I have a about ten year old IGP with screen enclosure and a lot of the deck is in shade and it has giant mildew problems. I spray it with diluted bleach and pressure wash about twice a year and it comes pretty clean but evrytbime I remove some surface and it's a pain in the butt. Any thoughts on sealing it and making it less hysroscopic . I don't necessary want to change color or finish just make it more durable.
Seal kool deck to reduce mildew ?
- Thread starter mneal
- Start date
- May 23, 2015
- 25,791
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Kool Deck is just an acrylic overcoat and will only hide the problem for a short period of time. Eventually the mildew will grow between the kool deck and concrete and cause the kool deck to delaminate in patches. I'd give it a couple of years if you do a really good job of cleaning and prepping the surface prior to application.
A better solution would be to use a penetrating concrete sealant like DryTreat 40SK or DuPont StoneTek. Both are fairly expensive to apply based on cost and application rate (I think the DryTreat is close to $150 per gallon) BUT the products form a very durable, water proof seal of the surface by penetrating and bonding within the concrete surface and not just sitting on top. I imagine a proper Kool Deck application by a professional will cost just as much as a DIY concrete sealing job. There can be a slight color/shade change to the concrete but the surface change should be minimal and the concrete will repel water instead of absorbing it. As always, surface prep and cleaning is absolutely essential so if you have any new mildew growths, they will have to be removed before application.
A better solution would be to use a penetrating concrete sealant like DryTreat 40SK or DuPont StoneTek. Both are fairly expensive to apply based on cost and application rate (I think the DryTreat is close to $150 per gallon) BUT the products form a very durable, water proof seal of the surface by penetrating and bonding within the concrete surface and not just sitting on top. I imagine a proper Kool Deck application by a professional will cost just as much as a DIY concrete sealing job. There can be a slight color/shade change to the concrete but the surface change should be minimal and the concrete will repel water instead of absorbing it. As always, surface prep and cleaning is absolutely essential so if you have any new mildew growths, they will have to be removed before application.
I am sorry, my post wasn't super clear, the concrete slab was kool decked when pool was built , I am looking to seal or coat that.
- May 23, 2015
- 25,791
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Ah, I see.
I think the problem is really beneath the kool deck - there is mildew there that you can't get to and it just will keep coming back. The real fix is to have the old kool deck blasted off and then clean and prep the concrete for a new finish.
Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of acrylic over concrete as I don't like the way it looks nor how dirty it gets over time. I would personally strip the kool deck and just leave the concrete beneath it and finish that with either a colorant and sealer or just a sealer. If the concrete beneath is in poor shape, well that's just a whole other can of worms to deal with.
Hopefully someone with more experience with kool deck can help you out.
Good luck.
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