Mike's Diving Services

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Mike's Diving Services Mike's diving services. Underwater search and recovery. Underwater repairs. Survey and photograph
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This customer has an aboveground oval vinyl liner pool. Significant pool leakage was indicated. I inspected the cove f...
10/10/2026

This customer has an aboveground oval vinyl liner pool. Significant pool leakage was indicated. I inspected the cove first, found no leaks. Then I inspected the side. Nearest to the deck, I detected a lot of water behind the liner and wall, which indicated a large cut. I found three of them. One near the top, a small cut about 1/4", and two larger crescent cuts, deeper and near each other, one of them 3/4" the other 1/2". Patched them all and while they cured I inspected the liner bottom. No leaks on the bottom, no stones under the liner. I stayed in the pool while the side patches cured, and waited until the water drained from the side, which indicated no more cuts. Water temperature 64, air temperature 76 degrees.

This customer had an urgent request to find a severe leak in their oval aboveground pool. The water had dropped below t...
10/09/2026

This customer had an urgent request to find a severe leak in their oval aboveground pool. The water had dropped below the pool closing level at least 8 inches, still deep enough for underwater inspection. I instructed the customer to fill the pool and responded right away with a visit. Inspected the liner (found large rocks caught underneath the steps/ladder mat). After full inspection of the pool (bottom, side and cove) I located a 1/2" diameter puncture on the side of the pool right near the filter/heater/pump area. Water was leaking very quickly (as fast as the garden hose could fill it). I patched it, and it bonded immediately (the water pressure of the leak pulled the patch into place like a vacuum). Water temperature 63, air temperature 63. Weather called for rain, it sprinkled just a little as I arrived. Liner had a few places with rocks underneath the liner, they aren't causing any problems.

This was a prior customer who had leaks in the liner along the wall, one of them behind the ladder. The customer had cl...
10/06/2026

This was a prior customer who had leaks in the liner along the wall, one of them behind the ladder. The customer had closed the pool and had a water level drop below the pool closing level about six inches, over time. Customer had removed the steps and I suspected there were leaks behind or under the steps. One of them, a cut about 1/4", right underneath where one of the steps rested, about 6 inches from the cove. While that patch cured I did a full liner inspection and found two more holes: one, a puncture only about a foot from the steps hole, and near the edge, likely caused by something falling off the deck. The other hole, was at the pool wall seam, at the lowest bolt head, caused by the automatic pool vac as it repeatedly rubbed against the liner with the bolt head working a hole in the liner. All patched up. Water temperature 60 degrees, air temperature 71.

This customer, with above ground oval pool, had leaking and needed this repair prior to pool closing.Customer suspected ...
10/02/2026

This customer, with above ground oval pool, had leaking and needed this repair prior to pool closing.
Customer suspected a leak near their skimmer (because of wet ground outside the pool near that spot). I did liner inspection. On the first pass (cove) I located the leak near the skimmer, it was very likely caused by automatic pool robot rubbing against the seam bolts at the bottom. Patched it. Then I proceeded to inspect the sides and then the bottom. On the bottom I located two more cuts, each about 3/8" deep crescent shapes. These likely caused by pool toys (which I found in the pool, toy "sharks" with rigid fins that can poke through the liner) Both of those patched. I waited until the patches firmed up and bonded. Water temperature 67 degrees, air temperature 63 degrees. Green tinge in the water due to the recent several days worth of rain dropping the chlorine levels and bright sunshine today.

This morning I returned to this inground pool customer. The water was continued leaking through the main drain, under t...
09/29/2026

This morning I returned to this inground pool customer. The water was continued leaking through the main drain, under the gaskets. There's a crack in the main drain screw holes and the gaskets won't hold tight, and sealer wasn't holding. Since this drain is plugged anyway (cracked pipe under the concrete deck), I suggested to fill the drain with supporting sand and then place a patch over the drain.
I cut reinforced vinyl a few inches larger than the diameter of the drain, and left the ring in place--it's keeping the liner stable. I stayed underwater until the patch bonded, and applied extra adhesive under edges which might peel back. Water temperature 73, air temperature 77.

this morning's underwater job: Prior customer, inground pool, no main drain. This pool has pebbles and stones under th...
09/22/2026

this morning's underwater job: Prior customer, inground pool, no main drain. This pool has pebbles and stones under the liner. I had visited and found several of these poking through the liner and leaking. Today at customer's request, I did full liner inspection and found two new leaks (close to each other), stones poking completely through the liner. I pulled out the stones and patched them both under a single large patch.
Close to this, was a customer-installed patch which was very loose, flapping and leaking. I pulled that patch off completely and replaced with a new clear vinyl permanent patch. While those patches cured I finished the full liner inspection. Water temperature 69, air temperature 63

This customer had an existing hole, covered with a customer-installed temporary patch. The temporary patch was leaking,...
09/13/2026

This customer had an existing hole, covered with a customer-installed temporary patch. The temporary patch was leaking, I replaced it with a permanent vinyl patch. While that was curing I inspected the liner, and found another leak near the cove, directly below the skimmer. Patched it and finished inspection. Both patches set well, and water pressure helped to bond them into place.

This customer indicated they have water in the grass on the side of the pool. I started my inspection, found no leaks a...
09/13/2026

This customer indicated they have water in the grass on the side of the pool. I started my inspection, found no leaks along the cove or bottom. The side of the pool was "floppy" meaning water was behind the liner on the sides. I located three cuts (one behind the ladder first step, about 1/4", then two additional cuts (a crescent shaped cut 3/8", and a longer 1/2" slice near the bottom). Patched all three and waited until side water drained out and liner firmed up.

This customer with Kayak pool had continued water seepage from beneath the pool. There were no cuts or holes in the lin...
09/12/2026

This customer with Kayak pool had continued water seepage from beneath the pool. There were no cuts or holes in the liner.
The patch I placed around the leaky light fixture (to be replace at a later time) had peeled back. I applied fresh adhesive to this patch and cleaned up the old adhesive residue that had failed to bond.
Then I inspected the main drain. It was leaking. The gaskets were deteriorated. I had the customer shut off the pump and filter, and I removed the gasket ring, revealing not only a deteriorated paper gasket but a hole pierced by small sharp pebble that had gotten under the liner, right between the liner and lower gasket. That hole was leaking in addition to the gaskets leaking. that hole was only visible after removing the top gasket reside.
I prepared a small patch and with adhesive, bonded it to the hole. I placed new gaskets below and above the liner after clearing out old gasket fragments. Top ring in place, and screws in place and properly torqued. The liner firmed up and all water stopped leaking. This customer had very high water bills and this leak is likely typical of a lot of customers with 3+ year old main drains that have had no gasket replacements. Air temperature 87 degrees, water temperature 84 degrees.

This was a prior customer with pool inspection and liner repairs. The main drains on my prior visit had loose ring scre...
09/12/2026

This was a prior customer with pool inspection and liner repairs. The main drains on my prior visit had loose ring screws. I tightened them at least a full turn each, which indicates a deteriorated gasket.

Customer ordered the gaskets specifically for these drains. I removed the old top gasket (wrong one!, just a paper gasket) and both drains, the top gaskets were completely falling apart. The bottom gaskets were the proper ones, but they had shrunk, and the pool installer had placed squares of duct tape over each screw hole (!!) and water was leaking through these duct tape squares, each of which was rotting. I used dye to verify the drains were indeed leaking.

One one of the drains the sand had shifted into a divot. Once I had the cover off an ring off, I used my hand to sweep sand back into place to level it out around the drain.
I installed the bottom and top gaskets and gasket rings, screws torqued properly, all the water under the liner around the drain drained once all the screws were tight, and the sand under the liner firmed up which indicated the gaskets had sealed properly.

Address

Plainfield, IL
60586

Telephone

+18155146525

Website

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