How to Repair Concrete Pool Decks

Owning a swimming pool can be a great experience for a homeowner, until they start to have problems.  One typical problem for swimming pools, especially those located in areas of the country with four seasons where the weather goes from hot in the summer to freezing in the winter, is dropped, sunken or settled concrete pool decks. When that happens, it’s difficult to know what to do or who to call for concrete pool deck repair.

A good place to start might be to consider why your concrete pool deck settled in the first place. When your in-ground pool is installed, excavation of soil is involved.  What once was stable, compact soil gets disturbed or displaced to install the pool.  Once the pool is installed, that disturbed soil gets put back in place. Following the pool installation itself is the pool deck installation. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for disturbed soil under the concrete pool deck begins to settle.  It’s actually fairly common and the challenge is, this settling may not result in cracking, sinking or dropping of the concrete pool deck for 15 years or more.

At the very least, this cracking or sinking is something of an eyesore to what otherwise should be the very attractive sight of a sparkling blue pool.  However, more importantly, these cracks or sunken areas can be hazardous, creating uneven walking areas where people can trip. In addition, as the slabs settle, it creates extra stress and cracking on the concrete, stress or pressure on pool walls, pool joints and pool skimmers. If the crack is wide enough, rainwater and water splashed from the pool can slowly erode the ground under the deck and make the crack worse. For sunken concrete, water can sit in that area and remain, causing possible additional damage.

As long as the concrete is still structurally sound, there are several options you can take to repair your pool deck.   Mudjacking is one of those options.  Mudjacking is the process of lifting an area by pumping concrete known as “mud” underneath the area, such as a concrete pool deck, to lift it. This process is desirable for homeowners and commercial pool owners because the process of mudjacking can raise sinking concrete affordably at a third or half of the cost to replace the area entirely.  Of course, the cost of mudjacking to repair your pool deck depends on a number of factors, including how accessible the area is to the company doing the repairs, how large the area is that will need to be repaired or raised, and materials used for the repair.

Unfortunately, many homeowners delay repairing their sunken concrete pool decks, assuming it’s simply a cosmetic issue that could be dealt with at another time, but consider this:  These sunken concrete slabs can cause problems ranging from insurance cancellations, devaluation of property value, or delays with selling your home. And for anyone that ever attempted a quick patch job repair on concrete, it didn’t take long to learn that effective, long lasting concrete repair should be done by a professional.

If you are a homeowner or business owner that is experiencing sinking of your concrete pool deck, the best approach is to contact a good concrete repair company to come out, assess the situation, and provide a quote for services.