Leaking Swimming Pool Repair and Refurbishment, Mijas, Malaga

This leaking swimming pool in the urbanisation of El Chaparal in Mijas, Malaga has a long and troubled past. The list of faults found was a veritable list of how not to build and repair a swimming pool. Many of these problems were not known by the owner and some only became evident once the pool had been emptied and we started work. When a pool has evidence of cracking in the structure, a Renolit reinforced liner is the only solution.

The pool had been extended. In the shallow end of the pool, an extension was built to the pool structure. This made the pool approx 2m longer, but created a structural weakness. The pool cracked where the extension was made. This was repaired, then failed.
The floor has been raised, although not normally a problem, in this case it had been done with gravel and just 10cm of concrete. Once the pool started leaking, a previous company applied waterproof cement render and retiled. This failed, as the false floor cracked, as it couldn’t support the weight.
Another company was called in to look at the problems, when they couldn’t find anything, they broke out the jet pipe inside the pool and filled with expanding foam, then tiled over again.
Top of pool wall broken off to create a “sort of” overflow channel / negative edge. We couldn’t think of any logical reason for this. It created another leak, as the plastic channel was not sealed into the concrete and the weight of the channel was pulling away from the pool. The overflow was so high, that it was allowing water to run out of the pool through the joint between the white stone surround and the top of the pool wall.
The steps that had been built in the pool were so badly made, each one had a different width of tread and a different height. In addition, non of the steps were flat or horizontal and non of the risers were vertical. Steps need to be the same for safety and then for aesthetics. In this case the problem was compounded, as the steps had been built to allow a disabled person easier access to the pool.

Once we started work, we realised that the only way forward with this pool was to try (within budget) to remove all the problems. The first thing we did was remove the useless overflow channel and replace it with 2 skimmers and new surround. The new surround is made from cast white concrete and we carefully tried to match the existing surround as best as possible. The installation of the skimmers and the surround allowed the water level in the pool to be 10cm lower, removing the problem of leaks in the channel and under the capping.

The correct liner fittings were installed, then we could install the reinforced Renolit CERAMICS liner, solving the leaking pool structure problem and renovating the pool.

The Renolit CERAMICS liner has all the look and texture of tiles, but with non of the disadvantages.

With the steps, all we could really do was try to make the best of them. We made the faces vertical and the treads horizontal, but without demolishing the steps completely, we couldn’t do anything about the width and heights. The steps are now much safer. We also installed a new hand rail.