Coping With No Expansion Joint

[njpool]

Hi I am new to this Forum and have a serious porblem with my 3 year old Shotcrete pool in Northern NJ. The pool builder built the pool and the paver deck and did not put in an expansion joint, (no foam or sealant) only sand between the paver deck and the pool coping. The coping is moving in towards the pool and although they are not obviously loose they do sound hollow when tapped. You can also see the groat line between the waterline tile and the underside of the coping is now gapped from a 1/4 inch to a full inch at points around the pool.

Question is should the contractor have installed an expansion joint ? What should I do know ?

[imfignewton]

Hi I am new to this Forum and have a serious porblem with my 3 year old Shotcrete pool in Northern NJ. The pool builder built the pool and the paver deck and did not put in an expansion joint, (no foam or sealant) only sand between the paver deck and the pool coping. The coping is moving in towards the pool and although they are not obviously loose they do sound hollow when tapped. You can also see the groat line between the waterline tile and the underside of the coping is now gapped from a 1/4 inch to a full inch at points around the pool.

Question is should the contractor have installed an expansion joint ? What should I do know ?

There should not be anything touching the pool coping or pool bond beam. This includes concrete pool decks, concrete sub decks, stone decks or paver decks. The coping heaving also could be caused by an accumulation of water behind the pool coping. This could be caused by improper drainage away from the pool. The improper drainage could cause water to soak the mortar under the coping stones then when there is freeze the ice crystals heave the coping stones. Have the pool builder redo the coping and redo the pavers near the coping

Hope this helps.

[njpool]

Hi I am new to this Forum and have a serious porblem with my 3 year old Shotcrete pool in Northern NJ. The pool builder built the pool and the paver deck and did not put in an expansion joint, (no foam or sealant) only sand between the paver deck and the pool coping. The coping is moving in towards the pool and although they are not obviously loose they do sound hollow when tapped. You can also see the groat line between the waterline tile and the underside of the coping is now gapped from a 1/4 inch to a full inch at points around the pool.

Question is should the contractor have installed an expansion joint ? What should I do know ?

There should not be anything touching the pool coping or pool bond beam. This includes concrete pool decks, concrete sub decks, stone decks or paver decks. The coping heaving also could be caused by an accumulation of water behind the pool coping. This could be caused by improper drainage away from the pool. The improper drainage could cause water to soak the mortar under the coping stones then when there is freeze the ice crystals heave the coping stones. Have the pool builder redo the coping and redo the pavers near the coping

Hope this helps.

Thank you for your response. Should an expansion joint, like Deck-o-Seal be applied between the coping and pavers ? Also do you have an idea on cost for a removal of brick coping and replacement ?

[geeman]

The expansion joint with a paver deck does not have to be very large. Pavers are meant to move independently between themselves allowing for expansion. Sealing this joint is useless because water is going to get in through all of the paver joints anyway. If your coping has lifted, a more probable cause is a high water level that has frozen during the winter months. This freezing water can lift coping off of the pool creating a cracked gout line. I personally believe that concrete decking with an adequate, caulked expansion joint is the way to go in a freeze-thaw climate. This limits the possibility of water penetration and ice damage.