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Concrete pool pop out problem

August 25th, 2006 · 1 Comment

Our concrete pool (build in the 60’s, concrete with a grey plaster
and paint finish) is desperately in need of a paint job. The bottom
is very nice, but the sides were really rough, so we decided to
sandblast the sides. We drained the pool and then got stuck with
about 2 weeks of rain. I opened the hydrostatic relief on the
bottom and put in a sump pump and everything was just fine. Then we
spend memorial day weekend on the sand blasting job. Today
(Tuesday) it rained very heavily for a couple hours in the morning.
We got quite a bit of water in the pool, but the pump took care of
it. Then we got back to work, but during the day the pool started
rising on the deep end. It’s up about 8 inches now. Water is still
coming in from the hydrostatic relief, but not real fast. We
finally got worried and started putting water back in. I thought
the pressure relief would prevent this from happening. Anyway, the
deck around the pool is a mess now.

Will it go back down? I don’t think we have any plumbing damage and
the diving board slab has always had a crack that this seems to
explain. Any suggestions as to what I should be doing right now?
How much should I fill to keep everything safe until the weather
cooperates and how do I paint if I can’t empty the darned thing?
Thanks,
Charles

Tags: filters

1 response so far ↓

  • 1 Charmaine Jacobson // Aug 28, 2006 at 3:27 pm

    More information on this. We started water into the pool. I also put
    a utility pump on the hydrostatic relief, so we’re pulling water out
    instead of just letting it drain. I measured and the water table was
    about one foot below ground level. After a day of filling (to about 5
    ft deep in the deep end) and pumping, the pool has dropped to within 2
    inches of level. The water table has dropped over a foot as well.
    I would have thought that with that much water under the pool it would
    be gushing out that 1 1/2″ opening. I pushed a hose into it and blew
    out a little bit of sand and debris, but nothing major. It goes down
    about a foot, so if there’s some valve in there, I can’t reach it and
    there’s always water, so I can’t get it dry to look in. I assume the
    draining system may be a bit silted in over time, so it’s not draining
    fast enough when the table suddenly rises. With no pump, I’m getting
    about 1 GPM out of it. The pump runs that up to about 2.5 GPM (cheap
    utility pump). Should I be getting a bigger pump for this. Any

    suggestions?

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