Pool Skimmer Replacement in Dickinson, TX – Before & After

When a pool falls to the bottom of the skimmer mouth and then stops, the pool is telling you where the leak is. Water only escapes while there is water above the opening, so a level that settles at one height and holds is pointing at whatever sits at that height. On this Dickinson pool that was the skimmer, and the body itself had failed rather than the plumbing behind it.

Why skimmers crack in this part of the coast

A skimmer is a plastic box cast into a concrete shell. The two materials do not move together: plastic expands and contracts far more with temperature than gunite does, and the joint between them works a little every hot day and every cool night. Along the bay, two local factors shorten that clock. The water table sits high, so the ground around the shell stays saturated for long stretches and moves with it. And the fill packed around a skimmer during construction is looser than undisturbed soil, so it settles more. Twenty or thirty years of that and the box either separates from the shell at its collar or cracks through its own floor.

Proving it before replacing anything

A skimmer is not a cheap part to replace, so we do not replace one on suspicion. Two tests settle it. Dye testing around the throat and collar shows whether water is being drawn into a joint. Then the suction line is isolated and put under pressure, which pushes air back through any opening in the body itself. That second test is what the before photograph shows.

Before & After Result

In the before photograph the old skimmer is stained yellow brown after decades of service, and air forced through during the pressure test is bubbling up through the floor of the box. The crack it is coming through was not visible dry. Under test it announced itself. Once a skimmer body has failed like that, patching is a short term answer at best — the plastic is old, brittle and already moving against the shell. We removed it. The after photograph shows the replacement in place: a new body set into the shell, sealed properly around the throat, and the surround made good. The suction line was tested again before the surface was closed up, and the pool now holds its level rather than stopping at the skimmer. The replacement is covered by our 2-year warranty.

Skimmer Repair & Replacement in Dickinson & Nearby Communities

We find and repair skimmer leaks throughout Dickinson, League City, Texas City, La Marque, Santa Fe, Kemah and the Galveston County side of our service area. If your pool always stops at the same level and then holds, that is the most useful thing you can tell us on the phone. Call (346) 850-9775 or schedule online.