Hello TFP Community! I desperately need some advice and I apologize in advance for the long post.
I have a seven year old in-ground salt water pool with above ground spa w/spillover, 3 separate waterfalls, and a vanishing edge. I estimate the pool to be approximately 40K gallons, so its large. The pool has alway consumed a lot of water. The vanishing edge tank has constantly had a very low water level and the autofill runs extensively and does not sufficiently refill the tank. After some initial troubleshooting back in 2016, it was explained to me that the water loss was a result of evaporation. No leaks were identified. I will note that they were only troubleshooting the waterfalls/vanishing edge. They did not do a leak test on the entire system. This was our first pool and I was quite busy with work at the time, so I accepted the explanation and moved on. In addition, our maintenance company, who we used for the first five years and was recommended by the builder, never raised any concerns. I still though it was odd that the water level in the vanishing edge tank would get so low and I would contact the builder once or twice/year regarding the issue but nothing ever got done. I have a long list of texts and emails related to this.
Fast forward to spring 2022 when I decided to start using another maintenance company. Very quickly after taking over, the new company suspected a leak. They were going through too many chemicals and could not keep them balanced week to week. They suggested that I get a leak test which I did. The whole system was tested and it revealed cracks in my spa and a few cold joint leaks in various spots. The tester was not sure the extent of the cracks of how long they had been there. Obviously, I think something has been wrong since the very beginning. After the leak test was completed I left the system in service mode one evening and noticed that the spa water level dropped quite a bit overnight, so I left it off the next afternoon as well. I discovered that the spa would empty itself in about 36 hours with no pumps running. Conversely, the pool and vanishing edge tank held their water levels nicely. I replaced the one-way flapper valve on the spa line to make sure that it was not the issue (it wasn’t). I calculated that I was going through about 1,200 gallons of water/day. Armed with this information, and prior texts/emails, I reached out to my builder and asked for their help. Of course it took forever, but they sent their leak guy out yesterday (which I paid for). His assessment was that my spa is falling apart. He said it looks like the bottom is falling out of it and that the cracks are both extensive and very unusual. I suspect the spa has been leaking for quite a while and has continuously eroded the soil below, exasperating the issue. The technician used epoxy to fill the cracks in an effort to slow down the leaks, but said the spa is going to need major structural repairs.
Here’s where I need some advice and why I provided such a long description (sorry!). Should a seven year old spa need major structural repairs? I would think not but I have no experience here. Even though the pool is out of warranty, should the builder be responsible for all or part of this repair given the unusual circumstances? I suspect this is going to be expensive and both companies that evaluated the situation thought it was very unusual. My pool builder is very large so hopefully we can come to a reasonable solution, but honestly I’m expecting pushback. I would like to know what you think. Do I need to suck it up and get someone to repair this on my own or should I push on my builder to repair it.
Thanks in advance for your input.
I have a seven year old in-ground salt water pool with above ground spa w/spillover, 3 separate waterfalls, and a vanishing edge. I estimate the pool to be approximately 40K gallons, so its large. The pool has alway consumed a lot of water. The vanishing edge tank has constantly had a very low water level and the autofill runs extensively and does not sufficiently refill the tank. After some initial troubleshooting back in 2016, it was explained to me that the water loss was a result of evaporation. No leaks were identified. I will note that they were only troubleshooting the waterfalls/vanishing edge. They did not do a leak test on the entire system. This was our first pool and I was quite busy with work at the time, so I accepted the explanation and moved on. In addition, our maintenance company, who we used for the first five years and was recommended by the builder, never raised any concerns. I still though it was odd that the water level in the vanishing edge tank would get so low and I would contact the builder once or twice/year regarding the issue but nothing ever got done. I have a long list of texts and emails related to this.
Fast forward to spring 2022 when I decided to start using another maintenance company. Very quickly after taking over, the new company suspected a leak. They were going through too many chemicals and could not keep them balanced week to week. They suggested that I get a leak test which I did. The whole system was tested and it revealed cracks in my spa and a few cold joint leaks in various spots. The tester was not sure the extent of the cracks of how long they had been there. Obviously, I think something has been wrong since the very beginning. After the leak test was completed I left the system in service mode one evening and noticed that the spa water level dropped quite a bit overnight, so I left it off the next afternoon as well. I discovered that the spa would empty itself in about 36 hours with no pumps running. Conversely, the pool and vanishing edge tank held their water levels nicely. I replaced the one-way flapper valve on the spa line to make sure that it was not the issue (it wasn’t). I calculated that I was going through about 1,200 gallons of water/day. Armed with this information, and prior texts/emails, I reached out to my builder and asked for their help. Of course it took forever, but they sent their leak guy out yesterday (which I paid for). His assessment was that my spa is falling apart. He said it looks like the bottom is falling out of it and that the cracks are both extensive and very unusual. I suspect the spa has been leaking for quite a while and has continuously eroded the soil below, exasperating the issue. The technician used epoxy to fill the cracks in an effort to slow down the leaks, but said the spa is going to need major structural repairs.
Here’s where I need some advice and why I provided such a long description (sorry!). Should a seven year old spa need major structural repairs? I would think not but I have no experience here. Even though the pool is out of warranty, should the builder be responsible for all or part of this repair given the unusual circumstances? I suspect this is going to be expensive and both companies that evaluated the situation thought it was very unusual. My pool builder is very large so hopefully we can come to a reasonable solution, but honestly I’m expecting pushback. I would like to know what you think. Do I need to suck it up and get someone to repair this on my own or should I push on my builder to repair it.
Thanks in advance for your input.
