New owner of old pool looking for repairs for leaking shell

[mapgirl]

Hey there! So, the email said to post my problem (s) LOL

I'll spare you the details - I've already found so much information and am really interested in finding those threads again and bumping them up get an update on someone's solution to a specific situation (using UltraGuard).

In the meantime, I will entertain you with pics of what our pool looked like when we removed the cover after purchasing our first home. LOLOLOL Imagine our surprise - especially after being told by the former owners the pool was great but "they did all the work themselves and to enjoy it." Silly us - serves us right for not getting a pool inspection before purchasing. Oh well - it's all water under the pool now (HA!) and from here we can only learn our lesson and move forward! You can see pics here (can't post pics on the forum? too soon? LOL):
[ Images below -- Admin ]

The previous owners left it empty for 1.5 years and it was NOT a pretty site.

It held water for a month and now it just won't. Losing about 2-3 inches a day. I'm wondering if the crappy paint they had used and then the sides bulging probably compromised the integrity of the fiberglass and is just absorbing water. We have definitely isolated the leak area to be somewhere at the wall.

Currently researching all of options for the walls without having to dig the whole thing up.
Can the walls just be replaced?
Could the whole pool be sealed with UltraGuard? Seems like that would actually work!

What would the options cost us? If we knew, then we would know how much to save.
I hope to spend many fine years here soaking up pool knowledge from all of you!

[PoolDoc]

Your images:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-b0mSq057ZIo/Ug05S2MjPJI/AAAAAAAAF_g/60nu2bE_pLM/s640/1%2520pool%2520covered.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s36gC_LPadE/Ug05S9FHSSI/AAAAAAAAF_c/7zJG3tdPFqM/s640/2%2520pool%2520drained%2520and%2520chipped.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OV954J9EM2s/Ug05S2XSArI/AAAAAAAAF_k/E_o_NiQbR0E/s640/3%2520pool%2520drained%2520and%2520chipped.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jvyrsAidhxg/Ug05TTVmRqI/AAAAAAAAF_s/Sk3Ra1nDXWk/s640/4%2520pool%2520drained%2520and%2520chipped.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-P_n765nefVM/Ug05Te45ieI/AAAAAAAAF_0/IGXWCp7hqWQ/s640/5%2520pool%2520filling%2520after%2520patching.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uskX0wwB9ws/Ug05T69S86I/AAAAAAAAF_4/6aunONyNNBc/s640/6%2520pool%2520after%2520paint.jpg

[PoolDoc]

I'm not entirely clear on the current status of your pool. Your pictures seem to show a concrete bottom pool (fiberglass walls??) that has already been patched and painted? Is that correct?

I'll offer a few comments:

+ Ultraguard is just an epoxy pool paint. It *may* (or may not) be better than something like Kelley Technical's Zeron . . . but it's still just paint. Heavy epoxy paint will seal small cracks, but not major leaks. Even with small cracks, if they move (in the winter, as the pool contracts) the epoxy will open up.

+ If you want a quality job -- and as expensive as epoxy is, you do -- you can not apply epoxy paint on top of acrylic or rubber paint. You have to remove the paint completely, by grinding or sand blasting.

+ If you have a fiberglass wall that "bulging" and leaking . . . there's a pretty good chance you're going to have to do fiberglass repairs. Depending on what's causing the bulging, you may have to do repairs under the deck, as well.

+ Pricing for pool renovation is very local. We can help you get some idea about what sort of repairs you might want to consider, but you have to find local people capable of that sort of repair . . . and get prices from them. Getting a price that might be right in a competitive year round pool market like Miami or LA won't have much relevance to you.

+ "Crappy paint" does not damage pool surfaces underneath the paint, so far as I know.

[PoolDoc]

membership upgraded.

[mapgirl]

Your pictures seem to show a concrete bottom pool (fiberglass walls??) that has already been patched and painted? Is that correct?

Partially correct - the company that patched it did not repaint the entire pool because, like you mentioned above, they would have had to sandblast and grind it all. that was too costly for me this year. They will do that next year.
The last photo of it filled only lasted about a month. It kept for a month and then started losing water - we have not been able to pinpoint the problem except that it's in the walls somewhere.


+ Ultraguard is just an epoxy pool paint. It *may* (or may not) be better than something like Kelley Technical's Zeron . . . but it's still just paint. Heavy epoxy paint will seal small cracks, but not major leaks. Even with small cracks, if they move (in the winter, as the pool contracts) the epoxy will open up.
-I was under the impression that UltraGuard was more of a sealant than a paint. Thank you for clarifying this for me.

+ If you want a quality job -- and as expensive as epoxy is, you do -- you can not apply epoxy paint on top of acrylic or rubber paint. You have to remove the paint completely, by grinding or sand blasting.
- The previous owners used Ramuc acrylic paint 2 years ago, which has bubbled and peeled. It's not clear as to what surface they applied that over.

+ If you have a fiberglass wall that "bulging" and leaking . . . there's a pretty good chance you're going to have to do fiberglass repairs. Depending on what's causing the bulging, you may have to do repairs under the deck, as well.
- We expect to do the fiberglass repairs and address one area under the deck which has settled and cracked. My primary question in posting all of this is what type of repair would be best? Should be replace all of the walls with new fiberglass panels? Can that even be done if the concrete bottom is already poured? I know that we could have concrete walls poured in place of the panels, but that might be beyond my current budget for another year or so.


+ Pricing for pool renovation is very local. We can help you get some idea about what sort of repairs you might want to consider, but you have to find local people capable of that sort of repair . . . and get prices from them. Getting a price that might be right in a competitive year round pool market like Miami or LA won't have much relevance to you.
-see above - i would appreciate suggestions as to the type of repairs I should consider. I'm still contacting local companies to find out if they're even capable of the repairs.

+ "Crappy paint" does not damage pool surfaces underneath the paint, so far as I know.
-Thank you for clarifying this as well. During my research, I read a comment that stated "Blisters and bulges are a different matter. Bulges can form with the movement of the earth. When this happened, the gel coat may have cracked slightly. That let water get to the fiberglass caused it to begin to break down."

This led me to believe that perhaps it was never properly painted and sealed - and the fiberglass is therefore absorbing water which is the primary reason I'm losing so much water. If fiberglass is porous and the walls are not painted and sealed properly - or done with a sub-par product - is this the real problem for water loss? If so, would a new gel coat application and paint fix our water loss woes for at least the next couple of years?

Thank you for your responses and assistance.

[mapgirl]

I should also add for clarification that there are no visual structural cracks in the fiberglass walls EXCEPT just under the coping where the previous owners removed tile and patched - which is above the water line.

[Marin]

So is it a fiberglass wall & gunite bottom?

Bubbles behind paint are 1 of 2 things. A contaminant left in the surface (including moisture) or the paint was applied in 90+ temps in the sun. I've experienced both.

There is an epoxy paint that will go over any type of paint. We use it and it holds up very well. That said, I still hate painting pools.

Lew me know about your pool construction. I don't mess with fiberglass but can help with the other stuff.

[mapgirl]

Hi Greg! yes it is fiberglass wall and concrete floor construction although the concrete was not applied as you would gunite - it's pretty old and from the looks of it was done the old fashioned way :)

We don't have a problem anywhere else in the pool except for with the fiberglass LOL
I think next spring we are going to remove the decking around the pool and fiberglass walls and have concrete walls poured -i have yet to hear back from uniwall or other business that specializes in fiberglass wall construction.

i was hoping that coating it with some kind of epoxy sealcoat would help hold the water in for a few seasons - we may be beyond that as a solution to our problem.
thank you!

our water loss has slowed but the level is down to where the fiberglass meets the concrete now.