Leaky Pipes

[sanfran]

My pool guy who I trust and have been working with for many years
is telling me that the black in ground piping in my 20 year old 20 x 40
pool will most likely start breaking down and leaking in the next few
years. He claims that this older style product is not as good as the
newer white piping.

The reason this came up is I'm considering resurfacing my 2,000 sq ft cement decking
and if i will have leaking pipes soon this would could be a desaster.
I live in central NY I use chorline

Sanfran

[muss08]

Most likely he is right. I would suggest at least replacing the pipe directly under your deck while you are doing deck work anyway and then you can replace the rest of the plumbing at your discretion.

[bill]

I can't replace any of the black pipe. It is all under cement.
I guess I'm looking for anyone else that has had this older style
pipe breakdown and leak. I'm asking this so I can make a decision
on resurfacing the existing 2,000 sq ft of cement with a thin stampcrete
product
Thanks,

Sanfran

[Me...]

It's usually the joints that start leaking. I have told many many people to replace the piping before they redo the decks. It sad to go back in a few years and tell them to they need to bust up their new deck to repair the leaky pipes underneath it.

[Poolay]

Does all the plumbing share a common trench from a common point at the pool? If so do you know the line it lays? If yes, I would be cutting out the narrow strip and replacing the pipe. If not, I personally wouldnt consider the expense of replacing 2000 sq ft of concrete when you campare it to the considerably lesser cost of locating, repairing, and refinishing just very small sections in the event of a leaks.

[SAMfran]

Can I ask my original question again.

Has anyone out there had problems with the older style black PVC pipe.
I was told that all pools that were installed using this material will fail
after 15 to 20 years.

My pipes are not leaking but if this is true and they will eventually leak then
I don't want to resurface my cement with a skim coat product.

[Me...]

Sam, read my post again. The joints will go. The clamps rust and/or the pipe ends split. This poly pipe should be put together by slightly heating the pipe and pushing in the appropriate insert which should have had some type of pipe dope/sealant on it. Many times it was over/underheated and sometimes not at all. They should have been double clamped with the clamps pulling from opposite sides and not so tight as to squash everything.

When they first started using the pipe in its original form it failed. Apparently the Moles thought it a tasty snack and ate holes in it. Later an additive was added to the pipe to make it unappealing and afterwards the pipe itself rarely failed unless roots punched a hole in it or it was bent at fat too much of an angle.

So while the monetary cost to replace it now before you put a new deck over it will be higher, the cost of punching holes in your new deck to start repairing a leak here, then a leak there, will be higher and also ruin your beautiful new deck.

[Christine]

Leaky Pipe. We had the older black pipes and after 26 years we had a leak in the return line. The pool guy found the black pipe had split and suggested we replace with the new white rubber-type pipe. He dug up the concrete and yard and replaced the return line. That was 3 years ago. Last year we had another leak in the return line (where he replaced the black pipe) and when he tested he found an area where something had eaten holes in a section of the new white pipe - we thought a mole or a worm - but there was no evidence to prove it. Had the yard dug up again to patch the pipe. We put in a mole deterent that emits a sound every few seconds to drive them away. Opened the pool this year and we again have a leak in the return line. Found the leak (the yard was wet) and again found two holes in the white piping where something (?) had eaten through. Does anyone have any ideas as to what is eating this piping? Can we put something down in the yard to drive the culprit away??? The pipe is buried 12 ft. down in the yard. Help????