Coping Question

[mtnbkn1]

We are redoing our coping and we are trying to make the right decision on what type of brick to use since our tile line and our deck surface have a large gap. We can use safety grip with a half brick to take up the gap or standard bullnose that has a large grout line btwn the brick and the tile. My concern is the effects of salt water on the half brick.. will the half brick fail after 5 yrs and start to fall apart?

[PoolDoc]

The guy at this site, http://thepoolbiz.blogspot.com/, is pretty rabidly against SWCG (Salt Water Chlorine Generators) use and other things. But, some of his concerns seem to be evidence based.

Unfortunately, it's not always clear what their evidence of! His latest post, from a few days ago, is a dead-on critique of builder ignorance . . . but even though the builder was stupid with an SWCG, I've exactly the same sort of stupidity with a Rainbow trichlor feeder. Anyhow, his site is worth reading, if you have SWCG corrosion concerns. BUT, you need to read carefully, because he generalizes from local (Texas) evidence.

For example, the sort of natural stone damage he highlights probably is a problem in dry areas of Texas. But it's not necessarily a problem in areas where concrete is used OR where there's enough rainfall to wash away salt concentrations on the deck OR where the owners wash down the deck regularly.

As best I can determine, the general facts are:

1. SWCG use increases several types of corrosion, but only incrementally. So, if the corrosion was very minor before, it will be minor with an SWCG. But if it was moderate before (say, because of low grade stainless ladder rails) it may be severe with an SWCG.
2. Natural stone may -- I'm not sure -- be affected worse than other materials. If so, the TYPE of stone will matter, and some types of stone will be more affected than others. I don't know which surfaces would be more affected.
3. The best info I have at present is that fired clay brick would be one of the least affected surfaces. Grout? It depends. A lot of builders use some pretty shaky grout mixes and application methods, that don't stand up all that well to just water. Well mixed mortar, of a good blend, with only a small excess of water will probably be durable, with or without a SWCG.
4. You need make sure that your OTHER equipment is salt compatible. Most older heaters are NOT!
5. Low grade stainless is not very compatible with chlorinated water, and is not compatible with salt.
6. Aluminum (gray; white/silver when scratched) ladder and rail anchors are NOT compatible with water! Salt will certainly make it worse. Use BRONZE! Various anti-SWCG pages, like this one, http://www.parpools.com/page/help/po..._truths.2.html
display corroded anchors. I don't doubt that salt accelerates the corrosion . . . but I have seen corrosion identical to that for YEARS, long before SWCGs were even sold in the USA. The managers at the local SCP wholesaler have all heard me gripe about aluminum anchors, for as long as they've known me.

So basically, if you use inappropriate gear on a pool like aluminum anchors or low grade stainless, salt will probably make it worse. But don't use that junk!

One other point to remember. Most of the anti-salt pages are by folks who are FOR a competing product. For example, the "poolguy", with the blog, was (and may still be) an EcoSmarte copper/silver ionizer company. So, he had (or had in the past) a business reason to reject SWCG's. By contrast, nobody here -- except PoolSean, who has proved himself trustworthy over a number of years -- sells EITHER SWCG's or ionizers.

That doesn't mean we're right and he's wrong: it just means we don't have any axes that need grinding.

------------ Bad anchor --------------------------------- Good anchor -----------


all linked pages archived at 14484