Preventive repair skimmer/gunite, or leave it alone?

Vegas Mike

Bronze Supporter
Mar 30, 2019
51
Las Vegas, NV
Because a planned tile repair will require draining below the tile line, was considering re-doing a patch at the skimmer/gunite interface. Not leaking today, so bad idea? If not, what epoxy or sealant is recommended? Got to adhere to plastic and gunite; resist water, chlorine, salt; and ideally flexible enough to accommodate expansion differences between plastic and plaster. And, cure fast enough to not leave the plaster exposed too long.

A year ago, a leak repair guy found the leak (700 gallons / day!) at the interface between the plastic skimmer housing and the gunite and fixed it using 2-part underwater putty. But now when I touch the repair, I get a white cloud, making me think the epoxy maybe did not cure properly. Or at least does not seem a permanent seal. Ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but worried this will begin leaking again, especially after reviewing TFP and seeing periodic repair is typical for skimmer leaks. A dry surface seems the best opportunity to do a near-permanent repair. But – always a chance for making things worse, schlimmbesserung. Tried to include a photo, but difficult with the water interface.

Found the Deck-o-Seal recommended in one thread. But nothing in its datasheet mentions permanently submerged use. It does have “deck” in the name, after all. A 24-oz kit available from Amazon for $65. Tack-free time 8 hours, but how long until can submerge (if ever)?

JB Weld MarineWeld Epoxy syringe. Readily available. Sets in 5 minutes, cure in 1 hour. But will this resist stresses of temperature change on dissimilar materials?

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First you have to clean off all the old sealants that were put on to try and seal the leaks.

Then use pool grout around the skimmer frame and along the mouth.