stains in pool not addressed in inspection

17 years ago

Friend bought home with pool built in late 80s. There seems to be a noticable stain on the plaster that is a faint rusty grid. Almost like the rebar is at surface and bleeding through. Is this possible. I am thinking there is 1" layer of plaster and then a few inches of shotcrete before the rebar.

Pool inspector prior to purchasing house, pointed out particularly large roundish stain( not the faint grid stain) and said it was not rebar and only needed to be acid washed and then sealed. Not sure what he meant by seal. But he did say it was not rebar.

Now pool guy says her pool has rebar coming through and that inspector may have done a poor inspection.

First, could this be rebar??? Then, can the inspector be held liable for not addressing the grid stain and now my friend may have a clostly repair on her hand that is not covered by the home warranty. Plus, the sale of house was contingent on pool inspection coming out clear. Inspector took pictures of pool at the time, so she has record of what he was looking at.

Input is appreciated.

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Comments (4)

caltropic
17 years ago
That is really interesting. i have, in twenty eight years of pool time in, never seen an entire grid bleed through. I would love to see the pics. Where is the pool in question located? It is possible though. If the plaster was extremely worn and started to allow water to bleed through into the gunite, I suppose that it could happen.
sandradee
17 years ago
First, let me say I'm really sorry to hear about your friend's situation. Nothing sours a home-buying experience more than finding problems after you thought you had a good inspection.

Was your friend using a pool inspector or a home inspector who also inspects pools? What were the qualifications of the inspector to properly inspect pools? Different states have different requirements on who can use the label of "home inspector." I believe some states basically have no requirements so even you or I could call ourselves home inspectors. So, while a home inspection is a good starting point (I'd never buy a home without one), other professionals (plumbers, electricians, builders) need to be called in when there are unusual issues or the buyer has significant concerns about some condition in the house (or pool).

Most home inspectors I've been familiar with have a stated liability clause somewhere in the fine print on the various forms you sign at the time of inspection. Your friend may not have paid a lot of attention to that at the time (I know I don't) but it may hold a few answers for him/her. I know that more than 1 home inspector I've used have had liability clauses limiting their liability to the cost of the inspection...which was about $300-$500.

Right now, your friend may be kicking himself/herself that they didn't opt to buy the optional swimming pool coverage on that home warranty that MAY have been some help. Even if the home seller offered the warranty, buyers can usually add optional coverages at their own expense.

In the meantime, getting a proper diagnosis is the first issue. Although this is probably close to a 20-year-old pool, maybe it will be a simple problem with a simple solution.
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t-square
17 years ago
I think there's some sort of workmanship issue that causes a grid of steel to rust through. I don't remember, but I think it's prone to happen when there are voids between the gunite and steel because the steel was shaken during gunite application. Or maybe it's something else.
poolexpert
17 years ago
I've seen it many times having done a lot of remodles. All the pools where you could see the 12" grid had about an 1" of gunite coverage where there should have been 3" minimum on the floor. In that case we stripped the plaster to the gunite and bond coated and shot 3" of gunite and replastered.That's not cheap. Depending on the size of the pool it could run in the 10K range.

stains in pool not addressed in inspection

Comments (4)

caltropic

sandradee

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