Resurface (pebble) without chipping plaster??

[my1stpool]

A little background; one thing led to another and we decided to have our pool and deck remodeled. Bought the house 2 yrs ago, foreclosure and sat empty a few years before that. The pool surface and tile needed some help...Well, one month ago our neighbors tree fell and crushed our screen enclosure. Insurance company to the rescue, and we figured why not freshen up the pool and deck before the new screen enclosure gets installed.

Pool and house built in 1967. I have reason to believe we still have the original waterline tile, as the original owners seemed to have done nothing to the house. We moved in with the original 1967 Rheem water heater still working!! (it's been replaced already ) and seems like the pool was re-plastered at least once.

That replaster job is failing. However, I was under the impression our PB was having this layer of plaster all chipped out...but today he said they just chip the loose areas and below the tile line and drain/returns. I said there must be 100 spots were it is loose. He said they will chip those away. Well, I tried some myself and it seems like it's just loose everywhere. He said they are doing a bond coat and will pebble over the existing plaster that is not loose...Also, we are having a beach and deep end swimout installed....And now I'm wondering if they were going to feather the gunite into the existing plaster?? Doesn't seem right to me. PB been in business here since the 80's with good reviews...

The orange paint was done by me to show where I wanted the beach, etc added.

The holes you see were done by me picking at it with a screwdriver

The surface under the failing plaster, which may be original, seems solid and in good condition

Our first pool , and first remodel so I'm confused!!

Pics attached[attachment=1:3cta4gyj]IM003018small.jpg[/attachment:3cta4gyj]

 

[JamesW]

I think that the tile and all of the plaster down to the gunite should be removed and redone. What's happening with the deck and coping?

 

[my1stpool]

We are replacing all the tile. It is bullnosed now, but we are going with a standard 6x6 tile and acrylic knockdown deck refinish which will be rounded up to the edge of the tile;similar to how it is now. No actual separate "coping"

Here is a better picture of the current tile/deck area

 

[my1stpool]

This may sound a bit crazy or unconventional, but we like more of a contemporary look. Thats why we took down the wood paneling in the family room and replaced it with drywall painted bright white :-D

The pebble finish will be midnight blue, with plain gloss white tile and an 18-20" white (painted/surfaced) color band around the perimeter of pool, and the rest of the deck painted to match the house (sandstone color) White scupper fountain, beach area, and deep end swimout

Kind of like these pools:

 

[Lana537]

I'm no expert, but I will tell you that our PB chipped out every square inch of plaster, down to the concrete of our pool, before the plaster company installed the PebbleTec. They had originally planned to include a bond coat, but did not. I'll never know why.

I don't recall ever in three years here at TFP reading a post from someone who had only a partial chip out with their replastering. I could be wrong--hopefully more people will post soon.

Lana

 

[JamesW]

It's somewhat unusual for the deck to be flush with the tile like that. Is the deck going to be built up much higher or is it only going to get a thin resurfacing product?

 

[my1stpool]

Just a thin resurface. There are a lot of old pools here (central florida) that were built that way. To add a poured coping would have required the deck to be cut back quite a ways and re-poured, or, pavers and coping, both of which were cost-prohibitive to us.

 

[JasonLion]

A full chip out and re-plaster is almost always the best way to go, and that is doubly true if the current plaster is delaminating. You can plaster over, but in addition to leaving a somewhat no flat surface in places that also inherits any unseen problems there might be from the remaining areas of old plaster.

 

[my1stpool]

Seems like a lot of plastering companies are using this "newer" way of only removing the hollow spots, then bondcoat then plaster, however I have been reading this is acceptable for plaster but not for pebble...I'll be talking with the PB tomorrow.

 

[JamesW]

It's not a newer method. Part of the problem is that when the pool was previously replastered, there was no bond coat applied before replastering. You might be OK just removing the top coat, applying a bond coat and then replastering if the bottom layer of plaster is structurally sound, but I think that it would be best to go down to gunite.

I think that you will have nothing but trouble if at least the top layer of plaster is not completely removed.

 

[DBfan187]

I've always seen them chip out all of the delaminated/hollow spots and 3 inches below the tile line and around the drains and returns, bondkote, then replaster.

 

[JamesW]

I've always seen them chip out all of the delaminated/hollow spots and 3 inches below the tile line and around the drains and returns, bondkote, then replaster.

That might be OK if it's the first replaster and most of the plaster is well bonded. This pool has been replastered at least once, and from what I can tell, most of the plaster is delaminated or has a very weak bond.

 

[my1stpool]

Thanks for all the replies. As James and other observed, the issue is the last (crappy) plaster job. The plaster guy was out here yesterday and said they didn't use any bondcoat, which is the problem. He also said it could be 15+ years old and back then not many used bondcoat and they had, and still have 3-day resurface jobs around here where they just slap it on for cheap. Anyhow, he is resistant to chipping down to gunite but observed many cracks where this newer plaster shell is coming loose, and seems to be aware of the problem. I'll just have to stay on top of the progress here. He picked out many hollow spots... The 100+ degree heat seems to be a factor in how much work these guys are willing to do or not...But it's been just brutal here the last couple weeks, humid and hot, no breeze...They may start demo this week, so I'll keep you all posted