Hello guru,
Please let me know where I went wrong and how to properly fix the issue. What I have is a monolithic concrete pour. 8" thick shell with Xypex and fiber strands. Concrete has cured for almost 2 month now. Recent rain filled my filter pit with water(I'm still in the process of excavating the pit) and that water seem to have saturated the earth around and under the pond... water is now seeping in through the bottom drain and pvc pipes.
So... is this because normal concrete do not seal against pvc? also that Xypex crystallization stops at the pvc/abs material and does not bond to them? or there are other factors such as concrete company forgot to add Xypex? wrong ratio? or some other execution mistakes?
More importantly, how do I fix it? My plan right now is chisel out some concrete around the leaking joints, then stuff some hydraulic cement in there. Will hydraulic cement expand and create the seal? And, since I'm not confident in the Xypex Admix in the concrete mixture... I was going to coat the inside of the pond with Xypex Concentrate. Maybe overkill? but I'm ok with that... just let me know if there are technical concerns.
I've also read other pond builders paint an epoxy coat... maybe for aesthetic or maybe additional water proofing, but I'm consider this too. If I was to do the epoxy paint(Pond Armor), can/should I add fiber chopped strains around the BD, pvc, and skimmer to further reinforce and waterproof these joints?
Thanks for reading.