Manly Maids Pool Leak Detection Service Dallas

In my field of Pool Leak detection and repair I have never come up against a challenge more interesting than pool crack assessment and repair. We offer many different types of crack repairs based on our assessment of crack condition. Some cracks are minor blemishes that require only a seal and a watchful eye. Some cracks are a little more severe and cannot be repaired underwater. it is with much experience that we must determine the right repair at the right time for the pool. Some cracks will require an epoxy injection. This repair is fairly lengthy and takes on average 3 days to complete once the pool has been drained.

Epoxy Injection

an injections objective is to not only seal the top 1/8 of an inch of a crack, but also to fill the entire void in the gunite that the crack has created, by filling the crack from top to bottom with epoxy with a bonding strength to concrete exceeding 3500 psi and a compressive strength exceeding 5200 psi. A successful epoxy injection will restore the crack in your pool back to a solid piece of concrete and will no longer allow water to pass through it. now not all injections actually require epoxy, in fact many cracks that are a bit more severe require another material to be injected. we call these hybrid urethanes. There are many urethanes on the market for us to choose from and they are selected based on their characteristics, some will have a degree of flexibility to them and are thicker than epoxy, their job is to fill up the void and absorb future movement that would reopen an injection where rigid epoxy is used. cracks that show signs of constant expansion and contraction will need a material injected into them that allows just that. still some injections need to fill pitting voids and will require a material that will expand like foam and harden into a rigid epoxy upon mixing. it is not uncommon that we select more than one type of material to inject at different points of a crack to give you the best product.

Staples and Steel Pins

A staples objective is to reinforce a weak point in a pool and restrict side to side movement, There are many staples on the market that all work to a varying degree, and are commonly used in conjunction with a pool replaster. The shell will be cut into about an inch below the plaster and span the crack, a hole will be drilled on either side of the crack and a staple will be epoxied into place. This repair is useful in pools that have crack issues due to poor construction methods. If the steel is still intact, but was either placed too deep, or placed too widely apart a staple will help stabilize the structure, however the majority of crack issues we face are not due to a lack of steel, but rather ground movement. thankfully city inspectors, and the teams of men installing the steel have done a very good job over the last 40 years putting our steel on no less than 12" centers.

A steel pins objective is much like the staples, but is installed by drilling across the crack on opposite sides and epoxying a steel pin in place. The pin has much less outward damage to the pools structure and will appear only as a series of 3/4" holes that have been sealed over.

Full Thickness Crack Repair

A full thickness crack repair is the most extreme of all repairs, reserved for the most severe cracks. These cracks are often in excess of 1/4" and we have seen extremes of 4 inches. These pool cracks have many factors, often they are found on hills or around large spas, skimmers, or water features. the crack has broken and oxidized through the steel in the beam and in the shell in several areas and has compromised the integrity of the pool structure. there is no amount of epoxy we can put into a crack like this to repair the damage that has occurred. The shell must be opened to the steel and the steel welded back together, then the concrete replaced with a special cement blend and the pool replastered or the plaster patched back. These repairs often take four to five very intense days.

The good news is your pool crack does not mean the end of your pool, and even the most extreme repairs are more cost effective than removal.

Give us a call today and discuss with us your Pool crack issues