Am I screwed? Pool losing 2 inches of water daily

[k.blazo]

Just moved in June and we’ve spent a lot of time and money getting this old pool up and running. New coping stones, new tile, replastered, caulked, new LEDS and light rings, new pump installed.

The entire pool deck is riddled in various cracks that lead all the way to the pool. The caulk around the pool feels mushy, as if it’s filling with water, in various spots all the way around. We decided to address everything else except the pool deck this season. Everything was going great until last week; we suddenly lost 3 inches overnight, and the skimmers were sucking air. I’ve been refilling the pool every other day since then. No signs of any leak around our pump, filter, or backwash line. Could the pool be leaking out into these various cracks?
Pool details: 18000gal plaster pool, Hayward S244T sand filter, Pentair intelliflo 3 VSF.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

From only looking at the 4 pictures provided, the last picture shows major stress on the skimmer.
With plumbing pipes glued to the bottom of the skimmer that are not designed to move at all, the picture shows a major difference in distance from the coping to the shimmer.
The skimmer is deep into the ground and with the deck (possibly 4” thick) movement it also moves the skimmer but not the piping below it.
This is where I would start with the leak detection.

 

[k.blazo]

From only looking at the 4 pictures provided, the last picture shows major stress on the skimmer.
With plumbing pipes glued to the bottom of the skimmer that are not designed to move at all, the picture shows a major difference in distance from the coping to the shimmer.
The skimmer is deep into the ground and with the deck (possibly 4” thick) movement it also moves the skimmer but not the piping below it.
This is where I would start with the leak detection.

Thank you for your feedback. I figured the skimmer is the likely culprit. When I spoke to the owner of our pool maintenance company about this whole scenario, he said it was highly unlikely to be that skimmer, and insisted the leak was probably coming from one of the light niches, since they had recently installed new LEDS and light rings for our pool 3 weeks prior to this sudden and significant water loss. They charged us an arm and a leg to come out to inspect the lights and they weren’t leaking.. which I’m sure they already knew.

 

[Buggs]

You might try letting the water leak continue until the water level reaches the bottom of the skimmer. If the leak stops at that point, that indicates the leak is in the skimmer.

 

[TinFoilHat]

If you do what Buggs suggested make sure that you can still turn your water over through the filter every day as normal. If you are going to drop below the skimmer suction range then if you have a working main drain you'll need to open it for full suction while the water level is dropping.

 

[k.blazo]

I located the leak in the skimmer basket. Can anyone recommend DIY repair options? Just seeking a bandaid fix to make it to the end of the season