This is the second time this has happened. When we bought our house six years ago, it had an existing three-year-old pool. Two years ago, when we opened it in the spring, we discovered that the fibreglass steps had heaved over the winter and large cracks had appeared on either side. We had someone fill the cracks with fibreglass and we had the entire deck removed and replace with stamped concrete.

The repair held for one winter but they have cracked and heaved again! The brand new stamped concrete is now cracked and spalling in the area of the steps. The coping has also separated on one side from the concrete deck. The top edge of the steps are now above the concrete deck on one side and below it on the other.

Based on what we are being told by our pool company (who didn't build it but have been maintaining it for us), this looks like about a $15K repair job when all is said and done -- about $7K for new steps (not going the patch route again), $4K for a new liner and $3K for concrete repairs. But I don't want to spend that kind of money and have it happen again in a couple of years!

We need to get some advice on what would have caused this. Obviously, water has gotten under the steps, frozen and expanded. But how? And what can we do to keep it from happening again? Could it be a leak in one of the underground lines or the jets that discharge into the step area?