Here are a few pics of the first few cracks -

You can see water secreting from cracks.

Ooh, I'm not liking this...I would almost want a complete redo...to me, cracks like this could be a sign that the shotcrete company did not have the right mix put together...too little of something or too much of something...you're paying a lot of money, I would have the shotcrete people out to your house with the pool person..and one other 'expert'...(non-partial expert) and have a mano e mano discussion. Get it ALL in writing and do not let them put pebble sheen on top of that...I would also call the pebble sheen people...as this may void their warranty (if you're using that product)...I'm one to do the hard work up front to save you loads of headaches in the future!
Good luck!
Tara

How old is this shell? Has anyone told you and did you follow through with watering at least a couple times, preferably three times a day?

What is it sitting on?

Poolguyny, gunite was shot on April 12, about 7 weeks ago. Yes, I watered thoroughly 5-6 times a day for 5 days exactly what gunite co. instructed.

J

jonathan 11,
Anytime there is unsually cracking of a shell it is a good idea to contact the engineer who provided the structural plan for the pool. A meeting with the PB, gunite contractor, material supplier, and the engineer would be appropriate.
Other non-structural reasons for the cracks might include:
They could be shrinkage cracks. If the ground under the shell is excessiely dry, it can draw moisture from the gunite causing this type of cracking.
The floor cracks could be tooling problems from working a little rebound into the floor.
I've seen terribly checked gunite surfaces that are not structural. Usually, these instances occur in extreme temperatures of high heat.
Good luck.

did you ever resolve this issue? did they use an epoxy or demo/reshoot the gunite?

Surprisingly in most areas engineering is not required for pool building. If you had an engineer he would have inspected the ground that the pool was built on - perhaps there was a problem here after all. Do you have any pictures before the shell went in?

As far as a pool shell goes, this one is a total failure. If I had to make my guess I would say that the concrete company used too much water in the mix instead of using water reducer to achieve a slump suitable to pump. (clarification, gunite is concrete that is dry pumped and water added at the nozzle, shotcrete is ready mix concrete that is pumped wet through the lines, most pools are actually shotcrete but incorrectly referred to as gunite - which do you have?)

Too much water in the mix would cause cracks in the final product similar to what you see here. The first thing you should do is have the concrete cored and tested for strength. I am thinking you will find the answer to your problems with the results from this test. If I had a problem like this the ready mix supplier would come out right away and test the concrete strength. Any problems with the finished strenght and they would be footing the bill for re and re of this entire shell. You need to know who was mixing this concrete, who was adding water, whether you have shotcrete or gunite, and what the compressive strength of the cured concrete is.

I would not settle for epoxy injection or anything like it - this pool shell is simply not good enough.

I too have a similar situation with my Shotcrete shell that was shot in November. What was your resolution to the problem?

I too have similar water seeping in from below the concrete shell of my under-construction pool. What was the outcome in your situation? My cracks are over 10' long, fine cracks with weeping brownish or yellowish water. Also around the drain. The builder says they are "superficial" but we don't think so....What should we do?

Can someone please update their post and let us know what was the outcome? were their cracks 'normal' or did you have to 'redo' or 'fix'??

my situation is a bit different; they shotcrete my pool and it came out awesome! no cracks/nothing. But it was discovered the next day when I walked IN the pool, that they got the shallow end wrong. So they needed to build up the shallow end by adding anywhere from 2" - 8". I asked if there was a problem by doing this, like prone to cracking or anything like that? they said no. So they came, added the correct height, and almost 4-5 hour after they left, tons of cracks have showed up. I dont know if this is OK? will this show up later when they do the plaster? is there anything I need to worry about here or insist that they do? like seal the cracks or anything? or is this normal and will just be fine?

Images are from day after.
(yes, I've been watering on schedule 3-5 times a day)

Here is the entire section the added later:

I appreciate any feedback.

what was outcome?