Question about proper construction of a submerged spa

[Nfrisa]

I’m in the process of building and after filling to the bottom of the overflow drain there is an inch of water connecting the main pool to the spa.

If I try to heat the spa this is going to be very inefficient. I could manually drain off water everytime it rains to keep the level below the spa overflow but I feel like that is something I shouldn’t have to deal with to have a properly functioning spa.

Am I asking for too much or was this an improper design/build?

 

[Bperry]

I’m in the process of building and after filling to the bottom of the overflow drain there is an inch of water connecting the main pool to the spa.

If I try to heat the spa this is going to be very inefficient. I could manually drain off water everytime it rains to keep the level below the spa overflow but I feel like that is something I shouldn’t have to deal with to have a properly functioning spa.

Am I asking for too much or was this an improper design/build?

Is the water in the pool halfway up the skimmer opening? If so, then yes it would seem to be poor design.

 

[Jimrahbe]

N,

For that spa to work, the top of the spa has to be slightly higher than the pool water.

This is a perfect example of "Just because it looks great, does not mean it is functional"...

The basic idea is that when in the pool mode, extra water enters the spa and then overflows into the pool. In the spa mode the overflow stops, but the height of the spa has to be just above the pool water.

The fix would be to have an overflow port that keeps the pool water just below the top of the spa.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ajw22]

Looks great with a lousy design.

The spa wall with the pool needs to be higher.

You mention a spa overflow and mention filling to the bottom of the overflow drain.

Show us the details of the design and exactly where you mean.

Where is your finger pointing to in the picture below?

Who designed your pool and spa? Did you ask them how it should function?

Your water level may be higher then it was designed for but it sounds like there is a very small tolerance between water too low, water just right, and water too high in yourpool.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Have you put it into spa mode to see if has a separation between the 2 bodies of water then? That is the only time you should really care if you have separation between both.

I too have a pool and spa that are at the same level. If my pool level gets up to the overflow drain, it can cause the spillover wall to be completely submerged by about 1/4" when in pool mode. When in spa mode, the spillover is not submerged and separates the 2 bodies of water. You may get some water going over the spillover when getting into the spa or aggressively using the bubbles, but that is it.

If you have someone making a lot of waves in the pool, you could produce waves big enough to push some cold water into the spa, but I have a pretty loud Dad voice when needed which would easily stop that.

 

[Nfrisa]

Looks great with a lousy design.

The spa wall with the pool needs to be higher.

You mention a spa overflow and mention filling to the bottom of the overflow drain.

Show us the details of the design and exactly where you mean.

Where is your finger pointing to in the picture below?

Who designed your pool and spa? Did you ask them how it should function?

Your water level may be higher then it was designed for but it sounds like there is a very small tolerance between water too low, water just right, and water too high in yourpool.

Where is your finger pointing to in the picture below?

Looks great with a lousy design.

The spa wall with the pool needs to be higher.

You mention a spa overflow and mention filling to the bottom of the overflow drain.

Show us the details of the design and exactly where you mean.

Where is your finger pointing to in the picture below?

Who designed your pool and spa? Did you ask them how it should function?

Your water level may be higher then it was designed for but it sounds like there is a very small tolerance between water too low, water just right, and water too high in yourpo

My finger is just to show how high the water is over the spa wall when the pool is completely filled to the bottom of the overflow drain (I included a picture of the water at the overflow drain).

There is about an inch (slightly more) of water over the spa wall when filled to the bottom of the drain.

I asked and they said I would have to manually discharge water off the pool when it gets that high. I have a discharge faucet on the side by my pool equipment, but I feel like this shouldn’t be necessary and I shouldn’t have to dump 50 gallons of salt water on the side of my house just to use the spa.

My understanding is that the overflow drain should be set at the height just below the level of the spa wall. That way it acts as a check to never allow the water to get over the spa wall.

 

[Nfrisa]

Have you put it into spa mode to see if has a separation between the 2 bodies of water then? That is the only time you should really care if you have separation between both.

Yes. There is no separation. There is an inch high of water connecting the two bodies. Their reply was the spa will work but it might not be as efficient.

 

[ajw22]

My finger is just to show how high the water is over the spa wall when the pool is completely filled to the bottom of the overflow drain (I included a picture of the water at the overflow drain).

Okay, now I get what your pics are showing. I drew some red lines on it below.

Show us pics of your skimmer and where the water level is along the skimmer mouth.

Your overflow drain defines the maximum height of the water. Your skimmer mouth bottom defines the minimum water level height.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Yes. There is no separation. There is an inch high of water connecting the two bodies. Their reply was the spa will work but it might not be as efficient.

That is unfortunate. Can you show us a picture of your pool level in relation to your skimmer? It could be simply that your pool is too full. Mine is usually about half an inch below the overflow drain.

 

[ajw22]

Water level should typically be allowed to vary between the bottom of the tile line, where the skimmer mouth usually is, and the top of the tile. I suspect you have too little tolerance between the bottom of your skimmer and the overflow drain.

This is a better type overflow drain that allows a higher water level, which means less draining of the pool due to big storms. Usually normal evaporation can keep the pool water level between the middle of the skimmer and the bottom of the coping with normal rainfall.

This all does not help your problem which is likely caused by too low of a spa/pool wall and not the water level.

 

[Nfrisa]

That is unfortunate. Can you show us a picture of your pool level in relation to your skimmer? It could be simply that your pool is too full. Mine is usually about half an inch below the overflow drain.

Yes I will send a picture of the skimmer when I get back home. The water line is in the middle of the skimmer.

You could say the pool is too full and that would be accurate. The problem is that I live in an area with a lot of rain. Everytime it rains my pool is going up to the level of the overflow drain and I’m in a situation where the spa doesn’t function correctly until I manually drain a ton of water onto the side of my house.

 

[ajw22]

It is not that difficult to remove the tiles from the spa wall and build it up to the level of the coping along the red lines.

Maybe build in a typical spillway where the yellow box is. Now that you see where the water level falls with the overflow you can figure out the height of the spa/pool wall that would work.

It will not look as cool but the spa will work better.

You can argue with your builder about who pays for what.

 

[Nfrisa]

It is not that difficult to remove the tiles from the spa wall and build it up to the level of the coping along the red lines.

Why not just remove the tiles and build it up an inch?

First I wanted to confirm that the design is incorrect, then my next question was going to be how hard would it be to raise the tile level an inch.

If anyone could give an estimate of labor cost that would be great.

 

[Nfrisa]

Can you show us a picture of your pool level in relation to your skimmer?

Water level at skimmer and overflow drain

 

[ajw22]

What is the distance from the top of the spa wall to the bottom of the coping/top of the tile?

 

[Nfrisa]

What is the distance from the top of the spa wall to the bottom of the coping/top of the tile?

3 1/8”

 

[ajw22]

I would build up the spa wall at least half that distance - 1.5".

 

[JJ_Tex]

Its a bit redneck, but you could do something like a waterproof weather stripping on top of the wall.

For $20, you could play around with the various heights and make sure you get it right before the permanent solution. Something like this:

https://www.autozone.com/sealants-glues-adhesives-and-tape/weatherstrip/p/duck-auto-and-marine-rubber-weatherseal/1308679_0_0

Also, I would push for your builder to eat the cost of the permanent solution.

 

[Nfrisa]

Also, I would push for your builder to eat the cost of the permanent solution.

Is that reasonable?
I feel like it’s a pretty basic expectation for the water level to be below the spa wall for this type of spa. Without being manually manipulated to discharge a large amount of water on the side of the house.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Is that reasonable?
I feel like it’s a pretty basic expectation for the water level to be below the spa wall for this type of spa. Without being manually manipulated to discharge a large amount of water on the side of the house.

For sure. You paid 100k or more for something that doesn’t work as it should.

If it was a new car and something didn’t work right, you would expect the manufacturer to make it right. No different here.