I'm still working on the project, but it should be done tomorrow. All that's left is about half of the bottom floor.
First let me say that I have been doing this myself for the most part, and my daughter started helping the other day keeping the tools clean. But is definitely is not optimal to run a one man show, and I was warned about this. You really need three people - one to apply the plaster with a roller, one to smooth with the squeegie (magic trowel) as soon as it is applied and one to mix batches as needed. Its probably good for the mixer and applier to switch periodically, because applying the material is tedious. Because its just me, and because it gets too hot in Texas after 10 AM, the most I applied on one day was 3 bags (about 400 sq. feet).
The people at Sider-Crete couldn't be nicer or more helpful. That being said, its probably not the product for everyone. I consider myself fairly handy, although maybe not so much at applying plaster at this scale. I would consider my job just acceptable. Its not the fault of the product, but the goal was to save money and I didn't want to pay two people to help. I don't really know what the cost would be with additional labor - it probably would be about 20 man-hours for my 800 sq. ft. pool.
The good things:
1) My pool is plastered for a total cost of about $1500 - 1600. I'm not counting the costs of things that I'll be using again (like the drill for mixing), but I am counting rental of a power washer and pump for two days, cleaning chemicals, rollers, tape, buckets, sponges. The plaster cost around $1200 delivered.
2) It looks pretty good, not great. I'll have a better idea in about 3 days when it is filled up.
3) The plaster lasts 7 - 10 years "with proper maintenance" (keeping chemicals in check).
4) I got the best exercise of my last 5 years.
The bad things:
1) It is not easy to apply - it takes a lot of strength and stamina, and it gets all over everything. I'll be cleaning plaster off tile and bricks for some time.
2) Application for one person is very time challenging - you have about 30 minutes to apply a five gallon bucket. Things like stairs and corners slow you down considerably.
3) Its very easy to miss spots and if you make a mistake, it can be hard to correct once the plaster has started to set.
I'm glad it did it, but I can't imagine that I'll be giving it another try when I'm 66. If you have access to free labor, that would be ideal.