I Need Help With Fixing The Pool Wall Asap

[fei]

Hi,

It's my first post on this forum and I hope the experts here can help me.

I've just opened the pool after the winter, and as you can see from the pictures below, the pool wall that connects to the pool coping has deteriorated. Last year some patch work was done by a friend of mine (not professional) with hydraulic cement and it seems that it has fallen off again.

http://www.netbyair.com/photos/pool/IMG_3729.JPG

http://www.netbyair.com/photos/pool/IMG_3730.JPG

http://www.netbyair.com/photos/pool/IMG_3731.JPG

http://www.netbyair.com/photos/pool/IMG_3732.JPG

http://www.netbyair.com/photos/pool/IMG_3733.JPG

http://www.netbyair.com/photos/pool/IMG_3734.JPG

http://www.netbyair.com/photos/pool/IMG_3735.JPG

http://www.netbyair.com/photos/pool/IMG_3736.JPG

http://www.netbyair.com/photos/pool/IMG_3737.JPG

http://www.netbyair.com/photos/pool/IMG_3738.JPG

http://www.netbyair.com/photos/pool/IMG_3739.JPG

http://www.netbyair.com/photos/pool/IMG_3740.JPG

I called around, and a company quoted me $1500 to drain the water, put on some marble mix to fix the cracks, and gurantee the work for 15 years. He said it would take 2 guys a full day's work and come back again the next day.

My questions are:

1. What is the proper way to fix this issue?

2. Can I tackle it by myself?

3. Why is hydraulic cement not working, is it because the crack is too big (as the company told me)? Or is it because it wasn't done properly last time?

4. Do I need special expansion additive to mix into the hydraulic cement?

5. Should I drain the pool and use regular cement to make it stronger?

6. How do I fix the cement around the skimmer?

7. The shallow end has smaller cracks from the previous patch, should I remove the previous patch and fix it again properly too?

Thanks a lot and appreciate for your help!

Regards, Fei