Are you planning to invest in a pool replaster? If so, the best decision would be to choose a plaster finish that will last longer than the current plaster has lasted in your pool. Choosing white plaster is not a good investment for a pool replaster. White plaster will not last more than 5 years. By that we mean when it is 5 years old, it will look double its age and be nearly worn out in visual appearance. The companies that offer white plaster in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area will be the same companies guaranteed to be using a homebrew bond coat to improperly secure your investment to the substrate.
This pool has been replastered 2 times with our Hydro Demo Replaster process in less than 3 years. When you own the company you can change your mind once or twice. Especially when you own the best prep process on the market.
The latest finish in the pool is Arctic Coast, from Universal Cement, and it is a keeper. It was drained in January during freezing temps to polish the surface after 3 seasons of use. Doing this gives it the look of a brand new finish with Arctic Coast. The telling part of this story is the polishing of this surface with the pool empty during freezing temps for 2 days. The gentlemen in the picture are well traveled experts in plaster finishes from Universal Cement. They came to Carrollton, TX to help me with this process. Kelly, with Universal Cement, told me not a single inch of my plaster was hollow. In reality I knew that, but I love to hear that from someone with whom I hold so much respect for.
This would be a major gamble to try with any other replaster prep process(bond coat or chip out). Considering the pool had been replastered 2 times and was drained and left empty during freezing overnight temperatures.
We guarantee our prep process to not be hollow. Our Hydro Demo Replaster process is unmatched in the pool industry. G&B is now going to start offering our Hydro Demo Replaster process for hire to other contractors for their prep jobs.
Are you planning to invest in a pool replaster? If so, the best decision would be to choose a plaster finish that will last longer than the current plaster has lasted in your pool. Choosing white plaster is not a good investment for a pool replaster. White plaster will not last more than 5 years. By that we mean when it is 5 years old, it will look double its age and be nearly worn out in visual appearance. The companies that offer white plaster in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area will be the same companies guaranteed to be using a homebrew bond coat to improperly secure your investment to the substrate.
The most important part of a pool replaster is the surface preparation. How will the new plaster be bonded to the substrate? Most companies think this is the least important part of a replaster. Most, if not all of them, use homebrew bond coats. The primary component of homebrew bond coats is glue. Cheap glue. Companies use homebrew bond coats to be able to save the most money possible on their replaster jobs. They use the cheapest glue they can get. They use glue that is not designed to be submerged in water.
Pool plaster is not waterproof. It is water tight. Pool plaster is semi-permeable, water will get to the back of the plaster. Once water gets through the plaster, it goes to work on the worthless homebrew bond coat. If by chance the plaster was bonded to the homebrew bond coat, the water will re-emulsify it. That means your plaster is no longer secured to the pool shell. A hollow spot will develop. Water will continue to separate the plaster bond and discolor the new pool replaster investment. Overtime unexplained water loss, stains, and black algae will develop.
Homebrew bond coats must be removed from our industry. They simply do not work. The companies that use them do so to save money for themselves, not for the pool owner. If you get a quote for pool replaster, demand that they give you a 5 year warranty. Otherwise what is the point of spending your money with them?
Pools crack for several reasons… but how do you repair them? To understand who you should hire to perform crack repair in your pool you must understand these simple issues. First of all, there is no such thing as “just a plaster crack”. All pool cracks are structure cracks. Second all pool cracks leak. It may not be a fast leak, like a tub drain, but it definitely is a leak. It should be dealt with sooner rather than later. The pool gunite or substrate is not watertight. If the plaster has a crack, it means the pool has a leak. Once the plaster is cracked the pools’ ability to be watertight is compromised. There is an exception, homebrew bond coats allow the pool water to separate the outer plaster from the under plaster layer. When that happens a debonded hollow spot in the outer plaster layer can crack due to pressure from the water between the plaster layers. These cracks generally look like spider webs or crow foot pattern cracks. Homebrew bond coats do not work.
Pool crack repair cannot be done with much success without understanding these issues. Most repair techs offer epoxy as the repair option, these same companies also use homebrew bond coats. To understand how to successfully repair pool cracks you must realize that the crack is always a symptom of a larger problem. If you simply repair the crack with just epoxy you most likely will not be addressing the issue that caused the crack at all. There is a very good chance that epoxy alone will not repair a crack at all. Pool water has Total Dissolved Solids. A crack that is leaking will have that same TDS inside the crack. The epoxy works well, only if it bonds to clean concrete. The likelihood that a pool crack in 5 year old pool will not be contaminated is slim and none. It definitely won’t be clean concrete. That is why most techs include a coat of polyurethane over the crack repair in case the epoxy fails. This is also why crack repair with epoxy should not be done without also incorporating quality staples. G&B uses our own propriety pool staples for crack repair. They are the only staples on the market that properly address the goal of including staples in crack repair.
White plaster is not good. It is too easily damaged by unbalanced pool water.
White plaster is not a good investment.
Standard white plaster is not a good finish to invest in for your pool replaster.
White plaster used to be the most common type of finish installed. This changed after testing showed the standard plaster was too easily damaged by out of balance water. Standard plaster is a combination of white marble dust and white Portland cement. The marble dust registers less than a 3.0 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness. It is a very soft material. Portland cement registers around a 2.0 on the same scale. Standard plaster can be colored by adding pigment to achieve a desired color. It must be mentioned that doing this will result in an upgraded standard finish in expense, but you will not receive an upgrade in quality equal to the expense. Standard plaster is the weakest plaster finish on the market. It cannot stand up to water chemistry imbalances and generally will last 5 years with proper balanced water chemistry. Far less in unbalanced water chemistry. How long a finish will last is a relative term. I refer to that as how long it will be enjoyable relative to how rough it has become or how easily it is stained.
Many homeowners and pool service companies will acid wash their white plaster pools in an attempt to remove stains. This is the worst thing you can do to a standard plaster! When standard pool plaster is acid washed, the acid oxidizes the marble dust and the cement, effectively removing the outer finish coat of the plaster. Leaving behind the rough inner matrix of the finish. Initially stains are removed and the plaster is bright white. But due to the roughness left behind stains return very quickly. The finish becomes so rough you will no longer enjoy the pool.
Marble dust aggregate, used in standard plaster, placed in a glass beaker will oxidize completely to a liquid when combined with acid in a very short time, about 30 seconds. The acid is used to simulate aggressive water. When the same test is done with quartz and pebble, there is zero reaction at all.
My Hydro Demo Prep Process has allowed me to see how strong different types of plaster finishes are relative to how they respond to our 40,000 PSI test. I see consistent evidence from insight I have gained over the last 5 years water jetting pools on surfaces of all types, that white plaster should not be used in swimming pools.
If you want your pool plaster finish to last for a long time, do not use standard plaster. Choose a quartz finish or a pebble finish. Make sure it is installed by a National Plasterers Council member. Choosing one of those finishes and allowing someone who is not a NPC member to install it for you, will not provide you the results I expect you to receive, especially if they use a homebrew bond coat. I will expand on the different quartz finishes options in my post next week.
