Pool / construction problems /

An in-ground pool was completed in the early part of 2020 by contractor Froilan Parra.

We are now experiencing some problems.  I would like to get some input from anyone who thinks they may know what is causing the problem, and/or who has had similar problems and what you did about correcting the problems.

There is a contract in place written by an attorney, signed by the contractor.  The attorney has review the issue relative to the contractor.

What is not done is some clarity on what's causing the problems and how to resolve the issues ....  so I'm here.

1.  The pool has installed on one side a stainless steel 'exercise bar'.  Where the bar is attached, 3 holes were drilled on each side for screws.  From the two screws on the bottom left and bottom right there appears to be rust on the stainless steel and some 'oozzzing' stuff coming from around the holes.  It has been cleaned and reappeared.

On the opposite side of the pool is a small flat 'bumpout' that is tiled, no screw holes or anything attached.  It first had a dark mark in the grout which we (pool guy, and us) thought might be bird poop or some other debris.  We could not scrub it clean ... and over time the dark-colored marks increased in the grout areas  and some have the same 'oozzing' stuff as the ones around the stainless steel  bar.  The photo attached just shows part of the dark grout area.

2.  7 feet approximately on one side of pool -- The bull-nose and concrete trim around pool is disintegrating.

3. trim (about 6 inches) around entire top of pool, under the bull-nose, keeps losing tiles. Tried regluing and they don't hold. About 15 tiles at this point.

Thanks for personal experience, opinion as to where the rust is coming from, and what to do about it.

I would call Jurgen at JP Home Services. He is very knowledgeable about pools. 331 841 4159

Salt water for fresh?

the pool is salt water ....

we suspect that moister has leaked through the grout and is rusting the steel. that's on the side where the flat bump out is. On the other wise, holes were drilled for the 3 screws on either side of the stainless steel bar which rust and some ooozing stuff is coming out. We suspect that there is so little concrete on any of the rebar that the rebar is rusting.

Today, the contractor's, Mr. Parra, idea of a fix for the side with the screws ... was to change the screws, which will do nothing.

I've talked with two others at this point with pool experience who think there was not enough concrete sprayed over the steel used for construction of the pool.

On the flat bump out, the contractor agreed that the tile needs to be removed .... and the steel dried out. Anyone have an intuitive sense of this ... after building the pool with this contractor and now this, I don't have much faith in him doing what needs to be done ... other than a quick fix.

I've never had a pool, but I do know something about construction in Mexico. If moisture gets into the wall, whether it's a house wall or a pool wall, the rebar will start to rust and blow out the walls.

I've seen a lot of contractors who do not know how to apply pool tiles. Being made of glass, pool tiles have to be applied with special cement. Called pegavenicianos. It's designed to be waterproof. Enough of that tile cement has to be applied so that when tney push the tiles onto the wall, it squeezes out through the spaces between the tiles. In other words, the grout is not a separate thing, and if there are spots where there isn't enough grout, that same type of tile cement has to be used as grout.

But I have seen pools where they used the right tile cement to attach the tiles to the wall, but then used white cement as grout. So the water leaks through and at some point the tiles start falling off.

I tiled my shower floors with pool tiles, and have used them decoratively in other applications, did the work myself, and not one tile has come off in the 12 years since it was built. Nor do I have any moisture coming through the downstairs ceiling under the upstairs shower floor.

I don't know if this is the root cause of your problem, as I'm not a pool expert, but it's a possibility.

this helps as I continue to talk to a couple more people about the 'fix', if there is one. I first need to educate myself before I will believe the contractor ... what you are indicating with the cement and glass tiles, I don't remember seeing that. And, the top section of tile trim around the pool seems to have hit/miss grout on the whole thing. And, about 15 pieces have fallen out.

Supposedly this guy has been in business constructing pools for 13 years. I checked with one reference and had a discussion with someone who spoke highly of the this guy's work -, and went to see two pools, but no one was there to ask questions.

Since the construction of the pool, I've met one more person who has a pool by this same person. They have to completely remove all of the tile and retile the pool. I don't know if the steel underneath was affected or not.

thanks ..

Sherman wrote:An in-ground pool was completed in the early part of 2020 by contractor Froilan Parra.

We are now experiencing some problems.  I would like to get some input from anyone who thinks they may know what is causing the problem, and/or who has had similar problems and what you did about correcting the problems.

There is a contract in place written by an attorney, signed by the contractor.  The attorney has review the issue relative to the contractor.

What is not done is some clarity on what's causing the problems and how to resolve the issues ....  so I'm here.

1.  The pool has installed on one side a stainless steel 'exercise bar'.  Where the bar is attached, 3 holes were drilled on each side for screws.  From the two screws on the bottom left and bottom right there appears to be rust on the stainless steel and some 'oozzzing' stuff coming from around the holes.  It has been cleaned and reappeared.

On the opposite side of the pool is a small flat 'bumpout' that is tiled, no screw holes or anything attached.  It first had a dark mark in the grout which we (pool guy, and us) thought might be bird poop or some other debris.  We could not scrub it clean ... and over time the dark-colored marks increased in the grout areas  and some have the same 'oozzing' stuff as the ones around the stainless steel  bar.  The photo attached just shows part of the dark grout area.

2.  7 feet approximately on one side of pool -- The bull-nose and concrete trim around pool is disintegrating.

3.  trim (about 6 inches) around entire top of pool, under the bull-nose, keeps losing tiles.  Tried regluing and they don't hold.  About 15 tiles at this point.

Thanks for personal experience, opinion as to where the rust is coming from, and what to do about it.

If anyone is going to use this contractor for a pool, you are welcome to contact and see the pool I have.

S.