King County Aquatic Facility

Xypex products were used to waterproof the main competition pool, the diving tank and the warm-up pool at this complex built originally for the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle. The Xypex treatment consisted of two slurry coats on the vertical surfaces and a dryshake application on the slabs. A decorative coating was also specified to be applied over the Xypex treatment. However, the manufacturer of the decorative coating called for their product to be applied only over bare concrete. This problem was resolved by allowing the Xypex product to remain on the walls for five weeks to ensure complete chemical transfer from the coating into the concrete, and then sandblasting the coating off to expose the concrete and thus permit istallation of the decorative coating as per the manufacturer’s specifications. It should also be noted that during these operations, 3″ and 5″ (76 mm and 127 mm) rainfalls occurred causing massive flooding in the area. Although the pool walls were subjected to increased ground water pressure during these times, there was no water seepage into the pools.