Hi Everyone,
This is my first post here but I've done a lot of reading and really appreciate all the great info here. Helped me go from having never owned a pool to being able to take care of most things myself!
Having said that, my pool is very old. Built in the 50s we think, shaped like an egg with a concrete bottom, steel sides, metal coping and concrete ledge. The equipment works and plumbing is in great shape and I have no trouble keeping the water quality right where I want it. The bad news is that the coping is rusting, the sides have some rust and the paint is failing.
We'll happily swim in it all season (What little season we have in Wisconsin, anyway) but I'm wondering what options I have for rehabbing. Specifically, I'm wondering if it can be repainted or otherwise resurfaced and if the coping + concrete ledge can be replaced. I realize this is probably a lot of work and have done enough reading to know that painting a pool is often a lost cause. I also had someone repaint the concrete ledge and a couple feet of the wall last year and mostly regret doing that because it was a real mess this spring, especially the wall. I'd say it's actually worse then before it was painted. He used rubber based paint because he said that's what was already there but to be honest there are many layers of paint so I'm not sure.
Had a couple local pool companies check it out and seems like they don't want to touch it, saying they don't make pools like this anymore and we should just save our pennies for a new pool. If that's the case so be it, but I'd like to know if anyone here has better ideas. Willing to spend some money if there is something to do that will last because for 60+ years old it's still hanging in there.
What do you think?
Tom
This is my first post here but I've done a lot of reading and really appreciate all the great info here. Helped me go from having never owned a pool to being able to take care of most things myself!
Having said that, my pool is very old. Built in the 50s we think, shaped like an egg with a concrete bottom, steel sides, metal coping and concrete ledge. The equipment works and plumbing is in great shape and I have no trouble keeping the water quality right where I want it. The bad news is that the coping is rusting, the sides have some rust and the paint is failing.
We'll happily swim in it all season (What little season we have in Wisconsin, anyway) but I'm wondering what options I have for rehabbing. Specifically, I'm wondering if it can be repainted or otherwise resurfaced and if the coping + concrete ledge can be replaced. I realize this is probably a lot of work and have done enough reading to know that painting a pool is often a lost cause. I also had someone repaint the concrete ledge and a couple feet of the wall last year and mostly regret doing that because it was a real mess this spring, especially the wall. I'd say it's actually worse then before it was painted. He used rubber based paint because he said that's what was already there but to be honest there are many layers of paint so I'm not sure.
Had a couple local pool companies check it out and seems like they don't want to touch it, saying they don't make pools like this anymore and we should just save our pennies for a new pool. If that's the case so be it, but I'd like to know if anyone here has better ideas. Willing to spend some money if there is something to do that will last because for 60+ years old it's still hanging in there.
What do you think?
Tom
