Ugh, my spa is leaking. What do I do?

[broncosrul]

We have a connected spa with a spillover into our pool. I noticed quite a lot of scale on the glass tiles underneath the spillover. I originally thought it was just the spillover water causing this.

However, as I was cleaning the tiles, I noticed there was still water dripping into the pool even though the spillover hadn’t been running for hours. It seemed to be coming through the tiles.

Now, some tiles have popped off and I can see water streaming down behind them. Several more tiles (above the ones that came off) are loose. I haven’t peeled off all the loose tiles to find the main source of the leak yet.

What does this mean? I thought these PVC pipes were buried in solid gunite, so I assume a pipe leak is difficult to get. But the spa wall is thick, so it seems unlikely that it is a hole from the main spa area.

How difficult is this to fix? I have laid tile, so I wasn’t too worried about reattaching tiles, but I hadn’t really counted on a leak. Is this something that I can do myself if I am moderately handy or should I have someone who know what they are doing come fix it?

I assume the next step is to tear off a bunch of the tiles and find the actual source of the leak.

I tried to get some video of what is happening.

https://imgur.com/a/8vrggcg

 

[kimkats]

YIKES! My guess is your spa wall was not waterproofed correctly. I am going to ping a couple of people who can help @1poolman1 @ajw22

 

[broncosrul]

Okay, I tore off the tile all the way up to the spillover because I couldn’t tell where the water was coming from. Even if I dried it it would still get wet again.

I am not 100% sure but my latest guess is it is flowing underneath the travertine that makes up the spillover.

So, I drained the spa about half way (so the waterlevel is below the travertine and I dried the wall. It seems be staying dry where I have removed the tiles. (There is still a little wetness below the tiles I left, but it could just be water trapped behind them from before).

I am attaching some pictures of below the spillover. I am also adding some pictures that show cracks in the travertine/grout which seems like it could support my guess.

If this is the source of the problem. How do I fix it? Do I have to somehow remove the travertine or do I just remover the existing grout where it is cracked and regrout it?

 

[broncosrul]

These are from inside the spa side.

 

[ajw22]

Regrout all around the travertine spillover and fill all the cracks.

Check the area annually and do annual maintenance on the area as small cracks develop.

 

[broncosrul]

Regrout all around the travertine spillover and fill all the cracks.

Check the area annually and do annual maintenance on the area as small cracks develop.

Thanks @ajw22

As a followup to this, I regrouted all the areas on the inside where I showed the cracks. (I didn’t actually grind out all the existing grout, so that may have been a mistake). Some of the cracks were very fine in the travertine, so I am not sure how well the sanded grout was able to block the leaks.

For reference, I used E-Z Patch® 4 (White) Pool Tile Grout.

I then refilled the spa to see if all the leaks had stopped. As you can see in the picture, it still looks like it is getting wet. I am less concerned about the very edges of the spillover because I didn’t regrout the edges of the spillover yet and I can see where water can get in. However, it still seems to be getting wet quite a ways in from the edge.

Recommendations?
-should I grind out all the grout on the inside tiles and regrout that area again?
-is there some other waterproofing I should be using (either on the inside tile or trying to squeeze it up under the spillover base) since it appears that water is getting beyond the inside thin set. Maybe something that would squeeze into fine cracks easier than the grout?
- I am planning on using the E-Z Patch® 3 (White) Thinset on the outside. Do I need anything other than that for the waterproofing? (I am going to grind off the existing thinset so the new tiles are not raised higher than the existing ones)