Help with pool resurfacing options, new user

Hi,
I'm a new user looking for advice/guidance on how to rehabilitate my old pool. It is a 18 x 36 "kidney bean" in-ground pool installed in late 70's, approximately 25,000 gallons. Concrete bottom with 3.5 foot fiberglass wall panels. Nothing fancy, with a sand filter and 1 HP pump. No salt generator. No heater, just a 16 mil clear-tek solar blanket.

The problem is that the fiberglass panels have quarter-sized blisters (probably a couple hundred over the entire pool). The blisters have been there a couple years (when I bought the house). A couple have popped off, revealing what I assume is the fiber mesh underneath. The concrete is in good shape, but will need painted or something.

I've looked at several different epoxy type paints, with a couple pool dealers saying that they just paint right over the blisters. Is that a good idea? I'm not sure what my options are for this big project. I'm not opposed to a DIY solution, either. Of course, I don't have a ton of money for this, but I'm hoping to find something that would last the next 6-8 years at least. By then, I'm moving! :)
Thanks in advance for the help!

The best epoxy paint -- Kelley Tech' Zeron in my experience -- might give you 6 years, but I've never had it last 8. With most of the epoxies I've seen others use . . . you can be happy if it lasts 3 years.

You probably CAN patch with epoxy putty or Kelley's epoxy filler, then cover with an epoxy primer, and then paint. Kelley has instructions for painting fiberglass. Here's their site: http://www.kelleytech.com/

Thanks, PoolDoc. It's good to hear from someone who has experience with at least one of these products. It's so tough to judge when you're looking at products online that claim to have a 20-year warranty....I guess I'm a skeptic but I just find that hard to be believe. If anyone else has thoughts, I would appreciate them as well. Thanks again!

My general rule: the longer the warranty, the more bogus the product.

If it's got a 50 year warranty, stay the heck away! No company can reasonably offer a warranty that long, so you already know that -- as company policy -- they chose marketing over honesty.

Sort of a similar question in this regards...

Have you ever used any actual fiberglass repair materials or is it most common to paint the fiberglass with a paint (epoxy or otherwise)? I will be tackling the issue later rather than sooner - but I am looking to get a hold of as much information ahead of time so that I can make needed arraignments.

Just as an example of how we would handle a regular fiberglass issue (not on a pool - but a boat or car). First we would sand down any remaining gel, paint or clear coat finish in order to get to the fibers. Once that is exposed, we would clean it up with a solvent (works a bit like purple primer for PVC...prepares the old material for new material). If the fibers are in good shape still, we will apply a thin coat of vinyl or polyester resin (depending on what the original resin was). After that it would get sanded smooth all over the repair area. Finally a couple coats of gel coat would be sprayed on to protect the underlying resins and provide a color coat. If the fibers themselves were actually damaged (due to something puncturing or tearing through a boat hull or a bumper for example) the bad area would be cut out and a plug would be formed to support new mesh. The edges of the old fiberglass would be ground down to a knife edge taper. The plug would be fit behind the hole and new fiber would fitted over the opening (several layers in order to build it up to the original thickness). After that, it is treated like the other repairs (resin, sand, gel coat).

On repairs like those which I have done in the past they have held up quite well in their given applications. Normally, just as well as the original unless you have issues with materials or prep work. Considering that the original pool panels have lasted as long as they have - I would assume that refurbished materials would last as long again (definitely more then 6 years). Again though, the stuff I have had to work with either floated in regular water (salt and fresh) or was on the road. The chemical bath likely does play on the fiberglass - though I am not entirely sure how quite yet. Since PVC seems to be the plastic of choice for the plumbing though and I have used PVC resins for FRP work...I would imagine something more permanent can be done.

Of course then the question ends up being the cost of having it done for you for those who prefer to do things that way. I know what we charged to reglass the bottom of a boat, although the pool is a much easier shape to work with - I would imagine that you would be looking at a pretty descent sized bill.

My experience is with fiberglass boats but have some suggestions. The blisters need to be ground down. It is likely just the gelcoat that is blistered but blisters can form between the fiberglass layers as well. We will assume it is just the gelcoat. Anyway, you grind off the raised blisters and feather the edge of the ground area. You can then fill the defects with epoxy that has a fairing filler added. This thickens the epoxy so it is more putty or spackle like so it can be spread in the defects. Then you sand the repairs smooth and prep the rest of the shell and then paint with the aforementioned paint. This would be time consuming but pretty easy and you could do it yourself. I use West System epoxy for boat repairs and they have pamphlets that clearly outline how to do repairs like this.

The other option would be to remove all of the existing gelcoat and then redoing the entire shell with new gelcoat. This would be a big job obviously.

Thanks for the help. I will be taking your advice on patching the blisters, as they do seem to only be in the gelcoat, not between the layers of fiberglass itself.

Ok, I have a new question that relates....what about converting to a vinyl liner? It may cost a bit more, but should last longer/be less risky, right? Anyone done this before? I'm unsure of three things: 1) How the liner track would secure at the top of the pool? 2) how to convert the skimmer/return fittings to work with a liner, and 3) getting the custom made liner to fit nicely, because the pool is such a strange shape. Thoughts on any of this? Thanks!

It's been done, but I've never seen it done myself, and don't know how well it can work out. I feel pretty confident, however, in say that if you can't find someone local to you, who's done it SUCCESSFULLY before, you should rule out that option.

What about a spray on liner..like the Rhino coatings?

Dunno.

There were some resurfacing products, a few years back, that had 50 year warranties. I think some of them may have been like that. But, I'm not seeing ads for them any more, so I'm guessing they are out of business.

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Originally Posted by Machster

What about a spray on liner..like the Rhino coatings?

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Are you referring to the bed liner or the epoxy? The epoxy would likely work as well as other epoxy pool paints (just sprayed on instead of brushed - which has pluses and minuses). The bed liner would seam problematic to me. I've seen the bed liner used to do some funny things before (painting an entire Jeep for example) and while it is durable, should you ever need to get at anything under it ever again - that would likely be problematic.