Redoing an old pool - ongoing project

[AndyC]

I bought a house 2-1/2 years ago and the pool was in working but shoddy condition - the plaster was eaten away in many areas and I could see the previous owners had patched some areas and ignored others.

The first year it was tough to keep it free of algae - the 2nd (last summer) was impossible and I discovered that the many little cracks and crevices in the damaged plaster were housing colonies in protected enclaves, so I decided that the spring of 2021 was going to be the time to get in there and do it myself.

I decided to go with a FL company called Sider-Crete as they have good reviews for their cool roll-on plaster, so I ordered $2,250 worth of repair-materials and plaster on my CC (and the $1,400 stimmy check went to the CC as soon as it was deposited).

Here's the progress:

1. Draining the pool:
https://i.imgur.com/y14uK82.jpg


2. During pressure-washing to clean it down and look for the damaged areas:
https://i.imgur.com/CzNfsDd.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/n8x6G5y.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DkF1Kv0.jpg

2. After pressure-washing:

https://i.imgur.com/TWp7hfQ.jpg

3. A buddy with some experience in plaster/concrete came over the first day to make sure I didn't botch things too badly. I used spray-paint to mark affected areas, which was really useful for keeping track of the work:

https://i.imgur.com/bait4rL.jpg

End of day 1 - a good confidence-builder and it also let me know how much concrete I could mix/use before it became useless:
https://i.imgur.com/z0D7f3o.jpg

4. This past weekend I carried on by myself (after a few rains had hammered the place last week) - got more done in the deep end:

https://i.imgur.com/gGwWJly.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/eINGCZ6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4fyUDDJ.jpg

Kinda cool to get my hands dirty. It's a big job but as with all things it's manageable when done in stages. Once all the repair-concrete is done, I'll sand it down more or less smooth and then start with the first of 2 coats of roll-on plaster.

[bangerjim]

I had our 28 year old pool totally stripped, blasted, and gun-nited (1.5" thick) 3 years ago and then pebble-tech finish applied. It ended up a whole lot thicker than your two layers of roll-on will be!

Also replaced the old 3,600 RPM 220V pump system with a VFD. And a new cartridge filter. I would not recommend a cart filter. The old sand one did a better job , what with the heavy "biologic" loads we have in spring and fall (orange blossoms and leaves).

The new Creepy-Crawley cleaner does a good job of picking up dirt and small leaves, but I still need to net scoop all the heavy leaves after a storm. Had 6 zone pop ups before and they broke off in the cement!

We spent around $12K and now have a totally "new" pool.

[AndyC]

"Had 6 zone pop ups before and they broke off in the cement!" - I have no idea what that means.

[CastingFool]

23 yrs ago, we also bought a house with an inground gunite pool. Although the pool was empy, it simply looked like a giant dirty toilet bowl (it's kidney shaped, too, 38' long, by 22' at the widest point) After working on the pool, trying to keep it clean, etc, I finally got tired of doing all the work, and not really using it, I simply decided to close it up, and just maintain it, to get through the michigan winters. $300 a month power bill was something we didn't want, especially when we didn't get that much use out of it.

[Finster101]

I've had a house with a pool for almost 30 years now. I've probably been in it a dozen times or so. The wife and the dogs like it though so that's good enough for me.

280487

[samari46]

Put in DE filter to replace the old sand filter and bought a new 220 volt super pump this was about 5 years ago. Girls got married and closed the pool and saved on electricity. Wife wants to open it up and use it this summer. Not looking forward to it as I don't use it myself. Frank

[GregLaROCHE]

Looks like you’re going really nice looking pool when done. However, I’m not sure your algie problems were completely from cracks. Make sure your chlorine levels are always what they should be.

[Finster101]

Consider a salt water system. Less maintenance, no chlorine to schlep around and the water feels much better on your skin. The salt level is very low, generally around 3400 ppm.

[bangerjim]

"Had 6 zone pop ups before and they broke off in the cement!" - I have no idea what that means.

The "cleaning " system consisted of 6 zones with 3 to 4 pop-up heads that would rotate every time the went off . The water was cycled thru a switching water valve to let the water go to the different zones. Not electricity...all done with water pressure from the pool pump. That allowed them to force the high pressure pump water around at random areas to keep all the gunk and leaves circulating so the center drain would suck everything down eventually. They worked GREAT for almost 20 years until a couple of them broke off down in the concrete and they could not be repaired or replaced without jack hammering all around the heads.

[bangerjim]

Consider a salt water system. Less maintenance, no chlorine to schlep around and the water feels much better on your skin. The salt level is very low, generally around 3400 ppm.

Salt cells ( I have/had one with this new set-up) require constant maintenance to keep the VERY hard water (~1,600 µmhos/cm) we have here in AZ from building up in the cells. I only got a month or two run time out it each time until it was totally clogged. Just shut it off and now put a chlorine tab or two in the side skimmer basket every week or so, depending on the water temp.

I have only been in the pool 3 times since we had it rebuilt. Was the wife's idea of the rebuild!

We run our pool pump VFD (and all of the house + 2 heat pumps + everything else) off our 7.9KW solar panel system. The VDF only draws 650 watts at the perfect speed I use. And only runs when the sun is shining, which is normally 400 days/year (!) here in AZ. The old pump motor was a brute force 2HP 220V standard 3,600 RPM motor that drew tons of power. VFD's save you money, especially if you are buying all your power from the grid.

I have a CURB® Energy Monitoring system on 12 critical high usage 120/240 volt circuits in the house so I can see exactly what is running at what time and how much each draws. Very nice!

[AndyC]

The "cleaning " system consisted of 6 zones with 3 to 4 pop-up heads that would rotate every time the went off . The water was cycled thru a switching water valve to let the water go to the different zones. Not electricity...all done with water pressure from the pool pump. That allowed them to force the high pressure pump water around at random areas to keep all the gunk and leaves circulating so the center drain would suck everything down eventually. They worked GREAT for almost 20 years until a couple of them broke off down in the concrete and they could not be repaired or replaced without jack hammering all around the heads.
Ahhhh - thanks, I'd never even heard of those before.

Thanks for all the perspectives so far, everyone - I've never owned a pool in the US before so it's definitely a learning experience (D.E. filter system here).

[Finster101]

Salt cells ( I have/had one with this new set-up) require constant maintenance to keep the VERY hard water (~1,600 µmhos/cm) we have here in AZ from building up in the cells. I only got a month or two run time out it each time until it was totally clogged. Just shut it off and now put a chlorine tab or two in the side skimmer basket every week or so, depending on the water temp.

I have only been in the pool 3 times since we had it rebuilt. Was the wife's idea of the rebuild!

We run our pool pump VFD (and all of the house + 2 heat pumps + everything else) off our 7.9KW solar panel system. The VDF only draws 650 watts at the perfect speed I use. And only runs when the sun is shining, which is normally 400 days/year (!) here in AZ. The old pump motor was a brute force 2HP 220V standard 3,600 RPM motor that drew tons of power. VFD's save you money, especially if you are buying all your power from the grid.

I have a CURB® Energy Monitoring system on 12 critical high usage 120/240 volt circuits in the house so I can see exactly what is running at what time and how much each draws. Very nice!


I guess it depends on your water. At my old house I went through two cells in 20 years. Six years in to this house and the original cell with my well water is doing fine. I would ask a local pool service company how they are working out in the area. The water is much nicer. I have plenty of pools to compare with here and have actually converted a few of my friends to salt systems.

[AndyC]

Looking into salt systems now - Hayward looks interesting.

[badguybuster]

Our pool is 15 years old and uses a salt cell (Jacuzzi Magnum system). We enjoy it for the 5 months a year we get to use it. The salt system requires less maintenance than our earlier chlorine set up.