We remodeled a 13 year old pool, but we didnt have any leaks and we dont live near earthquakes.....we have to watch for hurricanes:( My first thought is to hire a company to make sure the pool isnt leaking, do you suspect it is? Do you lose water? Given the age of the pool, you might need a new skimmer, it could be leaking in that area. Definately worth finding out from a professional if the lines and the integrity of the pool is in good enough shape I would move forward. You would hate to spend the money and find out the deck needs to be taken up to fix something you could have fixed prior to the reno.

Hi,
I do think it's leaking. I've been told it might be just evaporation (it doesn't loose that much water). I just can't think of why the deck would be so rotted like that underneath. There would have to be a cause. Also, the light is loose and I hear that they are a likely cause for leaks.
Wouldn't you think they would have told me if the skimmer and/or lines where not OK when they installed new equipment?
What kind of professional a Pool Remodel contractor or the same company that put my equipment? I'm trying who can help me best.
Patty

If you want to verify a leak versus evaporation, you can do the "bucket test". Get a big bucket, set it on a step in your pool and fill it with pool water to the same level as the pool. Leave it a week or more and check the water loss in the bucket versus the pool. It should be the same. If the pool is losing water faster then you may have a leak. At that point I'd hire someone to do leak testing to find the problem.

If the pool is indeed leaking, then your first priority should be to fix the leak or leaks. The reason is that it will likely require removing perimeter decking, so you don't want to tear up brand new decking :-)

On the wood deck, if they used untreated pine then it will rot out just from rain water getting underneath it. Be careful because soft, moist wood is a haven for termites. Decking should be framed with pressure-treated pine, but a lot of people just go with the lowest bid not realizing they're getting something that isn't going to last more than half a dozen years.

When you had the new equipment installed did you mention you could have a leak? We just replaced our filter, no one asked to check the rest of the pool. Why would they. So my guess is your pool company was hired to replace the equipment not find a leak. I am sure they made sure the fittings around the equipment were not leaking, unless you expressed a concern they would not have checked the pressure on your lines or checked your skimmer. And I am a little confused, this is an inground pool, right? Where is the wood? Can you post a picture of it? Recently our neighbors remodeled and they suspected a leak. I believe a dye test found there was a hairline crack in the skimmer. It was replaced when the tile was being redone and all is well.

The bucket test is the way to go for starters. Without seeing your pool and what type of coping you have its difficult to give advise. Normally if you have a brick or coping they can be lifted and reset making sure there is an expansion joint between them and the deck. If you have a single pour cantiliver concrete deck its possiable to do a bond beam repair from the inside of the pool but its a lot of work to isolate the deck from the tile so you don't get the contact. Having said that most people still wouldn't give you a warranty especially in expansive soil, slope areas, and earthquake country.

How do I post pictures? At this point, I think I'm resigned to having to replace the deck (since it's such a liablity) and to have the coping replaced and adding an expansion joint.

Pool expert, you mention that most people won't give me a warranty... So is it advisable to even do the renovation? I don't want to spend thousands of $$ and then still having issues with it. If it's going to be a constant problem then should i just fill in the pool, which by the way I love having.
THanks
Patty

I also have a 30+ year old pool that I will be remodeling. When I first started getting bids, I thought that all I needed was to get the pool retiled and resurfaced. The first 2 bids were for only that and they did not bring up anything else even though I told them that the pool was over 30 years old. The 3rd contractor told me that 30 years ago pools were plumbed with copper pipe but PVC has been used instead of copper for at at least the past 15 years because the joints with copper develop leaks with age. So he told me that the plumbing needed to be replaced which would require extensive demolition and replacement of my deck. He also said that even if my copper was not leaking now, most likely my new pool surface would last longer than the copper but would need to be partially redone when the copper starts leaking and I have to replumb but there might be a color matching problem. He also said that it is common for contractors to not mention the replumb because they can sell the small job and then when it is discovered after the job starts, it is much more difficult for the owner to get other bids and they can charge top dollar. I then decided to talk to some more contractors - some brought up the replumbing and others did not. Of the 3 who did not, I brought it up at the end and they each agreed that it was needed but not one of them even bothered to send me a bid or followup. So this is an area that you really need to keep your common sense nose wide open because many will flunk the smell test!!

Your leak might be in the copper pipe but even if it is not, if you are remodeling, you need to replumb to replace the copper or you will be dealing with all of this again in the near future instead of enjoying your pool. Also, if they need to tear up and replace your deck now to fix the other problems, that is the biggest part of the replumb expense so a replumb will cost much less as part of that job than as a separate job in the future.