Pool needs resurfacing-any experience?

Hi all- Our pool is from the 1960's and has many cracks and is leaking. All of our plumbing has been replaced and we have ruled out plumbing leaks. The pool has too many huge cracks to count. We need to resurface it, but not sure which direction to go in. New plaster or fiberglass? We had a few plaster people come out and tell us that we might just need a whole new pool because the shell is so old it could be crumbling and not possible to repair then re-plaster. The fiberglass people aren't concerned with that and are telling us they can just fiberglass over it all. We aren't sure which direction to go in.

Any experience to share is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Lara (Texas)

With a pool from the 1960's, you might want to see if you can find a rehab contractor who (a) has a 5+ year track record of successful redo's and (b) will take on the project of restoring your pool to full function. Trying to fix this and fix that, you can end up with a lot of things fixed, but still have a pool that doesn't work.

If the contractor is bidding on restoring a working pool, rather than just a refinish, he'll tend to 'dig deeper' in his investigations.

Both FG and plaster can be used, but success rates depend on contractor skill and integrity. In particular, plaster does NOT guarantee a stable shell that won't leak. If you want more info, take a complete set of photos -- pool, deck area, equipment -- and either email them to me at poolforum@gmail.com OR post links to the photos on Google Drive, Flickr, Webshots, etc.

I'd have to see pictures. I've only had to walk away from 1 bid and tell the people to either fill it in, or tear it all out and start over with the existing pool. In inches, how wide are your largest cracks?

No pictures yet . . .