Looking for replaster recommendation for Los Angeles area

[balagon]

I've been pushing off the inevitable for a few years, but the time has come to get the pool replastered, along with new waterline tile. I've been looking through the forum for any recommendations of builders or replasterers in the area, but no luck. We have a roughly 20x40 oval-ish IG gunite pool with plaster finish and attached spa. We are starting to see some patches of plaster come off on the pool bottom in the shallow end, and there are about 10 linear feet of waterline tile missing.

Part of my foot-dragging is that I'd also like to
1) make the pool deck all one flat level, instead of having the last 2-3 feet of decking being 6 inches higher than the lower level, which would mean that I'd also need to
2) install new paving, and probably coping for the pool, but then I could
3) lay down track for an auto-cover so that I don't have to do battle with the solar bubble wrap cover.
but that's a big chunk of change to lay down all at once, and other things keep coming up. I know it would be cheaper to do all of the above at once, but that might not be in the budget.

On the positive side, the (DE) filter, heater and pump are a few years old and in good shape.

Are there any SoCal forumites who have suggestions for companies that do a good replastering job? Or, can people tell me where to look on the forum for suggestions?

Thanks for any pointers!

 

[Guest]

I don't work for them (disclaimer!), but you could call Gardner Pool Plastering (www.gardnerpoolplastering.com). They have been in business down in San Diego for 40 years and bought Mission Plastering up there a few years back. See if you can get Mark Feldstein to come see you (he manages that office , and his Dad is the Publisher/Editor of MAD Magazine. Mark's a good guy and he'll treat you right.). They offer plaster, hydrazzo and PebbleTec.

 

[balagon]

I think the MAD magazine connection alone is a good enough endorsement! :-D Thanks very much.

 

[Guest]

You'll enjoy Mark if you can get him, although the 2 Tom's are good guys as well. They may not be the cheapest, but they do stand behind their work and will do a great job for you. You should be able to hammer on them a little bit on pricing if you find comparable companies significantly less. The plaster industry is very slow currently, so they will "bargain" on pricing at this time (that's between you and I, so don't tell them I told you ).

 

[Marauder]

I am in OC, and saw this post, so I called up Gardener and they are coming out to give me a quote next week.
Am hoping I can work some money around so I can get my pool up and running! Thanks for posting the info. I'ved talked to some pool builders and got a feel for the prices, but is hard to find a good company when you just buy a house and never had a pool before.

 

[Guest]

I spoke to Mark last week and told him some folks from TFP may be calling him and to treat them right Tell him Bruce told you to call and that I'll be up to thump on him if I hear anything but good

 

[Marauder]

Cool, since I am in the OC are, one of the Tom's is going to come to my house to go over my pool and work on the quote.

 

[Marauder]

Just met with Tom Hagan today at my house to work on the estimate for my pool job.

Nice guy and I am looking forward to seeing their quote tomorrow.

I like his suggestion on my tiny spa. Since its meant for MAYBE two people, like one person my size, or two people if you are small, like my wife. Since I am also missing a pool heater, it must have broke and the old owners removed it and never replaced it, Tom said to just knock down the wall and just have a swim-up seating area.

I attached a pic...you can see my tiny spa in the middle of the pool and on the right.

I'll have to start my own thread once I decide to move forward with this project.

 

[Guest]

If you are not spa people (I'm not; I use my spa maybe twice a year!), then knocking out the wall and making it more usable is a great idea. You'll save the cost of having to buy a heater also, so you win all the way around!

I've spoken to Tom several times and he seems like a good guy. Beat up on him a little bit for good measure!