painting concrete pool

[chrisofscots]

Hi,

A year and a half ago we bought our house with a pool - Johnston County NC. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Never had a pool before this. House was built in 1974, pool sometime after that. It's concrete, 20x40 and painted. The house sat empty for two years before we bought it. There was water in the pool during that time - icky, green water!

We used it last year and used the BBB method. Water was great. My brother-in-law even said he noticed there wasn't a chlorine smell with BBB. But the paint looks like it flaked off. And it's got some stains on the bottom. (I'm not sure if this was from not being maintained for 2 years or what.) So it didn't look as nice as it should. Summer's coming and I'd like the pool to look nice.

How do you take care of the looks of a concrete pool? Was it supposed to be painted? Should I repaint the pool?

I would appreciate any suggestions. Sorry if my questions sound stupid, but I don't know what to do. Thanks!

Cheers,
Chris

20x40 concrete pool, GE commercial motor pool pump, DE filter.

 

[Casey]

Hi and welcome to TFP.

Your staining could be organic since the pool sat with green water for awhile. As far as painting, I cannot help you, but we have many memers who can and they'll be along shortly. Since the pool was already painted, it probably would be the best way to go, but again, someone will be around shortly.

There are no stupid questions so ask whatever it is you need to know and we'll get you on your way to a beautiful pool for the summer of 2010.

 

[spishex]

Welcome aboard, Chris.

Whatever you plan on doing to the surface, water balance will be key to maintaining it so be sure to equip yourself with a good test kit. That will be your most important tool moving forward. The two kits we'd recommend are the TF-100 and Taylor K-2006.

As for the pool's surface, you could either repaint it or plaster it. The plaster will last a lot longer and is "nicer" surface generally speaking, but is the more expensive way to go and you'd need to have it professionally done. A pool of your size in our area will probably get estimates between $10-15,000 for a basic plastering job.

Painting is a good option if you're considering a DIY job. You'd need to know what type of paint is already on the pool so you know what type of primer/paint to put over it, but once you've got the paint selected the process is fairly straightforward. Prep work is key. You'll need to remove all loose paint and concrete, make any necessary patches, clean the surface three times (TSP, Acid, TSP again) and start rolling. You can get 2-5 years out a really well done and well maintained paint job, about 10 from plaster.

Some pools are painted form the get go, some are painted over plaster as a cost-saving measure.

Again welcome (and welcome to NC is you've moved from afar)!

Tim