Tiles coming off the wall
The shell moved, the adhesive failed or the substrate went hollow. Re-gluing the tile that fell repairs none of that.
Studio City · Los AngelesOpen 7 days · free quote and diagnosis · no minimum contractGuidesReviewsRefer a friend
Swimming pool repairs
Pool repair in Los Angeles
Repair the cause, not only the damage. A visible mark is rarely the whole problem. First we work out what has moved, leaked, corroded or lost its bond.
Licensed, insured and family-owned
Pool repair and restoration
Problems we are asked to inspect
- Pool paint fading, chalking, rubbing off or losing adhesion.
- Tiles going loose, cracking or falling off the wall.
- Pool and spa lights that no longer work.
- White plaster or quartz interiors staining, cracking or going hollow.
- Coping or adjoining paving lifting, moving or cracking.
- Calcium scale or rust staining showing on the pool surface.
- Pebble and rendered interiors crumbling or delaminating.
- Unexplained water loss, leaking penetrations or cracks in the shell.
No repair job is automatically too small. An inquiry may start with one loose tile, a coping stone that has moved or a single rust mark. Send full-pool photos and close-ups rather than guessing at the repair: they tell us whether it is isolated or part of a wider failure.
Winter is a practical time to inspect and arrange general repairs before the summer rush. Epoxy painting is the exception: application and curing both need warm, dry weather.
The crew
The people on the Los Angeles route
Four of us. The same faces every week, not whoever was free that morning.
Daniel RamirezOwner 
Jake MitchellRoute technician 
Robert AndersonRepair technician 
Emily CarterOffice & scheduling
This week on the job
Straight from the truck
Short clips from real visits. Nothing staged, nothing bought from a stock library.
What the mark on the surface usually means
Three problems behind most repair calls
In each of them the visible damage is smaller than the damaged area underneath it.
Water going around a pipe, not through it
Smooth PVC and concrete do not bond watertight on their own. The penetration has to be opened, cleaned and sealed properly.
A crack behind the tiles
Exposed and assessed before anything is retiled. Tiling over a crack lets the same defect carry on through the new finish.
Repair and restoration services
Pool repair options, and where each one is explained
Use these when you already know what kind of repair or restoration the pool needs.
- Pool tiling and tile repairsLoose, failed or outdated tile, from a local repair to a full retile.
- Coping repairs and replacementLoose, cracked or failed coping, custom-cut stone and the pool edge rebuilt.
- Pool repaintingRepairs and preparation before epoxy paint goes onto a suitable interior.
- Interior restoration and resurfacingQuartz, white plaster, pebble and rendered interiors that are failing.
- Rust and pool-shell repairsRusted reinforcement, rust stains, expanding steel and corrosion damage.
- Pool crack repairsCracks in the wall, floor, render or behind tiles, assessed before a new finish.
- Leak repair informationProfessional leak detection first, then shell repair inside our scope.
- LED pool-light replacementPool and spa lights replaced as part of renovation and repair work.
- Pool equipment and repair questionsRenovation, equipment symptoms, water loss, surfaces, lights and scope.
Useful pool repair facts
Six things worth knowing first
Each one is a reason the repair is bigger, or smaller, than the mark you can see.
- Movement. The most common cause of problems in a swimming pool, and the one that carries on through a new finish.
- One loose tile. A warning to check the render and the tiles around it, not only the tile that fell.
- A small rust mark. Often the surface sign of corrosion carrying on inside the concrete behind it.
- A crack. Assessed before anyone chooses a new tile, pebble, render or paint finish.
- A pipe penetration. Water can escape around the outside of a PVC pipe where it passes through the shell.
- Calcium. Can be cleaned, but the water balance needs attention too or the scale comes back.
Repairs that turned into renovations
Pools we have put back together
Pool tiling
Rust repair and full tiling
Hollow render and rust cut out, then the whole shell tiled.
Glendale
Pool tiling
Painted pool to fully tiled
Out of repaints, so retiled, with sandstone paving around it.
Eagle Rock
Pool tiling
Fully tiled pool and spa
Grey tile across pool and spa, seen from the air.
La Cañada Flintridge
Tell us about your pool and we will price it
Tell us what the pool needs, how big it is and your ZIP — and a price the same day.
Rewards
Refer a friend, get up to $200
$100 for every friend you send us, up to two. No code, no form — they call and mention your name.
$100 credit
For every friend who calls and mentions your name
Up to two referrals, $200 in total. The name must come up on the first call. Spend it on any service.
20% off one-time work
For weekly maintenance members
Green-to-clean, acid wash, plaster start-up and repair labor, plus priority on the schedule.
Where we work
Family owned, based in Studio City
Send your name, the suburb, one photo of the whole pool and close-ups of the damage.
Office · Studio City
Pool Care LA
CSLB #970493Mon–Fri 6am–9pm · Sat–Sun 8am–6pm
Text message is usually the fastest way to reach us. Photos tell us whether the repair falls inside our scope.
4121 Radford Ave, Ste. #214, Studio City, CA 91604Research the repair before choosing a finish
Surfaces, methods, water balance and the words used when an older pool is restored.
Renovation
Pool renovation questions and answers
Repairs, cracks, leaks, finishes, lights, equipment symptoms and scope.
Services
Pool restoration options
Tiling, repainting, resurfacing, coping and the other ways to restore a pool.
Guides
Maintenance and pool information
Care guides, water balance and advice for looking after a renovated pool.
Open the problem that matches your pool
Every answer stays on the page; open only the one you need.
Why can a swimming pool leak around a PVC pipe?
Often the water is travelling around the outside of the pipe rather than through a split inside it: smooth PVC and the surrounding concrete do not make a dependable watertight bond on their own. The penetration has to be exposed enough to find the water pathway, remove weak material and seal it correctly before the surface is rebuilt. Where the leak location has not been confirmed, professional leak detection comes first.
Why is my pool coping lifting or cracking?
Movement, water penetration, failed bonding or a problem in the surrounding area. Once coping moves, moisture gets into the pool beam and the structure beside it. A lasting repair has to assess the bond, the beam, the substrate and whatever drainage or movement is feeding it — re-grouting a loose stone does not repair a failed bond underneath it. See coping repair and replacement.
Why are my swimming pool tiles falling off?
Because the shell or render has moved, the adhesive system has failed, the substrate has gone hollow, or water is travelling behind the finish. When one tile comes loose, the tiles and render around it usually need checking too. Proper repair is more than re-gluing what fell: the unstable material has to come out so the new work bonds to something sound. Read about pool tiling and preparation.
How do I know if my swimming pool is leaking?
If the pool loses more water than you would expect, have it investigated. Leaks come from cracks, pipe penetrations, light conduits, fittings, plumbing or structural movement, and most of those pathways are invisible from the poolside. We repair structural defects inside our scope once the leak has been located; detection itself and general equipment plumbing are separate specialist services. What to do before you call us about a leak.
Why is there rust showing through my pool surface?
Usually steel reinforcement, wire or another metal object inside the concrete has reached moisture. Rebar set too close to the surface corrodes and expands, which gives a round rust spot, a line of staining, cracking or delamination — and the visible mark is normally smaller than the damaged area behind it. Proper repair means opening the concrete, removing the rust-damaged material, treating or removing the steel and rebuilding before the finish goes back. Covering the stain with paint or waterproofing is not a structural repair. Read the pool rust repair page.
What should happen before a crack behind pool tiles is retiled?
The crack is exposed, assessed and repaired first. Tiles and failed render come off so the shell and the full length of the crack can be seen. Depending on what is found and whether movement is still happening, the repair may involve stitching, epoxy injection, dowelling, reinforcement or rebuilding part of the area; then the surface is restored, waterproofed where required and retiled. Tiling straight over a crack lets the same defect carry on through the new finish. More crack and renovation answers.
Why is my quartz finish, white plaster or pool surface crumbling?
Cement-based interiors lose their bond with age, moisture, movement or the way they were originally installed, and they show it by cracking, going hollow, delaminating or dropping pieces into the skimmer basket. Once the loss of bond is widespread, patching does not last, and full resurfacing is usually the long-term answer — but the shell, the cracks and the other defects are assessed before a new finish is chosen. See pool resurfacing options.
What causes calcium build-up in swimming pools?
Hard water, high pH or water that has not been kept in balance. It shows as a white scale on tile, grout, coping or the interior itself. Cleaning improves the look of a sound surface, but unless the water balance is corrected and kept there, the calcium comes back — and heavy scale, staining and damaged finishes should be assessed before anything aggressive is tried on them. See our pool tile cleaning services.
Can stains inside a swimming pool be improved?
Identify the stain before anyone scrubs, grinds or treats it: calcium, rust and general contamination have different causes and should not get the same treatment. If the surface underneath is sound, specialist cleaning can lift staining and scale. If the mark is being made by rusting steel, a crack, moisture or a failing interior, cleaning what you can see does nothing for the cause. Read about tile and surface cleaning.
Do you repair fiberglass swimming pools?
No. We work on existing tiled, rendered and painted swimming pools with concrete shells, and the repair information on this page does not apply to fiberglass. If your pool is fiberglass, it is a different surface and a different repair system, and another specialist should look at it.
All 30 pool services
Cleaning, recovery, repair and renovation across Los Angeles.
Weekly maintenancePool deep cleanGreen to cleanAcid washPlaster start-upEquipment repairPool pump repairPool heater repairFilter cleaningSalt system repairAutomation repairPool light repairLED pool lightsPool leak detectionLeak detection guideRust repairResurfacingPool paintingPool tilingFully tiled poolsLiner replacementPool remodelingPool copingDeck resurfacingPool shape changeNew constructionPool removalPainting projectsSpecialist tilersRenovation, step by step
Ready for an initial repair discussion?
Send clear photos of the pool and the problem
One photo of the whole pool, close-ups of every damaged area, your suburb, and a note about water loss or movement.