Looking for some advice on fixing the eye sores for the short term, I know that a more costly solution is in the future.
History: Pool was filled from new 8/2017, 5 years ago. Pool is 15 x 35, 7.75' deep. Its a wonderful pool and love it except for its faults.
The bench cracks appeared second year after the winter season, in ~ March 2019 . I took off the cover and viola... They have gotten marginally bigger but seemed to have stopped getting bigger. They do not leak. Something leaks until the water level gets below the skimmer throats then stops, but that's a issue the leak detectors have failed to identify. Once below the throats, the water doesn't go down. Id like to start another thread about that issue.
During construction with "Waterview Pools" we removed about two feet of black soil. Then solid dense, caliche. Here in Taylor, TX, famous for shifting clays, we see a lot of cracked foundations. The problem I have heard is that below the caliche layer is another dense layer of clay that is always moving. My neighborhood has an aquifer below it and many neighbors have 45' deep wells hand dug in the early 1900's.
The algae has been a tremendous annoyance here in Central Texas Thanks to the GIANT oak tree that lost leave twice this winter and shed massive amounts of pollen into the pool in APRIL. It got overwhelming at a point and I got behind on the chlorine ... much much better now but fighting the linger effects... brushing with a metal bristle brush is working well.
ISSUE: I want to resurface the most offensive crack areas on the bench ledge and the wading ledge. An engineer said the bench has probably done it settling. He said it was because of the way they sprayed the gunite material... lots of conjecture on what is happening and if it has settled completely. I think it has.
TODO:
I want to partial drain below the level of the long bench. Power wash and fill the cracks. Powerwash and fill the wading ledge cracks and resurface myself with SiderPool plaster kit, which includes three steps( repair cracks, rough coat and final plaster).
I dont understand the spider web cracks in the wading ledge. But they are also not moving any longer.
Other than the cracking, the plaster is not peeling or chipping and is very smooth throughout.
I fear that attempting to resurface the entire pool will result in wasted money if the pool settles more/again. Very frustrated with the appearance! I know that by fixing the majority of the cracks will help the algae problem and that is a big issue going forward.
See the photos. (You guys like lots of pictures... lets do it!)
Pool in better days... the layout. The wading end and bench along right deep end..
The steps and bench corner....
Along the bench... cracking has not gotten bigger in the last year.
The cracks get much less towards the deep end...
The wading ledge... cracks go across similarly the entire width.
The rebar...
Deep and north side. Deep end and bench, south side.
Wading Ledge, steps in background.
History: Pool was filled from new 8/2017, 5 years ago. Pool is 15 x 35, 7.75' deep. Its a wonderful pool and love it except for its faults.
The bench cracks appeared second year after the winter season, in ~ March 2019 . I took off the cover and viola... They have gotten marginally bigger but seemed to have stopped getting bigger. They do not leak. Something leaks until the water level gets below the skimmer throats then stops, but that's a issue the leak detectors have failed to identify. Once below the throats, the water doesn't go down. Id like to start another thread about that issue.
During construction with "Waterview Pools" we removed about two feet of black soil. Then solid dense, caliche. Here in Taylor, TX, famous for shifting clays, we see a lot of cracked foundations. The problem I have heard is that below the caliche layer is another dense layer of clay that is always moving. My neighborhood has an aquifer below it and many neighbors have 45' deep wells hand dug in the early 1900's.
The algae has been a tremendous annoyance here in Central Texas Thanks to the GIANT oak tree that lost leave twice this winter and shed massive amounts of pollen into the pool in APRIL. It got overwhelming at a point and I got behind on the chlorine ... much much better now but fighting the linger effects... brushing with a metal bristle brush is working well.
ISSUE: I want to resurface the most offensive crack areas on the bench ledge and the wading ledge. An engineer said the bench has probably done it settling. He said it was because of the way they sprayed the gunite material... lots of conjecture on what is happening and if it has settled completely. I think it has.
TODO:
I want to partial drain below the level of the long bench. Power wash and fill the cracks. Powerwash and fill the wading ledge cracks and resurface myself with SiderPool plaster kit, which includes three steps( repair cracks, rough coat and final plaster).
I dont understand the spider web cracks in the wading ledge. But they are also not moving any longer.
Other than the cracking, the plaster is not peeling or chipping and is very smooth throughout.
I fear that attempting to resurface the entire pool will result in wasted money if the pool settles more/again. Very frustrated with the appearance! I know that by fixing the majority of the cracks will help the algae problem and that is a big issue going forward.
See the photos. (You guys like lots of pictures... lets do it!)
Pool in better days... the layout. The wading end and bench along right deep end..
The steps and bench corner....
Along the bench... cracking has not gotten bigger in the last year.
The cracks get much less towards the deep end...
The wading ledge... cracks go across similarly the entire width.
The rebar...
Deep and north side. Deep end and bench, south side.
Wading Ledge, steps in background.
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