Fixing Tile Boarder.

[daanbc]

My pool is 6 years old. The tile on the top boarder need to be grouted. What is the best method? Do I need to drain the pool? Is there a special grout/morter? Thanks.

[imfignewton]

Are you talking about the grout between the coping and the top of the tile? Or the grout within the six inch water line.

[daanbc]

Between the top coping stones that edge over the pool, the tile under that.

[imfignewton]

What is the best material? The best material is sanded tile grout (if joint is wider than 1/8 inch - If joint is less than 1/8" then use non-sanded grout.

What is the best method? The best method is to mix up some material (not to wet), use a tight fitting glove and apply grout with a finger. Do this for about five feet (more or less) then go back over with a damp sponge, lightly pushing against tile, coping and grout joint. Rinse out sponge and go back over coping and tile but not over the grout joint (make sure to clean well enough not to leave a film). Then move on.

Do I need to drain the pool? You will need to drain the pool down to the bottom of the tile line (but not on the plaster).

Make sure you have your pool brush handy for when you drop grout to the bottom of the pool. You can brush down the pool when done. If you have a DE filter or a cartridge filter you may need to clean after a day if you drop to much grout into the pool.

The most important guestion would be Why is there a gap between the coping and the tile?

Once the coping is set there should not be a gap (unless there is some kind of movement).

Some possible reasons why - The expansion joint caulk is missing between coping and pool deck. The pool deck is poured to the coping with out an expansion joint. The stone is mortared to the coping with out an expansion joint. Or there is unstable soil below the pool deck.

Hope this helps

[daanbc]

THANK YOU very much for the reply. I ask, because two of my tiles have "poped" off, and there are some minor gaps. My patio shifted 4 years ago. I have two cracks that run to the pools coping bricks. They went to the joint of the coping bricks.( Yes I have expansion joints, but these cracks went east to west/ not north to south) Some of the grout has "poped" out there. Been that way for 4 years now. I'm finally getting around to fixing it. The grout in the tiles are dirty, and some places cracking away from the tile just a little bit.

[icreatepools4u]

to me it looks like you had settlement, and the crack put pressure and made it pop or water seeped behind the tile and popped a chunk out, you could probably do a few skim coats of a multi purpose mortar to build you back up and set the tile with also. Need to drain the pool first.

[rhaynes]

I've have been meaning to repair the expansion joint between my pool and the deck and I wanted to try to do it without having to hire someone (saving money is never a bad thing). Has anyone tried the Dow Corning sealant before- Expansion Joint Sealant. Will this work for pools or is it more meant for sidewalks?