GlassCoat Resurfacing

[Mackhatter]

For those who might have become tired of my ruminating about my less-than-ideal plaster on my one year old pool, fret no more. I was just as tired myself. Seemed like every time I used the pool, in the back of my mind I knew it wasn’t right and the PB wasn’t interested in addressing it. That would be a builder whose name rhymes with the cooking shortening Crisco in the Seattle area.

I found a local pool service guy closer to my location and once I was confident of his ability and business ways, I contracted him to do a spray and seal of the original plaster with the GlassCoat system. No more blotchy plaster leaching calcium into the water. No more bulk acid purchases. As you can see, I’m refilling the pool and they are just masking the safety edge stripes on the steps. As I live with the product, I’ll report back on my experience. If anyone has a question, just send me a conversation. And oh yes, for the 18x38 pool the bill was $15k. For me, being A-R, it was money well spent.

 

[ajw22]

Look nice. Let us know how it works out.

Update your signature with your new pool surface.

 

[borjis]

sounds like an alternative to aquabright and just as expensive?

Did they use a flame thrower looking device to bake it in?

 

[Oly]

Please explain the procedure for us. Did you get any pics during the process?

 

[Mackhatter]

I researched all of my possible options. As far as price comparisons, they’re all about the same. They know what a re-plaster job would cost and priced all of them accordingly. I actually don’t have photos because the process was so simple. After I drained the pool, they came in and covered everything up. Then they removed the lights and fixtures and gave the surface a once-over visually. Since the surface of the plaster was still in good shape(just etched and mottled in some spots, all they did was a quick rough sanding by hand and then gave everything an acid rinse. They came back the next day and carefully masked the tile and covered the coping and then applied two coats of epoxy primer using paint rollers. There’s a lot of sitting at this point waiting for the primer to dry. They let the primer dry and harden overnight and came in to apply the finish coat the next day. The finish coat is a resin/catalyst mixture applied from a gun at room temperature. In the mixture are ultra fine and small bits of fiberglass which mix in the resin and provide much of the strength and stability. You can tint the finish whatever color you like. I went with the plain vanilla white color (actually an off white). They spray a first coat, let it dry and come back for the final finish coat. They let this harden and then inspect for any areas that need touching up. The touch-up is done with the resin on a paint roller. The touched up areas blended perfectly. Many of the original plaster swirls when it was worked are now leveled out. The hardened surface has the feel of a medium orange peel finish.

As the pool fills, the water is taking on a robin egg blue color. You can usually begin filling the pool the evening of the finish spray day. Before I decided on the product, I was given a sample of it applied to a piece of thin Masonite. I tried to bend the small sample- not happening. I tried to break off a piece of the product. I couldn’t.

Hope this answered your questions. I’d b happy to answer any others now that I am not fretting about my plaster.

Have a great weekend, all!

Bill

 

[Mackhatter]

 

[borjis]

wow, up close it looks like a thick application of wall texture. neat!
Good choice on the white too, as it may have mottled with color as most other finishes do.

 

[sktn77a]

Nice job. Pity you had to spend another $15k on a new pool, though.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I would say as long as you keep your chemistry in check, the surface should hold up very well. This appears to be an indoor pool so that’s a much more forgiving environment. A more realistic assessment would be using their process on an outdoor pool where chlorine and UV will vary more. It’s basically an epoxy-resin surface with embedded fiberglass for mechanical strength. My main concern would be chalking of the surface over time with harsh UV exposure. In your case, with no UV, that’s not really a concern.

 

[Mackhatter]

Thanks all,

Yes, being indoor, it will have the most benign of environments. Since I have a good relationship with the applicator, I’ll ask about outdoor pools. I might get a more candid answer since it wouldn’t apply to me anyway. I’ll ask some specific questions in order to answer any member questions. I have about 12” more before it’s full. They come out tomorrow to balance the water and then I’m back to my TFP regimen which has served me quite well.

 

[Mackhatter]

For those wanting to know more about GlassCoat and my project, the contractor did a promo video using my project. Here It is...

Those owners wondering about the UV stability, the finisher said that it was designed for outdoor commercial pools. It has UV inhibitors and protection added into the formula.

He says commercial hot tubs are the worst. Plaster hot tubs get a service life of about 3 years as plaster. GlassCoat guarantees 15 years in those applications. He said pools are indefinite.