fiberglass over or replaster?

[repairman]

I have a 15x35 60's pr 70's in around gunite plaster pool that has been empty for about 5 years and has surface cracking and some delamination spots. I replumbed it, repaired any coping and tile and redid the deck. (When I replumpbed it I filled in dirt that had eroded next to the deep end wall because of water leaking between the coping and the old deck.) I chipped off the plaster along a couple suspected cracks and didn't see cracks in the gunite after misting. I bought steel staples but didn't put them in after I didn't see cracks below the plaster. One of the deep end corners settled about an inch over the years.
I've had trouble getting pool replasterers to come up to Lompoc, CA, which is out of the way, etc. I described the pool over the phone to a pool builder in Santa Barbara, CA, an hour south of me, (there are no replasterers closer than the SF Valley or Bakersfield) who said I should go with fiberglass because it's an old pool and fiberglass has more give if it settles and it is stronger if there are cracks.
The fg company that gave me an estimate is Aqua Creations out of Ventura,CA. They measured my pool by the outside edge of the coping instead of the inside edge, and they said my pool was 18x36 instead of 15x35. They multiplied that and then multiplied the product by 2 to get 1296 sq ft. Is that normal? They sent me a contract: $12,312 for glass + 2,100 standard prep + 1,000 overlay cracks with Kevlar/woven cloth + 1,800 crack treatment (up to 4 ft) =$17,212. Add another 2000 for color and another to replace the skimmer, (which I didn't want to do myself and wasn't going to) = $21,212. Seems pricey.
I don't know if they need to do Kevlar overlay or crack treatment and they said when the crew come in to prep, they will know, but it's in the contract. Is this normal? They give a 15 yr warrantee but only one year on any crack treatment.
So should I go with this fiberglass deal, which is seeming like my only option, or should I keep trying to get a replastering outfit to come?
Thanks,
Jim

 

[cowboycasey]

I would in no way do fiberglass... I would do a DIY plaster before I did fiberglass...

Have you called these guys, they are in Santa Barbara and remodel pools.. Skinner Pools

 

[Neto]

I agree with above.... Just get 4 people inside the pool, mix 90% of the plaster bags with shovels and work it

 

[repairman]

Cowboy,
Yes, Skinner Pools is the main replasterer who comes up here from Northridge in the SF Valley. Their estimator came up and surprised me one morning when I wasn't here to walk him through it. He climbed the fence, and looked at it and left. When I talked to him on the phone afterward he said he wouldn't do it and I couldn't get a clear answer why. This was about a year ago. I just called Skinner again and talked to the secretary who said probably the main reason is it's far and they don't like to come up here, especially now. She also said the estimator is not talkative but she would ask him and get back with me. The other company that might come up is Preciado from Simi Valley but they haven't got back with me, probably for the same reason. To be fair, both companies gave me an estimate in about 2017 but I didn't do it then because the project expanded to me redoing the deck, moving the spa, etc. I'll call Preciado again and see, but they never got back with me last time. So tell me your reasons for not fiberglass. These guys give a 15 year warrantee.
Thanks,
Jim

Neto,
So have you done your own pool replaster job? I mixed plaster for a couple pros who did it moonlighting in 97' (don't have their number now) and they were very skilled. We mixed it in a mixer and wheelbarrowed it to the side of the pool, and pored it into their buckets. They threw it on the walls and quickly troweled it on. I'm sure my friends and I couldn't do that well. So please describe the process a bit. Do you mix white Portland and silica sand 1:2, in a mixer? or in wheelbarrows in the pool bottom, ladders to get up on the walls of a 9' pool? (I've done that a bunch with the replumbing, tiles etc.) It should all be done all the same day, right?
Thanks,
JIm

 

[sktn77a]

I'd most certainly pass on the $20,000+ fiberglass job. Keep looking and be patient - nobody worth it will be available for some time (probably late this year early next year) but I'd definitely go with the full chip-out re-plaster.

 

[cowboycasey]

Fiberglass is bad enough when they have 4 inches of layered glass.. Trying to retrofit it on concrete that moves and cracks on its own will crack the fiberglass... The cost is also a factor... I love fiberglass boats as they work great.. I have seen horror pool installs on here and that was just a little off level in the shell...

If you really want something that will last do what I am doing and tile the whole pool.. It is about the same cost as fiberglass but it will last WAY longer... I am doing mine DIY..

 

[Neto]

Neto,
So have you done your own pool replaster job? I mixed plaster for a couple pros who did it moonlighting in 97' (don't have their number now) and they were very skilled. We mixed it in a mixer and wheelbarrowed it to the side of the pool, and pored it into their buckets. They threw it on the walls and quickly troweled it on. I'm sure my friends and I couldn't do that well. So please describe the process a bit. Do you mix white Portland and silica sand 1:2, in a mixer? or in wheelbarrows in the pool bottom, ladders to get up on the walls of a 9' pool? (I've done that a bunch with the replumbing, tiles etc.) It should all be done all the same day, right?
Thanks,
JIm

I have built two pools, but the plaster phase has been subcontracted. The first contractor did it as you described, they mixed on the mixer and used a wheelbarrow to take the mix into the pool. I did not see if they mixed the bags with sand but doubt it.. The second pool, the crew used the pmm premix marblelite (marquis miami blue) and these come in 80 lbs bags.. They used about 46 bags for a 12k pool with a spa and they just had 2 guys mixing with shovels inside the pool and two working the trowels... Whenever one of the guys with the trowels needed mix then they would ask the guys with the shovels to put some in the walls or they would trowel the mix from the bottom towards the surface. Sounds ghetto but I paid less than $4000 in Puerto Rico with the material and the job was better than the pool I paid $15k (back in the states)... At a stage of the process they used some shoes with sponges on the bottom and started polishing with some special trowels... I think it was a finishing trowel with the rounded corners...

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