Once again, the top story at the Washington Post (as I write this) is about the Reflecting Pool. If you haven't followed this story, it has been a real roller-coaster of claims and counterclaims. But this latest story includes the results of a full inspection that took place after the pool was completely drained. What the inspectors found was a lot more areas of failure than expected. All of it appears to be the result of a rushed installation which aimed to have the pool ready for the 250th celebration in July.

The Aug. 6 report, commissioned by the contractor that did the work, documents far more damage than has been previously reported. President Donald Trump has generally attributed the damage to vandals, but the report makes no mention of vandalism to the liner and blames the problems on the use of improper materials and a rush to complete the job. The administration wanted the project finished in time for the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The 75-page “failure analysis” by Atlantic Coating Inspection includes scores of photos documenting the liner’s deficiencies — ranging in severity and including blisters, peeling and cracks — and identifies their likely causes...

Some of the peeling probably occurred because workers were still applying the coating the day before the pool was refilled with water on June 4, even though the material needed 72 hours to “cure,” or dry completely, according to the report.

Originally, only about a dozen spots were identified as failing, mostly along the edge of the pool. President Trump put this down to vandalism after there was some vandalism of the grass adjacent to the pool. But the new report by an outside contractor shows there were a lot more problems that had to do with poor installation. Also, a previous inspection by the Army Corps of Engineers appears to have done a lot more damage to the liner.

The inspection identified the 85 points of failure. It also documented 88 additional instances of damage that it said the Army Corps of Engineers caused while testing the strength of the liner after the pool was drained. Most were surface-level damage, but 12 cut to the concrete, according to the report.

Some of these cuts were very small but potentially significant as they could allow water to seep under the liner over time, separating it from the concrete. But the major problem involved the expansion joints which change size as the basin warms up and cools. 

...the material was not flexible enough for the “dynamic movement” of the expansion joints, the inspection report said.

For other areas of the liner that peeled or split, the report cited three possible contributing factors: the improper mixing of materials in the application gun, mist from sprayed material drifting onto dried coating, and insufficient drying time.

Caulk around the edge of the pool also peeled after the pool was refilled before the caulk had fully cured. The caulk in particular needs seven days to cure. There were also blisters on the bottom of the pool in areas where moisture had been trapped under the liner. 

The bottom line is that this job was rushed and as a result the material didn't cure properly in dozens of places before the pool was refilled. There also appear to be some errors made by the manufacturer of the lining itself.

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AIC wrote that the dark blue Pipeliner 5000 would not be reapplied over the expansion joints, allowing a more flexible material to “move with the joint.” It wrote that it would also use a different primer for most of the repairs, after Rhino Linings, the manufacturer, revised its prior recommendation.

Using the wrong primer seems like a pretty significant problem. Hopefully that does not mean that the entire thing is more likely to peel over time.

Repairs to all the damage have been underway for the past few weeks. All of it is being done under warranty so there shouldn't be any additional charge. On Monday, they started refilling the pool, suggesting the repairs were complete.

However, sometime late yesterday or early this morning the refilling appears to have stopped as a result of some problems with clogged lines coming out of the filter.

They need to keep working at this until they get it right. Fingers crossed, the final day of this story could be coming very soon.