Concrete Pool Deck Cracks
A pool deck can have cracks just like any other concrete. Find pool deck repair experts near you with Groundworks.
If you have a pool deck, you may encounter cracks on the concrete surface over time. While this issue can be frustrating, it’s often manageable with the right approach. Understanding the causes of concrete cracks and how to address them is essential for long-term repair.
At Groundworks, we specialize in pool deck repair, offering solutions like poly foam injection to restore durability. Trust our local experts to keep your pool area safe and looking its best.
What Causes Pool Deck Cracks?
As a homeowner, understanding the causes of pool deck cracks is crucial for addressing them promptly and preventing further damage. Common causes include:
- Concrete and Foundation Shifting
Shifts in your home’s foundation can lead to movement in the concrete surrounding your pool, causing cracks. Pool decks are especially vulnerable to foundation issues due to their proximity to the home and the interconnected soil structures.
- Hydrostatic Pressure
Excess water accumulation and soil saturation beneath the concrete creates hydrostatic pressure, leading to cracking and shifting. Poolside concrete is particularly at risk due to the excavation required during pool installation, which disturbs the soil and increases its susceptibility to water retention.
- Pool Water
The pool’s water weight can stress the surrounding concrete, leading to cracks. Water splashing out of the pool can seep into the concrete slab gaps. Over time, this can erode the soil beneath the slabs, causing soil washout, voids, and soil expansion, contributing to pool deck cracks.
Common Causes For Concrete Problems
How Do You Repair Cracks in a Concrete Deck?
Addressing concrete cracks as soon as possible is crucial for preventing further damage. Here are a few pool deck repair strategies:
- Address Pool Leaks
The first step in fixing pool deck cracks is to ensure there are no pool leaks. Look for cracks inside the pool, unusually high water bills, and a damp pool deck. These are common signs of a pool leak. Addressing and preventing leaks keeps your pool safer, easier to manage, and reduces water costs.
- Address Underlying Settling and Cracking
If you’ve noticed settling or cracking in other areas of your property, address these issues promptly. These problems often stem from underlying causes that affect your home’s stability. Identifying and resolving the underlying causes is crucial for maintaining the safety and integrity of your pool deck and property.
As with addressing pool leaks, tackling settling and cracking issues is essential for preventing deck cracks and your home’s overall health. The sooner you address foundation and concrete problems, the less likely you’ll need extensive and costly pool deck repairs.
- Invest in Concrete Lifting
If the pool deck issues are caused by general settling, investing in concrete lifting is an excellent solution. Concrete lifting stabilizes slabs and prevents more severe problems in the future.
One of the most effective pool deck repair methods is poly foam injection. This technique stops further settlement and potentially returns the concrete to its original position. It is environmentally friendly and waterproof, making it ideal for poolside concrete.
Why is Pool Deck Repair Important?
The primary reason for pool deck repair is damage prevention. Cracked pool decks cause many issues, including:
- Tripping Hazards
Safety is one of the biggest problems with cracked pool concrete. Pool decks bear foot traffic, especially from bare feet unprepared for ridges, rises, or deep fissures in the concrete. Addressing cracks with poly injection pool deck repair ensures your friends and family remain safe during pool use.
- Aesthetic Concerns
While the functionality of your pool’s concrete is essential, its appearance matters too. Cracks can quickly expand into larger fissures that stretch around the pool. These spaces can harbor mold, mildew, and ants that thrive on this water. It’s not only an eyesore; it may even become a health concern.
Repairing concrete cracks with pool deck repair preserves aesthetics and keeps your pool functioning more efficiently. This approach can also enhance property value, with potential buyers showing more interest in a well-cared-for property.
Pool Deck Cracks Demand Expert Pool Deck Repair
Pool deck cracks can occur for a variety of reasons. They may start small or large, expand into serious issues, or remain relatively minor. These cracks might indicate deep structural concerns or simply result from general settling. However, it’s often difficult for homeowners to determine the underlying cause. That’s where an expert can help.
Instead of attempting DIY concrete crack repairs, contacting an expert is best. At Groundworks, our professionals address various concrete issues, including pool deck repair. A local expert can assess your current situation and create a tailored repair plan based on your needs and budget.
Contact us today for your free inspection.
Concrete Pool Deck FAQs
Fixing your pool concrete deck cracks isn’t necessarily easy. You certainly can’t do it yourself; concrete patches and caulking only fix the aesthetics and don’t fix the main problem. That’s why it’s better to deal with this through an expert as opposed to a DIY fix.
- The Problems with DIY Fixes
Pool concrete deck cracks are an important thing to handle appropriately, and that means not trying DIY. If you notice hairline cracks, you may feel this is simple to fix with caulking or a bit of cement mix. Unfortunately, DIY fixes can be immensely helpful in some areas of the home, but not concrete.
Lifting concrete is a complicated and difficult venture, so leave it to a concrete repair expert. If you don’t, you may end up leaving your pool deck unsupported in certain areas or filling the cracks with material that can’t withstand the water, temperature changes, or long-term use. This can result in more cracks appearing, making your repairs null and void.
- Expert Help
It’s especially important that you get a knowledgeable concrete repair expert for pool concrete deck cracks because they can be more difficult to manage than cracks in other types of concrete. You not only have to deal with the slabs, but you also need to contend with the water, direct sunlight, chlorine, and other pool chemicals. If you don’t have the experience, this may cause your repair efforts to be ineffective.
No matter which Groundworks expert helps you, you can trust in their experience and professional-grade equipment. This will allow them to properly assess the cracks in your pool deck, make suggestions, and then apply sure-fire solutions. Sometimes, only a few minutes or hours are needed to complete the job.
Try not to think about how long you can wait before you’ll have an extremely serious problem on your hands. It’s much better to think about how your pool will fare better if you manage the concrete cracking problems early on.
- Addressing Concrete Problems Early
It’s a good idea to address pool concrete problems as early as possible, rather than waiting until those problems develop into something truly unfixable. If you don’t, you may end up with a pool that needs to be drained and thoroughly repaired. This could even involve replacing chunks of the wall or excavating the entire thing.
That is very costly. Worst of all, if the cracks have damaged the overall frame of the pool, replacement may be your only option. After all, pools need to be a water-tight structure and it’s not as simple as pouring one flat slab, so replacements can be very expensive. On the flip side, early fixes are typically more effective, less expensive, and less time-consuming.
- Noticing Cracks in the Pool
It’s a good idea to call in a concrete repair expert as soon as you notice that there are cracks in the pool concrete. It doesn’t matter if you think those cracks are serious. It won’t be an aesthetic issue, but also a safety problem and a question of whether or not your pool remains in working order.
A concrete repair expert will let you know whether you can ignore these cracks or whether you need to fix them before they spiral out of control. A free inspection will allow them to check the depth and length of the cracks, see if there are problem signs nearby, and assess when you will need repairs. At the minimum, asking for a quote will tell you how long you have to budget for the repairs.
The impacts of concrete deck cracks on your pool are pretty serious, all things considered. There are many impacts that you might see when it comes to concrete deck cracks on the efficacy of your pool. Here are just a few of the things that concrete deck cracks can cause.
- More Difficult to Use the Pool
The biggest problem is that pool cracks make it harder for people to play in and around the pool. Problems with tripping and falling are a crucial part of this, but settling and rising concrete can also create a difficult landscape all across the outside of the pool. You might find that deck chairs won’t sit evenly on the surface. Likewise, lounges and tables will be rocky and uneven.
You or your guests may also catch your bare skin on the sharp edges of cracks. Depending on how deep they are, the fissures might even catch toes, fingers, or inflatable toys, causing damage. The older these cracks get, the more bacteria and gunk they may accumulate, even with chlorine water seeping into them. This could cause some unsightly or infected scratches.
- Issues with the Inside Concrete
When it comes to pricing, however, the worst damage to your pool will be on the inside. For the most part, cracks relegate themselves to the concrete that surrounds your pool. However, if the cracks get serious enough, you might also begin to see issues with the concrete on the inside of the pool. Fissures may stretch along the lip or trail down the sides of the pool’s walls.
This may cause leaking from your pool should the cracks grow deep enough to reach the soil outside of the concrete walls. Once a single crack has made a weak point, outside damage is more likely to affect the rest of the pool. A heavy object that’s dropped, shifting soils, or weather changes may result in several cracks appearing and growing out of control. If left unattended, and if the situation gets dire enough, this could require your pool to be drained and subjected to heavy repairs.
Disclaimer: “Concrete leveling” means the process by which cracked, uneven concrete is stabilized, and in many cases lifted, by means of PolyRenewal™ polyurethane foam. Groundworks does not guarantee that PolyRenewal™ can make your concrete perfectly level.