The admixtures are different. Even then the dam still leaks water through the pores a little bit.
Pool Rebuild Disaster?
- Thread starter arlomiller
- Start date
The surrounding soil is pretty darned wet for at least half of the year here in Washington, so the gunnite and rebar and what not are getting exposed to water from the outside too - presuming that the outside of the pool wasn't plastered or something 
An important point, I think, is that the pool refinisher did not do anything remotely close to a full chipout. The vast majority of the shell probably still has 1/2 inch of plaster on it. They did do a bunch of patching and put in new returns, but we also coated all those areas with some kind of waterproofing / sealer that the new builder advised us to apply. I forget the name of the stuff, will track it down.
I haven't been finding the chemistry to be all that more difficult to balance. So far, i'd say its been easier. However, the last time I was balancing a freshly filled pool was also my very first time, so its very likely that I have learned something over the years. Still, numerous references have said it will be more challenging to maintain the chemistry. So, out of paranoia, I've ordered up a new taylor test kit just for quality control!
At the very least, filling it now lets me see whether any leaks were created with the patching and plumbing they did. I'd MUCH rather find that out now than after new plaster is in there!
An important point, I think, is that the pool refinisher did not do anything remotely close to a full chipout. The vast majority of the shell probably still has 1/2 inch of plaster on it. They did do a bunch of patching and put in new returns, but we also coated all those areas with some kind of waterproofing / sealer that the new builder advised us to apply. I forget the name of the stuff, will track it down.
I haven't been finding the chemistry to be all that more difficult to balance. So far, i'd say its been easier. However, the last time I was balancing a freshly filled pool was also my very first time, so its very likely that I have learned something over the years. Still, numerous references have said it will be more challenging to maintain the chemistry. So, out of paranoia, I've ordered up a new taylor test kit just for quality control!
At the very least, filling it now lets me see whether any leaks were created with the patching and plumbing they did. I'd MUCH rather find that out now than after new plaster is in there!
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If it was that wet in the surrounding soil it would float the pool when it was drained.The surrounding soil is pretty darned wet for at least half of the year here in Washington, so the gunnite and rebar and what not are getting exposed to water from the outside too - presuming that the outside of the pool wasn't plastered or something
An important point, I think, is that the pool refinisher did not do anything remotely close to a full chipout. The vast majority of the shell probably still has 1/2 inch of plaster on it. They did do a bunch of patching and put in new returns, but we also coated all those areas with some kind of waterproofing / sealer that the new builder advised us to apply. I forget the name of the stuff, will track it down.
I haven't been finding the chemistry to be all that more difficult to balance. So far, i'd say its been easier. However, the last time I was balancing a freshly filled pool was also my very first time, so its very likely that I have learned something over the years. Still, numerous references have said it will be more challenging to maintain the chemistry. So, out of paranoia, I've ordered up a new taylor test kit just for quality control!
At the very least, filling it now lets me see whether any leaks were created with the patching and plumbing they did. I'd MUCH rather find that out now than after new plaster is in there!
sktn77a
Gold Supporter
You also need to patch any area with exposed rebar/metal/rust with hydraulic cement. If you just plaster over them, the rust will bleed through the plaster. Unfortunately, filling the pool as you did will make this worse.
I already know that all the metal mesh they used to patch cracks needs to be removed. They spread mortar over the mesh, but it hardly penetrated the mesh at all and barely has any contact with the gunnite underneath. Can't imagine those patches staying in place for very long, with or without hydraulic cement covering them. We did cover other patched areas that didn't seem to have any mesh. And the rust in the stairs was from 16 penny nails used as makeshift rebar ties. When my cement guy redid the stairs he chiseled down to and around the rebar so that the new concrete is encasing them, removed all those nails, used normal ties, and then repoured the steps using forms. Correcting the heights of the steps and their radii made it so that the rebar is now under a much thicker layer of concrete.
At this stage, I think filling the pool is going to serve a couple of useful purposes:
- ensure that my pool doesn't have leaks from their patches or plumbing
- ensure any areas where mesh was used can be identified and removed since the mortar/concrete used on the mesh has just minimal contact with the underlying gunnite.
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