water migration
Last time, we looked at an instance in which migrating water presents mostly aesthetic challenges - scale formation, evaporation residues and other hassles that simply make a watershape look worse than it should. This time, we'll look into a case where the migrating water not only made the watershape look bad, but was also doing structural damage to a nearby deck and, ultimately, to the pool shell itself. It's a cautionary tale that should make any contractor
In my work as a construction-defect expert witness, I see a certain problem in the design and construction of spillways all too frequently: When the system is initiated, the flow of water down the face of the dam wall will behave more or less as desired, holding to a narrow path into the pool or trough that awaits it. After a time, however, that water will begin to migrate, spreading out farther and farther beyond the desired pathway until the material - usually some sort of
Water passing from one level to another will always be a popular feature in watershapes — from the familiar spillways from spas into pools to the intricate flows found in many fountains, reflecting pools, runnels, rills and even koi ponds (to name a few possibilities). Depending on the application, these features might