Quartz amount

[AHHA]

We are refinishing a community pool (about 40 years old or more) and have gotten quite a few quotes. With the size of the pool and the amount of money, we have a choice of plaster or quartz. We have decided that quartz will likely be the answer because it seems to hold up better to chemical fluctuations, and sometimes we find out late that we didn't hire the best maintenance company. We are located in Texas.
I have a few questions that I haven't really found enough answers to.

#1. I'm seeing an option between 40% quartz (Altima Premium) or 100% quartz (Marquis Magic). Can anyone tell me the pros and cons?

#2. The cost between bond coating and stripping the pool is very different. However, we have 2 quotes specifically one that includes stripping the pool down to the concrete shell and one that would only test to see where it is necessary and strip some of the plaster, but otherwise using a bond coat. Both gave answers I've seen pop up in various threads - stripping might damage gunite vs bonding has more issues and doesn't bond well (they do offer 5-10 year warranty - so maybe this is an unnecessary worry). So what is the consensus on bonding vs stripping?

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[HermanTX]

I would definitely recommend stripping (or chipping out) the old plaster. It will provide a better surface for the new plaster to adhere to and you do not have worry about a spot that may be missed. It is labor intensive to remove the old plaster but worth it.

Don’t understand the comment that stripping may damage the gunite. You have to remove the bad parts of the plaster, plus remove all below the waterline tiles so the new plaster can be brought up to the tiles properly and around the returns. So you are stripping out the plaster regardless. Stripping out all of it doesn’t give any more damage.

 

[JamesW]

Are you doing the coping and tile at the same time?

How many layers of plaster are there?

 

[AHHA]

Thank you HermanTX. that is what I was thinking before meeting with him, but I had heard of it damaging the integrity of the gunite before on forums somewhere.
JamesW, we are redoing the tile, but not the coping at this time.
I have no idea how many layers of plaster there is. If I were to guess, I would say maximum 4?
I also do not know how it was done in the past. I can see at least one layer below this one, it is a darker blue.

Any ideas about the 40% vs. 100% quartz?

 

[HermanTX]

Any ideas about the 40% vs. 100% quartz?

The more quartz the stronger the plaster. This is a video by Wet Edge which goes through their product offering but they explain a low quartz vs. 100% quartz. Other plaster suppliers should have similar info.

Wet Edge | Product Gallery

wetedgetechnologies.com

 

[AHHA]

Thank you HermanTX