Newbie Question About Re-Painting Rocks... Help!

[marcosffa]

I bought a foreclosure with a ridiculously nice pool, it is a $130k pool (my previous home was worth about that alone). I never owned a pool before but I figured it would be a shame not to renovate such a pool. It had some neglect because the house had been abandoned for some time. The pool had been full of algae without running for probably six months to a year, the pumps were stolen, along with the saltwater system and heater, the rocks had serious cracks, etc. etc.

I got quoted several quotes from different companies and picked one.

The company I picked said they could not stain the rock because the previous owner had sealed the rock and he described it as a bad thing. He says to re-paint the rock, they have to paint it over with a white resin and "paint" the rock versus staining it.

However, I read some forums posts and it seems everyone is recommending to seal their rock after staining - so is sealing bad? The way the pool company described it to me, if you seal the rock, then you make it impossible to restain the rock later. He says that painting it is fine, that it will need repainting years from now, but that the same goes with staining.

I guess I just wanted to get educated more about this and get some feedback on here. Thanks for the help!

 

[harleysilo]

Can you post some good pics of the rock(s) in question? Are you just wanting them to look different then they do know, or has the original stain faded or something? Do you know what material they are made out of?

 

[marcosffa]

You know what... the stain didn't look that bad to me! I know nothing about pools, never even owned one, got this monster of a pool, and wanted it to work. I called four different companies and they all sold me on the idea that the rocks needed to be re-stained / painted.

There were areas that were faded but I thought it looked good. The white areas are the resin they are already coating the rock with for the paint job.

Anyhow, I just moved in and was super excited about making the pool look "like new" so it wasn't too hard to sell me on this. But now, a couple of months later, I'm concerned that there is complications. The company I selected had nothing but good reviews online and the people seemed the best upon meeting them, so I will give the benefit of the doubt that it has taken this long because of rain, etc.

But I'm concerned about this issue of painting versus staining and want to know if I should be concerned.

And yes, I super regret the decision to do anything to these rocks!!! Hopefully when the job is done I'll be happy - but right now I'm super stressed out about this.

 

[marcosffa]

Oh and I don't know what material they are made from, totally ignorant about it.

 

[marcosffa]

Another thing, I asked them to duplicate this color I attached... is that possible via paint or is this a look that can only be done via staining?

Forgive me if I sound stupid, I am not a handy person whatsoever I guess my real concern is what is the pros and cons of staining vs painting? Like what is the difference?

When somebody tries to do one thing and has to fall back on another... that concerns me. They tried staining first and fell back on painting and I just want to make sure that isn't a big deal, thank you. I really appreciate the help.

 

[marcosffa]

Also I'm in Miami where the water table is really high and my pool has been empty for about two months... the company says not to worry... should I? What should I be looking out for to make sure the pool isn't suffering damage as a result of being emptied?

 

[marcosffa]

Anybody?

 

[marcosffa]

???

 

[jblizzle]

I think all of those rocks are just fiberglass. I have a much much smaller one at my last pool. It was just painted with various colors to look natural. Looks fine from a distance, but up close you can kind of see the different paints that have been sprayed on. I am not sure how there were stained to start with. I understand you are looking for reassurance, but this is kind of a rare situation I think.

I have a real rock water fall that is UGLY and it leaks water all over the place. Now you got me thinking that maybe I could get it covered with the resin to seal it and then have it painted to something that looks better.

 

[marcosffa]

Thanks for the reply. They are almost done and they weren't able to get even close with matching what I wanted. I'm super ******. What are you going to do...

I'll give this a last crack...

Anybody know the pros/cons of staining versus painting?

 

[techguy]

I don't know but is you go to a "Statuary" shop where they manufacture concrete and fiberglass fountains, rocks, statues... you might find someone with a ton of knowledge to share. You may even find someone (an artist?) that is willing to do it for you. I would assume the guys that did your are the same guys that installed it and "attempted" to do what you asked. I could be wrong.