Pool crete bottom problems

[poolguysteve]

I'm putting in a 20x40x45 L shaped pool
Steel wall Vinyl liner pool, we got about 3/4 of the bottom done before we ran out of crete 120 Bags
so of course nowhere to buy it in south Georgia so I ordered another 50 to cover the rest
which took weeks to get here so 3/4 of the bottom is done and been sitting with no liner for 3-4 weeks
Problems
1: noticing hair line cracks on some of the deep end walls and around the break
2: pool crete is unlevel with trowel marks and divers, looks awful
we've triend rock sanding it down to fix trowell marks and to try to fix some of the unlevelness
while it looks better it is far from perfect
my question is now that we've taken some of the height out of the bottom could I put a skim coat of pool crete on top of what is already there and try to fix some of the problems and if so how thick should it be?
The company i bought the kit from said he saw no problem with that

but thought I'd throw it out there for anybody that could give me advise
Found this forum a couple of weeks ago and have been like an addict since
thanks in advance for the help

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Please do not duplicate posts (I deleted your other one).
While I do not know enough to offer any help, someone will eventually be along to offer their thoughts.

 

[duraleigh]

The company i bought the kit from said he saw no problem with that

I doubt they have ever installed poolcrete, then. :lol:

1. Be aware that whatever you do, it will be almost impossible to get a really smooth surface with poolcrete. You can usually get it acceptable for daytime but at night, it will look like craters on the moon when you turn on the pool lights.

2. Skimming will be very troublesome and I wouldn't do it. It wont bond well and it will tend to "roll up" as you apply it, I'm afraid.

3. going over it once more with a rock and taking out the high parts may be helpful but, above all else, prepare yourself when you look at it with the pool lights on.

4. The cracks are irrelevant. There are no technical issues with uneven poolcrete....only aesthetic.

 

[Prof100]

Just want to say that my new pool has bad trowel marks in it, also. During the day, it looks perfect. At night, moon craters is right :lol:

 

[PJ]

Get it as even as you can....but as duraleigh stated, you will never get it perfect. I have seen near perfect pool crete and terrible poolcrete. The good thing is that once the liner is in it is hard to actually "see" the difference...until the lights are off. Small cracks are fine....big cracks and ground water are what you need to watch out for.