Ecofinish on fiberglass panels/Hydrazzo

[Martinhd28]

Starting a new thread as I think the old one is inactive.

I have a pool with fiberglass panel walls and concrete bottom that needs to be replastered. My contractor is recommending Ecofinish/AquaBright on the walls and Hydazzo on the floor. I have found at leaset one horror story thread here from someone who has the same type of pool and had ecofinish put on the walls. However that thread is several years old.
Perhaps its just one bad example. The pool has been drained and he wants to start this week.

From what I can tell, my options are to do what he recommends or just redo the floor in white marcite. I would like to do the Hydrazzo and Eco finish because I really like the color options.

Any advice would be greatly appreciate. I will also post some photos

 

[ajw22]

Both Aquabrite and Hydrazoo are fine materials that depend on the quality of the installation. If your installer has experience with it and takes the required time to install it then you should be happy.

 

[Martinhd28]

Thank you Ajw22!
So Its relatively common to put ecofinish on fiberglass panel walls?
Also a question regarding color. Anything to be worried about there? Seems like I read that darker colors tend to show more imperfections?

 

[ajw22]

Ecofinish is one of the options to renovate your Hybrid pool.

Hybrid Pools - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Darker colors can show more mottling.

 

[Martinhd28]

Quick update: I did speak with the contractor this morning and feel much more comfortable after our conversation. He was well aware of the horror stories online regarding ecofinish. He reiterated to me that proper prep is 85% of ecofinish job. He also gave me several names at Ecofinish to call if I to want to ensure that he is certified installer. For all I know hes on here reading my posts. Haha

Anyhow I will document the progress here as we go along.

They came by and put a bondcoat on the floor today. Pics below

 

[Martinhd28]

 

[Martinhd28]

Eco Finish finally installed today. They sanded all bubbles but they came back during install. Not as many but still some. I was able to poke several of them while they were sanding and none seemed to have any water behind so fingers croseed

 

[Martinhd28]

Not sure if this is correct forum but thought I would put it here since I have a rwlated thread here showing the progress of my pool refinish with Ecofinish and Hydrazzo.

Hydrazzo will be finished today and I will start filling. I need to run to local pool store to get chemicals to balance. I couple of questions.

What should I expect as the Hydrazzo cures? Just trying to gauge what to buy without getting stuck with a lot of chemicals I dont need.

I have a salt system. Should I go ahead and add salt when I fill it or treat with chlorine packs while curing?
Any insight is appreciated!

 

[Texas Splash]

Martin, a few pointers:
- No salt for 30 days; heater off as well if you have one.
- No pool store testing. They will steer you wrong. You need a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C.
- After about 72 hours of initial cure, balance FC and CYA as a non-salt pool until 30 days when you can add salt. Refer to the FC/CYA Levels. Use liquid chlorine or regular bleach for your FC.
- Have muriatic acid on hand to control the pH as it tries to rise fairly quickly during the curing process.

 

[Martinhd28]

Martin, a few pointers:
- No salt for 30 days; heater off as well if you have one.
- No pool store testing. They will steer you wrong. You need a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C.
- After about 72 hours of initial cure, balance FC and CYA as a non-salt pool until 30 days when you can add salt. Refer to the FC/CYA Levels. Use liquid chlorine or regular bleach for your FC.
- Have muriatic acid on hand to control the pH as it tries to rise fairly quickly during the curing process.

Thanks!

 

[Martinhd28]

Well Its finished and I’d say my satisfaction level is about 7 out of 10. The ecofinish on walls looks great but Hatteras Gray Hydrazzo is not as expected. To my eyes he did not expose enough of the agregate. He skipped the polishing phase. He said hes done it so many times that polishing creates more problems than it does good. He just acid washed and pressure washed. I was basically told that I would enjoy watching the exposure come out over “the next few years”. The Hydrazzo opening procedures also say brush twice a day for at least a week. He is coming once a day every other day.

I do love the water color from afar. I just dont like the inconsistency of the finish when i look closely. perhaps it will get better as it continues to cure?

I have attached a few pictures

 

[Martinhd28]

 

[Martinhd28]