concrete coating repair on old pool

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C

chasm

0
Jul 1, 2013
5
PA
I have a +50 year old pool with concrete bottom and fiberglass sides, the bottom is flaking off with stone aggregate exposed on roughly 20%, more or less. I believe this is where I'm losing aprox 1/2"-3/4" of water a day? I had all the lines tested and fixed. I have several thoughts on what action I should take and would like to know of other peoples experiences and recommendations. I'm relatively sure I will sandblast 1st then the options would be
shotcrete to smooth and thin coat - pool paint?
ultra guard ?
sani-tred and pool paint?
other suggestions?
hoping for responses from people who know 1st hand what has worked and what hasn't with a few years of time on it. thank you Chas from PA
 
pool has not been top priority, but I figure I need to get in gear before cold weather.. after ripping off some of the rubber patches, that have been on a long time and were starting to lift on the edges, I had hoped to see a crack openned up or something else to justify the water lose, all appear sealed intact... I then started removing the caulk between the fiberglass and concrete, so I could slide a thin pc of sheet metal in to protect the fiberglass when blasting... upon some of the removal of caulk there are a few areas that were wet and I suspect may have been leaking... I'm thinking of shifting focus for this year to remove the remaining caulk and high pressure wash this area and dry and replace with either permaseal or vulkem 116 ( which the pool pressure testing guys recommended the other year for any seams thought to be leaking) I have about 110' of joint!!! I was going to use this on the verticle glass joints or debating fiberglassing the joints, although I thought the caulk may allow a little flexing? anyone have experience with the vulkem? I will then fill with water and see what I have for winter.. planning to do bottom in spring... I originally was leaning toward the sani-tread and the lady I talked with answered alot of ?? but the technican never got back with me. the sides of the pool were previously painted with epoxy paint, although now faded and chipped.. if I were to give this a good pressure washing and cleaning, could I just apply another coat of epoxy or would it need a primer? looking for idea's and previous experiences... thanx Chuck
 

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Chasm - I have the same pool type as yours with fiberglass walls and concrete bottom. I painted the pool floor with 2 part epoxy paint 7 years ago and for the past 3 years I noticed that the paint is starting to "flake off" primarily in the shallow end. Five years ago I hired an underwater pool person to look for leaks and he repaired an area around the bottom drain which seemed to fix the leakage for a few years. The pool is now losing lots of water so I plan on closing it up for the season and addressing the problem in the spring. Please let me know what route you go with resurfacing of the concrete.
 
I have the same pool. Put in in 1968. Knock on wood I have no leaks. Last time it did it was the hydrostatic valve in the bottom of the hopper. It's been painted several times. I think when funds are available I would like to see about converting to vinyl. I think it can be done. I would love to hear from someone with this type of pool that has done this.
 
Thanks for the replies, always looking for thoughts and suggestions... swimcmp, budget not large although did check out website listed and it was for a coating, have you used this coating and how would you rate it? I did a search on the other place and it showed a contractor in FL, thought that may be out of budget but will keep in back of my head....
I just came in from working on the pool, which I haven't done for a while...I had previously removed all the calking between the concrete and glass. I pressure washed it with a 4000 psi washer being careful not to dig too much concrete. At 1 time this had a small thickness of concrete poured over the original floor, not sure how it was done? It did not remove all the bits of caulking so I just wire wheeled the concrete and took a multitool sander to the fiberglass. My next plan is to get permaseal caulk to seal the edge and use a closed cell backer in the bottom of the joint.... I wrote the maker of vulkem and another manufacturer and none of their products are recommended for chlorine pool use, so I will have to bite the bullet and buy the more expensive stuff which is.
Another person who lives around a mile from me has a similar pool and had some major leaks/cracks. He had a guy come and do polyurethane injection along the cracks, drain, and some of the walls.. he just filled about a week ago and it’s looking good. Unfortunately or fortunately I didn’t have cracks so he wasn’t sure it would correct my problem?

Tenuglymen what exactly was leaking in your drain and how did they fix it? I have an unusual drain as in the very bottom is a drain then a disk cover, open along edges to the bottom and a return line pointing straight up coming out the middle. The main drain bucket appears to be bronze?

I would consider vinyl if cost within reason, always looking at all the options before filling it in…
 

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That drain does sound odd. You are saying you have a return line that points straight up? And it actually returns filtered water out of the bottom of your hopper right next to the suction line?

The bucket in the bottom of my hopper is about 6 inches diameter. The suction line is on the side of the bucket. The hydrostatic valve is centered in the bottom of the bucket. There is a grate on top.
 
time to start on pool again, the sealing between fiberglass and concrete did little to stop leak, to my dismay... had a salesman stop by, who lives close by and noticed the pool... he is going to make a proposal using an acrylic/fiberglass material shot on with a gun? then 6 applications of a top coat... I'm waiting for more details and examine a few other pools near here that have been done... I'm always skeptical of salesman who stop uninvited but sure want to hear what he can provide... anyone ever tried this combination? claims a 15 year warranty and would also need another top coat at that time.
swimcmp is this a similiar product that you had good success with?
any experiences good or bad with similiar products ? I'd appreciate the feedback... thanx Chuck
 
Not sure what product they are doing. Can't say as I have heard about an acrylic product. I would be skeptical of it until I saw a couple of their jobs first hand. Try to get references from older jobs they have done to see how satisfied the customers are with it after time has passed.
 
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