidav]

Hoping this forum can come up with ideas (I've run out of them).

Bought my house (Central Texas) in May 2021. That summer, I noticed couple small cracks forming in the pool (but nothing was leaking). I reach out to the previous owner, and turns out he did some pool stabilization in 2020. So I figured the cracks should not expand much and should not be issue. Summer 2022, the small cracks turn into big cracks, and pool starts to leak. I use putty to fill the cracks (since I didn't want to do major repairs in middle of pool season). May of 2023, I do a restabilization and replaster. During the replaster, we find the pool has many foundation repairs (must have been many years old), indicating the pool has had recurring foundation issues.

My lot has a hill. The previous owners (who owned it for 40 years before I bought the house) used railroad ties to create two retaining walls, terracing the hill. The pool (with attached spa) was built close to the top layer of retaining wall. The retaining walls probably started to give many years ago (hence the uncovered foundation repairs), but now has really deteriorated (since walls are end of life). The shift in soil is probably creating the foundation issues. Only thing I can think of is re-build the foundation walls... which is probably 6-figures cost.

Any ideas on how I can manage the situation without having to rebuild the foundation walls?

 

[Bperry]

Hoping this forum can come up with ideas (I've run out of them).

Bought my house (Central Texas) in May 2021. That summer, I noticed couple small cracks forming in the pool (but nothing was leaking). I reach out to the previous owner, and turns out he did some pool stabilization in 2020. So I figured the cracks should not expand much and should not be issue. Summer 2022, the small cracks turn into big cracks, and pool starts to leak. I use putty to fill the cracks (since I didn't want to do major repairs in middle of pool season). May of 2023, I do a restabilization and replaster. During the replaster, we find the pool has many foundation repairs (must have been many years old), indicating the pool has had recurring foundation issues.

My lot has a hill. The previous owners (who owned it for 40 years before I bought the house) used railroad ties to create two retaining walls, terracing the hill. The pool (with attached spa) was built close to the top layer of retaining wall. The retaining walls probably started to give many years ago (hence the uncovered foundation repairs), but now has really deteriorated (since walls are end of life). The shift in soil is probably creating the foundation issues. Only thing I can think of is re-build the foundation walls... which is probably 6-figures cost.

Any ideas on how I can manage the situation without having to rebuild the foundation walls?

What was the process of “stabilization”? My pool is also on a slope and had similar issues, but not quite as bad. How much of a slope is it on? It only looks like a few feet so it seems odd there’s be that much movement in the shell.

 

[ajw22]

We have seen many threads on cracking pools in the Austin area. I don’t think it is just your deteriorating retaining wall causing the cracks.

There are no shortcuts to stabilizing the pool. It takes a local engineers to assess the situation and give you some fixes that will last. None are likely to be inexpensive.

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

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...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

The railroad ties are not a retaining wall for stabilization of the pool. That would require going down many feet deep and having concrete with rebar at a high PSI strength to hold the pool from movement.
Staples are not a solution but a temporary fix only.
Keeping a pool vessel from moving will have to start with a solid foundation for it to rest on and proper retaining wall to be built to insure that the soil compaction retains it PSI around the pool.

 

[weidav]

What was the process of “stabilization”? My pool is also on a slope and had similar issues, but not quite as bad. How much of a slope is it on? It only looks like a few feet so it seems odd there’s be that much movement in the shell.

URETEK Deep Injection (Swimming Pool Foundation Leveling - Pool Soil Stabilization | URETEK USA). My first set of pictures doesn't show the slant of the hill. This one I'm attaching show my neighbor's backyard - almost 45 degree angle. The previous owner of my house used the two set of railroad ties retaining walls to create 3 levels - the top level with the pool (and rest of yard), the mid-level (the flat strip in the photos), and a lower level (that has a set of walk ways and decking).

 

[weidav]

We have seen many threads on cracking pools in the Austin area. I don’t think it is just your deteriorating retaining wall causing the cracks.

There are no shortcuts to stabilizing the pool. It takes a local engineers to assess the situation and give you some fixes that will last. None are likely to be inexpensive.

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

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...

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks. I hired a structural engineer to give an assessment. He determined that the retaining walls (of both the top and bottom walls) are causing shifting in soil, and deflecting the pool (attached the engineering assessment). The engineering recommendations are 1/ basically add a 3rd retaining wall between the 2 existing ones, and make sure to drill it into rock, or 2/ rebuild the swimming pool. Like you said, both going to be very very expensive . How much does it cost to get rid of a pool? It may be time.

 

[weidav]

The railroad ties are not a retaining wall for stabilization of the pool. That would require going down many feet deep and having concrete with rebar at a high PSI strength to hold the pool from movement.
Staples are not a solution but a temporary fix only.
Keeping a pool vessel from moving will have to start with a solid foundation for it to rest on and proper retaining wall to be built to insure that the soil compaction retains it PSI around the pool.

I think these retaining walls do go down many feet and have rebar holding them in place (not sure about PSI). The structural engineer suggested that these retaining walls are simply end of life, and starting to give. See attached.

 

[ajw22]

I think the piers supporting the pool were what was done in this pool...

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

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...

www.troublefreepool.com