Dec
9
Repairing Swimming Pool Tiles
Filed Under Repair
Today’s swimming pool tiles are much more elaborate than yesteryear’s tiles and there’s little doubt that you don’t want to do everything you can to protect yours. For whatever reason, tiles can scratch, crack, or worse, fall out. This article addresses tile problems, causes, and repair.
Falling Tiles
There are a number of reasons why swimming pool tiles may fall out of place, however the most prominent cause is probably due to poor installation. A tile that isn’t securely attached to its pool’s side might not have fully bound with the mud used to fix it into place. There may have been something wrong with the mud used to glue the tile on, or maybe there was something wrong with the method in which the mud was applied.
Another reason why tiles may fall is a cracked beam behind a pool’s wall — evidenced by a horizontal crack along the backside of a tile piece. If it seems as though a tile simply popped out of its place however, the culprit could be a lack of sufficient caulking. When water gets behind tile and then freezes during the winter months, ice’s natural propensity to expand will push tile from its support. Frozen water that exists between where a pool wall and its deck meets will damage the beam — eventually popping out a whole series of tiles within a short period of time.
In simple cases — that is when a damaged beam is not the cause of falling tiles — re-grouting is all that’s needed to restore them. Waterproof tile grout provides a sufficient binder.
Cruddy Tiles
Over time, you may notice that your swimming pool tile sports unwanted white spots. These white spots could be mineral salts released from the tile’s grout, or they could be scale debris. “Scale” is calcium carbonate — a natural salt in chalk form. Hard water can certainly contribute to this condition but its remains can be fortunately removed via scraping or burning with tile acid.
Cracked Tile
A cracked tile is almost always the result of frozen water pressing up against the pool walls. That’s why you should remove about eighteen inches of pool water during the winterizing process. Removing this much water is important because as water freezes, it expands and rises. Lowering a pool’s water level prior to winter will prevent thick ice from reaching its tiles in the first place.
Of course it could be the result of a cracked beam as well. There really isn’t any way to repair cracked tile other than to replace it.
