Final thoughts
After the new plumbing, new skimmer new main drain and a complete refinish of the steps, the only thing left to discuss is the rest of the process. The concrete was all removed and hauled away, we ran new forms around the whole pool and poured new concrete. The light was removed and fiberglassed over. Very thick wall foam hid the rest of the imperfections and the fake tile still under the liner even though you cant tell. The liner replacement was pretty standard after all the other work that went into this pool. All of the after pics were taken nearly 2 years after the reconstruction so you can see it is holding up very well. The customers are super pleased and love their backyard. Special thanks to them for allowing me to do their work for them.
Skimmer Replacement
The "tucked in" design of this skimmer does not work well for liners, since the plumbing had to be replaced anyways the skimmer replacement was the next logical step. The original recessed skimmer is cut out of the wall and the new skimmer bolted in. Fiberglass is used to fill in the gap at the top and bottom where the shape is different and sanded smooth. You can see the process in the following photos. Note how the new coping now sits on the top of the old wall.
Finished product
I still have to get the after pics of the pool. I wanted to wait a while so the grass could grow back in after the concrete was finished. I plan on getting after pics on my next trip out there. Its been 5 years now and the pool looks great.
Liner goes in - Pool gets filled
After all that work its nice to have the liner fit so well and water going into the pool. I apologize about the darkness of the photos, it was late in the evening and my camera did not like the settings I had on it.
It gets worse
By the time that the concrete was broken up on the caving in wall the other walls had began to collapse. The only recourse was complete wall removal and replacement. Bring in the heavy equipment.
Restorations
Here is a few of the restorations that we have done. These restorations are showcased here because of the extent of the work completed or the interesting or unusual process that we used to repair the pool. Many of the other restorations we do have no real dramatic before and after because the pool really looks the same. These pools really showcases a couple of things at the same time. Sometimes we replace steps or replace a wall panel and pictures do not really do the whole job justice.
Low Hung Liner
This pool Is in Upper Arlington. The customer had purchased a home and had no idea what was under the cover. The concrete was cracking and had been covered with naturestone which was coming up in chunks. The plumbing was shot, the wall was curving into the pool, The textured fake tile around the perimeter was hideous and low hung liners never worked really well. The customers had contacted two contractors before me, one had told her that the pool would never hold water again and to tear it out. The other contractor gave her a price for a new pool including tear out. That is where I came in. After an initial bid for a liner and F track coping, new skimmer and add a main drain and replacement of plumbing we got to work. As the concrete continued to deteriorate the plan changed to do a complete tear out of the concrete and a change to bullnose coping.
I will walk you through a few key points of this restoration.
Walk in step refurbishment
Their original liner hung under the bottom of the first tread of the steps. Since we were changing the liner to a full wall liner we had two options, Cut out the existing steps and replace them with new ones, or get rid of the hideous faux tile. Since finding a set of steps to fit the unusual radius and size of the pool was problematic, as well as the absurd cost digging out and replacing the steps completely we chose to go with option 2. The fake tile was ground off and layer upon layer of fiberglass was built up to make a smooth and more importantly seam free finish. The steps were then painted and a step track was installed to accommodate a liner. I probably have nearly 20 hours labor in the steps alone, but believe it or not, those are the same steps.
Wood Wall Nightmare
This pool had been bid by me the previous year for a new liner. They had decided to hold off for a year and the following spring one of the bricks that they were using to hold the cover in place had fallen into the pool, punctured the liner and drained the pool. By the time I had arrived back to their home one of the wood walls had begun to cave in.
The Nightmare begins
In order to put the wall back into place the concrete on that side had to be removed and the wall excavated to remove the pressure of the dirt. Usually when we jackhammer up the concrete we would ideally want the pool full so the weight of the water to help keep the wall stable. The homeowner was informed that the vibrations from the jackhammer could cause a domino effect of the rest of the walls and work began.
Demo is complete - now we have to rebuild
Now that we have basically the same hole that we would have on a new pool, we can replace the walls with new steel. After pouring the bond beam and refinishing the floor backfill can begin. Now we are ready for a liner.
10040 SR 37 E Sunbury, Oh. 43074