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Pool Cracks

As I have previously mentioned, there are many reasons why a pool cracks and what may have caused the cracks to develop. One of the major reasons points to the original construction of the pool. If the soil where the pool was built was not sufficient to support the weight of the pool, the pool will move and crack.  Soil in North Texas is known to move.  If it is too wet it swells. If it is too dry, it shrinks.  If you are a homeowner, undoubtedly have been told to put soaker hoses around your foundation. Do you know why you were told that?  If you also have a pool, why has no one told you to do that around the pool as well?  Soaker hoses around your home foundation are meant to keep the soil around the foundation moisture consistent. The problem arises when the soil dries out and compacts or shrinks away from the foundation. When this happens there is nothing supporting the concrete. The foundation then shifts or moves and cracks. Why do you think there are so many foundation companies in North Texas?  The same problem exists in swimming pools. Which is compounded if a leak develops from the pool cracks.

How do you repair pool cracks? To do so with success you must understand the cracks are a symptom of a larger problem. If you do not address the problem, the cracks will return. There two options for pool stabilization that G&B has utilized with success. We have placed piers in pools to stabilize the shell against future movement. We have also stabilized the soil under the pool to prevent future movement. There becomes a point in crack repair that the soil must be addressed if you expect the pool to become one you can enjoy rather that put up with.

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Crack Repair

 

What do you do if you had crack repair done with epoxy injection on your pool and it failed?

First, you must consider if other options were presented and did the crack repair company give any insight as to what might have caused the cracks? There are several reasons why the pool may have cracked in the first place. Pool cracks are generally a symptom of a larger problem with the pool. To properly repair a cracked pool the issue that caused the pool to crack must be identified and corrected. There is not a “one repair fits all” in regard to pool crack repair. Experienced companies will inspect the pool to identify the best repair methods and then provide you with some options. If a crack returned, it is either due to the wrong repair method being used or possibly the issue that caused the pool to crack is still present.

Epoxy injection repair is limited by the crack it is repairing. If the crack is not clean inside the crack, the epoxy will be bonding contaminated walls of the crack together, not the pool shell.  There essentially is nothing repairing the crack if that is the case. This is the case in most pools over 5 years old. Epoxy injection should not be done without also including staples in the repair. Most staples on the market are about as good as epoxy inside a dirty crack. They are worthless. G&B uses our own proprietary staples. We use a process like no other company with our staples. We open up the pool shell with our Hydro Demo process where the crack is located and find the structural steel on each side of the crack. G&B then saddles the steel with our G&B staples and secures it in place with epoxy. G&B’s staples are then tightened to put post tension strength on the shell along every 12” of the cracks. That same crack is also epoxy injected for a double repair effort. Keep in mind if the pool shell is sitting on unstable soil there is another option that must be utilized. If not the crack repair will likely fail regardless of the use of G&B staples or not.

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Crack Repair

Pool Patch Manufactures

 

 

Pools crack for several reasons… but how do you repair them? To understand who you should hire to perform crack repair in your pool you must understand these simple issues.  First of all, there is no such thing as “just a plaster crack”. All pool cracks are structure cracks. Second all pool cracks leak. It may not be a fast leak, like a tub drain, but it definitely is a leak. It should be dealt with sooner rather than later. The pool gunite or substrate is not watertight. If the plaster has a crack, it means the pool has a leak.  Once the plaster is cracked the pools’ ability to be watertight is compromised. There is an exception, homebrew bond coats allow the pool water to separate the outer plaster from the under plaster layer. When that happens a debonded hollow spot in the outer plaster layer can crack due to pressure from the water between the plaster layers. These cracks generally look like spider webs or crow foot pattern cracks. Homebrew bond coats do not work.

 Pool crack repair cannot be done with much success without understanding these issues. Most repair techs offer epoxy as the repair option, these same companies also use homebrew bond coats.  To understand how to successfully repair pool cracks you must realize that the crack is always a symptom of a larger problem. If you simply repair the crack with just epoxy you most likely will not be addressing the issue that caused the crack at all. There is a very good chance that epoxy alone will not repair a crack at all. Pool water has Total Dissolved Solids. A crack that is leaking will have that same TDS inside the crack. The epoxy works well, only if it bonds to clean concrete. The likelihood that a pool crack in 5 year old pool will not be contaminated is slim and none. It definitely won’t be clean concrete. That is why most techs include a coat of polyurethane over the crack repair in case the epoxy fails. This is also why crack repair with epoxy should not be done without also incorporating quality staples.  G&B uses our own propriety pool staples for crack repair.  They are the only staples on the market that properly address the goal of including staples in crack repair.