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Is there a proper type of sand to use? My pool is all grey and so is my deck. will be using grey sealant, but the only grey sand i can find is polymeric paver sand. will that work?I just finished doing the 70' seam around my pool on two days when the temperature was 60 - mid 70s. It was a chore. I dug out the old mastic and the old backer material (turned out to be the easier part), cleaned the edges, put masking tape on both sides of the crack, and installed new backer rod all the way round, primed the edges, and poured. Several things ... the oscillating tool was only used a couple of times, as my mastic had pretty much come loose at the edges. A painter's knife was very helpful in removing the mastic where it was still sticking. Stubborn areas required the oscillating tool.
Putting in the backer rod was another story. My pool is 30 years old and things have shifted a bit. In some places the crack was close to 1/2". In other places it was closer to 1". So after returning the 3/4" backer rod to Lowe's I ordered on line 1" backer rod. I made that work all the way round and in some places it was a squeeze. I made a tamping tool out of a small board and that helped me adjust the depth of the top of the backer rod. I started out measuring to get 1/4" but that become to much trouble and I eyeballed most of it in terms of how far to push the backer rod down. To make things more complicated, the coping and the deck in several places were al slightly different levels, meaning a self-leveling compound was bound to leave some edges exposed. Nothing to be done about that.
I used masking tape all the way round on both sides of the open slot. Very important!!! You will be dripping the goop all over the place when putting it into the groove, and you'll spend a lot of time wiping the stuff off the coping or deck if you don't use making tape. I recommend the wide contractor's stuff at the hardware store.
I decided to use primer just to try and make sure the stuff stuck to the edges and sealed. The manufacturer provided NO information about how long it takes the primer to become "tacky" (they recommend you pour the sealing compound while the primer is tacky and they say do NOT let it dry), nor do they tell you how long the stuff stays viable in the can once the harding agent is added (it's a two-part mix). So, I wound up doing 10' at a time, which took longer, and there were times when I am sure the stuff was wet when I poured the self-leveling compound in. You also have to be careful and not use too much primer because it melts the backer rod. I wonder after the fact if it is worth it to bother with the primer. Time will tell.
I poured sand onto the sealing compound after I finished a 10' stretch. I don't know if that is a good idea or not, but my previous installer did this and it gives a nice finish. Again, may not be worth the $5 for a bag of sand and the effort. VERY IMPORTANT! Do not let the compound set up before you remove the tape. In fact, remove it once a section has been poured. Once it is skinned over and you start pulling the tape, you will have a real mess on you hands!
But, I encountered a really annoying problem along the way. I bought my Deck-O-Seal HS-1 SL and the primer from Mudsupply.com. I should have known the price was too good to be true. I had four packs of the stuff for my job. In all four packages I encountered problems with either what looked like fibers, plastic sheeting, or half setup plugs of compound that jammed the nozzle. It was a real hassle. When I finally finished the job I looked at the expiration date and it showed Jan. 2020 as the expiration date. (The date I bought it if you are reading this in the future.) Mudsupply had sold me outdated sealant, and my conjecture is the clogging materials were sealant that had begun to set up over time if the packs were stores in a fixed position. The other problem was the resin in the sealant had separated, giving a marbled appearance when the stuff was poured into the crack. Whether this will be noticeable or not remains to be seen. In short, if you buy from Mudsupply, demand that they do not sell you stale or expired materials. I have filed a complaint.
One other tip. They don't tell you this, but the top of the sealant bag has a little plastic ring underneath the threads of the cap. You must cut the white ring off of the bag with a carpet knife or pocket knife before the nozzle will screw all the way down on the top of the bag. Otherwise the nozzle won't screw on all the way, causing a leak. Annoying. Also, just cut the nozzle off as far up as possible. You will need that level of flow of sealant out of the bag.
Tools you will need: Deck-O-Seal type and color of your choice, P/G primer (if you decide to use it), a brush for the primer, painter's knife, oscillating tool is helpful but maybe not required, depending, a blunt & wide tamping tool of some kind to push the backer rod into the crack (I made one from a scrap piece of lumber), some cloth or paper towels to clean up mistakes, masking tape, backer rod that is wider than the crack (1/4" bigger is ideal), sealant (I like the stuff I used because it didn't have to be mixed with a curing agent), some sand if you decide to use that as a toping (I would NOT use in the crack it to try and level or fill either underneath or over the top of the backing rod), a putty knife may help push the backer rod in, and a wire brush to clean the edges. I used the painter's knife to remove the old backing material.
Good luck! Not for the faint of heart. It's not something I would probably choose to do again. ps Pictures are available upon request.
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