Wary of cost to re-plaster. Permakote?

[aharon]

All, it's time to re-plaster my gunnite pool for the first time with me as owner, and honestly it looks like it's been 30 years since the last one. I got a quote where the 1155 sqft job seems to cost just under $7/sqft, which seems high to me, according to some national estimating websites, but that doesn't even include an additional $1800 to apply a layer of Permakote, some sort of bonding agent between the old and the new plaster.

Is that stuff for real? Is it a historically unnecessary substance included primarily to inflate the cost, or am I being cynical and ignorant and it's totally worth it?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I’d get a few more quotes. The bonding agent is a must because what they are proposing is a skim-coat process - new thin plaster layer over old layer. A much better process, but likely more expensive, is a full chip out of the old stuff and a new plaster layer. Either process will require a bonding layer to be applied.

Multiple quotes is the only way to know for sure.

 

[aharon]

Interesting, thanks. I suppose that's what they mean by "Chip hollow plaster up to 20%, if necessary" before acid washing and applying Permakote and plaster. Most generic contractor estimates that I find indicate a price range of $3 to $7 per square foot of plaster. This quote is at the top even with this cost cutting method, I wonder what the full grind-and-replace would cost.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I would not expect a full chip out and replaster to be any less than $8,000 to $10,000 in my area and that’s for basic white plaster. I also live in an area where almost every pool is a plaster pool and there are probably a half dozen or so decent plastering companies that have been in business for generations. I would imagine plaster pools are a bit more rare in your part of the country so I expect prices are higher and quality is harder to find.

Sticker shock for sure, but replastering is expensive. And, if your plaster is that old, then it’s a grade of plaster that was far more durable than what’s available today. Old plaster pools used to have asbestos in the mix which greatly improved the mechanical strength of plaster. That was phased out for obvious reasons and the materials nowadays are not nearly as long lasting. In a new install today, I wouldn’t expect plaster to look good beyond 10 years and it will be falling apart between years 15-20. If anyone got 20 years out of a plaster finish installed these days, they should count that as lucky.

 

[aharon]

This is valuable perspective. The quote offers $9170 for the surface-chip treatment, white plaster. I’m looking forward to the next quote. Btw, as you seem to have more experience than I, when a contractor asks you, “have you gotten any quotes yet,” how does that affect their calculations? What answer would cause them to lowball or to inflate?

 

[Arizonarob]

“have you gotten any quotes yet,”

If a contractor asked me that, that would be an immediate red flag. A good contractor will bid the job according to the skill and reputation for quality work they bring to the job.
To quote another member of our site....
“Quality isn’t cheap, and cheap isn’t quality”

 

[Newdude]

Also, you are getting quotes smack in the middle of PA's busy season. Anybody worth their salt already has a few months of work lined up. You may get a far better deal in the offseason when the workload slows down

 

[Geebot]

I paid $11K for a full sandblast down to gunite and replaster. The price included daily maintenance for the first 30 days (expensive but I was not home for much of the time so it was worth it). I'm in an area with very little competition, so the prices tend to start high and stay high.