How to repair a pool leak

This seems like a pretty straight forward cut and dry topic for almost any pool leak that could be found right? WRONG..

Although pools may all look somewhat similar they are all essentially custom done by many different builders of different experiences and built in different time periods. The same can be said for repair companies who aim to do more remodeling that repairs so before your pool gets an unnecessary remodel in the attempt to fix your leak please read below :

While about half the time our service is a one stop shop for finding and stopping a leak the other half of the time a certified repair is necessary by a licensed pool contractor or someone you know who is really really, really good at fixing the specific issue that needs to be fixed.

1. When the leak is a structural crack we recommend getting at least 3 bids and asking about warranty and their history fixing structural cracks. Lots of repair companies will jump on this and say yes we can fix that crack and we need to replaster as well…well, the replaster will usually cost more than the crack or cracks that needed to be fixed and not necessary to the issue of a structural crack. Plaster is just a cosmetic layer of the hopefully thick concrete bound by rebar structure.

Unfortunately we have seen plenty of scenarios where folks spent over 10K to replaster their pool because the pool had cracks that leaked only to have those same cracks return and leak through the new plaster just months after the replaster. The cracks themselves need to be structurally fixed and the pool itself does not need to be replastered unless their are alot of structural cracks where it just makes sense to do this. The repaired crack will look like a patch but this will solve the leaking issue and if the crack leaks again in their near future alot of money was not spent on the remodeling the plaster..

2. When the leak is under the slab (a plumbing leak) this should be a pretty basic cost and not that much difference between repair companies cost to fix this.. Unless the plumbing is buried under concrete or buried in the spa wall this repair should be a relatively easy one for a licensed pool repair contractor. The tougher part is locating this leak which our team at Aquaman is known for doing a really good job locating slab leaks during our leak detection service through our patented method and our highly specialized equipment.

We will give a different scenario here where a customer saved alot of money in fixing a leak buried in the spa wall.. This specific job was tricky to locate the leak because it was buried in concrete in the spa wall. We narrowed in on the location but the various repair companies that were called to give a quote here had seen many like this over the years and knew the likelihood of this repair being tough and taking longer than expected and being difficult to uncover was there so the quotes gives were about 4 times the normal quote for a broken pipe. These quotes did not sit well with the customer and the customer stayed active getting quotes and eventually found someone to fix it at the normal costs..easier said than done but their diligence payed off, literally..

3. When the leak can seemingly be fixed by your handyman…STOP. Often this may seem like the easy and less costly fix BUT more times the repair is not complete and the leak still continues. It is often tougher to fix something that has been attempted repair than if fixed properly the first time around. If one repair has a quote that seems way to high it likely is..this is why we recommend getting at least 3 bids if not more.. have a question about the bids you can always reach out to the contractor to further explain or reach out to the Aquaman Team to see if the repair itself or the costs sounds correct.

We have come back to many jobs where the customer has stated “ We got all our leaks fixed and our pool still leaks we need you back out here you must of missed the leak”. While occasionally we do miss a leak often with this scenario when fixed by a handyman not the case. We have returned on many occasions to an excess amount of silicone used to seal a leak that still leaks a bunch. Please do not even use silicone to seal a leak!

Hopefully some of this info and outlining these scenarios have helped you! Got a question? Ask us!!