Services
Concrete & Gunite Repairs
Some pool problems are cosmetic and some are structural. The difference decides whether you need a finish or a repair, and getting it backwards is expensive.
A crack that weeps water, a section of shell that sounds hollow when tapped, rust staining that keeps returning in the same spot, or a bond beam breaking up at the top edge are all structural signals. Resurfacing over any of them buys you a new finish and the same problem.
Sacramento sits on expansive soil that moves with the wet and dry season. That movement is a common cause of shell cracking in this region, and it is why a repair that ignores what the soil is doing tends to come back.
Repair work means cutting back to sound concrete, exposing and treating the reinforcing steel where it has corroded, and rebuilding with material that bonds to the original shell. It is the same trade as building the shell in the first place, which is why we do not treat it as a finishing job.
How it goes
- 01
Find the cause
We look for what moved, not only where it cracked. Soil, hydrostatic pressure and steel corrosion leave different signatures.
- 02
Cut back
Damaged material is removed until sound concrete is exposed on all sides of the repair.
- 03
Treat the steel
Corroded reinforcement is exposed, cleaned or replaced. Rust left in place keeps expanding and cracks the repair.
- 04
Rebuild and blend
The section is rebuilt to profile and blended so the finish can go over it as one surface.
Questions we get asked
A crack that loses water, one that has displaced so the two sides no longer line up, or one with rust staining returning at the same point is structural. A fine surface crack in plaster that holds water is usually cosmetic. A pressure test on the plumbing separates a leaking shell from a leaking line.
Expansive soil in the region swells when wet and shrinks when dry, and that seasonal movement works on the shell. A repair that restores the concrete without addressing what is moving underneath tends to reopen.
Most cracked shells are repairable. Full replacement is usually about the cost of rebuilding versus repairing, not about whether it is possible. That call is made after the shell is exposed and the cause is identified.