Finishing coat. coating, coat – a thin layer covering something; “a second coat of paint” plaster – a mixture of lime or gypsum with sand and water; hardens into a smooth solid; used to cover walls and ceilings.
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?
100% Quartz Finishes Are Good Investments. Quartz aggregate finishes are armed to stand up to water chemistry imbalances far better than standard plaster or 50% quartz finishes. Especially if the aggregate is 100% quartz. In an acid test where the quartz is submerged in acid, the quartz is completely unaffected. There is no reaction. The acid test is meant to simulate aggressive water in your pool. From that test you can see that a 100% quartz finish is going to perform very well in a pool environment.
G&B has proven the best finishes in the pool industry are either a 100% quartz aggregate or a pebble finish. We have proven that with the use of our 40,000 PSI Water Jetting machine. This is not your typical scientific test. Over the last 5 years we have replastered over 1500 pools with our Hydro Demo Replaster process. We pass over every square inch of the pool surface with up to 40,000 psi. The pool finishes that wilted/gave up the most under our 40,000 PSI test were standard plaster and finishes that did not have 100% Quartz or pebble as the aggregate. Pools that had more than 50% quartz or pebble did much better in our 40,000 psi test.
G&B chooses to offer the best bang for your buck finish on the market for our 100% quartz finish option. Sparkle Quartz is our quartz aggregate finish of choice. We are able to pump and trowel the Sparkle Quartz without adding any additives. That is not the case with the other options on the market for quartz aggregates. A finish that can be pumped through a hose, regardless of the hose length, and troweled without adding additives will outperform those that cannot.
We have been offering Sparkle Quartz since 2008 and have had nothing but satisfied customers who have chosen it. In addition to having 100% quartz it also features a high performance patented cement. G&B prefers to install the best finishes on top of our hydro demo replaster prep for our customers and Sparkle Quartz meets that requirement easily.
Pozzolans are siliceous or siliceous and aluminous materials found in geologic deposits and are an effective method used to improve the quality of cement.
Pozzolans additions to the cement in plaster finishes were tested at the National Pool Industry Research Center (NPIRC). The testing was done to see if the addition of pozzolans improved the performance of the finish, if at all. Pozzolans were also evaluated to determine if they improved the performance of standard plaster.
The Pozzolan additions to plaster were shown to reduce surface deterioration by up to 30% when compared to standard plaster without pozzalons. This is very important information as the cement in a plaster mix is generally the weakest link as measured by the Mohs Scale of hardness.
Cement manufactures were charged with making their manufacturing process of cement “greener” to the environment. This created a challenge in the pool plaster industry. Manufactures were allowed to use “filler” material in the production of cement to achieve this goal. This does not have much effect on the cement used for sidewalks and driveways, but pool plaster is all together a different animal. Pool plaster has to stand up to the most powerful element in the world, water. Chemically treated water to boot.
Adding pozzolans to these “greener” cements many not give you the results those tests proved at Cal Poly, but your plaster investment will benefit from using them.
Most plaster companies utilize the least expensive cement to reduce their expenses. They do not utilize the valuable information the NPIRC produced during the extensive testing done at Cal Poly. The testing done at Cal Poly is invaluable to a plaster company that intends to improve their services they provide to their customer base.
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.
Thank you for visiting our new web presence! G&B Tile and Plaster is a professional swimming pool sub-contractor specializing in pool replastering and more, serving Ft. Worth, Arlington, Carrollton, Dallas, Flower Mound, Frisco and Plano, who would love the opportunity to earn your business. Please feel free to browse our website and learn more about our tile and coping installations, custom stonework and plaster finishes for swimming pools for both new construction projects and backyard renovations. For more information, please browse our website, like us on Facebook, subscribe to our blog, visit us on Google+ & YouTube.
