ASR Swimming Pools in Austin Texas
What I’m Seeing as a Builder and What Homeowners Should Know
Over the past couple of years, I’ve started getting more calls from homeowners around Austin, Lakeway, Bee Cave, and Westlake asking about unusual cracking in their swimming pools.
In many of these cases, the issue turns out to be something called Alkali-Silica Reaction, or ASR. In the construction world you’ll sometimes hear people refer to it as “concrete cancer.”
It’s a chemical reaction that happens inside concrete when certain aggregates react with the cement in the presence of water. When that reaction starts, it creates internal pressure inside the concrete and eventually leads to cracking and structural deterioration.
Swimming pools are especially vulnerable because the concrete shell is constantly exposed to moisture.
Right now my team is rebuilding a pool in Lakeway that is affected by ASR, and since starting that project we’ve been asked to look at several other pools around the Austin area showing very similar symptoms.
The “Covid Pool” Construction Boom
One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of the pools we’re being asked to look at were built during what I call the “Covid pool” construction boom, roughly between 2020 and 2022.
During that time the demand for backyard pools skyrocketed. Builders were booked out months in advance, subcontractors were stretched thin, and everyone in the industry was trying to keep up with the volume of work.
Looking back on it now, I think the ASR issues we’re seeing were probably caused by a perfect storm of several factors happening at the same time.
There were supply chain issues that affected materials like fly ash, which is often used to help mitigate ASR in concrete mixes. Aggregate sources may have changed. And with the massive increase in construction volume, some builders probably weren’t asking for the level of mix testing and engineering verification that should have been happening.
I’m sure some people simply didn’t know the risk was there. Others may have been trying to keep projects moving as fast as possible in a very competitive environment.
Either way, we’re now starting to see the consequences of that period of construction.
Where We’re Seeing ASR Around Austin
The pools we’re being asked to inspect are spread throughout the greater Austin area, including places like:
Austin
Lakeway
Bee Cave
Westlake Hills
Dripping Springs
Cedar Park
Round Rock
West Austin and Lakeway tend to come up a lot simply because those areas have a high number of custom swimming pools.
The First Signs I Usually Notice
When I walk up to a pool that might have ASR, one of the first things I look for is spider cracking across the shell, especially around areas like:
beach entries
spas
tanning ledges
shallow sections of the pool
These cracks often form map-like patterns across the surface.
At first glance they can look cosmetic, but when ASR is involved they are usually being caused by internal expansion happening inside the concrete itself.
Over time the cracks can spread and start affecting other parts of the pool like tile lines and structural areas.
What We Sometimes Discover During Demolition
Once demolition begins, we often get a much better look at what’s really going on.
Something I’ve noticed on several of these projects is that when we start opening the pool up, we sometimes find other construction issues that happened during the original build.
That can include things like engineering details not being followed, reinforcement placement issues, or foundation work that wasn’t completed according to the plans.
On the Lakeway pool we are currently rebuilding, the original engineering actually called for specific foundation preparation beneath the shell, but that work was never done when the pool was first built.
Issues like that don’t necessarily cause ASR directly, but they can definitely make structural problems worse once the reaction starts happening inside the concrete.
The Lawsuits You May Have Heard About
You may have seen news or heard discussions about lawsuits related to ASR pools in Central Texas.
There are currently a number of legal cases involving homeowners, builders, subcontractors, and material suppliers connected to pools affected by ASR.
Those cases are still developing, but they show just how significant the financial impact can be when a pool begins experiencing structural failure.
Can an ASR Pool Be Fixed?
This is usually the question homeowners ask first.
Unfortunately, once ASR starts inside the concrete, there isn’t really a true long-term repair that stops the chemical reaction.
Surface repairs can sometimes hide the cracks temporarily, but they don’t stop what’s happening inside the structure.
In the projects I’ve been involved with, the only reliable long-term solution has been demolishing and rebuilding the pool shell.
It’s not what anyone wants to hear, but structurally it’s often the only way to fully solve the problem.
What We Do Differently Today
Because of what the industry has learned from these cases, there’s now a lot more attention being paid to material testing and engineering oversight.
On our projects today, every load delivered to our gunite subcontractor is required to be tested by engineers for ASR potential. Those results have to be shared with us before that material is allowed to be used on one of our job sites.
It adds another step to the process, but it’s something I believe is important if we want to protect the long-term structural integrity of the pools we build.
What Homeowners Should Do if They Notice Cracking
If you own a pool in the Austin area that was built between 2020 and 2022 and you’re noticing unusual cracking, it may be worth having the pool looked at by someone familiar with ASR.
Spider cracking, map-pattern cracking, or cracking around spa structures and beach entries can sometimes look cosmetic, but in some cases they may be signs of something happening inside the concrete.
Pools throughout Austin, Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, Dripping Springs, Cedar Park, and Round Rock have shown these types of issues.
Having an experienced builder or engineer evaluate the structure can help determine what’s actually going on.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ASR in swimming pools?
ASR (Alkali-Silica Reaction) is a chemical reaction inside concrete that can cause expansion, cracking, and structural deterioration in gunite pool shells.
Why are some Austin pools developing ASR?
From what we’re seeing in the field, the heavy majority of ASR pools we are encountering were built between 2020 and 2022 during the Covid construction boom. During that time there was a massive surge in pool construction across Central Texas, and several factors such as aggregate sources, fly ash availability, and rapid construction schedules may have contributed.
What are the signs of ASR in a pool?
Common warning signs include:
Spider cracking across the shell
Map-pattern cracking in shallow areas
Cracks around spa structures or tanning ledges
Tile separation along the waterline
Cracks that continue spreading over time
Can ASR pools be repaired?
Surface repairs can temporarily hide the cracks, but they don’t stop the internal reaction in the concrete. In many cases, the only reliable long-term solution is rebuilding the pool shell.
About the Author
My name is Bryson Jones, and I’m the owner of Watercolor Pools. We build custom gunite swimming pools and also work on structural pool rebuilds throughout Austin, Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, and the surrounding Hill Country communities.