[NA] Pool resurfacing. Anyone had it done?

[SixPapaCharlie]

Need to get my pool resurfaced. It has needed it for a few years but its time to bite the bullet.
I have gotten quotes from 10k to 40k which tells me there are things I don't know and run the risk of getting a crappy job that only lasts a few years or also run the risk of getting ripped off.

20k Gallon, salt water, in-ground gunite, typical Texas pool.
I just want white plaster. Don't need pebble tech or anything fancy.

Once the quotes started coming in, I was hearing:
"If you are going to re do the plaster, you have to replace all of the coping and tiles around the edge". This sounds like BS to me but I dunno. I am not a pool expert.
My coping and tiles are just fine.

One of the more expensive companies said "these cheap guys are just going to scuff the existing plaster, lay cement over it and the plaster and fill and in 3 years it will delaminate"
I have been told all the existing cement needs to be chipped away, then acid washed, re cemented / shaped, then plastered.

What questions do I need to be asking so I know I am 1. not getting a cheap short term job and 2. not getting ripped off.

I know nothing about how this works but the pool was installed in 04 and was in good shape until about 2002 before I started thinking it needed repairs.
I would love to get a job done that would last another 15 years before I have to think about this again.

Its a 25-ish foot by 34-ish foot, 5 foot deep amoeba shaped money pit. Hey! Similar dimensions to my other money pit

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

As for the issues: plaster has worn in a lot of places leaving discolorations and rough edges on any 90 degree angles like steps, ledges, etc. It is pitted in a lot of areas.
Any pitting is a magnet for algae, dirt, etc.

 

[Hang 4]

Do you know Mike Patey well enough to ask him? That was/is one of his businesses. Not sure if you're connected in the YT world?

 

[kyleb]

Pm me your email address. One of my (few) reputable pilot buddies has a pool business.i can put you in touch for his $.02.

 

[Racerx]

Dad did this a few years ago. He did have to replace the tiles, but enough of them were chipped and he hated them anyway. Was afraid to ask what the number was. 35,000 gallon pool.

Iirc they go in and chisel the plaster off down to the gunnite

 

[Matthew]

The YMCA I use did that last Nov/Dec.

They took the surface down to the concrete, removed and replaced all embedded tile, then resurfaced it. They didn’t need to do any deck or edge work. It went remarkably fast. I think it maybe 7–10 days. The rest of the time was taken up by completing other deferred mx and letting the chemistry get settled.

 

[Barrett50]

There are two basic jobs, and they are quite different. I've owned pool homes for 40 years, and I currently have two rental homes with pools in N TX. I've had three re-plaster jobs done. The cheap job will grind the plaster at the bottom edge of the tile back about 3/4", and will scuff the rest of the existing plaster, and if they are a decent jobber, they will chip and remove any cracked areas and grind back to good plaster over concrete. Drains and fill ports should also be ground out like the lower edge of the tile.

The other way is the jetstream process which uses a high pressure water jet to remove ALL plaster and leave a concrete substrate to put new plaster over.

High-Pressure Pool Plaster Removal Equipment

Stop spending 3 days chipping. Jetstream UHP waterblasting strips pools in 1 day with a 2-man crew. Increase margins and get better plaster bond.

waterblast.com

That's why there are two very different costs, because they are typically two different jobs. It's like a re-paint over a car/plane with existing paint, by sanding and priming and a full strip and paint which takes off all the paint down to bare metal and then new etching, primer, and base coat clear coat.

To me, the most important part of the job is watching over the prep work and make sure every little nook and crack(yes, you have cracks in your plaster) is taken care of. When they are 'done' with the grinding, go in the pool and look carefully for any plaster cracks that haven't been touched. If you have a welding chip tool or pointed hammer of any kind, go in and chip at places that look suspect.

Next, you need to ask/tell them the thickness of the plaster they are putting on. There is no industry standard, but with the hard water in N TX I would say it needs to be 5mm min and 7mm or so as ideal. Don't let them start in the afternoon and finish the next day. Plaster should be uniform and done in one pass, even if they have to stay late. I never had to replace any tile in my jobs, but if there's tile missing and it can't be matched, you might want to do that as an upgrade. I prefer to leave the tile alone if it's in decent shape.

This is also a time to consider an upgrade like mosaics. The cost is not much of a factor, and it kind of takes a standard white plaster pool to the next level. I did a rental with a blue tinted plaster and several fish mosaics and it came out fantastic. The added cost is a couple hundred bucks and well worth the upgrade. YMMV.

Swimming Pool Mosaics | Glass & Porcelain Pool Art | AquaBlu Mosaics

Explore swimming pool mosaics, custom pool mosaic tile, sea life designs, medallions, and glass pool art for residential and commercial pools. Shop today!

www.aquablumosaics.com

 

[Lindberg]

I can't answer any of your questions because my house had the water-filled money pit when I bought it, and it probably needs this but I haven't done it yet. I just want to throw this out there: My pool has the Pebble tech coating, and it is so much nicer than my friend's pools that don't have it.

 

[donjohnston]

I had to do our 40k gal pool in 2019. Paid about $12k. Plain old white and included new tile around the top. Did not have to remove/replace coping. This is in the Florida panhandle. I'm guessing prices have gone up quite a bit.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

I can't answer any of your questions because my house had the water-filled money pit when I bought it, and it probably needs this but I haven't done it yet. I just want to throw this out there: My pool has the Pebble tech coating, and it is so much nicer than my friend's pools that don't have it.

I do love the pebble tech. I am getting quotes for both. We just never use the pool anymore and I hate putting money into it since it is mostly unused.
When the kids were young it was awesome. Now its just like this thing that will one day help sell the house to someone that wants a pool.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

There are two basic jobs, and they are quite different. I've owned pool homes for 40 years, and I currently have two rental homes with pools in N TX. I've had three re-plaster jobs done. The cheap job will grind the plaster at the bottom edge of the tile back about 3/4", and will scuff the rest of the existing plaster, and if they are a decent jobber, they will chip and remove any cracked areas and grind back to good plaster over concrete. Drains and fill ports should also be ground out like the lower edge of the tile.

The other way is the jetstream process which uses a high pressure water jet to remove ALL plaster and leave a concrete substrate to put new plaster over.

High-Pressure Pool Plaster Removal Equipment

Stop spending 3 days chipping. Jetstream UHP waterblasting strips pools in 1 day with a 2-man crew. Increase margins and get better plaster bond.

waterblast.com

That's why there are two very different costs, because they are typically two different jobs. It's like a re-paint over a car/plane with existing paint, by sanding and priming and a full strip and paint which takes off all the paint down to bare metal and then new etching, primer, and base coat clear coat.

To me, the most important part of the job is watching over the prep work and make sure every little nook and crack(yes, you have cracks in your plaster) is taken care of. When they are 'done' with the grinding, go in the pool and look carefully for any plaster cracks that haven't been touched. If you have a welding chip tool or pointed hammer of any kind, go in and chip at places that look suspect.

Next, you need to ask/tell them the thickness of the plaster they are putting on. There is no industry standard, but with the hard water in N TX I would say it needs to be 5mm min and 7mm or so as ideal. Don't let them start in the afternoon and finish the next day. Plaster should be uniform and done in one pass, even if they have to stay late. I never had to replace any tile in my jobs, but if there's tile missing and it can't be matched, you might want to do that as an upgrade. I prefer to leave the tile alone if it's in decent shape.

This is also a time to consider an upgrade like mosaics. The cost is not much of a factor, and it kind of takes a standard white plaster pool to the next level. I did a rental with a blue tinted plaster and several fish mosaics and it came out fantastic. The added cost is a couple hundred bucks and well worth the upgrade. YMMV.

Swimming Pool Mosaics | Glass & Porcelain Pool Art | AquaBlu Mosaics

Explore swimming pool mosaics, custom pool mosaic tile, sea life designs, medallions, and glass pool art for residential and commercial pools. Shop today!

www.aquablumosaics.com

Ugh. Now I really want a mosaic. Damn you!

 

[Doc Holliday]

A few trucks of dirt and a small bulldozer will end that nightmare.

 

[eman1200]

Hire these guys, they’ll resurface it in no time

 

[Lindberg]

A few trucks of dirt and a small bulldozer will end that nightmare.

Not a joke. Am old neighbor of mine filled his in after he got tired of chasing leaks.

From talking to realtors and personal experience, there's a subset of buyers who want a pool and a subset who won't buy a house with one. So it's kind of a wash.

 

[Barrett50]

Ugh. Now I really want a mosaic. Damn you!

Go one way or the other. Fill it in, plant grass and just worry about mowing and weeds or do the renovation right. Adding five small mosaics will be maybe another $200. Getting a big one on the bottom will add a few thousand to the job. Put some near the waterline so they are not refracted by the water too much. As you, our kids are grown and we don't use our pool much either, but the alternative isn't much less work unless we put in a rock garden or something.

In summer, I like to swim later in the evening and listen to a ballgame, and my wife swims for some low impact exercise so we are going to keep it and maintain it. Here's a sample of what the mosaics look like. The salamander is on a climb-out/seat in the deep end and the blue crab is near the beach entry.


We had a modest wind event and some storm so the vac hasn't cleaned it all up yet.

As for RE value, there's truth that a certain set of buyers shop for a pool home, and another set refuse any pool homes. The group in the middle want a home with a no-maint pool(haha). I have a salt system, and an old but very robust pressure side pool vac. The new modern robots make pool maint pretty simple, but there's no getting around some maint, and the pool service people in N TX are not cheap, for what little work they do.

 

[eman1200]

add some politicians and turn it into a cesspool

 

[Lindberg]

The new modern robots make pool maint pretty simple, but there's no getting around some maint, and the pool service people in N TX are not cheap, for what little work they do.

All of the ones I've had to hire on an emergency basis--all highly recommended--charged way more than they are worth. I'm still looking for a "professional" who actually understands pool chemistry. Having an expensive test kit doesn't count.

One continually argued with me that I needed to use his preferred specific brand of cal hypo because it was "stronger chlorine" than my cheaper liquid sodium hypo.

 

[Zeldman]

Need to get my pool resurfaced.

First world problem.

When my pool needs work I just throw it in the trash and go to Dollar General and get another one, making sure it will fit in the backyard behind my 1966 model single wide.

 

[donjohnston]

A few trucks of dirt and a small bulldozer will end that nightmare.

And maybe create a new nightmare.

In some places you're not allowed to just dump dirt into a pool and cover it up. And if you can, it could create issues down the road. A person in a neighborhood I lived in had filled in their pool. They had challenges for a few years with the area settling. Then they went to sell the house. Got an offer and it was discovered that the pool was filled in. New buyers said "nope". Not unless you dig out the pool or cut the price by $20k. Seller said "nope". After that, every buyer balked. IIRC, they eventually had to cut the price $20k to sell the house.

Most places recommend at a minimum taking out the top foot or so and breaking up the bottom before filling.

 

[Racerx]

A few trucks of dirt and a small bulldozer will end that nightmare.

My hangar neighbors business is demoing pools. That's all he does. Most excavator guys won't touch the job as they are incredibly stout.

 

[FORANE]

My hangar neighbors business is demoing pools. That's all he does. Most excavator guys won't touch the job as they are incredibly stout.

My excavator guy would do it no problem, but he would do that sort of job in a rented excavator. He won't use his excavator with a rock breaker for obvious reasons.

 

[Brad W]

A few trucks of dirt and a small bulldozer will end that nightmare.

I'm in the same situation as @SixPapaCharlie , just don't use it anymore...and I've been contemplating filling it in because it does feel like a money pit...., but filling it also seems like burying or burning a pile of money....

From talking to realtors and personal experience, there's a subset of buyers who want a pool and a subset who won't buy a house with one. So it's kind of a wash.

I haven't vetted this with my own opinion either way, but a few weeks back I was discussing the slow real estate market with a neighbor, and their anecdotal observation is that the houses with pools are selling but the ones without are not.

 

[Doc Holliday]

..and I've been contemplating filling it in because it does feel like a money pit...

 

[MauleSkinner]

I’ve resurfaced every time I’ve gone under in a pool. Every time. Better than my ratio of landings to takeoffs, I think.

 

[Gary Ward]

I grew up with a in ground pool...so I only know how much work it was. Luckily I didn't have pay for the up keep but I had to do much of the work keeping it clean.

Keep telling my wife we don't want a pool, but it's not working very well at this time...

 

[Southpaw]

Visitors at my low maintenance mud bottom pool. Some are doing the bottom maintenance.

 

[davela]

I had a pool about the size of yours resurfaced about three years ago. I also had some other necessary repairs made at the same time, and had the tile border along the waterline updated and a few other enhancements. I can't remember exactly what it cost, but around $15K or so. Your pool will look fabulous when its finished! The hard part is finding a reliable pool repair contractor. They are somewhat hard to find in my experience. I hope that helps!

 

[moparrob66]

Digging the hole today for my DIY pool. Havent decided to tile it or pay to have it plastered. Concrete slab bottom with cmu vertical walls and as much rebar as I can.

 

[Randomskylane]

All of the ones I've had to hire on an emergency basis--all highly recommended--charged way more than they are worth. I'm still looking for a "professional" who actually understands pool chemistry. Having an expensive test kit doesn't count.

One continually argued with me that I needed to use his preferred specific brand of cal hypo because it was "stronger chlorine" than my cheaper liquid sodium hypo.

My step father ran out the back door screaming DON’T at the pool guy but was too late. The big dummy blew up the skimmer.

He owned the pool company so he made good on the replacement…yes, he OWNED the company but didn’t know pool chemistry! Oh, and he had built the pool too

Yeeesh

 

[Lindberg]

My step father ran out the back door screaming DON’T at the pool guy but was too late. The big dummy blew up the skimmer.

He owned the pool company so he made good on the replacement…yes, he OWNED the company but didn’t know pool chemistry! Oh, and he had built the pool too

Yeeesh

Completely believable.

I neglected my pool this winter and it got a little green. I treated and killed all the algae and sank it with clarifier. I hired a guy who I explicitly told that I just needed him to powervac the pool. I cameras home to find that instead of vacuuming all the dead algae off the bottom of the now perfectly clear pool, he'd brushed it all into the water so that it would get filtered out. He spent the next week backwashing my filter twice a day.

 

[wellknow]

My step father ran out the back door screaming DON’T at the pool guy but was too late. The big dummy blew up the skimmer.

He owned the pool company so he made good on the replacement…yes, he OWNED the company but didn’t know pool chemistry! Oh, and he had built the pool too

Yeeesh

You think finding a pool caretaker familiar with chemistry is tough try finding one to care for tropical fish.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

Based on reviews on facebook, I've got a company coming out next Wednesday to resurface the pool replace a bunch of coping that's busted and replace a bunch of tiles. As typically happens with contractors the communication is starting off a little crappy but there are people in my neighborhood who use this company and are pleased with the results so fingers crossed.

I may post the after picture. The before picture is pretty embarrassing.

 

[Barrett50]

Keep an eye on the job. Check for cracks that are not ground before they start new plaster. Don't let them stop once they start, or you may get two different colors.

Mosaics make all the difference in a boring white pool, and a custom upscale job. Not too pricey, get some turtles, clownfish, angel fish, or go big and get a mermaid.

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[SixPapaCharlie]

I'm definitely looking into the mosaics. This company offers white, 40% blue quartz, and pebble. I went with the 40% blue quartz.

It's cheaper than the pebble and I like the way it looks.

But yeah, definitely trying to find a place me and my wife agree on some mosaics

 

[Lindberg]

I'm definitely looking into the mosaics. This company offers white, 40% blue quartz, and pebble. I went with the 40% blue quartz.

It's cheaper than the pebble and I like the way it looks.

But yeah, definitely trying to find a place me and my wife agree on some mosaics

I definitely like to see before and after and hear your review, since I may be in the market soon.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

I definitely like to see before and after and hear your review, since I may be in the market soon.

I will post pics.

This is weird. A neighbor used this company I am using. His pool looks amazing.
I looked up the company and saw some negative reviews so I had mixed feelings so I went on craigslist, marketplace, and all the local places on google.
Seems everyone has some good and some bad reviews (Nature of contract work)

So what I did was found the worst review on the company I am now using and tracked down the reviewer (I'm creepy. I know).
I found the guy on facebook and scrolled through his timeline and there were these posts where he was absolutely raving about how awesome this pool company was. WTH??

Continuing to be creepy, I messaged him and said "Hey I saw you used this company for your pool build and left a scathing review. I have contacted them and am curious what was so bad."

He goes: "No, they were great the communication was just a little off in the beginning and they weren't responsive but that was partially my fault. He did a great job and we are pleased with the result."
I saw his photos and the pool looks amazing. Him not going back to change his review is crazy. My neighbor's pool looks fantastic.

This is who I am using: https://www.vegapools.com/our-work

We will see how it goes.

 

[GaryM]

I'm definitely looking into the mosaics. This company offers white, 40% blue quartz, and pebble. I went with the 40% blue quartz.

It's cheaper than the pebble and I like the way it looks.

But yeah, definitely trying to find a place me and my wife agree on some mosaics

Peter Benchley had a version of the Jaws movie poster done on the bottom of his pool in Princeton. I never got to see it, but we were both members of the Princeton Scuba Club for a number of years. Googling around, I see a number of other people have done similar things over the years, this being one example.

So do that!

 

[Matthew]

You’re going to need a bigger pool.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

Allright. All done.
FIRST. Once I decided to get this done, I stopped running the equipment. Not going to clean the pool / water if I am dumping So it got nasty.

But here are the before and after.










Plaster was worn, chipping, discolored and going on 22 years old.
They came out and chipped away the worst portions of it, grinded bad sections down, washed it, added a bonding agent, and applied the new plaster.
They also replaced a bunch of cracked tiles and some of the coping that was really badly cracked.













My thoughts. This might sort of be the MAACO of pool resurfacing. They didn't grind 100% of it down to the cement, just the really rough parts.
I only had them replace the coping that was badly cracked form the last freeze and I didn't have them replace all of the tiles so there is some subtle variation you can only see if you are looking for it.
I needed it to be functional for my son's graduation party this month. After pool season, I need to have the rest of the coping replaced so it matches and the mastic should also be replaced as it is getting a little old.
The contractor said this plaster should be good for around 15 years. I really like the way it turned out.

I think it cost around $12k and I am sure my water bill will be another grand (guessing. no idea). It took 32 hours with the hose on full to fill it.
I have to add about 400 lbs of salt and 10 gallons of acid, let it run 24/7 for about 10 days then be back to just maintaining it and cussing at it the way God intended.

Glad to be done with this. It's long over due.

Oh all in all, it was 2 days of prep and 1 day for the plaster. They knocked this out FAST!

 

[Matthew]

That looks awesome!

You need a zip line.