Traditional masonry pools, such as those with continuous lining or tile, over time, either due to the erosion of materials or poor pool designcan give rise to Water leaks that can cause more than one headache.
When this happens the tightness of the glass becomes the main objective to avoid said water losses, and therefore we will have to face the repair of the pool.
But of course, this involves rebuilding the pool liner, which can be expensive, impossible to carry out, or can even cause problems again if the original problem is not solved. In this case, we could opt for the method that we are going to talk about in this article, and it is none other than the repair of swimming pools with liners.
water leaks in swimming pools
What is the liner?
The liner is a material made of PVC reinforced that was originally used to line galvanized sheet metal pools, but over time it has been used to repair pools with water leaks.
These are sheets that can easily adapt to the shape of the pool, handling without difficulty to be able to overlap some layers with others in such a way that a high level of sealing can be achieved.
Another of its characteristics is its high resistance to discoloration and deformation due to the incidence of ultraviolet rays, which gives it the ability to be a long-lasting solution, although beyond 20 years it begins to lose its capabilities. That is why the manufacturer does not give a guarantee of more than 15 or 20 years.
Its range of colors and patterns also offers a customizable and very attractive visual impact.
Do I have a leak or is it evaporation?
When we observe that we have water leaks in the pool, there may be several basic causes that can cause the leak, such as leaks in the filtration system, water leaking through the walls and floor, or water evaporation due to prolonged exposure of water to the sun.
Pool liner repair
In order not to go crazy, we can check in what situation we meet, and be able to act accordingly. For the aforementioned check, we first have to make sure that there are no leaks in the filtration system.
To check if there are problems in the pool shell we will fill a bucket with water and we will mark the water level on the wall of the bucket. Once this is done, we introduce the cube into the pool so that it floats. We will also make a mark on the wall of the pool to see if the water level has dropped.
We wait a few days, which will depend on the frequency of water loss that we have observed to have this concern, and we check if this loss is due to evaporation, which we can solve with a cover for example, or if it is a leak in the pool glass, at which point we will think of the liner as a solution.
Pool repair process with liner
Once we know the details about the problems of leaks in the pool, as well as the possible materials to solve them, we will see Step by Step the process to carry out the pool repair with liner:
1.- Replace the built-in elements
The first thing we must do is replace the built-in elements of the pool such as discharge nozzles, pool cleaner intake, skimmers, etc. by others that are compatible with the liner, if not.
Compatibility of filter elements with the liner
2.- Placement of the aluminum profile
We will place an aluminum profile on the upper part of the pool wall, just below the crowning stone of the pool. This profile will be important to weld the liner to it.
3.- Installing the liner
We will begin to place the liner on the walls and stairs of the pool by welding it to the aluminum profile placed in the previous point. Then we continue with the bottom of the pool, overlapping the joints of the liner, placing it on the walls in such a way that the watertightness of the pool is guaranteed.
Watertightness of the pool shell thanks to the liner
4.- Placing the sealing plates
Once we have fixed the liner on the extension of the entire pool, we will place the sealing plates of the built-in elements, in such a way that we guarantee that the pool does not have leaks around the aforementioned elements.
5.- Fixing the joints
We will fix the joints of the pool coping stone with the liner in place, thanks to a layer of polyurethane putty that we will apply using an applicator gun. On the other hand, we will apply liquid PVC to the joints of the liner sheets so that the joint is not noticeable and dirt remains do not accumulate in the grooves.
6.- Final check
Once we have completed the entire pool repair process, we must guarantee the absence of leaks. Which we will do, checking each of the joints and critical points of the new pool glass.
This is a much faster, easier and cheaper process than the reconstruction of the pool.
A person who has certain construction notions, could repair the pool by himself. If not, Intex has the best alternatives to the problem.
