Can lighting cause a crack in a swimming pool?

Answer 1

Before you can drain a swimming pool there will be things that you need to know. Not all Swimming Pools are the same when it comes time to drain them. You have many different types of swimming pools. The most common types of swimming pools are Above Ground Swimming Pools with 48″ and 52″ Steel or Aluminum Walls, In ground Vinyl Liner Pools, In Ground Gunite Pools, Commercial Cement Swimming Pools and off course Portable and plastic Kiddie swimming pools like the ones you fill up and empty daily.

Now that you know what types of swimming pools there are we can tell you what types of tools and pumps are required to drain these pools. The first thing you will want to find out is if the pool you are trying to drain has a bottom or "main drain". You will find a main drain in most in ground residential swimming pools, commercial swimming pools and sometimes in above ground pools. If the swimming pool has a main drain you can use that to pump down the pool.

If the pool you are trying to empty does not have a main drain, you can use a submersible pump, pool pump, or trash pump to drain the swimming pool. If the swimming pool you are trying to empty is an above ground pool you could use a hose and create a siphon to drain down the pool. The siphon method will only work with above ground pools.

You can also a winter swimming pool cover pump to drain down the pool as well. In many cases the winter cover pump will be a good-sized submersible pump to drain the pool. The only draw back to using the winter cover pump rather then a larger pump like the trash pump is that emptying the pool might take a bit longer.

The Trash pump is one of the fastest methods to drain a swimming pool. You can rent a trash pump from most rental stores for around $89.00 for the day. The trash pump works with usually 3″ inch or above suction and discharge hoses which allows the pump to empty many gallons of water at a time from the swimming pool.

In Some Other Cases there may be an external vacuum pump that is used to clean the swimming pool. If there is a swimming pool vacuum pump, you could connect the vacuum pole and vacuum head and then use a discharge hose and pump the pool down with this pump as well. Just think of it as doing a swimming pool power vacuum without reading the pool water.

Before Draining The In Ground Pool : Draining an in ground swimming pool might sound like an easy thing buy in fact there are a few things you should know before doing so. In ground swimming pools have vinyl liners are constructed using something called "pool walls". These swimming pool walls can be made up of a few different things depending on the pools age.

Pool walls can be made from wood, steel and cement. Wood wall swimming pools are no longer made in the United States. These types of walls had a major flaw in them, which caused many swimming pools to collapse when drained. The next type of material a swimming pool wall can be made from is steel. The steel wall in ground pool is a popular choice by many when buying or installing a pool. The third type of material a swimming pool wall can be made from is cement. Cement wall in ground swimming pools are very popular and are known to hold up for many years. Some say that the cement wall pool is the best way to build an in ground vinyl swimming pool.

Well, now that someone has told us of the various ways pools are constructed and how to drain them, let's actually answer the question. I am assuming this question is aimed at inground gunite or shotcrete pools. I have drained thousands of these pools to resurface and remodel them and have NEVER had the structure crack because it was empty. I have seen pools that lifted out of the ground because a high water table turned the pool into a boat but these were always drained by the homeowner and not a professional pool contractor. Leaving a pool empty for even a few days may crack and ruin the plaster as pool surfaces are meant to be immersed in water. Leaving a pool empty longer than 3 days usually voids a plaster warranty. If you need to drain a pool to change the water or do some type of repair that requires emptying the pool, try to do so in cooler weather before the rainy season starts and make sure whoever is doing the repair does so rapidly so the pool may be refilled as soon as possible. If you are resurfacing the pool the only thing to worry about are unexpected heavy rains in which case a good remodeling contractor will drill holes in the deep end to relieve hydrostatic pressure. A good pool excavator will inform the builder if the pool is built on a water table so he can install a hydrostatic relief valve in the main drain area of the pool...however ASSUME NOTHING and take the proper precautions if the pool is in the lowest part of the surrounding area.

Answer 2

"lighting" can not cause cracks