One of the most common causes of swimming pool leaks is due to structural cracks and ground movement. On July 11, 2012 there was a micro earthquake which affected mostly the Santa Monica and Malibu areas.  Sure enough our phones started ringing a day later with many structural cracks to check and leak detections to perform in these and other surrounding cities including Studio City, Hollywood and the southern sections of Malibu and the Pacific Palisades.

After performing many of the leak detections caused by this small tremor, it was strange yet not so strange to see that most of the structural cracks found were pre existing. The only way to explain this phenomon is the “chain and it’s weakest link” theory.  Swimming pools or any concrete structure that were shot or poured too thin, wrong mixes and lack of rebar are usually the culprit for structural cracks. I found that many of the structural cracks in these areas of the swimming pools were previously repaired with two part epoxy or just crack chased and filled in with cement.

The moral of the story is this –  if there is any seismic activity causing ground movement, and your swimming pool starts losing water, before calling in a leak detection pro, look for previously repaired structural repairs and see if any past repairs have failed.

At Caltech Pools, we’re structural experts and we can tell you what the best course of action is for the repair of the structural cracks that keep reappearing in your swimming pool.  If you’d like to know more on how we can possibly help you permanently repair the structural cracks, call us.