Refinishing / Restoring a Fiberglass Pool Slide

[gkruske]

As promised....drilled 16 holes in concrete yesterday, and called it good. Looks good, it's a hit with the kids, and no one has broken their face yet.

You can see what I started with. 36 years of dirt, oxidization, and no gel coat. It had seen better days.

[attachment=2:3ar5tu9k]SANY0181.jpg[/attachment:3ar5tu9k]

Powerwashed it like crazy, and ended with a ton of dirt and white, oxidized water coming off. Left it pretty clean, but was chalked badly.

[attachment=1:3ar5tu9k]SANY0183.jpg[/attachment:3ar5tu9k]

The dealer of the gel coat didn't give too many details for prep work, so I had to talk to him multiple times. What should have been done was to swab it down in kerosene first....any of the 'enes' is a slow-evaporating solvent that will degrease just about anything. I used acetone, and all that did was clean the surface and smear the contaminants around. First coat went on with a high-density foam roller, but the leftover contaminants made the gel coat separate in spots. Think oil and water.

Ended up putting on 4 coats, as I had plenty of material. Now, it didn't go on glass-smooth as he led me to believe. This stuff is primarily used on heavily-sanded objects, like boat hulls. I sanded the slide down with 300 grit in between coats, but still wound up with a bit of orange peel. A lot of it sanded down, but again, not perfect. I wasn't shooting for perfection....just a free, usable slide.

Let the 4th coat cure, and threw a coat of wax on it. Put it all back together, and it's FAST.

 

[gkruske]

Re: Refinishing / Restoring a Fiberglass Pool Slide - Finish

Pictures of the slide in action.

[attachment=1:1doqm5jc]SANY0194.jpg[/attachment:1doqm5jc]

[attachment=0:1doqm5jc]SANY0195.jpg[/attachment:1doqm5jc]

 

[frozengator]

gkruske, what is the brand of the basket ball goal??

 

[gkruske]

Garage sale item. I build the frame for it out of PVC.

 

[frozengator]

Garage sale item. I build the frame for it out of PVC.

Lol I seen that. Trying to figure out the backboard brand. I like the counter weights in the back.

 

[gkruske]

Huffy Pool Shark. I just bought the backboard. Frame and hoop were both gone. Put on a regular hoop, built the frame, and replaced the glass with Lexan after someone slam dunked.

 

[yngbld5]

I'm refinishing a 1960's AquaSlide which looks exactly like the one in your photos. The surface had worn over the past 50 years and the fiberglass was becoming exposed (slivers upon pool entry are no fun).

After thoroughly sanding the surface I've applied 3M polyester resin (multiple coats, sanding inbetween each one) and then applied color gel coat which I purchased from a company called Fibre Glast. It has been a lot more work than planned, partly because the resin drys and hardens very quickly, so working time is short and must be worked in sections. Lots of sanding inbetween also, but the results are what I hoped for.

 

[poolslideblue]

Would the Rustoleum Marine Topside paint be a good (and cheap) alernative to 2-part epoxy type paints?

 

[gkruske]

Would the Rustoleum Marine Topside paint be a good (and cheap) alernative to 2-part epoxy type paints?

I actually did a customer service chat of sorts with a boat paint supplier. From what we discussed, boat paint does a pretty good job, but fades pretty fast unless wax is put on periodically. Won't last as long, and doesn't give as smooth a finish as new a gel coat would.

The epoxy setup I put on cost me about 50 bucks in materials. But, as mentioned above, a lot of prep is the key. Pressure washing, swabbing the thing down with kerosene, sanding, all that stuff.

 

[Sweetwater]

I've an older AquaSlide & Dive slide. For what it's worth, I painted it a couple of years ago after going through the tedious cleaning and waxing routine for years. Believe it or not, I just used Rust-O-Leum high gloss white paint out of the can. Painted it with a brush. It layed down perfectly - no brush marks. Been perfect, high gloss, for two years. Just cleaned it up today from the winter - easy clean up. Looks good as new.
Bob

 

[vilaubi57]

What was the process for prep? sand paper grit etc?

Thanks

 

[pinnell]

does any one have the pole lengths needed to rebuild this slide

 

[jrross]

does any one have the pole lengths needed to rebuild this slide

Not to offend, but couldn't you just stand it up and use a tape to see how long the legs need to be to support it?

 

[bibeaud]

Huffy Pool Shark. I just bought the backboard. Frame and hoop were both gone. Put on a regular hoop, built the frame, and replaced the glass with Lexan after someone slam dunked.

Gkruske,
I would love the plans for making a similar PVC frame for a basketball backboard and hoop. I would try to find a stainless rim so it doesn't rust and would use stainless bolts/nuts as required. The PVC will not rust. Just need to have enough counterweights. Did you use sand or water as a weight. My email is b i b e a u at ptd.net.


Thanks!
David
Sent from my iPad Mini using Tapatalk HD

 

[BruceC]

Great thread...I am also in the process of restoring an Aquaslide N' ride Queen slide. I had a question about the legs, the slide I purchased looks like the legs were just Schedule 80 electrical PVC, is that correct?

 

[ml504]

Bringing up an old thread to see how the differents paints that were used are now holding up?

 

[waltiti]

Hi, where you find this picture, how this ladder hold the slide an don't open like a " legs split ", looks really nice but I don't see any security in this.... have an idea?????

 

[hwbarber]

So I just got the same pool deck as you all, any advice for the parts would be greatly appreciated, all I have right now is the deck. Cant beat the price either....free. Just gonna give it a new finish its in great shape.

 

[chris86]

Anyone know where I can get legs for an old Aqua slide Queen or SR Smith Frontier? Or even better yet, what a good substitute would be that I could pick up at a Home Depot or Lowes?

 

[Dante1]

Slide looks awesome.
I watched the videos on Interlux's website and it show how to use a roller and a brush. How did you roll or brush the inner part of the slide considering it's almost 90 degrees?