Anyone use Ultra Poly One Coat?

[Cavecreeker]

I may need to refinish my spa (~450 gal).

Marcite quote is around $2000.

Anyone have any successful experience with this product or others?

TIA!

 

[Cavecreeker]

If no one has any experience Ultra Poly One Coat, are there 'better' products I should consider?

I need to refinish my spa (~400 gal). I got one quote to replaster for ~$2000. Is this reasonable?

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[budster]

If no one has any experience Ultra Poly One Coat, are there 'better' products I should consider?

I need to refinish my spa (~400 gal). I got one quote to replaster for ~$2000. Is this reasonable?

Any help is much appreciated!

Ultra Poly One Coat is a reasonably sophisticated epoxy-like pool paint. At the outset let me say I have NO experience with it. I do have experience with other epoxy pool paints. Whenever a gunite pool needs redoing, the choices are clear: paint or plaster. Painting a pool requires some care...you have to insure that the surface is "bondable", so it might requrie the acid wash/TSP routine, or even sandblasting, too. The key is to have a surface that will bond with the coating. You also have issues associated with how wet or dry the surface is prior to painting, and then there's drying time, proper application of the paint (thickness, number of coats),and avoiding rain, and waiting to fill the pool until the manufacturer's specs tell you to. The normal life of a good epoxy job is 5-7 years. I DO NOT know what useful life Ultra Poly states.

Now, the replastering takes some similar care, too, but I think the process is easier. I'll get back to you on costs.

 

[Cavecreeker]

Ultra Poly One Coat is a reasonably sophisticated epoxy-like pool paint. At the outset let me say I have NO experience with it. I do have experience with other epoxy pool paints. Whenever a gunite pool needs redoing, the choices are clear: paint or plaster. Painting a pool requires some care...you have to insure that the surface is "bondable", so it might requrie the acid wash/TSP routine, or even sandblasting, too. The key is to have a surface that will bond with the coating. You also have issues associated with how wet or dry the surface is prior to painting, and then there's drying time, proper application of the paint (thickness, number of coats),and avoiding rain, and waiting to fill the pool until the manufacturer's specs tell you to. The normal life of a good epoxy job is 5-7 years. I DO NOT know what useful life Ultra Poly states.

Now, the replastering takes some similar care, too, but I think the process is easier. I'll get back to you on costs.

Thanks much for the response, budster! Ultra's website is http://www.polysolutionsinc.com/index.html. Thye purport 15 year warranty with all the typical yadas.

My plaster surface is rough. When I rub it with my fingers I get white 'chalk' mixed with fine granular substance.

 

[Aquaman95]

I've used the Ultra One Polycoat, but not in a pool. I used it to coat gunite dykes used for bleach and acid storage. The prep process is very important to achieving a good bond. Pressure washing on an old surface is a must.

It wasn't successful in my application but that is a far more harsh environment than a pool. FWIW, it did stand up to straight bleach and acid for well over a year.

I normally despise any types of pool paints rather than plaster but I was impressed enough with the product that I would consider using it in my pool, except it's about the same price as plaster in my area.

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

I can tell you about it, but can't tell you if it works or not. Have a 46-year old 17' x34' (depth of 3 1/2' to 8 1/2') concrete bottom, laminated porcelain on steel (not stainless) sides, steel rim (not stainless). Couldn't get any type of paint to hold more than a year or two, so decided to try Ultra Poly One Coat. Grinded all the paint off the bottom with a 4 1/2" 10,000 rpm grinder (have done this about 5-6 times now) on the sides. Anyway, paint cost about $170/gal., bought it threw a website called Ask Alan (I think). Ultra Poly One Coat factory won't sell to individuals; they send you to a distributor. My local distributor had never heard of it (??????)--but chased the info down and offered it for $230/gal. This is one bear of a paint. It's a 2-part epoxy--comes with quart of catalyst and 3/4 gal. of paint in gal. can. However, you have to put both parts in another container because you have to add at least 12oz. acetone in order to mix it. The 3/4 gal. is so thick you have to use a putty knife or very hard spatula to get it out. You 'must' stir with paint stirrer attached to a drill. So you put all 3 components in a larger container, and stir for 1-2 minutes. Then you have 30-40 minutes (depending on the temperature) to get it spread before it turns to a rock. After 40+ minutes, bottom of container gets too hot to touch (guess this is the curing process). In the past, I've always tried to do real good coverage, and like my experience with Zeron, the paint tended to sag a lot. I used $15 brushes from Lowes (best I could find in town). After your 40 minutes is up, you throw everything away and start over. Was able to clean paint stirrer with acetone immeadiately after using. They say NOT to acid wash or use TSP. They say to wash down with orange-citrus cleaner (got mine at Home Depot).Make sure to cover good, cause you can't go back to touch up while paint is drying cause it gets all sticky. It truly does dry about as hard as a rock. I did mine in late August, let it dry for about 4 days, filled up pool, ran it for a week, and closed it cause I was so sick of working on it. Will it work??--I'll post back late next spring and let you know. They also said there is basically no prep on recoats--just wash with the citrus cleaner and go for it.

 

[duraleigh]

Payin,

Welcome to the forum. That's a very, very good post. Epoxy paints are very difficult to work with but I believe the reward of long-term performance will make it worth it. I think your post tells a clear story of the work involved so others don't take on the task as an "afternoon project".

Many of us here will be interested in your impressions of it next Summer. (Just don't wait that long to post again on the forum :-D :-D )

Would you mind sharing with us how much paint you used and what kind of yield (per sq foot) it gave you?

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

I painted the whole thing: bottom, sides, and rim. Estimated 800 square ft. Ultra Poly One Coat said coverage would be 100-125 sq. ft. per gallon. I used 5 gallons: 160 sq. ft. per gallon, but all my surfaces were very, very, smooth, especially concrete bottom (had ground paint off bottom 5-6 times over the last 33 years.

 

[vol96]

payin-the-toll - So how did your paint hold up for the winter and this summer? I'm getting interested in this stuff.

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

It has held up better than poxolon, zerex, and that crummy water-based Ramux Crud. I painted with a brush, and wanting to get everything covered, I painted it on thick and ended up with a lot of sag in places. It was real hot when I painted, and where I got it on too thick, it seemed like the acetone made tiny microscopic volcanoes, but it doesn't seem to have affected anything. I also painted the sides and the steel (not stainless-steel) rim. The rim has held up very well, BUT, the paint faded a lot, so the rim is now a white-ish blue instead of a pool blue where the sun hits it. You've got to understand on the concrete bottom, I was putting down Ramux once a year and it would bubble and start to peel within 3-4 months. So I'm real happy with the ultra-poly one coat because there is no evidence of that yet. I bought my paint from an on-line place called "Ask Alan" (I think)-it was a pool advisory blog, and paid $170/gal.,vs. the $229/gal a local distributor quoted me (who didn't even have it in stock, and had never heard of it). $170/gal may seem like a lot, but if you use Zerex and have to prime first, and they're $85/gal each, then it's about the same; and with the Ultra-poly, you only have to paint one coat.

 

[vol96]

Have you had any stains on it. I saw a pool the other day that was just painted with UPOC and it had a small rust stain under a return outlet due to rust particles from the guys pool heater. I rubbed it with my fingers and it remained. The fella who applied it said an abrasive pad would remove the stain and not harm the paint and that the heater was turned on too soon. But the pool must have already been full of water and therefore the paint must have been dried/cured. So I cant see why it would be stained so quickly.....its hard as a rock and smooth as glass, I dont see how anything could penetrate it. Fortunately it was in the shallow end so touching it up (if necessary) would be relatively easy.

Did you get any fading or discoloration inside the pool?
It didnt lift in any spots did it?

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

I wouldn't call it fading, but the concrete bottom is not exactly all the same color. I contribute that to mixing each gallon of paint separately (had to), with some gallons getting more acetone than others, and when the paint started to cure (some areas painted with fresh paint and others painted when the paint was starting to cure). The porcelain-laminated steel (not stainless) sides, which over the years I'd painted with poxolon and then with zeron, don't seem to show any fading and color seems so have stayed uniform.

 

[MIG]

Seduced with the 15 year warranty I painted my marcite pool with Ultra Poly One Coat in May of 2007. I followed all the instructions to the letter - cleaning, drying, mixing the components one gallon at a time for a minute with proper power tools, perfect temperature, dry weather, curing for long period of time ... etc. It was a very difficult job because of the 30 minutes window the epoxy should be applied. The paint was heavy and if applied thick on the pool walls it sagged quite a bit (I sanded and reapplied). I used 3 to 4 coats because it has to be applied as thin as possible on the walls. So much for the "ONE COAT" part :-( but this was not the worst. The epoxy bonded extremely well with the marcite and after the application it looked smooth as a mirror and very strong - very hard to sand for the sagging repair. It was very slippery when wet so for safety I added another coat and sprinkled with the provided silicon sand over the steps and the shallow end. So far so good - I was happy and believed to have the next 15 years free of trouble. But this did not happen - soon after filling with water it started to loose the gloss. It slowly started to etch and chalk and in the summer of 2008 the water was getting milky. The next summer (2009) the water looked like it was diluted paint not pool water. Now I am wondering how to deal with this - the pool cannot be used in this condition and there are places where the paint is completely washed away. Anybody with suggestions????
The bottom line is - if you have not used it yet DO NOT DO IT

 

[polyvue]

Welcome to the forum, MIG

I can't vouch for the product you used -- one way or the other -- but it might helpful to know the condition of your water ... how it's chlorinated, what the typical hardness is, TA, CH, pH and so forth.

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

I just did the grind to an indoor fiberglass pool that was badly neglected and used the Olympic Gunite primer and Zeron. The Zeron is drying as we speak but looks great so far. The pool has over 300 blisters in the fiberglass that had to go! Most were small, less than an inch and shallow but over 100 needed filling, some were over 6" wide. If they were any deeper, I would have had to add new layers of fiberglass first. The homeowner was lucky.

The prep work is the key. Surface dry time for Zeron is long and curing is longer and temperature sensitive. I rolled it with a 3" roller (3/8"nap) because like most fiberglass pools, the curves were too sharp for a normal 9" (1/4" nap) roller and the paint on the walls is a thinner coat than on the floor to prevent runs. I may wait for it to cure and add a second coat to get a better thickness on the walls. Operative word is MAY. I like painting like I enjoy slamming my hand in a car door, twice.

Easy to use, though it is a 2 part. Pot life is good, over an hour so mixing 2 gallons at a time should not present a problem. Repainting 10 years from now will not require re-priming, just touch up sanding to scar the surface and remove any calcium deposits. Wiping down with acetone just prior to painting provides a dust free surface.

I expect, as does Olympic, without UV hitting it, for it to last a long time! Normal life outdoors is about 5 years but this is indoors.

Gunzite has a fairly strong odor but it didn't bother me. The Zeron was substantially less so.

The web site was helpful too and the support guy I spoke to was knowledgeable. Here's a link:

http://www.kelleytech.com/olympic/default.asp

Hope this helps someone.

Scott

 

[Aquaman95]

Seduced with the 15 year warranty I painted my marcite pool with Ultra Poly One Coat in May of 2007. I followed all the instructions to the letter - cleaning, drying, mixing the components one gallon at a time for a minute with proper power tools, perfect temperature, dry weather, curing for long period of time ... etc. It was a very difficult job because of the 30 minutes window the epoxy should be applied. The paint was heavy and if applied thick on the pool walls it sagged quite a bit (I sanded and reapplied). I used 3 to 4 coats because it has to be applied as thin as possible on the walls. So much for the "ONE COAT" part :-( but this was not the worst. The epoxy bonded extremely well with the marcite and after the application it looked smooth as a mirror and very strong - very hard to sand for the sagging repair. It was very slippery when wet so for safety I added another coat and sprinkled with the provided silicon sand over the steps and the shallow end. So far so good - I was happy and believed to have the next 15 years free of trouble. But this did not happen - soon after filling with water it started to loose the gloss. It slowly started to etch and chalk and in the summer of 2008 the water was getting milky. The next summer (2009) the water looked like it was diluted paint not pool water. Now I am wondering how to deal with this - the pool cannot be used in this condition and there are places where the paint is completely washed away. Anybody with suggestions????
The bottom line is - if you have not used it yet DO NOT DO IT

Have you contacted the manufacturer? What did they say?

 

[Guest]

Bottom line: Paint is cheaper for a reason. I've personally never seen a painted pool, regardless of prep, look good 2 years later.

In this particular post, it is the spa being discussed, but the avatar appears to be a pool also (if the avatar is the pool/spa in question). I would assume the pool will need to follow shortly as well. I would seriously consider some other finish than paint if that is the case (I could see "learning your lesson" on a spa only, but it would be a drag to have to learn it on the spa and then move on to the pool for the agony all over again!).

I cringe every time I hear somebody consider paint. There is a reason that it is not the norm, or that there aren't a bunch of Pool Painting Contractors in the Yellow Pages!! Save your money (and time!) and get it done right the first time. You'll be out a few extra bucks initially, but in the long run you'll be way ahead!!!

 

[glassguy1]

Bruce, Your post could not be more accurate. Paint, by any name, is still paint. Anyone who believes that it will last for more than 2 years is in for the shock of their lives. These warranties for 15 years, 10 years, even 5 years are a terrible joke.

Remember the fiberglass linings that were guaranteed for 25 years? The same people who pulled off that con job are now pulling the same con with epoxy. There is no free ride, but the public keeps searching for a "dream come true".

You will never read or hear about anyone who has had 2 part epoxy on an in-ground pool for more than 2 years. Most folks are too embarased to admit they were taken.

Pool pro's should be very carefull when endorsing any swimming pool paint, because it will fail, and it will come back to haunt you. We must remember that "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". In this instance, you can take the word "probably" out of the expression.

Our reputation has suffered enough from these "get rich quick" schemes, that have plagued pool owners for the past quarter century. Now is the time for realism, and a decent respect for the people who pay our bills.

 

[Mimi C.]

I have never used epoxy paint for a pool but I did use it on a 250 gallon waterfall/pond in my patio area. I needed to protect the fish from the concrete I used to build the pool. I cleaned it, pressure washed it and painted it and it worked great. It created a plastic shell that the water went into and the water stayed very clean and was easy to deal with. I was grateful to have the concrete away from the water.

After year 2 I did have some problems. I used a special epoxy for fish which didn't have damaging chemicals. It was as expensive as the other products mentioned here. Like all epoxy, it turns yellow in the sun. I would imagine if you had water over it that would slow down. I had a waterfall and I painted the whole area into the water. Eventually the water from the water fall pulled up the epoxy and got underneath it. The epoxy came off those rocks but it didn't matter to me because it was rock, not concrete and I was still protected. The basic job was still working very well with exception of yellowing and pulled off the waterfall rocks. I would use it again on a pond but I would be concerned that it would yellow in any other exposure.