I have a pool built many years ago. In the mid-2000s, I believe they applied a resurfacing/coating from Aqua Creations in Ventura: http://www.aquacreations.com/services1.htm
This coating is starting to have increasing problems. When I bought the house, the coating was beginning to show many small bubbles (0.5"-1"). In the subsequent years, the bubbles have continued to form, and some of the bubbles have cracked open or cracked off to reveal the underlying material. These cracks and broken bubbles have become a ubiquitous hiding ground for algae. Either the bubble area itself will gather algae, or the area around the exposed surface will rise up a little and algae will grow underneath the coating layer. When this happens, I can easily pull and remove the affected area of coating with my nail to reveal a small area of algae. The material removed is about 0.5mm thick, and is brittle.
Is the flaking off of the coating a problem? When should I consider a replacement of the coating/surface, and what would that entail? Other than the algae breeding ground, are there other problems with this situation I should know about? Given the drought conditions in Southern California, I'm reticent to drain the pool for a full resurfacing. Can we just let the coating continue to flake off, or do I need to take action to protect the underlying material? If there are problems with the underlying material (concrete/plaster, I think), that may be revealed by the continued flaking of the coating, what should I look for to detect these problems?
The waterline tiles in this pool are also starting to fail, with the tile mortar recessed significantly between each tile, and some tiles completely fallen off, so at some point, I'll probably need to do a complete overhaul. I'd like to delay that if possible, since we're not seeing any problems that aren't aesthetic right now. However, I strongly believe in preventing small problems becoming big ones, so I'm willing to do a larger job now, if that's what y'all recommend.
I look forward to the insight of the TFP mindtrust.
This coating is starting to have increasing problems. When I bought the house, the coating was beginning to show many small bubbles (0.5"-1"). In the subsequent years, the bubbles have continued to form, and some of the bubbles have cracked open or cracked off to reveal the underlying material. These cracks and broken bubbles have become a ubiquitous hiding ground for algae. Either the bubble area itself will gather algae, or the area around the exposed surface will rise up a little and algae will grow underneath the coating layer. When this happens, I can easily pull and remove the affected area of coating with my nail to reveal a small area of algae. The material removed is about 0.5mm thick, and is brittle.
Is the flaking off of the coating a problem? When should I consider a replacement of the coating/surface, and what would that entail? Other than the algae breeding ground, are there other problems with this situation I should know about? Given the drought conditions in Southern California, I'm reticent to drain the pool for a full resurfacing. Can we just let the coating continue to flake off, or do I need to take action to protect the underlying material? If there are problems with the underlying material (concrete/plaster, I think), that may be revealed by the continued flaking of the coating, what should I look for to detect these problems?
The waterline tiles in this pool are also starting to fail, with the tile mortar recessed significantly between each tile, and some tiles completely fallen off, so at some point, I'll probably need to do a complete overhaul. I'd like to delay that if possible, since we're not seeing any problems that aren't aesthetic right now. However, I strongly believe in preventing small problems becoming big ones, so I'm willing to do a larger job now, if that's what y'all recommend.
I look forward to the insight of the TFP mindtrust.