I had a couple of tiles fall off, and I need some bottom of pool work

[Chuckiechan]

This is a three part question:

Is replacing tiles above the water line a job I can do, or is this a specialist job? I'm pretty good with most repair things I attempt.

I have some plaster coming off around a couple of the drains that needs to be patched. I tried an underwater plaster once that failed. Is there a two part/epoxy base patch?

And I have a hard "scum line" (calcium silicate, I believe) it's very hard and need to be ground off with pumice. I've seen "soda blasters" at Harbor Freight that are supposed to work. I don't know if that is too hard of a job for me. And BTW, what exactly is this "soda" - sounds very alkaline to me.

So the big question is, should I just ignore it until spring, and then drain the pool and have or do all the repairs at once?

BTW: I'm in the Sacramento area. Very moderate weather.
BTW: I'm planning on going with Borax on the refill.

Thanks in advance, and sorry in advance if this is too long a question!

 

[duraleigh]

I'll take the first one. Installing tile is easy enough. Doing it so it looks really professional is much harder. If you have never installed tile before, I would suggest a pro do this.

 

[Chuckiechan]

Thanks for the advice...I may hire it done.

It's really hard to hire for small jobs in California. Costs are sky high, so most small jobs are done cash after hours and "you gotta know a guy"... LOL

 

[zimm]

I had a small bucket of tiles that fell off over the years. I bought a couple of tubs of this stuff- it went on easy and held the tiles firmly. It's rated to set in water too, even though my tiles were above water line. Get a couple because it hardens in 20-30 mins. Then I got a box of grout with sand and used that to fill in the gaps. I ended up using my fingers on the grout, then a bucket and a wet sponge to wipe off the excess. Looks great for a $30 total investment and an hour of time. It was easier to do while standing in the pool.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Custom-Building-Products-White-1-5-lb-Tile-Repair-Mortar-TRMW1/202525426

 

[Chuckiechan]

Thanks for that. I will probably go that route.

I didn't know that existed.