replacing pool tiles

[duraleigh]

Carolina,

The tiles are unrelated to the structure of your pool.

They fell off for one of two reasons (remotely...both). Either they were not set (bonded) properly during installation or the base (your pool wall) has moved...breaking the bond between wall and tile.

It is somewhat likely more will continue to fall, especially if they were not set properly. I think you would do well to get a tile mason to look at the work and get his opinion. He will probably recommend replacing them all for several reasons.

As an aside, the epoxy grout mentioned is a great product. But it is a "boogerbear" to work with (Southern slang ).

If you do it wrong, it is unforgiving and a nightmare to clean up. If you do it right, it is a teriific product....especially if you suspect some slight instability in your base. It is used almost always to attach ceramic to fibregal pools because it can "flex" a little with the fibreglas

[FrankTroy]

I have the exact same problem.

In my case I have removed all the loose tiles (about 2 five gal. buckets full) and have cleaned them with acid. They look brand new and are ready to be applied.

Now I just need to find a good thin-set compound so I can attach them and then grout. But I am not sure what are recommended products to use for pools and what I need to do to prepare the concrete for the thin-set.

Hopefully someone replying to your post will help.

Thanks
Frank

[duraleigh]

Hi, Frank,

If the removed tiles are all in one big rectangle....good. If not, I would remove enough tile so I had one single large area with four sides...all free of tiles.

Then prep the surface with a 4.5" angle grinder and a masonry grinding blade.....the old thinset will grind down quite easily....the concrete is quite hard. you should have no problem not grinding too deeply into the concrete. Now, you're all "set" for tile.

On my pool, I used a thinset made by Custom. It's the midpriced thinset at Home depot (about $12) and might be called "polyblend" but I can't remember for sure. It is a fine product.

I used Custom's (Home Depot) grout as well....I know it was called "polyblend" Very nice quality product.

You're gonna' make a mess....both grinding and installing. Go to whatever lengths you need to protect the rest of your pool from the dust, thinset and grout. Good Luck.

[Carolina]

Thank you to everyone who replied - this has been helpful!