The sun is out and the family is in the pool! Summers by the pool can’t be beat. There is something relaxing and re-energizing about being able to take an hour or two to sit by the pool with or without kids and friends. Turn on the audio system or slip the ear buds into your ears and tune out the world for a little while. Don’t forget that spending 10 minutes in the sun gives your body vitamin D and reduces your stress for a while. Swimming is a great cardio vascular workout as well! (There are a few health benefits to your pool!)
Maintain your Pool
Like anything in your home, it must be maintained. The pool itself needs to be tested to make sure the chlorine and alkaline levels are within pool water range. Chlorine tablets need to be added and the filter basket emptied. The leaves or cottonwood that ends up in the water need to be skimmed off the top. Make sure that your liner, if you have one, does not have any tears. Tears in the liner can drain water from the pool. You may mistake evaporation for this so make sure you put on your swim goggles and check for this water thief. If you have a diving board, make sure the bolts are tight and not rusted. Having your diving board strip off the base during an “egg drop” or back flip could cause injuries to a diver.
Check to make sure that, if your deck is made of concrete, there aren’t any voids underneath it. A good test to determine if this issue is present is to use a golf ball or basketball. Bounce the ball over the concrete surface of the deck. Walk and bounce the ball listening for the difference in sound as you bounce. Listen for a hollow sound. If you find one, chances are there is a void under your pool deck that needs to be repaired. Voids are created when the dirt under the sections around your concrete pool deck compacts. This situation is made worse by the small cracks that may be present. Water seeps into the cracks which causes more erosion.
Repair your Sinking Pool Deck
Repairing your concrete pool deck voids with a polyurethane based lifting compound elevates this problem as polyurethane is impervious to water and changing temperatures. Polyurethane mud jacking is waterproof and uses recycled materials! It also expands up to 7 feet so it floats into all the empty spaces below the concrete so your pool deck will not sink again.
Enjoy your backyard and your pool. Swim safely and completely relax knowing that your pool and your deck is ship shape, well maybe floatie safe!
Before reading this, I hadn’t heard that there can be voids beneath pool decks. My friend has had a pool for quite a while and he wants to improve it this year. We’ll have to look into pool deck repair.
Pool decks can be very tricky at times! You made some very good points of how you have to be careful and the many different factors you have to be careful of such as searching for possible voids. Great article!
Looking more and more into adding this service to my business! It’s so cool that it is even a possibility for some pools!
Thanks for the tip to use a golf ball or basketball to check if there are any voids underneath a concrete deck for a pool. I am thinking of constructing a pool for my home this summer. I’ll work with a contractor to ensure the concrete deck for my pool is in good condition.
Thanks for the tip to look for voids underneath your concrete deck. I want my deck to look and function nicely. I can’t have voids under it that could collapse in on itself someday.
You made a good point when you shared that a void under your pool deck needs to be repaired if you heard a hollow sound when bouncing a ball. My father just mentioned the other day that he is thinking of fixing the pool area since summer is about to come and he wants to ensure that the area is in top-notch condition. I will suggest to him looking for a reliable service that can help restore the deck so it will look great again.
Thanks for pointing out that any void under the pool deck would need to be repaired. With that in mind, I need to hire pool repair services as soon as possible. It’s because I noticed the hollow sound when I was walking around the pool to check it this afternoon.