Eco finish for fiberglass warranty repair?

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chazas

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Jun 4, 2007
259
Northern Virginia
Pool Size
12200
Surface
Fiberglass
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Hi, all. I'm starting a new thread for this. Some of you may remember my install that started out about this time last year - I have a new Barrier Reef 14x30 Outback Dundee Lounger that opened late last spring. There are some finish flaws at the bottom of the pool where either in manufacturing (more likely) or transit some of the textured coating at the bottom was scraped off in some odd serpentine shapes, which look like stains in the white finish. Though they probably bother me more than anyone else. They are not structural, just aesthetic.

Anyway, Barrier Reef is proposing to refinish the pool bottom with the ecofinish method. Since they're sending someone a several hour drive to do this they want me to agree up front that this is ok. I have asked to speak to the ecofinish installer, which they have promised (a couple of months ago) but it still hasn't happened.

I have a number of questions - if any of you have input, I'd greatly appreciate it. I will also read through all the ecofinish threads.
  • They have said the finish will not match and sent me samples to choose. I'm assuming the only way I should accept this is to insist they refinish the whole pool, a contrast between the floor and walls would not be acceptable.
  • They have confirmed that the new finish would be under the same warranty as the original. But is it going to be as durable?
  • Will ecofinish look like an afterthought that just makes things worse, aesthetically?
  • I'm worried that they'll just make a bigger mess. Would I be better off just asking Barrier Reef for some money back? If so, how much? The pool shell was about $40,000 of my contract price.
Thanks in advance for your ideas. Charlie
 
Correct Ecofinish will not match your original color. Ecofinish warranty is more left on the installer. The company will pretty well blame everything on the installer and it will most generally never be their fault. Durability is pretty good from what we have done and seen. If it is applied correctly it should not look like an afterthought.
 
I assume this is a gelcoat-on-fiberglass pool? If so, why aren't they repairing it with gelcoat?

Just an observation - pool finish warranties are worthless. Any issues are blamed on pool chemistry, improper use, manufacturer defects, installer workmanship, etc, etc.
 
sktn77a said:
I assume this is a gelcoat-on-fiberglass pool? If so, why aren't they repairing it with gelcoat?

Just an observation - pool finish warranties are worthless. Any issues are blamed on pool chemistry, improper use, manufacturer defects, installer workmanship, etc, etc.
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Correct. Who knows? And I am aware.
 
If it's just cosmetic, I'd ask for money back and put it towards some nice patio furniture. To me it's like having touch up paint done to a car. No matter how well it's done it's still not the factory finish.

I'm in the middle of purchasing a fiberglass pool myself and have already decided that if I come across any cosmetic issues I will just asking for a credit. In the end you're the only one that will ever notice it anyway.
 
That's pretty much where I was going - I don't trust that they won't do more damage than they're trying to fix. No idea how much to ask, but thinking about starting with $5000, which is the discount I'd have been willing to take if they'd offered me a "scratch and dent" up front.
 
I proposed $10,000 (25% of the shell cost and within range of a complete ecofinish refinish), they came back at $2500. I told them I'd only come down to $5000 and they didn't budge. They have offered either to refinish the whole pool or just retexture the bottom, in each case using ecofinish. I'm leaning towards the latter, as I'd prefer that the pool walls remain their lovely sparkly finish rather than the whole thing being transformed to flat finish.

Barrier Reef is scheduling a call with their ecofinish installer and I also have the number of their ecofinish customer service rep, who I will call after I speak with the installer.

I'm not really happy about this, but don't see any reasonable other path forward. Any further suggestions?
 
It couldn't hurt to ask for some references of pools where they did the same thing, specifically some pools that have a few years on them.

Maybe you could get a warranty from them, even if just on the area redone, that would cover materials and installation for a considerable amount of time?

I'm not super familiar with EcoFinish, but putting anything over a gelcoat surface is going to require a healthy amount of prep. It seems like $5000 is pretty fair considering what it will cost them to fix.
 
MAPR-Austin said:
It couldn't hurt to ask for some references of pools where they did the same thing, specifically some pools that have a few years on them.

Maybe you could get a warranty from them, even if just on the area redone, that would cover materials and installation for a considerable amount of time?

I'm not super familiar with EcoFinish, but putting anything over a gelcoat surface is going to require a healthy amount of prep. It seems like $5000 is pretty fair considering what it will cost them to fix.
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That's what I thought about the $5000 but they aren't budging. They said their warranty will cover the ecofinish just like the original pool finish. I just spoke to their ecofinish representative (called the company directly) and he says that I don't want just the bottom done, I want the whole thing - though he also says he trained Barrier Reef's applicators personally and they know what they're doing. I have little desire to do something that drastic, but it seems as if that's going to be my choice. Live with the flaws for a tiny bit of money back, or redo the entire pool finish with something that's not going to match what I signed up for. Very frustrated.
 
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chazas said:
That's what I thought about the $5000 but they aren't budging. They said their warranty will cover the ecofinish just like the original pool finish. I just spoke to their ecofinish representative (called the company directly) and he says that I don't want just the bottom done, I want the whole thing - though he also says he trained Barrier Reef's applicators personally and they know what they're doing. I have little desire to do something that drastic, but it seems as if that's going to be my choice. Live with the flaws for a tiny bit of money back, or redo the entire pool finish with something that's not going to match what I signed up for. Very frustrated.
Click to expand...

I'd be frustrated too. You just paid a healthy sum for this pool, its damaged from the start, and they are offering you a pittance or else a fix that gives you a finished product that is not what you wanted.

If you let them do the ecofinish, make sure you get a warranty in writing from them that covers materials, labor, and cost of draining/refilling the pool. I would be uneasy putting anything over a gelcoat surface without a very solid warranty in hand, a failed ecofinish surface would cost a lot to remove/replace down the road.

Can you post any pictures of the pool surface with the discoloration?
 

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Thanks. I finally talked to the Barrier Reef applicator and it was a relief - a real person who appears to know what he is talking about rather than the barely literate customer "service" person I've been emailing. He says thinks (based on the pictures) he can just do a gelcoat repair, but he will be prepared to do a full ecofinish refinish on the pool if not. I'm ok with that, still waiting on the ecofinish sample but it looks like BR has custom mixes to match their pools.

I already have it in writing that whatever repair they do the full BR finish warranty will continue to apply to the pool. I haven't discussed the cost of refilling the pool after draining it, but it had occurred to me already and I will raise it.

The loopy looking slightly darker spots are the finish flaw areas. There are a couple of others that are not as noticeable in other places. The dark linear things are seed pods from a tree, ignore.


pool finish flaw 1.jpegpool finish flaw 2.jpegpool finish flaw 4.jpegpool finish flaw 3.jpeg
 
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chazas said:
Hi, all. I'm starting a new thread for this. Some of you may remember my install that started out about this time last year - I have a new Barrier Reef 14x30 Outback Dundee Lounger that opened late last spring. There are some finish flaws at the bottom of the pool where either in manufacturing (more likely) or transit some of the textured coating at the bottom was scraped off in some odd serpentine shapes, which look like stains in the white finish. Though they probably bother me more than anyone else. They are not structural, just aesthetic.

Anyway, Barrier Reef is proposing to refinish the pool bottom with the ecofinish method. Since they're sending someone a several hour drive to do this they want me to agree up front that this is ok. I have asked to speak to the ecofinish installer, which they have promised (a couple of months ago) but it still hasn't happened.

I have a number of questions - if any of you have input, I'd greatly appreciate it. I will also read through all the ecofinish threads.
  • They have said the finish will not match and sent me samples to choose. I'm assuming the only way I should accept this is to insist they refinish the whole pool, a contrast between the floor and walls would not be acceptable.
  • They have confirmed that the new finish would be under the same warranty as the original. But is it going to be as durable?
  • Will ecofinish look like an afterthought that just makes things worse, aesthetically?
  • I'm worried that they'll just make a bigger mess. Would I be better off just asking Barrier Reef for some money back? If so, how much? The pool shell was about $40,000 of my contract price.
Thanks in advance for your ideas. Charlie
Click to expand...
I'm actually in the process of the same deal with barrier reef. I have a 2 year old coral sea lounger. I have severe calcium buildup and it won't come off. They approved a warranty resurface of the whole pool using Ecofinish. After reading stories ok this site....I am terrified to proceed! Problem is the pool was 55k and it's literally over all the surfaces and walls. Idk what to do now! Do I contact BR to tell them I am not finding many positive stories and need them to do something different? But if so what else should I request?
 
Theycallmesunny said:
I'm actually in the process of the same deal with barrier reef. I have a 2 year old coral sea lounger. I have severe calcium buildup and it won't come off. They approved a warranty resurface of the whole pool using Ecofinish. After reading stories ok this site....I am terrified to proceed! Problem is the pool was 55k and it's literally over all the surfaces and walls. Idk what to do now! Do I contact BR to tell them I am not finding many positive stories and need them to do something different? But if so what else should I request?
Click to expand...
I would let them refinish your pool. The Ecofinish guy I talked to said they know their stuff. I know their customer service people can give you great pause - the guy I dealt with for the last year was terrible. They're way way behind in scheduling these things and the whole process is super frustrating. But they hired a new person to coordinate this stuff internally, and while she's new and still figuring things out she scheduled my repair and made it happen, including a drain by my pool builder and a water truck to refill. They're also going to reimburse my chemicals for the new water.

To finish my saga - at first, the Barrier Reef repair guys were as mystified as everyone else by the stains. Initially they said it looked like there was extra "sparkle" in these areas, maybe from not mixing it well when applying the gelcoat. But eventually they decided to powerwash the floor of the pool and the stains seem to have come off. Final conclusion, some kind of gunk from the manufacturing process that didn't get removed completely before installation. Why wouldn't brush off no matter how much work was put into it? Who knows. But so far it looks a ton better (crossing fingers that when the water is fully cleared after startup it will remain so). Funny thing is, at one point they accused my pool builder of causing the issue by power washing, which he hadn't done.
 
That's what I've been asking the lady at BR coordinating things....or at least has been my point of contact, who will be doing this repair and she couldn't give me that info. She said she didn't know how the subcontractors work. She did say I would be reimbursed for our water bill if they had to use my hose for some reason.

I just don't want it to look like an after thought ya know? I'm also afraid of chemicals becoming whacky while on a vacation or something....I'm scared because I have a heater and we keep it around 87 or 88 and on hot days it doesn't come on but it can get warmer than that, that it will ruin something. I'm super nervous. But so far I'm impressed with barrier reef customer service.

Oh....what about warranty? Is something goes wrong who covers it? She said it wouldn't change my original warranty but I'm sure ecofinish has their own so if BR hired them to do this then I would assume it's BR warranty that covers the work? These are things I need to ask.
 
Correct things to ask but they do the work in-house - sending people from South Carolina, which results in a lot of scheduling issues. I was told that the finish on my pool would continue to be warrantied as per the initial pool shell warranty. Which if you review postings here often doesn’t mean that much - it’s great that they’ve stepped up to refinish your pool.

Did you have to provide the pool store chem testing records the warranty officially requires? I tried going to the pool stores around here last summer but their test NEVER were consistent with my own testing and in some cases looked downright wonky. Would be easy for them to deny a later finish claim looking at those results, which worries me.
 
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chazas said:
Correct things to ask but they do the work in-house - sending people from South Carolina, which results in a lot of scheduling issues. I was told that the finish on my pool would continue to be warrantied as per the initial pool shell warranty. Which if you review postings here often doesn’t mean that much - it’s great that they’ve stepped up to refinish your pool.

Did you have to provide the pool store chem testing records the warranty officially requires? I tried going to the pool stores around here last summer but their test NEVER were consistent with my own testing and in some cases looked downright wonky. Would be easy for them to deny a later finish claim looking at those results, which worries me.
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They did not request records but I did provide several. I switched stores to this mom and pop place and they are now out of business. They closed shop. So any of those records are gone. I also sent them photos. My pool is only 2 years old. I'm actually impressed so far with their customer service and I was very surprised it was approved.

Good to know they send people from their home base and don't rely on locals who aren't experienced with it.

Litehouse is now the ONLY pool store around. I need to find another place that can test water.
 
Theycallmesunny said:
I'm actually in the process of the same deal with barrier reef. I have a 2 year old coral sea lounger. I have severe calcium buildup and it won't come off. They approved a warranty resurface of the whole pool using Ecofinish. After reading stories ok this site....I am terrified to proceed! Problem is the pool was 55k and it's literally over all the surfaces and walls. Idk what to do now! Do I contact BR to tell them I am not finding many positive stories and need them to do something different? But if so what else should I request?
Click to expand...
What kind of finish issues result in calcium buildup? I am ignorant on this and appreciate any info you might be able to provide.
 
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