Good Caulking In Your Pool's Expansion Joint Is Important!

Good Caulking In Your Pool’s Expansion Joint
Is Important!

Pool Caulking is what prevents water and debris from getting into the joint.  Yes, it also looks nice, but it has a much bigger reason for being there.  This caulk, the coping bead seal, and the pool waterline tile, all work together to protect the “sea Wall” under the plaster.  If the caulk line is not there, or is not done well, some very common and very expensive problems happen to your swimming pool wall.

Who Needs To Caulk?  

Anyone who has an inground concrete pool with coping stones, whether they be brick, flagstone or pre-cast stones, you will have an expansion joint behind the coping stones, to allow for expansion of the pool deck when the weather gets hot. This joint should be caulked every five years or so. A cantilever pool deck, where the pool deck extends over the pool wall without coping stones, has no expansion joint - and no need to caulk. 

Here Is What We Are Talking About: 

A 'Proper' Expansion Joint, is a gap between the pool wall and pool deck that goes clear to the earth beneath the pool deck. Without caulking in the gap, the gap or space soon fills with sand, pebbles, seeds, dirt, etc. Without caulking, the space can also fill with water from rain, sprinklers, etc.  When the joint fills with such non-compressible stuff, this removes the gap, and the two structures will move as one. Bad news for the pool wall. Caulking the expansion joint keeps out debris.

The expansion joint serves to allow space for the pool deck and the pool wall to expand, without knocking into each other. Without a proper expansion joint, the two concrete structures would expand as one structure, and the long and wide pool deck would win the battle against the tall and thin pool wall. Over time, the pressure from the pool deck will break the top of the pool wall, resulting in a fairly major repair to fix what is called 'bond beam damage'. 

Who Should Do The Caulking? 

Only someone with the skill level to make this a good solid long lasting seam!  On rare occasions we see that homeowners have done an excellent job of this.  More often, we are called to help do the repair after it has been done incorrectly.  It is usually less expensive to do it right the first time, your sea wall depends on it.

So to recap, the reason that Pool Caulk is necessary (besides looking nice) is that caulking keeps water and debris out of the joint and prevents some very common and very expensive problems for your pool wall!!

For A FREE Estimate or To Ask Questions.....

Call DOUG 760-409-3763

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