We own a Frankenstein pool (read on, you'll see). Finally coming out of the woodwork here and weaning off of Leslie's. Owned same pool since 1999, generally no issues beyond occasional blooms due to inattention. Pool needs re plastered, no shame there, it was built in 1984. However, about 10 yrs ago, we added a large concrete pad and shed that abuts the lanai and this changed the water drainage off the roof to the extent the new pad started sinking (+/-2"). Yes we are on just enough of an elevation/hill (in Florida no less!) to make the runoff cause serious erosion. Noticed this about 5 yrs ago, (it did not appear overnight) and installed a low retaining wall. Still had issues, until noticing that the downspout drain was causing erosion under the pad itself, which is right next to the deep end wall of the pool. (Don;t ask how we missed that). Pool noticeably settled +/- 1" in one corner of deep end and some cracking but very little leaking appeared. Then in 2015 spring, the leak got worse and we were forced to take action. Total visible cracks in lanai were about 30' over a number of locations.
Long story short, does one spend thousands to replaster the pool (along with the updating the deck and a 15 x 30 lanai, and a cage..all of which are due for an update) when the pool may be structurally compromised? No. At least not right away. Understand, no quarrels regarding the need to do the updates, it is certainly time, just hate to do so and have the pool keep sinking and ruin the shell and plaster.
After a disappointing half dozen estimates from various pool companies (disappointing in that far too many companies disregarded the cracks altogether and just wanted the quick $6000 to re-plaster. Scary.) We decided to go ahead and mud-jack the pad (actually ended up using a poly level product but thats another story, albeit one with a happy ending) and the deep end of the pool to fill any voids from water erosion. After hopefully stabilizing the area around the pool and eliminating the root cause, we set off on an adventure last May. (obviously corrected the downspout as well) After a long month of chipping delaminated marcite and cleaning out cracks, we used an inject-able crack sealer and carbon fiber staples to stabilize the shell, which was otherwise in pretty good shape. Then we painted using a two part epoxy.
The thinking goes like this. The paint cost and staples cost about $2000. Yours truly did the work because he wanted it done right. We are a year after the project and happy to report no issues with the structure, leaks or paint peeling. Looks good, just lost a touch of color but we expected that. We expect the paint to fail or at leat not last more than a few years...we have harsh sun and high temps here, but if it fails in the next year or so or longer, and the structure seem sound, we will feel much better re-plastering it.
Here is the somewhat annoying part. We cannot seem to keep the pool balanced chemically. Both the paint company and pool store say the paint ought not impact the chemistry at all. I find this difficult to believe. I actually came here to this site initially to investigate painting pools and any impacts that may have (and have not seen anything on it but I may have missed something) but while here, I took note of the process you espouse. We expected to go broke buying chemicals when we first refilled the pool last year, but we simply cannot keep the algae down. And we are tired of the pool shop tango with algecides etc. Again, we are long time owners, and are fairly used to keeping the pool in good shape. So here we are. We are getting our feet wet with he K - 2006. No issues using it. We do have 100+ CYA (no doubt from the shock the store kept giving us) so we are diluting without overworking the well, and inthe meantime keeping our FC at recommended levels for that CYA.
Anyway thats enough, I am now introduced, and the photos will explain the Frankenstein pool name my sister gave my pool, but the repairs and paint is not something people see every day, so I thought it might be helpful to others, and also to us to put it up here.
Long story short, does one spend thousands to replaster the pool (along with the updating the deck and a 15 x 30 lanai, and a cage..all of which are due for an update) when the pool may be structurally compromised? No. At least not right away. Understand, no quarrels regarding the need to do the updates, it is certainly time, just hate to do so and have the pool keep sinking and ruin the shell and plaster.
After a disappointing half dozen estimates from various pool companies (disappointing in that far too many companies disregarded the cracks altogether and just wanted the quick $6000 to re-plaster. Scary.) We decided to go ahead and mud-jack the pad (actually ended up using a poly level product but thats another story, albeit one with a happy ending) and the deep end of the pool to fill any voids from water erosion. After hopefully stabilizing the area around the pool and eliminating the root cause, we set off on an adventure last May. (obviously corrected the downspout as well) After a long month of chipping delaminated marcite and cleaning out cracks, we used an inject-able crack sealer and carbon fiber staples to stabilize the shell, which was otherwise in pretty good shape. Then we painted using a two part epoxy.
The thinking goes like this. The paint cost and staples cost about $2000. Yours truly did the work because he wanted it done right. We are a year after the project and happy to report no issues with the structure, leaks or paint peeling. Looks good, just lost a touch of color but we expected that. We expect the paint to fail or at leat not last more than a few years...we have harsh sun and high temps here, but if it fails in the next year or so or longer, and the structure seem sound, we will feel much better re-plastering it.
Here is the somewhat annoying part. We cannot seem to keep the pool balanced chemically. Both the paint company and pool store say the paint ought not impact the chemistry at all. I find this difficult to believe. I actually came here to this site initially to investigate painting pools and any impacts that may have (and have not seen anything on it but I may have missed something) but while here, I took note of the process you espouse. We expected to go broke buying chemicals when we first refilled the pool last year, but we simply cannot keep the algae down. And we are tired of the pool shop tango with algecides etc. Again, we are long time owners, and are fairly used to keeping the pool in good shape. So here we are. We are getting our feet wet with he K - 2006. No issues using it. We do have 100+ CYA (no doubt from the shock the store kept giving us) so we are diluting without overworking the well, and inthe meantime keeping our FC at recommended levels for that CYA.
Anyway thats enough, I am now introduced, and the photos will explain the Frankenstein pool name my sister gave my pool, but the repairs and paint is not something people see every day, so I thought it might be helpful to others, and also to us to put it up here.
