I was wondering if anyone has had or is having issues with the Ecofinish installer in Chattanooga TN? It will be a year since we started an expensive pool project and the ecofinish looked horrible! We have contacted Ecofinish home office and were told that the installer didn’t do prep work right and would have to sandblast the pool and re apply. After reading some posts I don’t want to do that as it seems we will just be repeating the same mistakes! We are coming up on our second summer of having a non usable pool and the stress is just crazy! Not sure these pics show how awful the finish looks but it is really bad! We expected a beautiful smooth finish like the Ecofinish brochure shows! Help!
Ecofinish problem in Chattanooga Tn
- Thread starter Southernpoollovers
- Start date
Hi Southern, welcome to TFP. 
Unfortunately it looks like a bad install of the finish.
If you could fill in your signature area with all your pool info, it will help folks give you advice. (You can use mine as a guide)
Post your same question in the Under Construction thread to get more eyes on it.
Unfortunately it looks like a bad install of the finish.
If you could fill in your signature area with all your pool info, it will help folks give you advice. (You can use mine as a guide)
Post your same question in the Under Construction thread to get more eyes on it.
- Jul 16, 2012
- 7,204
- Pool Size
- 27000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Very unfortunate and sorry to hear about your experience. Getting feedback from others who have experience from the same installer will perhaps make you feel better. However, the product is just very susceptible to surface prep issues if not a new pool install over fresh plaster. And the issues can be major as you are experiencing. Though it may not be the opinion of all here, I would no longer consider this product, regardless of cost, for a remodel, and perhaps not even for new. One of our members was a prior installer and got out of applying it due to the challenges it caused for the installer. A product that creates issues for installers is not a product that excites me or instills confidence that I will have a good experience with. I know that's not where you are now though.
Kim's comments above are more helpful to you specifically than mine are unfortunately.
Here is his comment in THE Ecofinish thread.
ecoFINISH aquaBRIGHT longterm review
Kim's comments above are more helpful to you specifically than mine are unfortunately.
Here is his comment in THE Ecofinish thread.
ecoFINISH aquaBRIGHT longterm review
Brand new. He says the finish is functional and it’s a matter of opinion on how it looks. Very unpleasant to deal with! We paid the last of the costs by credit card so we have disputed the charges. So the contractor says he will sandblast off the finish and re apply. Unfortunately we haven’t seen much of him since. This seems to be typical for him in our area according to others!
- Jul 16, 2012
- 7,204
- Pool Size
- 27000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Good to hear that at least (his intentions). I would not let him slide in the least and document everything in writing just in case. I'd be in contact every day. Be his concern.
We have been under construction with a salt water inground pool since 4/19. Our contractor used an Ecofinish application and it looks horrible (not sure these pictures show how bad it is). The contractor tells us it is functional and just a matter of opinion as to the aesthetics. This is a very expensive project and we are just at our wit’s end. We have contacted Ecofinish who told us the contractor didn’t prep correctly and for him to fix it he would have to sandblast the finish off and re do. I have found others on this site that have had the same issue with the same contractor. There is only one Ecofinish contractor in our area. We are going on our second summer with the potential of no pool again! Anybody know anything about Ecofinish?
Attachments
I would let him sand blast it off ONLY! Do not let him reapply it! While you are working him to do the work be on the look out for someone to do a plaster job. Yes it will cost more but.....................
If that’s a picture of the person who applied the finish, then I think I might see the problem here 
Lol. I finally figured out how to delete it! And the contractors’ behavior is unfortunately about on that level!
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Just wondering why the pool is entirely unusuable while you fight over the fix? Is it just cosmetically bad or is there an underlying structural problem too?? Did this Ecofinish installer also do the base plaster? Cause that looks pretty darn shabby.
I hate to think of you not being able to use the pool at all??
Maddie
I hate to think of you not being able to use the pool at all??
Maddie
The contractor has already drained the pool in an attempt to sandblast finish off and re do. Draining was as far as he got. And now has disappeared. Yes he has done everything on pool to date. We have contacted an attorney mainly to make sure that we can legally break the contract amd try to find another contractor to finish (although the contract finish date stated 7/3/19 but evidently that means nothing!). At this point after reading all the negativity about Ecofinish I would rather not use it!
It is empty right now??? Okay so here is what I need to say to you..............fill it back up!! NOW! As our rainy season comes up you risk the shell popping up from the ground water when there is a big rain.
It will take almost no time to empty it again when you find someone to remove that mess.
Now here is something I want to say..........I wonder what the plaster under that will look like after that is sandblasted off??? You might get lucky in that looks okay and can give you some time to figure out what you want to do in the long run.
Now run out there and throw a hose in the pool!
While you are waiting for it to fill up take a look at this:Test Kits Compared These are the test kits we trust and use in our pools. I think the TF-100 is the best bang for the buck as it has more of the regents we use most often. Look in my siggy below for the link to where to buy it from.
Kim
It will take almost no time to empty it again when you find someone to remove that mess.
Now here is something I want to say..........I wonder what the plaster under that will look like after that is sandblasted off??? You might get lucky in that looks okay and can give you some time to figure out what you want to do in the long run.
Now run out there and throw a hose in the pool!
While you are waiting for it to fill up take a look at this:Test Kits Compared These are the test kits we trust and use in our pools. I think the TF-100 is the best bang for the buck as it has more of the regents we use most often. Look in my siggy below for the link to where to buy it from.
Kim
- Jul 16, 2012
- 7,204
- Pool Size
- 27000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I'd be planning for a chip-out of all of the plaster and redo with a pebble finish or whatever plaster based finish floats your boat. Take the hit, recoup what you can, and enjoy your pool. Crappy choice but that's where my mind would be. If that's not financially in the cards, then a different approach may be needed.
What would you recommend for a remodel on a fiberglass pool if not the ecofinish product?
- Jul 16, 2012
- 7,204
- Pool Size
- 27000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
One of our experts opined on this here. Have the surface professionally refinished.
Gelcoat Repair/Renew/Refinish for Fiberglass Pool Finish Gone Chalky
Gelcoat Repair/Renew/Refinish for Fiberglass Pool Finish Gone Chalky