Quarantine Christmas Pool Build - ATX - Intellicenter - System Reset?

[NWS]

Hard to see depth in the picture but it looked to me like thee plywood form was too close to the pipe and you did not get much thickness of the gunite around the pipe. I think the cracking is due to thin gunite and no rebar behind the pipe.

Look at the vertical pipes on the two side of the picture. The right pipe has a green square on it. They both have rebar surrounding the pipe on all four sides and the plywood form is set farther back.

That makes sense. So , if this turns out to be the case, any suggestions on a recommended fix at this point?

 

[ajw22]

So , if this turns out to be the case, any suggestions on a recommended fix at this point?

Hard to say without seeing the entire area back there.

What concerns me is that both the wall and the coping stone above it cracked. I would want to pop off that coping stone and see how far into the wall the crack is. That may influence what repair is necessary.

What is the finish on the cracked wall?

What would it take to open that area back to the gunite?

 

[NWS]

Hard to say without seeing the entire area back there.

What concerns me is that both the wall and the coping stone above it cracked. I woudl want to pop off that coping stone and see how far into the wall the crack is. That may influence what repair is necessary.

What is the finish on the cracked wall?

What would it take to open that area back to the gunite?

Thank you, @ajw22 . I believe the finish on the back wall is stucco. In my albeit unprofessional opinion, I don't think it would be very difficult to open it up to gunite. The project managers have eyeballed the area and simply say that it is not a concern. (Each of the lueder stones above our skimmers also have thin cracks and the builder says this is very common and might be due to the cold water passing under the stone during the TX freezes )

For the main concern area on the raised wall, they have not offered any additional inspection (but they might if we requested it.. probably at our own expense). So what would be the recommended course of action at this point? I hate to cause additional damage by having them open up the area more, but I also don't want to run into problems down the road. Should we force the issue and have them open it up? Would we hire a pool repair company to offer an outside opinion?

(By the way, a similar vertical crack has developed next to the air intake valve on the top of the raised wall...also runs vertically down the coping and the back of the wall...also aligns with vertical pipe seen in build photo above that leads to spa jets above bench on that wall)

 

[ajw22]

. So what would be the recommended course of action at this point?

What I suggested above.

Would we hire a pool repair company to offer an outside opinion?

I don't know what a "pool repair company" is other then another pool builder. And I think you will find another pool builder will not want to touch another builders problems.

(By the way, a similar vertical crack has developed next to the air intake valve on the top of the raised wall...also runs vertically down the coping and the back of the wall...also aligns with vertical pipe seen in build photo above that leads to spa jets above bench on that wall)

Cracks are not "normal" even though builders will try and convince you that they are.

You have some construction defects and your builder may step up to them or not.

You need to decide if you want to confront your builder or live with the problems.

 

[wireform]

The cold water excuse is bogus but may be true if it were the only crack. To me the fact that the coping stone which obviously was well adhered to the bond beam and then cracks in the same place as the wall tells me things are moving a bit.

 

[ajw22]

We seem to see a lot of pools in Texas cracking. Especially around Austin. Some folks say it is the soil in certain areas.

Here are some threads about fixing pool cracks that may be helpful. Last two links are Texas pools.

I would think the Austin Pool Builders would understand how to deal with the local soil conditions but they appear to ignore the situation and hope it all works out.

Crack in concrete pool

I have a crack in my pool wall that runs from the bottom corner of the skimmer to the floor. About 6’ in total. A little over a year ago the crack was epoxied and pool was replastered. The crack has now returned. What would be the best way to fix this crack? Is there anything that would be a...

www.troublefreepool.com

New cracks this spring

I am very concerned about these new cracks I found after the ice was gone from the pool. The Pool company is coming out today to open the pool and check them out. I was hoping to get some input from the experts here if they look like structural cracks and the best way to tell if they are...

www.troublefreepool.com

Cracks in Gunite

We have a 2 year old pool that has multiple cracks in the bottom and sides of the pool. Most of the cracks are long and run between the infloor cleaners. The pool company that installed the pool just drained the pool and put something in each of the cracks. Then cracks might be fixed but the...

www.troublefreepool.com

17 cracks!!!

We have had our pool for about a year. We’ve had off and on concerns about the whole process. To make matters worse half of our pool is not completely inground. We noticed cracks on the outside with calcium build it up. Sure enough the crack carried all the way through to the other side. Upon...

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

 

[NWS]

We seem to see a lot of pools in Texas cracking. Especially around Austin. Some folks say it is the soil in certain areas.

Here are some threads about fixing pool cracks that may be helpful. Last two links are Texas pools.

I would think the Austin Pool Builders would understand how to deal with the local soil conditions but the appear to ignore the situation and hope it all works out.

Crack in concrete pool

I have a crack in my pool wall that runs from the bottom corner of the skimmer to the floor. About 6’ in total. A little over a year ago the crack was epoxied and pool was replastered. The crack has now returned. What would be the best way to fix this crack? Is there anything that would be a...

www.troublefreepool.com

New cracks this spring

I am very concerned about these new cracks I found after the ice was gone from the pool. The Pool company is coming out today to open the pool and check them out. I was hoping to get some input from the experts here if they look like structural cracks and the best way to tell if they are...

www.troublefreepool.com

Cracks in Gunite

We have a 2 year old pool that has multiple cracks in the bottom and sides of the pool. Most of the cracks are long and run between the infloor cleaners. The pool company that installed the pool just drained the pool and put something in each of the cracks. Then cracks might be fixed but the...

www.troublefreepool.com

17 cracks!!!

We have had our pool for about a year. We’ve had off and on concerns about the whole process. To make matters worse half of our pool is not completely inground. We noticed cracks on the outside with calcium build it up. Sure enough the crack carried all the way through to the other side. Upon...

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

Ok, thanks, all for your input. As someone brand-new to pools and pool ownership, it's difficult to know what is considered normal vs what would cause issues down the road, esp. when we can't depend on the builder's assessment. I'll read through the additional links provided and follow up with the builder again. Really appreciate the help.

 

[NWS]

So a construction crew came and did work on our coping while we were out of town. We returned to a pool full of dust. I have the pump running at high speed and we're running our robot cleaner. Anything else we can do to help clear the water? I read that TFP doesn't recommend the use of pool clarifier, etc.

 

[ajw22]

Do you have a setup to vacuum to waste?

We don't recommend the use of clarifiers or floc especially with cartridge filters where you cannot vacuum to waste.

 

[rcs29]

So a construction crew came and did work on our coping while we were out of town. We returned to a pool full of dust. I have the pump running at high speed and we're running our robot cleaner. Anything else we can do to help clear the water? I read that TFP doesn't recommend the use of pool clarifier, etc.

Vacuum to waste, brushing and skimmer sock is how I got rid of all the dust Crud.

 

[NWS]

Do you have a setup to vacuum to waste?

We don't recommend the use of clarifiers or floc especially with cartridge filters where you cannot vacuum to waste.

hmm..**furiously googling vacuum to waste** I know the pool company left us a pool vacuum, but we've never used it. Always relied on our robot. I'll see if I can figure it out. Thanks to both of you for your quick input.

 

[rcs29]

hmm..**furiously googling vacuum to waste** I know the pool company left us a pool vacuum, but we've never used it. Always relied on our robot. I'll see if I can figure it out. Thanks to both of you for your quick input.

Do you have a multi-port valve for your filter? Or what type of filter do you have?

 

[ajw22]

hmm..**furiously googling vacuum to waste** I know the pool company left us a pool vacuum, but we've never used it. Always relied on our robot. I'll see if I can figure it out. Thanks to both of you for your quick input.

Post pics of your equipment pad.

 

[HermanTX]

Do you have a multi-port valve for your filter? Or what type of filter do you have?

@NWS shows in their signature a Pentair Cartridge filter. Unlikely to have a waste line but if they post a picture of their equipment pad we may be able to confirm if one exists or not.

 

[kimkats]

And we can help him cut the pipes and put in a waste line before the filter with a valve.

Vacuum to waste is where you can hook up your manual vacuum hose to the skimmer with a vacuum head on it in the pool. You have to have a way for the water to leave the pipe BEFORE the filter. The water will be sent out to the yard. Does that help you "see" it?

 

[NWS]

I've figured out how to use the vacuum but I don't think I'm set up for 'vacuum to waste.' Does this pic of the equipment pad show you what you need?

 

[ajw22]

To vacuum to waste you need a 3 way diverter valve where I drew the red circle to let you divert water to a waste line instead of into your filter.

 

[NWS]

My Intellicenter is hung up 'rebooting the wireless client.' Before I press and hold the System Reset button on the front of the panel, can someone confirm for me that this simply reboots the system and won't overwrite the program settings? Thx!!

 

[Ahultin]

My Intellicenter is hung up 'rebooting the wireless client.' Before I press and hold the System Reset button on the front of the panel, can someone confirm for me that this simply reboots the system and won't overwrite the program settings? Thx!!

Yup, push and hold reset is a reboot and will not overwrite settings