What is the best way to refinish an old swimming pool with fiberglass walls and a concrete bottom?

Answer 1

Ah the old Fiberglass wall concrete bottom redo. Here you have two surfaces to deal with plus an expansion joint! That�s what I love about these pools there is 3 times the work and if you don't get the expansion joint right it will leak and you will have to drain the pool and pull out all the joint and start over again. So I recommend you hire a professional to do the job that way you get a warranty and someone else has to fix the goof. But if you are a gluten for punishment here are some basic steps: 1. Drain the pool. IF YOU ARE IN A HIGH WATER TABLE AREA MAKE SURE THE HYDROSTATIC RELIEF VALVE IS WORKING PROPERLY OR THE POOL MAY FLOAT OUT OF THE GROUND. The pool will have to remain dry during this process so you will have to have a pump going on the main drain sump to keep water out of the pool. 2.The walls can either be painted or re gel coated. Re gel coating is expensive and you will want to hire a professional to do this job. If you paint find a swimming pool paint that can be used on fiberglass. I would recommend an epoxy type paint because this will last the longest of all paints. Kelly Technical Coatings makes a paint called Zeron, this is a one-coat paint, but you will need to prep the surface and apply a primer. Follow the manufactures recommendations to apply this product. If your steps are made of fiberglass and you are painting I recommend the addition of a product called Shark Bite to make the surface non-slip. You should be able to find Shark Bite at a paint store. 3. The concrete floor can be plastered (very expensive, and get a professional to do this as well) or painted with the same paint you paint the walls with Zeron. Follow the manufactures recommendations to apply this product. 4. The last item is the expansion joint between the floor and the wall. Dig out all the old stuff and then put filler in as needed then re-caulk. I recommend Kelly Technical Coatings Permaseal (this product is designed to be used in the pool.) You may want to prep the joint before you paint the floor and wall then finish the joint when you are done with the floor and wall. If you do everything for the joint last you may chip the newly painted surface. Now that you have seen everything rethink the idea of hiring someone to do the job, mainly because the job is very involved and if not done properly can become a huge nightmare.