Under the deck
Locate the leak before anyone pulls rock or cuts deck
Custom Pools & Spas have waterfalls, raised spas and extra plumbing runs. We pin down the one that fails, then you dig once.
Chapter 01
Custom builds carry more plumbing than a standard pool
A custom pool is rarely just a pool. There is a raised spa spilling into the main basin, a rock waterfall, maybe a spillover or a feature wall, and each one comes with its own plumbing run. In Custom Pools & Spas, more lines, more fittings and more joints under more concrete simply means more places for water to get out.
The structure adds its own list. Gunite shells can crack, the tile line can open up, and a spa that sits above the pool has its own basin and its own plumbing to be cleared. Water over a rock face also splashes, drifts and soaks into the ground behind it, so a wet bed beside a waterfall does not prove which part is leaking.
The usual signs still apply: constant refilling, an unexplained drop in the water level, excessive chemical use, wet spots in the yard or near the deck, air in the pump. On a custom build the question is not whether something is leaking, it is which of a dozen parts is doing it.
Custom gunite pool with a rock waterfall and raised spa, Powdersville, SC
Test first, then decide what to dig
Everything Aquatrace does comes before a single tool touches your landscaping. The loss is confirmed against the day's evaporation index, then the pool and the spa basin are inspected separately, and the filtration and the entire plumbing system are pressure tested so the waterfall and spa lines are not guessed at.
When a line fails the pressure test, Chris Sears runs an audible survey with water, air and specialized listening devices to locate the plumbing under the decking and around the stonework. The shell gets its own look: a NAUI-certified SCUBA inspection with underwater photographs, plus dye testing and electronic basin and structure testing where cracks or the tile line are suspected.
That order matters because the alternative is expensive. Pulling rock or cutting deck on a hunch can cost you the finished landscape and still miss the fault. A tested location lets you open one small area instead of several large ones.
Chapter 03
The dig, the report and the promise
A custom pool owner who had Aquatrace out put it this way in a Google review. Joanna Padgett-Atkisson wrote that she was saved from destroying her entire deck to find a leak: “It was located in the exact spot where he said it was (we did have to dig deep to find it).” She then cut the slab, repaired the leak and replaced the slab.
After the inspection you get a digital findings report by email to hand to the builder or repair crew. Simple epoxy and vinyl repairs are included in the service fee at no additional charge. Major repairs are not something Aquatrace performs; the company recommends the most cost effective solution and usually the original pool contractor.
The Aquatrace Promise is No Find, Full Refund: if the pool loses half an inch or more daily without a heater running and the source is not located, the service is refunded. Aquatrace reserves the right to a no cost revisit, such as more evaporation tests, if the pool keeps leaking. Rates depend on the pool type, so a phone consultation comes first.
Aquatrace — NAUI-certified SCUBA inspection on every shell that needs it. Call (864) 710-8636.