Jimmy Reed, Rock Solid tile has a wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to installing pool tiles. His ability to create beautiful tile interiors is what has made him one of today’s leading installers. He is a recognized expert in the field and knows how to adhere to best practices. A recent video that he shared on social media caused quite a stir and highlighted the reasons why certain pool tiles fail.
We caught up with Jimmy Reed, the creator of the video to find out what exactly went wrong. He also shared his thoughts on how you can prevent failures.
This particular project was actually the first one we bid on. We had originally been asked to install it several years ago. Reed explained that it was for a different pool builder and general contractor at the time.
“I was brought onto the project by a newer owner. There was a new general contracting and owners representative, etc. By the time I revisited the project, it was a totally different team. The project was a failure from the beginning. “The short clip in the video only shows a small part of the spa but this was consistent across the entire pool, not just the spa,” Reed said.
Analyzing a Catastrophic Pool tile Failure
You can see in the video that he is able to remove large tiles with a minimum of effort. The pool tile was not properly bonded, and it was absorbing water.
The thin-set was soft and goopy. Reed explained in the video why this failure happened. It was probably not cured correctly. Ridge marks are everywhere. The thin-set was not completely covered because they didn’t knock the ridges down. On the back, there’s probably only 50-60% coverage. The thin-set did not bond to the concrete. Reed said, “I do not see any waterproofing membrane.” It appears that thin-set was applied directly to the float.
The Cost of a Pool Tile Failure
Failings of this type can be extremely costly. This was a large, free-form swimming pool in Beverly Hills. It was located a bit above Sunset in a hilly region. The pool was made up of between 2,000 to 2,500 square feet tile material, which had to be removed. Let’s say 2,500 sqft. This would cost between $50,000 to $75,000 for the materials alone. The labor would vary depending on the installer.
The video shows that no matter how much the client paid, the failures witnessed in this video would indicate it was not enough. As you can see from the video, the mortar bed was saturated and was delaminating. This was the tile layer that was peeling off. Reed explained that there was no bonding at all between the thin-set substrate and the thin-set. “I only had to use a screwdriver, which the contractor who was on site provided for me.” It opened up right away and let out the water it had been holding behind all of the tiles.
Finding the source of a problem
“Visually, they saw bubbles. Air would bubble up from these large lumps of tile when you pressed on the bubbles. You just had to push it, and the things started flying. Reed said, “It was pretty bad.”
As I recall, no waterproof membrane was visible. This also confirms that no colloidal silicate was sprayed onto the surface. I thought the float was not properly laid out and looked very uneven. It was a very poor installation. There were a lot of trail marks and grooves below the surface of each tile. Reed said that you want to avoid this type of thing.
Installing the Proper Technique
We asked Reed where contractors of pool tiles could learn the proper methods for installation. As far as the proper process is concerned, I’d say that there are a number of steps involved in this type of installation. Reed said that it’s unfortunate there aren’t many places where contractors can be trained and guided through the steps of a complete application.
Watershape University has been working on this project. Luke and Amy Denny know how to install well and are very knowledgeable. The process is flawless. I think they are working with Watershape. Reed said, “I may do something with Watershape myself in the near-future.”
Want to go deeper? Listen in on our complete conversation between Jimmy Reed, master tile installer and the Pool Magazine Podcast.
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