Help! How do I attach travertine coping on top of the built-in Spa of fiberglass pool??

C2H6O

0
May 20, 2015
3
Cincinnati, OH
I am in desperate need of help. I have a contractor putting travertine coping around a fiberglass pool. They are stumped as to what to do with the top portion of a built-in pool. The coping around the pool is mostly over top and attached to the concrete set around the pool. The "arms" of the spa coming out to a waterfall do not have the concrete base. How should coping be put on top of these two sections? (see picture below).

Also, is the best arrangement for coping to have two copings back-to-back with one coping facing out and one in? Or, is it better to just buy big tiles and have them custom cut with the curvature and coping on two sides?

The contractor wants to leave it as just bare fiberglass. My wife says she won't have the as it looks unfinished. I'm stuck in the middle again...
Spa Tops.jpg
 
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I am in desperate need of help. I have a contractor putting travertine coping around a fiberglass pool. They are stumped as to what to do with the top portion of a built-in pool. The coping around the pool is mostly over top and attached to the concrete set around the pool. The "arms" of the spa coming out to a waterfall do not have the concrete base. How should coping be put on top of these two sections? (see picture below).

Also, is the best arrangement for coping to have two copings back-to-back with one coping facing out and one in? Or, is it better to just buy big tiles and have them custom cut with the curvature and coping on two sides?

The contractor wants to leave it as just bare fiberglass. My wife says she won't have the as it looks unfinished. I'm stuck in the middle again...
View attachment 467955
You don’t want to try and stick anything to fiberglass. You didn’t get a rendering or other documentation explaining what would be done there?
 
You don’t want to try and stick anything to fiberglass. You didn’t get a rendering or other documentation explaining what would be done there?
I did not get any info and can't seem to find anything. Latham pools is unresponsive. The pool contractor doesn't seem to know anything.

*Edit: Should I attach (screw on) a screen (lath) and then attach the stone? The stone guy wants to sand the top surface and attach with silicone adhesive.
 
I would talk to the stone provider and ask them if they recommend a specific product for bonding stone (travertine) to fiberglass. You can also check with the fiberglass pool manufacturer and ask them. (Just saw your post). People hang porcelain tile on fiberglass all the time so I suspect the process will be similar. My guess is that the fiberglass surface will need to be mechanically prep’ed (sanded) to create a roughened surface and then the travertine will need to be bonded using an epoxy glue. Any joints around the edge will need to be sealed with a polyurethane mastic compound that has a similar color to any grout being used.

@mcleod is a stone pro, he may have seen this type of situation before.
 
I did not get any info and can't seem to find anything. Latham pools is unresponsive. The pool contractor doesn't seem to know anything.

*Edit: Should I attach (screw on) a screen (lath) and then attach the stone? The stone guy wants to sand the top surface and attach with silicone adhesive.
The contractor doing the decking didn’t provide any drawings or diagrams? I kinda like the way it looks now, but I didn’t write the check. 🤣

I’ll let sometime more knowledgeable about tile on fiberglass installations but any time I’ve had to deal with tiles falling off of something around the house, it was because they were installed over something that doesnt expand and contract at the same rate.
 
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