expansion joints in concrete swimming pools

Question: Difference between a contraction joint, isolation joint, expansion joint, construction joint, an View all Frequently Asked Questions on expansion joints», American Concrete Institute Announces New Officers For 2013, There are no Committees on expansion joints, There are no Certifications on expansion joints. Dont use sand. Could you clarify? First, use a razor blade utility knife to cut away any loose areas of caulking along the expansion joint. Invalid Email Address Pool Caulking is easy, when you know how." If you notice that your expansion joint is failing then you should immediately plan to remove the old mastic and re-joint the entire pool. Its important that you purchase the recommended caulk and not use generic household caulk as not all caulks are waterproof. If your not using a filler then youll see the joint material all the time. Prior to pouring the deck, the level of the grade should be brought up to become level with the top of the bond beam and be very well compacted. Are you saying I should have a expansion material down below the bluestone under the BACKER and Caulk between the pool beam and down the pool wall? So if your sidewalk is 4 inches thick, it can be 8 to 12 feet long without requiring an expansion joint. Join your peers on the Internet's largest technical engineering professional community.It's easy to join and it's free. Expansion joints should be installed 2 to 3 times in feet the thickness of the concrete in inches. Concrete moves with changes in temperature, from vibrations and movement in the earth. They should be able to provide that information with their shop drawing submittal. Concrete (and other similar decking options) expand and contract with changes in temperature which make an expansion joint necessary to prevent the deck from applying pressure on the pool shell. How deep does the backer get pushed in to the ground between the coping and the bluestone Frontier Deck Joint is an extruded PVC deck joint material available in 12 foot lengths. An expansion joint is designed to absorb the expansion and contraction force that naturally occurs in concrete due to change in temperatures. It is usually filled (on top) with polyurethane caulk for waterproofing and appearance. "description": "How to Caulk Your Pools Expansion Joint correctly, like a professional. Concrete Expansion Joints, a.k.a. Expansion joints are more common on big commercial projects and often aren't required when pouring residential slabs. Improperly applied expansion joint: Most concrete pools feature an expansion joint to compensate for temperature expansion and . ACI World Headquarters Replacing the entire decking would cost well over $7,000. Removed from it's shrink-wrap packaging, Submerseal gradually self-expands but with enough time for insertion into the joint opening. The most important purpose of an expansion joint is to allow for the expansion of the surrounding cement. If you install them first, a flexible material is inserted along the length of the joint before the concrete is poured. Plan the exact location of all your joints before doing any work. A concrete slab will grow laterally, as the weather gets warmer. Its not a forgiving material. Use expansion joints between slabs and columns, walls, footings and wherever curbs or sidewalks meet other concrete structures. Do the job when the weather is cool, the caulk is less runny. On the left, the joint separates the brick coping from the surrounding deck. Metal 3D printing has rapidly emerged as a key technology in modern design and manufacturing, so its critical educational institutions include it in their curricula to avoid leaving students at a disadvantage as they enter the workforce. Caulk your pool in 50 80 F temperatures. Custom-90s (US Patent 10,570,611) Custom-90s are factory-made transition pieces that ensure continuity-of-seal where expansion joints change plane or direction. The Benefits of Brick Pavers in Hardscapes and Outdoor Living Spaces. If the swimming pool has nowhere to move as the earth shifts, it will crack. Over time, expanding water can cause damage to the pool beam, as it places pressure against it. Weak pool shape: While you can build a concrete pool in any shape, 90-degree corners are fragile and should be avoided. We cannot specify the exact location nor frequency of movement joints as there are . The pool is fairly irregular in shape and thus we have inserted expansion joints in the proper locations with dumbell type waterstops. Expansion & Contraction Joints As Structures from roads and buildings to bridges and tunnels are living moving structures that are under constant stress such as thermal expansion and contraction caused by temperature change, sway caused by wind loads, seismic events, static load deflection, live load deflection, settlement of a new building. Dubai, UAE It also helps protect the joint because damaging elements would have to puncture the caulk first the get to the joint. That means most pool joint widths fall somewhere between " to 1. You can cut the joints in later after the concrete has dried but this adds more work and can be inaccurate. 3. expansion joint - accommodates thermal and moisture movement in large pools. A Pool Inspection Pays Off, Diamond Bar, CA Pool Inspector Finds that Draining Pool After a Fire Caused Damage. Date:11/1/2010, Publication:Special Publication These tools may vary depending on the size and scope of the project. If youre cutting control joints after the concrete has set, dont wait too long. Rushing the process or pouring the concrete when it's too hot outside can cause cracking. Concrete is extremely stiff and doesnt contain any elasticity. Our website is supported by our users. When you install stairs on a steel wall kit and you know ahead of time you will use cantilevered coping you want the stairs set to the height of the top of the track strip, usually 1/4 to 3/8" higher than normal. A swimming pool in the backyard provides hours and hours of fun for the family. "image": { When a new pool is built, they use a foam strip against the back of the coping stones; used as a form to pour the pool deck against. .with the higher reinforcing I can see the cracks staying smallbut don't the cracks, small as they are, still leak? Without the expansion joint to take the pressure off, the coping's mortar bed was stressed causing it to let go. }, Besides retaining wa-t e r, some joints must also accom-modate at least some movement in the concre t e . Fill the tile joint above the expansion joint with polyurethane caulk. Construction joints are used to prevent these cracks from happening. Lowest price in 30 days. Please enter search criteria and search again, Informational Resources on expansion joints, FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON EXPANSION JOINTS. Only use approved material for your joints. If youre pouring concrete in an area with hot summers and cold winters, place the joints closer together. Date:9/1/2011, Publication:Special Publication You can use sand to fill up the spaces in the joints before sealing it up with an epoxy sealant. You can also use a razor knife to carefully trim a larger backer rod to size. The Offices 2 Building, One Central In contrast to field-applied liquid sealant and backer rod installations, no movement takes place during curing that can cause deformation or stresses in the silicone material. "wordCount": "1242", The expansion joint is placed between the coping and deck and extend vertically the entire thickness of the deck and pool shell (if exposed). The coping is usually as wide (or wider) than the bond beam (roughly 14-16). 1. Wastewater: Effluent concentration should be discussed with EMSEAL. Expansion joints are placed between the pool deck and the pool, or the home and patio, to allow for concrete slabs to expand during warm weather, without pushing on the pool wall and pool coping. Joints prevent damage to the slab which makes them last longer and look better. Limit the search results modified within the specified time. An extruded, flexible vinyl, the same material used in vinyl shutters, doors, windows, and siding. Waste water treatment plants (WWTP), etc. So for a 4 thick sidewalk youll cut 4 expansion joints. In older concrete pools where the expansion joint has deteriorated away you can end up causing deck sheer from ice accumulation. It is filled with a special pool caulk thats a flexible sealant. We all know what happens when water freezes, it expands nearly 10% in size. Ron, no joints? Caulk helps keep debris from getting kicked into the joint. Your IP: 193.70.64.70, Requested URL: www.concreteconstruction.net/how-to/construction/leakproof-joints-in-swimming-pools_o, User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 15_5 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) GSA/219.0.457350353 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1. Examine how the principles of DfAM upend many of the long-standing rules around manufacturability - allowing engineers and designers to place a parts function at the center of their design considerations. . The foam provides a resilient backing to the silicone coating, making the system capable of resisting head pressure. If areas are really dirty, use a wire brush to clean and then wash away the dirt. Wed love to hear from you. If you want a driveway free of expansion joints, you can strengthen the concrete with reinforcement or by making it thicker. You may think concrete is so hard that it doesnt move but thats not the case. "url": "https://x1.adis.ws/v1/media/graphics/i/lesl/its-logo-wide" Ice damage is like slow grinding of teeth, and over many years, some type of water damage is likely. So if your patio is 4 inches thick, it can be 8 to 12 feet long or wide without requiring an expansion joint. Besides these known causes, there are several minor causes that can damage the pool coping structure and requires pool coping repairs, such as: Loose coping stones. JavaScript is disabled. Maximum Joint Spacing should be 24 to 36 times the thickness of the slab. *Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. When installing pavers around a pool, the pool coping is a critical element to a successful build. Ideal for any concrete applications requiring an expansion/isolation joint filler such as: sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, swimming pools, curbs, gutters, and as a sill plate in residential homes, garages, and in industrial buildings. Some fillers can be painted or come pre-colored which can be a big help. The decking is also used as the coping which is placed in one continuous pour to create a seamless looking deck. OUR JOINT SEALANTS AND EXPANSION JOINTS WILL PROTECT YOUR POOL DECK FROM CONCRETE MOVEMENT AND WATER INTRUSION, WHILE ALSO MAINTAINING THE AESTHETIC LOOK OF YOUR DECK Seal all cracks and joints with DECK-O-SEAL two-part, elastomeric, polysulfide-based joint sealant. Cloudflare is currently unable to resolve your requested domain. In some cases, the precast coping will not be as wide as the bond beam and a notch on the backside will need to be made either during the placement of the gunite/shotcrete or saw cut after it has cured. It is a chemical-resistant, ultraviolet stable, non-absorbent, low density, cost-effective, compressible foam that offers an extended service life in both interior and exterior applications. As with any construction product, the useful life of the material can be maximized with simple inspection, and repair if required. It can also shift with the movement of the earth. Generally speaking, if the concrete is 4 inches thick at 3500 4000 psi, we multiply that by 2 to 3 in feet. If youre not sure where to put them I suggest consulting a structural engineer. Make sure to have your lines snapped before you begin cutting. If objects such as manhole covers are incorporated in the slab. A concrete expansion joint, or control joint, is a gap between two concrete slabs. Head of Water: For submerged applications this product has been tested in a hydrostatic-head pressure simulator to continuously resist water pressure of various levels without leaking. Concrete, brick or natural stone pavers can be used. Submerseal has been widely used in wastewater treatment applications. A joint trowel tool can be used to ensure there is a space between each slab. "mainEntityOfPage": "https://blog.intheswim.com/how-to-caulk-your-pools-expansion-joint/", }, "url": "https://x1.adis.ws/v1/media/graphics/i/lesl/its-logo-wide", Here are two classic examples of expansion joints. An expansion joint is a necessity when building a pool. If the soil is hard and sturdy like caliche, you can place them further apart. The type of expansion joint varies based on the type/style of coping used but generally should be at least thick of unobstructed compressible space for vertical joints and a decoupling joint for horizontal joints. }. The system is locked to the joint faces by means of the 1) backpressure of the foam; 2) the epoxy adhesive, and 3) the field-injected silicone sealant band and corner bead at the joint face to foam-and-silicone bellows interface. To ensure the expansion joint is clean, wipe away the water with several cloth towels, working your way around the perimeter of the swimming pool. Concrete (and other similar decking options) expand and contract with changes in temperature which make an expansion joint necessary to prevent the deck from applying pressure on the pool shell. I prefer cutting them deeper just to be on the safe side. Cut them to be the same height as the thickness of your concrete. It is filled with a special pool caulk that's a flexible sealant. Doing it wrong or not he cheap will only cost more. Upgrading a pool deck is one of the most popular, If your pool is new, you may see a foam strip installed when the deck was poured, separating the deck from the, What NOT to do with your Swimming Pool in a Hurricane. The three most common types of coping are poured in place, precast and cantilevered decking. Discover how this hybrid manufacturing process enables on-demand mold fabrication to quickly produce small batches of thermoplastic parts. Ive seen plenty of joints that were not cut straight or accurately. Note: Remove X-Hatched Areas of. You've requested a page on a website (cloudflarepreview.com) that is on the Cloudflare network. Submerseal is precompressed to less than the joint size for easy insertion. "name": "Rob Cox", Down the road if it settles and cracks the deck it is thousands to fix and a real pain. Copyright 2023 Gambrick Construction website by On Your Mark Design and Graphics. Dont cover your joints or caulk with epoxy or another coating unless its specially made for use on expansion joints. It works poorly as a base to set your pool caulking on top of, because its usually not tight enough against both sides to prevent the pool caulk from running down in the joint. The expansion joint around your pool allows for the pool deck (and the pool itself)to expand when the weather gets hot. Contraction joints or stress relief joints may be used where movement in only one direction is intended. Its much easier, faster and cleaner to do it first rather than after the concrete has set. by Sika Retail Rep | Nov 1, 2022 Helpful? This can be pushed down, cut down, or burned down with a torch. Limit the search results with the specified tags. And if its not level, you will get standing water, which will grow algae, which looks awful. A common specification used by soils engineers is to attain a 110% to 120% of optimum moisture content to a depth of at least 18. Learn more about pool care and repair. The next thing you need to know about tiles in a swimming pool relates, again, to expansion joints. For up to 3 inch wide joints use MasterSeal SL2. Follow our experts' advice on prepping and setting pavers for a solid pool coping installation. Not all pools need caulking, just in-ground pools with concrete decks and coping stones as shown above; only about 3 million pools in America, that's all. 38800 Country Club Dr. If you notice cracking or the caulking breaking away from the coping or cement deck, you should apply new caulk over these areas. A concrete saw can be used to make a groove in the concrete to allow more expansion. Tile is usually placed after the coping is poured to not interfere with the forms but can be installed prior if Stegmeier type forms are used. Also, if water were to get down and around the pool and the water freezes, it could crack the swimming pool bottom. For example, a 100 ft. concrete sidewalk wouldnt be poured in one long slab. Without the expansion joint, that movement is absorbed by the unforgiving concrete of the deck or pool, and results in cracking. If there were no expansion joint, the edges of the swimming pool would crack as well as damage the coping and tiles. Dont push it in too deep or you will use a lot of caulking bringing it up to level. Example - 50 m (164 ft) length pool expands 10 mm (.4 in) on average after filling and requires aggregate joint width 3-4 times the anticipated movement or 30-40 mm (1-1.5 in) wide. Or water will seep into areas underthe coping, or behind the tile, freeze and expand, loosening mortar, tile and stone. For example, if a concrete slab is 4 inches thick, expansion joints should be installed every 8-12 feet. Should Slabs Rest On or Be Attached To Foundations? Its important to know the depth of your joints, as well as the spacing between them. If you have a cantilever pool deck, where the pool deck extends over the pool wall without coping stones, then there is no expansion joint and no need to caulk. Often it is necessary to transfer load across the joint. $30.99 $ 30. Date:7/1/1999, Publication:Materials Journal After removal from the shrink-wrap and hard board restraining packaging, it expands gradually. Farmington Hills, MI Heres what you need to know about maintaining the expansion joint around the perimeter of your swimming pool. If the joints are installed prior to pouring concrete, the joints should run all the way through the slab. Metrojersey.com NJ's #1 Web Directory The reason is simple: TFPC (Trouble Free Pool Care) is a methodology, not a product that you must purchase. When you install your expansion joints before the concrete is poured, the joints go all the way through the slab. Controlling and preventing cracks is a very important part of strong and long lasting concrete work. Its easier to remove snow and ice from the surface. Featuring an arched silicone-bellows sealing surface and backed by an integral, pressure-resisting impregnated foam backing, Submerseal provides a lasting solution to joint sealing applications where constant exposure to water is expected. So, the reason that pool caulkis 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 these reasons, its recommended that you inspect the expansion joint from time to time. How far down should I have expansion material (not caulk). Caulking the expansion joint keeps out debris. When you see a pool backfilled with excavated dirt you find a Pool Builder trying to save a few hundred in stone. An expansion joint is a necessity when building a pool. "datePublished": "1/22/2020", "logo": { Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action. Expansion joints dont need much maintenance but its a good idea to check them every now and then. Copyright 2022 In The Swim. It is the responsibility of the installer to monitor cure. "author": { A construction joint is required when the fist several inches of wall are cast monolithically with the floor. Apply Maxrest Passive to exposed steel to protect against corrosion. Frontier Deck Joint's design features "T" members that provide a water stop. Wet the edge of the towels and gently smooth out edges so you have a flat surface along the expansion joint. Joint placement is critical, especially with pool patios. Expansion joints give the concrete somewhere to go as it moves. Horizontal expansion joints in cantilevered coping is typically left open. The base under the form should be well compacted stone base material. Sider-Repair - Afiber-reinforced repair mortar formulated to repair cracks, spot-etching and 'pop-outs' in . Repairing cracks in cultured stone and concrete. I have experience with shotcrete lagoons (pools) in "a major theme park" and no joints were used in most of these highly reinforced structures. "url": "https://intheswim.com/", Concrete expands and contracts as it changes temperature. Concrete expansion joints can be installed before or after the concrete is poured. }, When a slab meets another concrete structure like a wall or set of steps. When pouring concrete within an area bordered by walls or buildings. Expansion joints need to be installed 2 to 3 times in feet the thickness of a concrete slab in inches. Finally, the cement is poured, and the expansion joint is put in. Here's a BIG TIP: the diameter of the backer rod should be 1/8 inch larger than the width of your concrete expansion joint. Leak Detections: Are They Really Necessary? Phone: +971.4.516.3208 & 3209, ACI Resource Center Date:3/1/2011, Publication:Concrete International Soot or Ash Claim, Hurricane, Tornadoes and Floods! DECK-O-FOAM expansion joint filler is a flexible, lightweight, non-staining, polyethylene, closed-cell expansion joint filler. +25% and -25% (Total 50%) of nominal material size. Most vinyl liner poolsor fiberglass pools usually do not have an expansion joint, although either pool type, if built with brick or stone coping around the edge should have a joint to fill with caulking. We Have Inspectors who are not afraid of this Virus. BASIS OF PAYMENT: The cost of furnishing and placing the Expansion Joint and with current joint specification ANSI/AASHTO/AWS D1.5 Bridge Welding Code. This is another way concrete can crack. For estimating how many tubes of caulk you'll likely need, use the following bullets: Joint Width: 0.25'' Tubes per 10 ft circumference: 0.1 Joint Width: 0.5'' Tubes/10': 0.3 Joint Width: 0.75'' Tubes/10': 0.6 Watertight, tensionless, arched silicone bellows, Resistant to chlorinated water (up to 5 ppm), Resistant to certain effluent concentrations (contact EMSEAL), Bellows never under tension during joint movement. Expansion joints or more appropriately called isolation joints are an essential part of constructing a structurally sound pool and deck. Costs vary but it is a minimu of $6.00/ft for a decent job. Pre-saturation. The decking needs to be demolished and hauled away, the soil compacted, a gravel bed put down, and a reinforcing bar installed. This product is placed into freshly poured concrete to create an effective weakened plane. You are using an out of date browser. I like to keep a large piece of cardboard on the deck with me, which Imove along with the caulking, as I proceed down the edge of the pool. It is being practiced by thousands of pool owners just like you. So if your slab is 4 inches thick, the slab can be 8 to 12 feet long or wide without requiring an expansion joint. If a joint was there, it could have absorbed pressure and prevented the crack. Caulk typically lasts from 7 to 10 years. Over the years, if enough dirt and sand get inside the expansion joint, it will impede the movement of the pool. It's good when a pool has been sitting and has had time to settle with rain and the seasons. For joints over 1/4 inch, Backer Rod, which is a foam rope, should be placed in the expansion joint before applying the sealant. Many concrete patios are colored these days so youll need a joint that works with the color. Sunrise Pool Services is a company offering a wide range of pool services. including normal and intermittent maintenance shock concentrations. Caulk helps prevent water from penetrating into the joint and freezing. 2. Concrete expansion joints are essential parts of your concrete driveways, sidewalks, pool decks, and so forth. Joints are used in areas where two slabs of concrete meet. Date:1/1/2015, Publication:Concrete International Non-Invasive Anchoring: There are no hard metal-to-substrate connections with Submerseal. Publication: Materials Journal. Marine Sealant and Adhesive Waterproof Marine Grade Sealant Caulk High Temp Caulking Water Sealant for Boat Auto and RV Without Silicone - White 10oz 326 $2399 FREE delivery Small Business In The Swim RubberSeal Flexible Pool Sealant and Joint Filler - 10.3 Ounces 28 $3799 FREE delivery Feb 15 - 17 Best Seller Powerbase - Sider-Proof FF-PR - A cement-based, polymer modified, waterproofing cement plaster system for swimming pools comprised of a flexible base-coat and a Roll-On Cement Pool Plaster, for application over concrete surfaces. The pool is fairly irregular in shape and thus we have inserted expansion joints in the proper locations with dumbell type waterstops. Limit the search results from the specified source. Plan the exact location of all your joints so the slab looks even and uniform. Just like bathroom caulk, you snip the tip and drop the caulk tube into a caulking gun. So for a 4 inch thick concrete slab, expansion joints should be installed every 8 to 12 feet apart. Submerseal in overflow dam at electric utility. Fred, no worries if there is not a concrete sub-deck. . Absence of proper drainage. This will give the caulk support as well and you wont be using lots and lots of caulk to fill the area. The site owner may have set restrictions that prevent you from accessing the site. An expansion joint is the gap between the pool coping (edging) and pool deck, and it's usually filled with caulk or a sealant. You are limited to precast coping after the liner is installed. Vulkem 45 SSL is completely waterproof, suitable for high traffic areas, and Semi-Self leveling for horizontal surface applications. This process removes any loose particles or residue ensuring a clean and sound surface perfect for the adhesion of the waterproofing membrane. The external silicone facing is factory applied to the foam at a width greater than the maximum offered extension and is cured before final compression. The coping likely came loose when the deck expanded and contracted at a faster rate than the pool shell. 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. Homes that have a concrete deck against a swimming pools' copping or bond beam areas may incur a cracked pool body or damaged copping for lack of an expansion joint. https://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/pool-currently-demod-long-crack-under-coping.193401/post-1709026, https://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/new-inground-pool-decking-and-coping.200676/post-1772571, https://www.troublefreepool.com/wiki/index.php?title=Expansion_Joints_and_Coping&oldid=5424. NJ Businesses. Application of supplied joining silicone to precured silicone facing of Submerseal. Joints should be spaced so that the concrete sections are even and uniform. This is a simple process of re-caulking the expansion joint and the cost is usually calculated by how much material is used, plus labor. JAEdown here in "swimming pool world" there are usually no joints in the pools. This ebook covers tips for creating and managing workflows, security best practices and protection of intellectual property, Cloud vs. on-premise software solutions, CAD file management, compliance, and more. This thread shows what can happen without a proper expansion joint. WELDING SPECIFICATIONS . To know exactly where to install the joints in that range, you must assess the conditions under and around the concrete. "thumbnailUrl": "https://x1.adis.ws/v1/media/graphics/i/lesl/its-logo-wide", I have a feeling you already know that and are asking something else. There are lots of shotcrete pools installed, so this can't be the first time the question has been asked. Silica Sand Is A Good Filler For Expansion Joints. (Understanding Construction). "@type": "ImageObject", Then you know what width you need to form up, that is a few inches thick and as high as the steel wall, for the concrete pour.

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