I have a ~25 year old ~15,000 gallon fiberglass pool and am replacing the pool decking and underlying concrete this fall. The coping is concrete and and I am wondering if we should replace this too? At the end of last season it was in pretty good condition overall with 1 noticeable hairline crack. Other than that it probably could be resealed in the joints in some spots. I asked our pool guy and he said if we don’t do the decking + the coping at the same time we will regret it. We could definitely get more life out of the coping, but I don’t want to deal with any headaches down the road. Any insight would be appreciated!
Coping Replacement?
- Thread starter S.sidlosky
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,746
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Welcome to TFP.
Your fiberglass pool “coping” is the 3’ concrete collar that holds your pool into the ground.
Does your pool guy have experience replacing the concrete collar on a fiberglass pool? I think it can be easy damaging the edges of pool when removing the collar.
@Texas Splash may have thoughts.
Your fiberglass pool “coping” is the 3’ concrete collar that holds your pool into the ground.
Does your pool guy have experience replacing the concrete collar on a fiberglass pool? I think it can be easy damaging the edges of pool when removing the collar.
@Texas Splash may have thoughts.
Hi, thank you! This forum has been super helpful to me over the past couple years!
I believe he has done replacements before. He’s worked on pools for 20 years and now has his own business doing installs and remodels. He did explain to me in depth how the collar/coping (I actually think he called it an apron) is screwed into a fiberglass lip and that one needs to be very careful removing what’s existing otherwise the fiberglass could crack… that comment alone made me paranoid but he swore it wouldn’t get messed up. With that said, I think he has enough experience to do the job based on his explanation and assurance, but I also could envision it being extremely risky.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,844
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
If he's going to give you a package deal, I would let him do it. I suspect that if he only did the decking, a couple years from now you would look back at a pristine decking next to a weather coping lip, possibly shifting or cracking more, and kick yourself. 
Material wise it's not much more, but technically requires a bit of careful workmanship. Sounds like this guys is experienced and willing to take it on, so I'd let him.
Material wise it's not much more, but technically requires a bit of careful workmanship. Sounds like this guys is experienced and willing to take it on, so I'd let him.
Awesome, appreciate the input!If he's going to give you a package deal, I would let him do it. I suspect that if he only did the decking, a couple years from now you would look back at a pristine decking next to a weather coping lip, possibly shifting or cracking more, and kick yourself.
