My pool refurb & paint is complete!

[kevreh]

Just saw this post from a couple years ago. Hows the paint holding up? Hope you see this! BTW, thanks for the detailed description and photos.

Hey all! I'm still around...I usually don't check the forum until the pools open though!

As for the paint job, it's holding up very well. No more leaks, color still looks good, etc. That epoxy paint really is like a "hard candy shell" and I am confident that if in a couple of years it starts looks faded I can just give it a light top coat of blue and have it looking like new again.

The only thing I forgot (and didn't realize until a year later!) was I forgot to put sand/no-slip in the paint on the stair tops. And they are SUPER slick. I still have a leftover gallon of paint and have been toying with just re-painting the stair tops and adding some texture material to fix this when it warms up.

Thats good to hear. I've read some replies to other threads saying paint is a rip off, doesn't last more than a year or two, etc..... Makes me wonder if those folks didn't use epoxy based paint, didn't apply it right, or are just partial to the "mercedes solution" ie. re-plastering. :-D


Kevin

 

[Backglass]

Thats good to hear. I've read some replies to other threads saying paint is a rip off, doesn't last more than a year or two, etc..... Makes me wonder if those folks didn't use epoxy based paint, didn't apply it right, or are just partial to the "mercedes solution" ie. re-plastering. :-D

Those complaints MUST be from a non-epoxy paint. This stuff is serious business...but you pay through the nose for it. I spent almost $800 just in paint.

Here is a pic from last season after my wife painted the tile border. The tiles were an ugly taupe/beige color and she found some special tile paint at Home Depot, and painted the whole border with a brush. It turned out great!

 

[Heckpools]

wow, what an amazing job. I dont know too much about concrete pools so i have a stupid question. You said the walls were fiberglass? Where the walls meet the concrete, you just used a silicon sealer to water proof the gap between the bottom of the wall and top of concrete slope? Ive never seen a pool with fiberglass walls and concrete floor. Pretty darn cool!

 

[Backglass]

You said the walls were fiberglass? Where the walls meet the concrete, you just used a silicon sealer to water proof the gap between the bottom of the wall and top of concrete slope? Ive never seen a pool with fiberglass walls and concrete floor.

I hadn't either! Now, I don't know what is behind the fiberglass...maybe it is cement too, I don't know. But yes that's what I did. I used a permanent, flexible butyl rubber sealer and filled all gaps between panels and at the panel to floor joint. Then epoxy painted over it. I was initially concerned that the paint wouldn't stick or would crack, etc, but so far it has worked perfectly.

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

My curiosity is aroused. On your website, Step 1--Drain the pool, you have a picture showing the fiberglass side with the skimmer that has numerous round bubbles on the siding. Did you just paint over them, or did you grind them down and patch them or what? As stated, just curious, and interested in how that part of the fiberglass wall is holding up.

 

[Backglass]

My curiosity is aroused. On your website, Step 1--Drain the pool, you have a picture showing the fiberglass side with the skimmer that has numerous round bubbles on the siding. Did you just paint over them, or did you grind them down and patch them or what? As stated, just curious, and interested in how that part of the fiberglass wall is holding up.

I did nothing to them except acid wash & paint. They aren't bubbles exactly...more like bulges. I don't know what is behind the wall making it poke out like that, and honestly didn't want to know! The walls seem very solid. There is zero flex, etc when you push on them. Once cleaned, painted and filled with water, those imperfections practically disappeared.

It's not a perfect pool by any means, but it's a far cry from what it was!

 

[Backglass]

FOUR YEAR UPDATE

Well here we are in 2012 for another season and the pool paint job I did in 2008 is starting to show signs of wear.

The first sign of trouble was when we pulled off the cover. The pool had lost a LOT of water over the winter, and I mean a LOT. Probably 70%. This can only mean that the cracks/leaks I fixed four plus years ago have returned. I can see a few hairline cracks in the paint that must be the culprit.

Secondly, in the shallow end there are some areas where white from the primer is starting to show through. It doesn't looked like it lifted or peeled, but more like it was just worn away from use. You can also now see that we were much more careful with our paint job in the deep end when we started. By the time we got to the shallow end we were exhausted and now you can tell. The shallow end just looks lighter, like we only did one coat instead of two and you can see roller lines. Also the color has faded quite a bit. What started out as "Dark Blue" is now more of a "Pool Blue". I didn't realize how much until I went back and looked at the pictures.

So, my four year opinion? I am still very happy. The product is sold as lasting "up to eight years" and it probably will, but it's certainly not going to look shiny-new for eight years! It still looks pretty good...I notice the flaws, but I don't think visitors will. If it wasn't leaking I would live with it, but due to the leaks the plan is to give it an acid wash and top coat of color next year before we open. Since it already has a decent base we will skip the prep & primer. It should only take about 2 gallons and that should buy me another four or five years.

I will try and take some pics this weekend so you can see the condition at the four year mark.

 

[Backglass]

FIVE YEAR UPDATE

Well, it lasted a five years, my epoxy paint job has finally worn out. Late in the season last year we started developing leaks again and decided to give it a re-coat this year at the 5-year mark. The color had noticeably bleached out and was not nearly as blue as it once was. We were also starting to see cement through the paint in some areas and even a few small bare spots.

Two years ago we bought a Blue Pearl pool robot. The wife believes it hastened the demise of the paint. It's an unprovable argument as we have no idea what it would have looked like without the robot scrubbing the floor. Even though the manufacture claims it lasts "Up to eight years", I am still pleased. I'd rather have 5 years with robot than 8 years without. I am sure that eight years is also in pristine conditions, indoors, light use. All the things my pool is not!

Before

Notice the mottling in the shallow end. You can even see roller marks now, where it was slightly thicker. You never could see those before.

During

Here you can see the difference between the old & new paint (same color & brand). We found some hairline cracks, and painted them first (the odd pattern on the floor). Then painted the entire floor so they got a double coat as a precaution. The cost of the paint went up in five years too...now $99 a gallon.

After

It took the same amount of paint as last time, four and a half gallons of Epoxy. That surprised me, I figured it would take half that. Of course we didn't need primer this time and it was MUCH faster, I just cleaned, acid washed & painted.

We lost a few tiles around the edge too. Found them broken in the deep end. Another project!

As usual, I will keep you updated. For those keeping score, I think this was a worthwhile effort. Of course the real answer to this very old pool is to have it re-built and/or re-gunited. But I just don't have a spare $10,000 laying around. $500 in paint to get another five years is fine by me!

 

[Casey]

I remember this thread like it were yesterday n it's been 5 years! WoW! You did good backglass! Congrats n here's to another 5 years!

 

[Richard320]

I appreciate the update.

Too often someone solves a problem and never reports back, so no one knows if a suggestion will be successful.

 

[kevreh]

Did you ever get an estimate to re-plaster? Wonder what the break even point is. I paid about $3k to replaster my pool 2 summers ago.

 

[innerblueskys]

Great thread, nice work. Hope you and your family have a summer full of fun!

 

[gsdthomas]

Hey, I got a thread up in regards to this. How bad was your pool prior to painting and patching. I have a pool that's been empty for 10 years, so as a cheap alternative I was going to go your route. Is everything holding up well, and do you recommend the paint?

 

[Butterfly]

Like Casey, I remember this thread like it was yesterday!

Thanks so much for the chronicle and updates

Have a wonderful summer

 

[Backglass]

Hey, I got a thread up in regards to this. How bad was your pool prior to painting and patching. I have a pool that's been empty for 10 years, so as a cheap alternative I was going to go your route. Is everything holding up well, and do you recommend the paint?

It was pretty bad. You can see the before pic on page one, as well as the entire original refurb HERE.

Even after 10 years of neglect, as long as it's intact you will be stunned what an acid wash & paint job will do.

 

[Backglass]

Did you ever get an estimate to re-plaster? Wonder what the break even point is. I paid about $3k to replaster my pool 2 summers ago.

The problem is my pool is an odd duck. Cement floor with fiberglass walls. To do it right would mean ripping out all the walls, hence the high cost. I have decided that, barring something catastrophic, I will just keep on painting every five years.

 

[neverclearone]

You are not an odd duck. I have the same situation going on with me. See my old posts and you will see what we have. Hope to have it up and running like yours. I do have a question about the stones around your pool. They look sharp on the edges and jutting out some into the pool. Have they been an issue with your kids?

 

[joepaiii]

Great thread! I had a very similar pool in Allentown that I did the same thing with in 2006. I bet the same company built it, aren't many with fiberglass walls and cement bottoms. I have no idea how my repairs held up since we moved to Texas right after the repair. Nice to see the updates over time.

 

[Magus]

Backglass, Man...I don't know how to thank you. Your pool is not an odd duck, I have the same type of swimming pool. 9.5 foot deep. I now know how to fix everything on my swimming pool because of you. THANK YOU!
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[Magus]

Backglass...I have a question. What is that behind your tile? I looks like blue tape but there also looks to be something behind it. it looks like the fiberglass wall ends but I can see how it is locked in place.