It’s great to have a swimming pool in your own yard so that you can just kick back and relax at the end of a long, hot, stressful day. One thing a lot of people don’t take into consideration is that swimming pools require quite a bit of maintenance and a fair amount of pool repair. The work and expense of these undertakings sometimes cause people to think twice about putting in a pool. You’ll be happy to know that there is quite a bit you can do yourself. Here are some ideas on how to service your own swimming pool when it comes to repairs.
Swimming pool maintenance is an ongoing process that is made up of a number of daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and seasonal tasks. It involves both following a schedule and being able to observe the conditions in and around your pool on an ongoing basis. When performing pool maintenance, you must be able to assess and address situations that arise regarding to chemical and pH balance and the functioning of a variety of equipment. This is something you can learn to do on your own; however, it is quite challenging. Pool maintenance is a subject in and itself that is addressed in other articles. In this article, we will focus on repairs.
You may feel helpless if something happens to your swimming pool, but actually, the idea of repairing a swimming pool is a lot more overwhelming than actually repairing it – at least when it comes to small repairs. The main thing is being able to assess the repair, determine whether or not you can really address it yourself reasonably, and if so, assembling the tools and materials you need to complete the work.
The easiest kind of pool to repair is the kind with a vinyl liner. These occasionally suffer from cracking and leaking, but handy, simple kits are available to help you service your own swimming pool. Some of these kits even say that they can be applied underwater; however, it’s probably best not to do that! Being exposed to air and having ample opportunity to season and dry will help your patch stay in place better, so drain your pool enough to make the repair out of the water.
Repairing blistering and bubbling in fiberglass pools is also a pretty simple matter because kits are inexpensive and readily available. On the downside, it’s almost impossible to match the color of your pool perfectly, so your patch may always stand out a little bit. Most people aren’t too bothered by this; however, if this would really bother you, hire a professional to deal with the problem. You might even end up resurfacing the entire pool, which can run into money.
If you have a concrete or Gunite pool, you may experience some problems with the plaster. It tends to wear, crack, chip and pop up exposing the stone beneath. Luckily, this kind of problem is easy to fix. Pick up a handy plaster pool repair kit at your local pool supply store and follow the very simple and easy instructions, which will include draining the pool – at least to the point at which you make the repair.
How to service your own swimming pool for larger repair jobs…
For a larger repair job, you may choose to assemble your materials from scratch rather than relying on a kit. In this case, you will need to visit your local hardware or home supply store. The materials you need are easy and fairly inexpensive to find.
You’ll need enough epoxy to patch all the cracks in your pool. This can be used on big or little cracks. Drain your pool and give it a good going over to locate all the cracks. Once you start applying epoxy, you must work fast. You don’t want to miss anything. Remember, some peeled areas may look like hairline cracks.
Purchase enough epoxy paint to paint over your epoxy patches after they have dried thoroughly. Be careful choosing the color. It should match the color of the pool walls pool closely.
Get a good selection of paintbrushes. Use paintbrushes dry to clean the surface of the cracks before applying epoxy. You will need paintbrushes of several sizes apply epoxy effectively to all sizes of cracks. Spread epoxy evenly and quickly to cover all scratches. You may want to apply two coats of epoxy before applying paint.
So that’s how to service your own swimming pool for repairs. Some repairs are very small and easy. Others are big and daunting. When thinking about servicing your own swimming pool be realistic about your abilities. If you assess the situation and still feel that the job would be too much for you, by all means call for professional help! Better safe than sorry!