PLEASE HELP: pool resurfacing issues

[aherber08]

Hi Everyone,

I've been trying to find some info on here, but I haven't found what I believe is a similar situation. So I'm hoping you guys can help me figure out what to do with my pool. It's a 18 x 38 free form/kidney bean shape, ~25,000 gal. I don't know the history of the pool, as I've only owned the house for 2 yrs. I do know that it was built in the late 1970's, has fiberglass wall panels, about four ft tall, and that the bottom is concrete. The fiberglass is blistering in lots of places, which I was planning on scraping and patching with a 2-part fiberglass repair kit that claims to be for use in pools and is paintable.

I don't have big money to spend, and I was looking at using olympic's zeron epoxy paint, as it was the only option I could do myself, and from what I read, it was compatible with the fiberglass. I didn't believe that there was plaster under the paint (on the concrete) However, the further I dig into this, the more questions I have.

#1 question: From the picture(s) (attached), would you say that the white layer between the blue paint and the concrete is plaster? It seems thin for plaster, but thick for paint. Any way I can chemically test to see if it's plaster?
[attachment=2:1d9hoj17]pool1.png[/attachment:1d9hoj17]
When I started pressure washing the pool, the white paint on top seemed to come off pretty easily. The blue paint underneath doesn't come off as easily, and the pressure washer tends to cut down to the concrete by the time the blue comes off. I used the Kelly website bulletins to test a piece of the blue paint in some xylol, and it appears to be chlorinated rubber paint. They do offer a primer to convert existing chlorinated rubber to epoxy. But I'm leery of painting over the blue, since you can see the white underneath in so many places.
[attachment=1:1d9hoj17]pool2.png[/attachment:1d9hoj17]
[attachment=0:1d9hoj17]pool3.png[/attachment:1d9hoj17]

#2 question: What the heck do I do now?

I'm not even sure what else to add right now, but I can add more as your questions (and hopefully ideas) come up. Thanks in advance for all your help. I really enjoy reading and learning from others on this great forum!

 

[JasonLion]

If you put a drop of muriatic acid on plaster it will fizz.

Paint is just a stop gap, it won't last long enough to be worth the cost.

 

[aherber08]

Thanks JasonLion,
I realize that the paint is not a real long term solution. I'm now also wondering what it would take (or if it's possible) to convert the pool to a vinyl liner. I see several pool catalogs that advertise that they will custom make any shape vinyl liner. Haven't looked into the cost of them yet. I stayed away from this initially because of the strange shape/profile of the pool. Anybody have thoughts on this idea too?

 

[aherber08]

So after doing some research, I think I'm going to move forward with my experiment of converting my existing hybrid concrete/fiberglass pool to a vinyl liner. The price looks to be roughly the same as painting would have been. My plan is this:
1. Install bead receiver on the wall, right below the coping, going through the fiberglass panel and into the concrete decking behind it.
2. Carefully measuring for the liner. After searching around, I've found a company whose custom measuring form satisfies my requirements for enough detail and different measurements to take. It's from royalswimmingpools.com
3. Convert my return fittings to work with a liner. The concrete deck has already been cut in these areas due to an earlier repair (before I bought the place), so I don't think it will be too bad to dig down there and replace them with the vinyl type.
4. Install 1/8" wall foam on walls (and on bottom???, since it's concrete)
5. Install new liner with a small army of friends and family who have been promised free beer :lol:

Which leads to my questions:
1. Anybody have good or bad experiences with royalswimmingpools.com?
2. From what I've gathered, there are plastic and aluminum bead receivers...would you all recommend the aluminum?
3. Should I go with a 20 or 28 mil liner?
4. Is there a reason I shouldn't install the 1/8 foam on the concrete bottom of the pool?

In case you were wondering why I'm looking at this route, the gelcoat on the fiberglass was (IMHO) too far gone (thin, blistering) to mess with repainting. So I would need professional fiberglass work, and gunite plastering, both of which are out of my budget.

I've learned so much from you all already, hoping you can offer feedback/constructive criticism!

 

[harleysilo]

So after doing some research, I think I'm going to move forward with my experiment of converting my existing hybrid concrete/fiberglass pool to a vinyl liner. The price looks to be roughly the same as painting would have been. My plan is this:
1. Install bead receiver on the wall, right below the coping, going through the fiberglass panel and into the concrete decking behind it.
2. Carefully measuring for the liner. After searching around, I've found a company whose custom measuring form satisfies my requirements for enough detail and different measurements to take. It's from royalswimmingpools.com
3. Convert my return fittings to work with a liner. The concrete deck has already been cut in these areas due to an earlier repair (before I bought the place), so I don't think it will be too bad to dig down there and replace them with the vinyl type.
4. Install 1/8" wall foam on walls (and on bottom???, since it's concrete)
5. Install new liner with a small army of friends and family who have been promised free beer :lol:

Which leads to my questions:
1. Anybody have good or bad experiences with royalswimmingpools.com?
2. From what I've gathered, there are plastic and aluminum bead receivers...would you all recommend the aluminum?
3. Should I go with a 20 or 28 mil liner?
4. Is there a reason I shouldn't install the 1/8 foam on the concrete bottom of the pool?

In case you were wondering why I'm looking at this route, the gelcoat on the fiberglass was (IMHO) too far gone (thin, blistering) to mess with repainting. So I would need professional fiberglass work, and gunite plastering, both of which are out of my budget.

I've learned so much from you all already, hoping you can offer feedback/constructive criticism!

My liner pool doesn't have foam on the bottom. It was explained to me like this, take a piece of paper place it on a table and try to punch a hole through it with a sharp pencil. Now take the same piece of paper, lay it on a thin piece of foam (foam you use on sides of pool) on the same table and try again. I do however have foam on my steps and i like it very much.

My liner is made from two different types of material, the majority is just normal liner, but on the steps and ledges I have this tread-tex liner material. I REALLY like it, and if i could do it all over again i would have that material throughout the floor of the pool. My pool is shallow and I can touch everywhere, we play volleyball and just the tiny bit of traction this stuff adds would have been nice.

If you are a perfectionist, I would suggest going over your pool bottom at night with a flashlight, holding the light down near the pool and shining it across the various surfaces. This will show you all the imperfections (so you can fix them). Now the only time you'll see them when the pool is full of water is at night with the pool lights on. The pool guys walked on my bottom and at night you can see the footprints..... :grrrr:

FYI my liner took a couple days to "seat", meaning after a few days a few wrinkles in the steps just went away.

I like having a liner pool, easy on the feet and I don't brush cause there is nothing there to brush off.

 

[aherber08]

Thanks for the info on the foam. That makes sense really. Anybody else have thoughts on my other questions/concerns mentioned above?