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Tile
Repair
Tile patterns have come a long way from
the 6" x 6" blue standard. Tiles from all
over the world give us an endless
palette of color, shapes and sizes. Pool
tile differs from bathroom tile in that
it is formulated to be frost free. It is
more than likely that your tile is six
inches in height, although it
occasionally is installed in 12" depths.
Sometimes, they just continue it down and
all the way across the pool or spa. Tile
provides an attractive accent to the
pool's edge while allowing for an easily
cleanable surface to catch oil and dirt.
Without tile, there would exist a
difficult to remove bathtub ring.
Vinyl pools don't
have tile, but it can be added with a special hanger piece.
Tile is falling off?
This could be a result of bond failure of the "mud" that
was used to set the tile in. Look behind the tile for a horizontal crack. This could be
evidence of a cracked beam. "Popped" tile could be the result of not having
caulking in the expansion joint between the coping and the deck,
allowing water to run behind the tile and freeze. Water freezing in the expansion joint
itself, or a joint that is not "true" ; where the pool and deck are touching,
will also cause tile to fall off, and create beam damage. If just the tile has fallen off
(and not the old mud) The tile may be temporarily
regrouted back in place. Use waterproof
tile
grout
or
thinset mortar cement. If small amounts of the wall is missing, you would
want to parged this back up before resetting tile. Use a hydraulic
cement. Use rebar if the missing amount
is over 2" deep.
Tile has white
deposits?
Known as
efflorescence,
mineral salts such as calcium and
magnesium may come out of the grout or
from the setting mud and deposit on the front of the tile. It may also originate from the
pool water. The efflorescence can be scraped off, and/or "burned" off with a
tile acid wash.
Tile is cracked?
This may be caused by a cracked bond beam, or perhaps from freezing
surface water pressing against the tile during expansion. Or maybe it wasn't Frost Free
pool tile to begin with.
Cleaning tile to remove
the bathtub ring can be accomplished with an abrasive cleaner such as Comet.
Tile replacement:
Standard remove and replace charges average $20 per linear foot,
plus $100 per skimmer. There are a wide variety of patterns/colors to choose from. Tile band
patching is billed hourly.
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