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| Repairs, Maintenance, Pest and Disease Control |
If you are enough of a craftsman to build a water-lily pool, you
probably have achieved a perfectly level structure. Sometimes, however, pools
tilt, either because they were constructed to conform to the level of the
surrounding ground instead of to the water level, or they have settled
unevenly on part-soft, part-hard foundation. Water may be lapping at
the brim at one end of such a pool, but be 6 to 8 inches below the brim
at the other end.
The Tilting Pool
There is nothing you can do to correct a pool that tilts. I have seen
people try to build the rim higher here and there with bricks or concrete, but I have never seen anyone do it successfully. Tilting is not
really as serious as you imagine. Just try to accept the situation as it is.
By strategic placement of shallow-water and border plants, you can
cover your mistake pretty well-even attractively.
Small Leaks
Small leaks caused by hairlike cracks in the pool floor or walls can
be annoying, but they also are not much of a problem. Frequently
they pass unnoticed, for pools consistently lose a certain amount of water through evaporation. If you add water now and then to make up
for evaporation, it may be weeks before you realize the pool is leaking.
Put off the repair of such cracks, if at all possible, until the pool has
been drained for cleaning in spring. Thick, heavy clay, rubbed into the
cracks, makes good temporary patching. Once you have drained the
pool, the size of the cracks will dictate your procedure.
If the cracks are very fine, a coat or two of special pool paint, available from most dealers, will probably seal cracks nicely. Or you can cover
them two or three times with a heavy coat of waterproof varnish or
artificial resin, which most paint stores carry.
If the cracks are somewhat larger, and there are many of them, coat
the interior of the pool to a thickness of 1/8 inch with a mixture of one
part cement and three parts fine sand, adding just enough water to give
the mixture the consistency of wet plaster. Apply with a trowel, and
smooth with a wooden float. Be sure to cure the pool before you put
plants or goldfish into it.
Some gardeners have done very well by thinning the above mixture
and "painting" the pool surfaces with it, applying it with a broom. Give
the pool two paintings. Again neutralize with the vinegar and water
treatment as described in Chapter 4.
If there are only a few cracks to seal, your paint store probably will
be able to provide a mastic or caulking compound which will seal them.
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