Water running through stone and out of pool

[dragonheart05]

Hi, the pool is finally complete and full of water. The issue I am having is that the water spilling from the spa into the pool is running through the split face stone and onto/over the coping. It is happening on both sides but one side just falls into the pool. I am meeting with the PB in a couple of days to talk options but wanted to come back to you guys to talk through any options you guys can think of.

 

[bmoreswim]

I didn’t see the pics before replying. Different issue from what I discussed below. There needs to be some sort of separation so the water can’t just jump from the tile to the split rock. I wonder if a groove ground vertically into the tile at the edge of the stone would cause it to flow down. Or something similar to that. However, I wouldn’t personally be the one to do it because I’d be terrified I’d crack the glass tile!

Previous answer:

I believe the issue is the surface tension of the water going over the overflow stone is wrapping it around and under the stone and then its running down the split face rock. It is common to have a small channel cut into the underside of the overflow stone, parallel with the edge to break that surface tension which causes the water to sheet off and into the pool.

Another reason could be the edge of the stone is not cut at a sharp enough angle. If it is rounded or beveled, that can cause the water to not sheet off.

 

[Jimrahbe]

05,

It appears to me that the problem is just a design issue.. With the design you have were else is the water going to go??

There needs to be some kind of solid form on each end of the spill way to prevent that from happening.

Sounds to me like you need to get your pool builder back in there to install a fix..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[dragonheart05]

05,

It appears to me that the problem is just a design issue.. With the design you have were else is the water going to go??

There needs to be some kind of solid form on each end of the spill way to prevent that from happening.

Sounds to me like you need to get your pool builder back in there to install a fix..

Thanks,

Jim R.

Jim, thanks for the response. That's what I was afraid of. Any idea what kind of solid form could work that would not be that overwhelming? He was talking about some travertine between the glass tile and the split face but not sure how that would look.

 

[dragonheart05]

I didn’t see the pics before replying. Different issue from what I discussed below. There needs to be some sort of separation so the water can’t just jump from the tile to the split rock. I wonder if a groove ground vertically into the tile at the edge of the stone would cause it to flow down. Or something similar to that. However, I wouldn’t personally be the one to do it because I’d be terrified I’d crack the glass tile!

Previous answer:

I believe the issue is the surface tension of the water going over the overflow stone is wrapping it around and under the stone and then its running down the split face rock. It is common to have a small channel cut into the underside of the overflow stone, parallel with the edge to break that surface tension which causes the water to sheet off and into the pool.

Another reason could be the edge of the stone is not cut at a sharp enough angle. If it is rounded or beveled, that can cause the water to not sheet off.

I was thinking fo trying to increase the pressure as well since right now all of the water is just running down the tile (and therefore into the seams of the split face). Not sure if that would help or not.

 

[Jimrahbe]

05,

I sure there are other ways, but in my mind the key is to make it look like the fix is supposed to be there..

I would add a 2" wide strip of something solid about the same color as the cap on the spa.. The idea being to make the spillway a little smaller but separate it from the stacked stone.

If you make it too thin it will look like it was added..

Something like in the attached crude pic..




Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Rich D]

05,

I sure there are other ways, but in my mind the key is to make it look like the fix is supposed to be there..

I would add a 2" wide strip of something solid about the same color as the cap on the spa.. The idea being to make the spillway a little smaller but separate it from the stacked stone.

If you make it too thin it will look like it was added..

Something like in the attached crude pic..

View attachment 97212

Jim R.

I agree with Jim. I think I would use a darker stone then the cap stone and leave as much gap as you can between the horizontal piece and the cap stone as looks correct so it remains separate from the cap stone.

 

[dragonheart05]

I agree with Jim. I think I would use a darker stone then the cap stone and leave as much gap as you can between the horizontal piece and the cap stone as looks correct so it remains separate from the cap stone.

Hi Rich, thank you for your response. I truly appreciate the good insight from everyone o this forum.

Yes I see your (and Jim's) point. Based on what the PB told me over the phone I think they are thinking of leaving the actual spillway alone but cutting back into the stacked stone and adding a solid piece of travertine (or some other stone) from the top cap all the way down between the glass tile and the stacked stone. Basically where the red rectangles are in the attached image. Do you guys think that would also be a potential solution?

 

[Jimrahbe]

05,

I think it would work to prevent the leaks, but not sure how it would look. To me it will look "added" as the wall end will have two different types of stone.. That is why my plan would be to remove some of the glass tile and add the stone there. It will look more symmetrical, in my mind...

Looks are often in the eye of the beholder, so what works for me might not work for you or anyone else..

Your pool builders plan would be a lot easier to do..

Let me call in another view point... @bdavis466

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[dragonheart05]

05,

I think it would work to prevent the leaks, but not sure how it would look. To me it will look "added" as the wall end will have two different types of stone.. That is why my plan would be to remove some of the glass tile and add the stone there. It will look more symmetrical, in my mind...

Looks are often in the eye of the beholder, so what works for me might not work for you or anyone else..

Your pool builders plan would be a lot easier to do..

Let me call in another view point... @bdavis466

Thanks,

Jim R.

Jim, just to make sure I understand your suggestion. It is to add something ~2" on the top of the spillover and then have that same solid material come all the way down. Sorry I think when I saw your initial image I thought you were saying to add something to the wall next to the spillway. This way it sits on the spillway and there is still a gap between the solid material and the end cap (where there is tile) and on the front it goes all the way down to the end of the split face stone. Is that correct?

 

[bdavis466]

This is a common problem with stacked stone since the water can travel along the stair-step path and right out of the pool.

Can you reduce the spillway speed? Does that help at all?

 

[dragonheart05]

This is a common problem with stacked stone since the water can travel along the stair-step path and right out of the pool.

Can you reduce the spillway speed? Does that help at all?

Sadly no, even at the low speed it is going through the split face stone path and out of the pool.

 

[Jimrahbe]

05,

My idea was to remove about 2" of the glass tile and install the stone between the wall and the current spillover. This would make the spillover about 4" smaller and there would be no glass tile under the stone or behind it. I would make the piece on the front a little wider so that it sticks out in front of the stacked stone about 1/4"..

A lot more work for sure...

Jim R.

 

[dragonheart05]

Thank you all for the feedback. If anyone else has had a similar issue and has any other creative ideas please let me know.