Replaster An old Pool

[fivevs]

Well, first of all, Hello to all. I'm new in this house, but I see that many of you all ask some good questions and get good answers in return. My dilema is this.To replaster or not. I moved into this house about a year ago. The pool in our backyard was quite as big a mess as it is large. We got it cleaned up and somehow managed to use it more than a couple times. I've been trying to find out how to replaster this pool myself.I would like some advice from anyone who is willing to give some. Our pool is about 20 to 30 feet in length,15 feet in width and about 8-10 feet on the deep end. It is made of gunite,and has many areas where there is small little round areas on the walls missing. Last year I had a big problem with algae building up in these pores.I also noticed that there is some cracks at the bottom of the pool, but was told by the person whom checked it for me that the cracks were not going all the way through the walls.I called the local H.D. and was told to get some hydraulic cement. I need to find out what is best material to use on the pool walls and some kind of idea on how to get started on this adventure.I do have some experience on working on spas, but none on pools.
Thanks

[duraleigh]

Wow!! That will be quite a project you are contemplating. I won't be much help other than to encourage you.

I am just finishing building my own large pool (doing the physical work, as well) and the plaster was the one thing I didn't feel I could accomplish.....I felt it took years of experience to do a satisfactory job and I just didn't have them.

There are some pro builders here who will give you some advice soon. I wish I knew more about it to be useful.

[fivevs]

Thanks, all I can really say is that about 30 -40% of the pool has areas that are deeper than the the top layer of paint which is pretty much scratched or faded away.I was in the pool earlier which is empty and noticed a streak of water riunning down from the light niche and also there is 3 or 4 cracks on the bottom of the pool and even though I cleaned it out real good yesterday
there are wet spots @ these cracks. this means that if water is coming in from the ground when it's empty, it's probably going to leak out slowly when I fill it up again.We've had alot of rain here. Probably about 4 days straight and the first day we had such bad storms. Never seen anything like it in my life.

[Tredge]

I'm doing the same thing to a very similar sized pool.

In my case there are dozens of layers of plaster.

The key is surface prep regardless which direction you decide to go with.

I started with my stairs which are the worst. A Hammer and chisel to get some of the delaminating layers down to something solid.

You'll want to drag a hammer or bounce a golf-ball around the pool to see if there are any hollow sounding spots and chisel them out.

If you decide to replaster see this link: http://truetex.com/pool.htm

Other options include:
1. a Vinyl liner - May not be possible with your pool and you have to get a smooth finish anyways or it will show through the liner
2. Hybrid Epoxy - I'm strongly considering http://www.poolrestoration.com/
3. Fiberglass - There is a do-it-yourself kit from uglassit

For surface prep I'd look into a "scouring machine" specifically for removing plaster from concrete.

[fivevs]

Thanks for the help. I've been looking at the website on the ultra guard.I'm wondering whether you simply brush it on or whether there is another way of applying it to your pool.

[Tredge]

My understanding is that its best rolled on. Epoxies in general cant be brushed.

Not sure if you can spray epoxies but I dont think thats recommended.