Dallas TX Remodel - Plaster and Tile

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RickAstley

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Sep 29, 2016
44
Dallas, TX
My first house turned rental has a pool with a small spa. It's not overly big probably 10-12k gallons, but it's in rough shape. Some plaster that was cracking and sealed across the bottom (pre 2016) and now the plaster on the steps and benches of the pool/spa are all cracking pretty badly. The tile is falling off too. I got a quote from a company that does great work from what I can see, and they take care of the pool weekly for us - but it seems quite steep. Given it's a rental, I'm not really looking for luxurious, I'm just looking for something that looks nice and will last as long as could be reasonably expected.

The quote I got broke down like this:
~$10K - Pool plaster: White Plaster (prep, material, labor, 5 days aftercare for pool/spa/benches)
~$5K - tile demo, material, install

They also quoted:
~$2.8K - Coping repair (doesn't really seem like this needs to be done to me)
~$1.4K - Mastic

So just shy of $20K pre-tax for a small pool.. Is this within the realm of what things cost, or is this a "no thank you price" that I should be getting 400 different quotes on?
 
RickAstley said:
My first house turned rental has a pool with a small spa. It's not overly big probably 10-12k gallons, but it's in rough shape. Some plaster that was cracking and sealed across the bottom (pre 2016) and now the plaster on the steps and benches of the pool/spa are all cracking pretty badly. The tile is falling off too. I got a quote from a company that does great work from what I can see, and they take care of the pool weekly for us - but it seems quite steep. Given it's a rental, I'm not really looking for luxurious, I'm just looking for something that looks nice and will last as long as could be reasonably expected.

The quote I got broke down like this:
~$10K - Pool plaster: White Plaster (prep, material, labor, 5 days aftercare for pool/spa/benches)
~$5K - tile demo, material, install

They also quoted:
~$2.8K - Coping repair (doesn't really seem like this needs to be done to me)
~$1.4K - Mastic

So just shy of $20K pre-tax for a small pool.. Is this within the realm of what things cost, or is this a "no thank you price" that I should be getting 400 different quotes on?
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That’s a really reasonable price up here, just make sure it includes chipping out all the old plaster (probably not included though)
 
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It is always best to have 2-3 quotes to compare and weed out the "no thank you price".
Each market is different. $10k for replaster for 12k gal pool sounds reasonable
Request that the old plaster be completely chipped out. That may add another $1 or $2k.
Mastic is important as that is the expansion joint and if you are removing coping or if it is just old, best to get it done.
Also the $5k for tiles may be reasonable as well. It is labor intensive to remove all the tiles.
 
Can you provide more information in regards to the plaster “cracking very badly” or is it delaminating.
Has the plaster been exposed to the air for a long period of time?
Once the plaster is removed it may expose underlying reasons for the seperations in the finish.
 
The smaller circles here have generally been here since we’ve owned the pool. They have potentially gotten slightly smaller as the years have gone on. This picture is what my renters sent today. We had a pool company install an auto water fill in the pool on March 1. I haven’t been able to go over to the house because I’ve been out of town but the renters also sent me this other picture of the water level way down and an unfinished pipe at the other end of the pool. The pool company said it needed to be cut back and sealed. I’m under the impression the water level has been like this for 2 weeks and has likely had some role in the major devastation to this step.
 

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Here are some other pictures. The dirty bench seat has been underwater and shows what the plaster has looked like for several years. An updated picture of the step that has been out of water for 2 weeks and then the clean pool shows some of the plaster on the floor that has been sealed at some point in the past
 

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RickAstley said:
~$10K - Pool plaster: White Plaster (prep, material, labor, 5 days aftercare for pool/spa/benches)
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Never accept a vague term like "Prep".

What does that mean exactly?

I would want to remove all old plaster down to gunite.

Do you want plain white marble plaster or do you want a quartz or maybe pebble etc?

What is the warranty?
 
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Good to know from you all on what exactly I need to be asking for with prep and demo. As for material, with it being a rental I’m going more for “longevity bang for your buck” more than anything fashionable or luxurious. So basic white is probably that? I have no idea
 
The basic plaster is a marble (calcium carbonate) aggregate.

It can last 20 years, or more, with proper maintenance.

You can go with a quartz aggregate, which is basically sand that is washed and graded and maybe colored.

Pebble is basically smooth(ish) quartz rocks for aggregate.

The pebble varies in size and smoothness.

The cement is the same in each case, and the cement is what really determines the longevity of the plaster.

Quartz aggregate might have a little better life, but not as much as people claim.
 
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spoke to the company again this morning. They said they would work with me on price since some of the damage was from it being exposed to air. That said, the plaster would be chipped out where damaged/airbubbles and then a scratch coat applied before replastering the rest. Seems like some of the commentary here is that's not a great idea and should go all the way down to the gunnite? What's wrong with the scratch coat approach?
 
The plaster is already delaminating.

Some parts might seem solid now, but they will probably delaminate sooner than later.

I would want some core samples of the plaster to see how many layers there are and what condition each layer is in.
 
RickAstley said:
spoke to the company again this morning. They said they would work with me on price since some of the damage was from it being exposed to air. That said, the plaster would be chipped out where damaged/airbubbles and then a scratch coat applied before replastering the rest. Seems like some of the commentary here is that's not a great idea and should go all the way down to the gunnite? What's wrong with the scratch coat approach?
Click to expand...
With plaster that bad, draining the water out to chip the loose stuff away will probably cause most of the rest to start delaminating right away or soon after.
 
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You need a full chip out on that pool from the look of it.

It is the difference between problems in 5-10 years or the finish lasting 15 - 25 years if it is well maintained.
 
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