skimmer housing cracked.

[packerfan]

hello, i uncovered my inground pool tonight and noticed ,where you look into the skimmer mouth ,there are cracks in it from this last harsh winter. i've read that i could use an epoxy to fill the cracks? has anyone ever done this. otherwise i'm told i'd have to tear up the concrete and replace the whole skimmer piece. this has a vinyl liner in it. thanks for any advise. Randy

[CarlD]

I don't know a lot about concrete pools, but if there's a vinyl liner there should be a way to pull the skimmer without breaking concrete--but I'll leave that to the I/G and pros here.

Meanwhile you can use underwater pool repair epoxy, which dries white(ish) to repair the skimmer, as long as you don't interfere with the weir, the basket or the piping.

[Poconos]

If you can drop the water level enough to get it dry you may be able to use PVC cement. Try some cement on an obscure area, just a little, to see if it attacke the skimmer material. If so then you may be able to fabricate PVC patches from pipe and cement those over the cracks. If it's all inside you probably don't care what it looks like. With a saw, coarse file or sandpaper, and a pot of boiling water you can cut and shape pieces of pipe as patches. A band saw is preferred and you can even make flat sheets from a pipe by boiling and clamping between wood pieces in a vise until is cools then cut as needed. Or, make any shape you need. PVC softens real well in boiling water. I punched a hole in the flat bottom of my skimmer throat years ago and patched this way. Still holding fine. If you're not familiar working with PVC simply experiment before you tackle the skimmer. Real cheap.
PVC is Fun stuff.
Hope this helps.
Al

[packerfan]

thanks for the replies. i will give what you said a try. how would i post a picture of my skimmer on here for you to see? thanks Randy

[CarlD]

Al can be really creative! He's come up with some wonderful and inexpensive improvements over the years.