pool leak – Specialised Build

Swimming Pool tiling, Mijas, Costa del Sol

A before and after picture of a swimming pool tiling & renovation project in Mijas.

In the before picture, the pool doesn’t really look that bad, but it was a very boring colour of blue, with the stereotypical dolphin and Greek key border. There was no personal touch, that the clients could be proud of.

The pool was leaking through the pipe in the base of the pool. Excavation of the terrace to get to the pipe was impossible, as the terrace is stamped concrete and difficult to repair. However what made the work impossible (without tens of thousands of euros) is that the pool is supported by a retaining wall 5m high, on top of which is a concrete ring beam and then the terrace. Excavation in this area would have disturbed the ring beam and the retaining wall.

Instead, we re-purposed the hoover pipe to give a working drain. The pool can be hoovered using the skimmer, so not a problem. We did suggest that the most economical option would have been to simply block the drain off, but as the owner wanted to tile the pool to his liking, it made sense to make the repair.

The tiles chosen are a beautiful turquoise glass mosaic.

Swimming pool renovation, Mijas, Costa del Sol

Swimming pool re tiling, Mijas

To discuss your pool and building in Mijas, contact us today

Swimming Pools

Waterproofing and tiling a leaking swimming pool structure

If your swimming pool is leaking, the first thing we need to do is diagnose the source of the leak. Once we have found the cause of the leak in the pool, we can recommend the correct method to solve it.

Pool leaks can be either plumbing related, or structural. Leaks in the plumbing are normally due to pipes broken underground. We have specialist equipment to help in the location of these types of leaks. Elsewhere there are examples of this type of leak detection and repair.

Structural leaks are a little more complicated. The worst case scenario is a pool that has cracked, as this is the most difficult to rectify.

In the case of this pool, the concrete was of very poor quality and it was seeping from several places. One of the biggest misconceptions is that the tiles and grout are waterproof, this is not the case. Tiles are purely the cosmetic finish for the pool, they serve no waterproofing purpose. Pool tile adhesives and grouts may be referred to as being waterproof, but this refers to the products ability to be constantly submerged. With no cracks, the best course of action was to waterproof the structure using a semi flexible cement based render, which is completely waterproof at 2mm thick. This render is made to cope with chlorine.

Once the pool structure has been waterproofed, the leak is fixed. We now move on to the cosmetic finish. In this case it was glass mosaic tiles.

We also installed a new pool surround, as the old one was cracked.

As you can see, the pool looks fantastic and no leaks!