How To Repair Inground Pool Floor

When To Replace A Pool Liner

Professionals recommend replacing your pool liner every 10 years at a minimum. However, with the current liners on the market today, expect to replace your pool liner every 6 to 8 years on average. If you wait too long to replace your pool liner, you could cause further damage like:

• Wall Damage When the water leaks through a tear in the liner, it will begin to cause rust to the steel walls.
• Floor Damage Water leakage can weaken the subfloor beneath the liner, leading to cracks. When this happens, the whole subfloor will need to be redone.
• As the water goes through the ground, it will affect the foundation the deck is supported by. Water will cause erosion, which causes cracks in the paving and makes your deck sink.

Major Inground Vinyl Pool Repairs

There comes a time in every pools lifespan where a renovation becomes necessary. The vinyl liner will deteriorate every 15 years or so, but other problems with the coping, steps, walls or floors may develop over longer stretches of time. Every 30 years or so, every inground pool, no matter what type, will be a candidate for some type of renovation, to the shell, the plumbing or at least the equipment.

Today we look at a list of items that you may consider as your pool ages, and a link to another blog post with more information on the topic.

With A Drained Pool: Plaster Repairs And Patching

Based on what you saw when you assessed your crack, you might need to repair your plaster or straight up patch it up. If you have a crack that is long or thick, you should get ready to repair your plaster. If you have bubbling, loose, or superficially crumbling plaster, youll need to patch it up. These two jobs are pretty different from one another, so you might need to give that crack another look to make sure were on the right track.

This next part I cant stress enough: since you are draining your inground pool while there is at least one crack present, youre going to need to take every precaution available to avoid the inground pool pop up. Its a super rare occurrence, but theres reason to believe that its more common when there are preexisting cracks involved. Dont let this catastrophe happen to you and your poolthe last thing you want when repairing a crack is to experience your entire pool floor fissuring, as well as rising up out of the ground. Its a worst case scenario.

Alright, no more horror stories. Listen, youre doing your homework and youve already read up on how to prevent your inground pool from popping. Youre going to have a beautiful, smooth pool before you know it, so lets get going.

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What Should I Do If I Have A Leak In My Above Ground Pool

Once you have all those materials, heres what you need to do: Turn off all the pool equipment to make the pool water as still as possible. Fill up the bucket with water, making sure that there is around an inch or more of space between the surface of the water and the buckets rim. Place the bucket as close to the pool as possible.

The same cant be said for in-ground pools it should lose a significant amount of water in a very short time before you can suspect that a leak is present in an in-ground pool. You already know that finding the source of the leak in an above ground vinyl liner pool is a challenging task.

Release Your Relief Valves

Believe it or not, your pool actually has built-in protectors against the pop up nightmare: hydrostatic pressure relief valves. I know, they have a pretty intimidating name. But theyre on your team here.

When you look at your pool, youll see one or more white rings embedded in the floor. Under that, theyre threaded into a slotted pipe, which runs along the floor of the pool and connects to a gravel pit underground.

These little guys are important because, unseen to us, there might be water that has accumulated under your pool. If this water under the pool doesnt have the weight of water in your pool to keep it down, the pressure will cause your pool floor to pop up. Pull these valves, and the water under your pool will come up into your pool, the pressure will be relieved, and youre even further from any possibility of the pool pop up.

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Wrinkles In Your Pool Liner

Clean lines with no wrinkles extend beyond your clothes and right into your pool liner. Just like with your dress shirts or skirts, wrinkles make your pool liner look saggy and unkempt.

Unfortunately, you cant just plug in an iron to try and smooth out your liner. First of all, it wont work. But more importantly, you risk electrocution!

There are more practical, effective, and safe ways to handle wrinkles in your pool liner, depending on the cause:

• Poor installation: If your pool liner was installed improperly, resulting in wrinkles, and is less than one year old, it can be reset and installed again, wrinkle-free

• Poor measure/fit: If the wrinkles were due to a liner that was poorly measured and improperly fitted, the wrinkles can be cut out and glued back to remove them, but the liner will still be a poor fit

• Improper water chemistry : There is no wrinkle fix for this, because vinyl that is exposed to harsh conditions begins to absorb water, becomes saturated, and expands to cause wrinkles

Remember, although wrinkles in your pool liner may not look very nice, they wont affect your liners functionality. Replacement isnt necessary in this case.

How Much Does An Inground Pool Usually Cost

The average cost to install an inground pool is $35,000 with most homeowners spending between $28,000 and $55,000. The additional cost of pool ownership for basic maintenance, increased utilities, and repairs add $2,500 to $5,000 every year.

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References and Further Readings :

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What Happens If You Dont Fix The Leak In Your Above Ground Pool

Trying to decide whether or not to fix that leaky pool liner? Hopefully this section will convince you to do so.

The proper amount of water in an above ground pool is crucial to its longevity. Uneven or too low a water level can cause your above ground pool to sag inwards until something breaks.

Additionally the water helps protect the liner itself. Vinyl liners that are exposed to direct sunlight and air for too long will eventually before brittle and begin to crack.

If you think you can skirt the issue by continually filling your pool, youre fighting a losing battle. Every time you fill you pool, youre altering the chemical ratios likely creating a more friendly environment for algae and bacteria. Health concerns aside, your water bill is going to be pretty high if youre constantly filling your pool.

Preventing a leak in your above ground swimming pool comes down to regular maintenance and cleaning.

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When To Replace A Vinyl Pool Liner

Its difficult to say exactly how long a pool liner will last, but most have a life expectancy between 15 and 20 years. Reasons vary as to why you might need to replace the liner instead of just having a patch job done but, in any case, be sure to check your liner regularly to ensure you don’t lose too much water or cause additional damage.

Here are four reasons to replace your liner:

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Experts In Inground Pool Liner Repair

Swimming pools are a beautiful and fun addition to any home that the whole family will enjoy. And with proper maintenance, including water treatment, algae control, filtration systems, etc., you will most certainly get 15 to 30 years of relatively trouble-free enjoyment.

Pools require regular maintenance as well as repairs to last for their full intended lifespan of 15 to 30 years. Fred Seguin

However, even with a good maintenance routine, issues are bound to arise, particularly with your pool liner, making repairs inevitable. But by not addressing these issues as soon as they arise, they can lead to more extensive damage that requires significant costly repairs. Therefore, understanding the most common pool issues to expect and addressing them in a timely fashion is the key to keeping your pool in top shape for years to come, while also keeping your repair costs low.

With that being said, at HB Pools, we can help you with any of the most common issues you may experience with your pool or pool liner. This includes:

• Cuts
• Pump and filter issues

The Steps To Patching A Pool Liner

The first thing you want to do when patching a pool liner is to make sure theres an actual leak. Its common for most pools to lose between ¼ to ½ of an inch of water each day, especially during the hot summer months, when evaporation levels are higher.

The general rule of thumb is that if youre losing approximately an inch or more of water per day, then you have a leak.

You can use a couple of methods to find out for sure if you have a leak. The first method is commonly known as the bucket method, and the second is the ink method.

The bucket method involves placing a five-gallon bucket with water in it by your pool. Mark the waterline of the bucker and the waterline of your pool. Turn your pools pump off and wait for up to 24 hours.

After 24 hours, mark the new water line on both your bucket and in your pool, then measure the distance between each one. If your pools water level is lower than the equivalent water level in your bucket, you have a leak.

The ink method involves using a leak-finding kit or some dark food coloring. Youll also need to have a pretty good idea of where the leak is.

Grab some goggles, jump in, and head towards the leak. Squirt a little ink or food coloring near the leak and watch for movement. If you notice a steady, colored stream flowing in a particular direction , then you have a leak.

For more on leaks, read my full article on how to find pool leaks.

Heres how to patch up those leaks.

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Why Did My Pool Crack In The First Place

Dont worryyoure not alone. Just about any pool can crack, and some pools are more prone than others. Older pools that are made of concrete or gunite usually grow cracks, similar to how or skin changes as we age. These are usually pretty shallow and easy to patch up.

But if you have cracks that are consistently showing up, yikes. I hate to say this, but you might have a poor design and installation on your hands. And if your pool wasnt designed or installed properly, your pool might be more susceptible to cracks that go right to the pool shelllayers below those harmless, superficial cracks. Its these deep cracks that eventually cause bad leaks. If youre getting cracks faster than you can plaster them, you might want to call in a professional to assess the way forward.

Always looking to cut operating costsespecially if you get even better perfomance as a result? Try the 1.5 HP Variable Speed Blue Torrent Thunder In-Ground Swimming Pool Pumpit pays itself off in under a year, is ultra-reliable, and is eligible for rebates. As customer Eric D says, Day one, I fired this pump up and it ran clean and fast.

What Is The Best Time To Replace My Pools Liner

The best time to replace your pools liner is in the spring or fall, as you wont lose any of those precious summer months when youre looking to use your pool. Spring is also usually the busiest time of year, which is why its important to book early to ensure the process can be completed as efficiently as possible.

Quite often you might not have the luxury of being able to pre-plan when to replace your pools liner. Working with the right pool services provider can mean your pool will be shut down for as few as five to seven days, letting you make the most of your pool all summer long.

At Total Tech, we are pool liner experts. Our experienced staff have been providing pool services including liner repairs and replacements to customers in Oakville, Burlington, Mississauga, and surrounding areas for over 25 years. Contact us today to discuss your vision for your pool!

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Pool Plaster Repair: Full Pool

Putty and plaster mix that set underwater will allow you to fix cracks and gouges without draining a drop of pool water.

• Underwater Pool Plaster

Concrete Pool Repair: Structural Problems

Pool Maintenance | Concrete Pool Information

Surface damage to a concrete swimming pool can be annoying. Structural damage to a concrete pool can be a catastrophe.

We think that both are serious enough to be considered before you buy your inground concrete pool .

Most major damage happens when the pool is designed, built, or maintained incorrectly, and many of the things were going to talk about here can be avoided. Since we at River Pools love seeing people happy with their new inground swimming pools , we want to help you avoid these issues.

So, what are some of the things that can happen to your pool, and what are the signs to look for? When does it spell the end, and when can it be fixed? Well answer all of these questions and more in the following sections.

There are two main parts to any inground swimming pool:

• The pool surface
• The pool shell

A crack in your concrete swimming pool doesnt always indicate that the pool shell is cracked. Most of the time, those cracks are limited to the surface layer and dont go any deeper than the plaster finish. This means that they dont typically cause leaks, but they can still make your algae problems worse or lead to calcium nodules.

Pool plaster cracks can usually be patched, or if theyre too bad, you can replaster your entire pool to fix them. Unfortunately, it is pricey to replace the plaster on your pool .

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Its All Downhill From Here

This is also part of your drainage game plan, but its important to highlight on its ownits a trick that a lot of pool owners overlook when draining theirs. Wherever your drainage location, make sure that its downhill from your pool. This means that if there are any accidents, your water is less likely to saturate the area around your pool.

One common issue can occur when you drain into your sewer system: you hit a clog. Its not often that homeowners discover a clog in their system until theyre pushing thousands of gallons of water throughand if that water hits a clog, its going to come right back at you. Draining downhill will mitigate that damage.

Now that your pool is getting drained, are you noticing that its a lot filthier than you thought? Its time to give your automatic cleaner a much-needed upgrade by switching to the Blue Torrent MyBot Inground Robotic Cleaner, which works powerfully on its own to keep your walls and floor sparkling clean. As customer David Lain says, Very pleased. My wife loves it.

Fiberglass Vs Vinyl Pool

When comparing inground pool costs, an inground fiberglass pool costs about $46,000. Compare this to a vinyl liner pool which costs $36,000 on average. The liner is around $4,500 to $6,000 and labor costs an additional $10,000. Labor, excavating, and additional parts can add another $11,000.

Fiberglass vs. Vinyl Pool

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How Do I Stop Ground Water From Coming In And Repair Fiberglass Pool

How do I stop ground water from coming in an enclosed inground pool?

• Kelli L. Milligan on Mar 07, 2019

  I’d call the manufacturer or showroom that sells those to get their recommendations. Must be a pretty big crack for ground water to enter from underneath.