Renovation tips for eastern PA (philly burbs)

[jp4120]

my pool is about 22 years old and overdue for an overhaul - cement decking is cracked - pool plaster stained in spots.

1. my thoughts are if you replace the deck, you then redo the coping, redo the pool plaster, redo the raised stone spa.
2. i want thoughts of TFP members - have talked to anthony-sylvan and blue haven in the past 12 months
3. my questions include
   1. pavers vs stamped concrete vs a combination of things? (we have cement - lots of cracks in the main patio space - half baked job by installer not putting enough expansion joints in a large area)
   2. coping - brick or coping blocks or cantilevered ? (we have cantilevered - several pool facing areas cracked and had to be patched with pool epoxy)
   3. pool finish - anything in particular to look for/avoid?
   4. filter and heater are fairly new so would keep - i assume get a salt chlorine converter.

any tips would be greatly appreciated

 

[danthedieselman75]

how is your piping in your pool that age? my pool is a similar age but is only 1.5 inches piping. wondering if I should update the piping when we renovate.

 

[jp4120]

i am not sure, the above ground pvc has held up ok, i would probably ask the renovation company's opinion.
have you spoken to any renovation companies? are you considering pavers or just redo concrete for your deck? i am sick of cement but wondering how pavers will hold up in a typical winter.

 

[danthedieselman75]

We haven't yet gotten quotes for estimates.. only spoke to our pool guy about in when he opened the pool.

 

[jp4120]

i talked to premier pools renovation from plymouth mtg area - they don't do decking - but said to remove and replace my cement would be too much $ (i have about 1500 sq feet of cement) so they recommend resurfacing via a separate company independent of their job, but have to keep cantilevered coping.
They are ballparking quartz based plaster and tile for about $15K to $20k...just a rough over the phone, google earth estimate.

 

[danthedieselman75]

Wow that is getting pricey. That is more than I would have expected for a plaster job.

 

[Cavachar]

Hello all,
I’m new here but we are in the process of having our pool renovated now in the Atlanta area. Pool is rectangular 15’ x 35’.
We have have replaced the water line tiles with Italian 6” porcelain tiles, replaced the old brick coping with 2” thick flagstone, and had the cement decking replaced with pavers, as well as added a 10x10 tanning ledge. The plaster will be redone later this week with Stonescapes tropics blue mini pebbles. We also replaced the 2 skimmers. Total cost is $24,500.

 

[jp4120]

Hello all,
I’m new here but we are in the process of having our pool renovated now in the Atlanta area. Pool is rectangular 15’ x 35’.
We have have replaced the water line tiles with Italian 6” porcelain tiles, replaced the old brick coping with 2” thick flagstone, and had the cement decking replaced with pavers, as well as added a 10x10 tanning ledge. The plaster will be redone later this week with Stonescapes tropics blue mini pebbles. We also replaced the 2 skimmers. Total cost is $24,500.

Price of $24,500 does seem good but can you tell me your square footage of cement decking you had replaced. Atlanta area prices are usually lower than the eastern PA area. since i have cantilevered coping i would have to demo the entire deck to replace the coping.

also is anyone familiar with Sundek concrete coatings for a pool deck? they only give a 2 yr warranty which seems short. i am seeing mixed reviews but wanted opinions on what to do with a large amount of concrete decking that is not level, doesn't drain properly and is discolored with some cracks. i didn't want to keep the cantilevered but may have to.

premier pools told me that to demo and replace 1500 sq ft concrete decking including new coping would cost $20,000 to $30,000.
i wouldn't replace the entire deck space with concrete - the walkway around the pool i would prob reduce from 6 ft to 4 ft and main sitting area would reduce from 20x20 to 15x20 and supplement with crushed stone.
the alternative for approx $7500 is keep the exact footprint and cover with Sundek - so am looking for comments - also i have concerns about putting coatings on the bullnose cantilevered coping - seems to be a source of consumer complaints with this product.

 

[Cavachar]

The pool originally had a 3’ cement boarder between the brick coping and the existing pavers, so about 300 ft2 of new pavers were added. It was impossible to match the existing 5 year old pavers, but it turned out pretty well.

 

[jp4120]

ok i was off on the square footage of my existing pool deck concrete - today SunDek came out and measured ~850 square feet
They apply 5 layers of aggregate after prepping the old deck - since i have cantilevered coping they take it over the coping down to the tile line - also they put scorelines over the existing hairline cracks and say that the cracks will come back in the new material but will not be noticeable with the scorelines.
estimate is about $6400 plus extra $300 if i want a 'runner' around the pool to mimic a coping line with a different color - comes with a 2 year warranty for labor & materials - salesrep/owner says won't have issues for 15 years.

while trying to decide about SunDek i also need to get an onsite estimate for plaster and tile replacement
- i was thinking both jobs should be scheduled similar time lines either post Sep 15 in the fall or next spring 4/15 to 5/15
- but also considering just getting the decking done this season - takes 3 or 4 days - can swim after last day

i'd be interested if anyone has opinions or has heard anything about the SunDek process, its not epoxy its an aggregate that bonds with the existing concrete.

 

[Caracbeara]

ok i was off on the square footage of my existing pool deck concrete - today SunDek came out and measured ~850 square feet
They apply 5 layers of aggregate after prepping the old deck - since i have cantilevered coping they take it over the coping down to the tile line - also they put scorelines over the existing hairline cracks and say that the cracks will come back in the new material but will not be noticeable with the scorelines.
estimate is about $6400 plus extra $300 if i want a 'runner' around the pool to mimic a coping line with a different color - comes with a 2 year warranty for labor & materials - salesrep/owner says won't have issues for 15 years.

while trying to decide about SunDek i also need to get an onsite estimate for plaster and tile replacement
- i was thinking both jobs should be scheduled similar time lines either post Sep 15 in the fall or next spring 4/15 to 5/15
- but also considering just getting the decking done this season - takes 3 or 4 days - can swim after last day

i'd be interested if anyone has opinions or has heard anything about the SunDek process, its not epoxy its an aggregate that bonds with the existing concrete.

I’m totally interested in this thread because we’re also renovating our old pool and we live in the same area. The price we were quoted sounds similar to yours. We’re trying to decide between brick or concrete cantilever coping. What are you go in go with? What finish?

 

[jp4120]

we have cantilevered coping not coping stones, so to change that out as part of the SunDek work would be a big job and at that point may as well redo the plaster and tile. Ideally we would do the plaster and tile work first, (about $20k because we have a raised fieldstone spa with 8 jets so its pretty big.....of course the mortar cracks every year so i would want to pull it apart and redo it as part of this job.)

The other thing is.....cantilevered is a pain but its probably another $5k to cut it out and replace it with coping stones. my cantilevered cement developed hairline and small cracks all over the place within 5 years that i had to fix with fox epoxy.....so its manageable and i don't notice it. But a pool guy i talked to said he would always use coping stones (but cantilevered is cheaper by about $3k to $5k)

So my plaster and tile for 23yo pool looks pretty good......so i am caught in a decision here.....should i just do the sundek and see how the cantelivered turns out (they would have to scrape off the putty i have there, fill in the cracks, paint on the sundek.and i am not confident they wouldn't screw that up somehow. or wait a couple years and do the entire thing? complicating the fact is we are 64 and 60....so we would want to do it within a year or 2 vs 5 years.

i have attached a couple pics....Does anyone on here have any feedback? anyone know someone that has installed SunDek on a cantilevered deck? anyone have any evidence of how Sundek looks after 5 years?....thanks in advance.