Real Job · Contractor Training
Why a Pool Contractor Trained With Jeff on a Commercial Leak Job
Carlos runs Aquatic Finishes, a pool resurfacing company. When he brought Jeff in to test a commercial pool before a renovation, he did not wait for the report. He wanted to learn how leak detection should be done, so Jeff taught him on the job and had him take part.
Why a Contractor Wanted to Learn
Knowing how leak detection works makes a contractor better at his own job
A resurfacing contractor is often the first person asked why a pool is losing water, and a leak found after a new finish goes on means cutting into brand-new work. Carlos wanted to understand the process himself: how testing should be done, where pools leak, and what leak locating tools can and cannot do.
What Carlos Worked Through
One commercial job, the full sequence
- Pressure testing each plumbing system on its own
- Reading the results: the gutter line failed, the cleaner line, drain and returns passed
- The common leaking points on a pool
- Why acoustic listening could not pinpoint this break
- Why trace gas could not pinpoint it either
- Finding the break with a pipe inspection camera
- Why a camera usually finds only one break per pipe system
The Lesson in the Limits
This job was a good one to learn on because the usual tools ran out. Erosion along the Intracoastal had left about a 12 inch gap between the patio and the soil, with the deck held up on supports. The pressure test showed the gutter line was broken, but listening equipment had no solid ground to carry the sound, and trace gas spread into the open gap instead of rising at one spot.
The pipe camera found it: the main gutter trunk line had dropped and shifted, pulling a feeder pipe about 2 inches apart. Seeing where each tool stops working is what teaches a technician, or a contractor, which tool a pool actually needs.
Read the full job report story on the Leak and Subsurface Locators site
About Carlos
Aquatic Finishes
Aquatic Finishes is a Florida certified pool and spa contractor (CPC1461600). They resurface pools and spas with quartz and pebble finishes and install tile and coping for homes, HOAs, condos, hotels and managed properties across South Florida, the Keys, the Treasure Coast and Southwest Florida.
Contractors and Technicians
Train Hands-On With Jeff in Palm Beach
Learn on real jobs with real tools, the same way Carlos did. The 2-Day Field Ride-Along puts you on live pool leak jobs with Jeff.