Costs to replaster?!

[PoolDoc]

Infinity.... what about the cost of removing the old tile and grout and prepping the surface for new tile? You didn't factor that in. Also.... is the contractor not intitled to make any profit? You listed your cost only.

I think $9,000 is way out of whack, but some parts of the country are very high, unlike Florida which is the cheapest place to get a pool because there are so many pool contractors competing for business.

A very relevant comment.

Until I started PoolSolutions, I had no idea how much costs varied around the country. They are cheapest in S. Florida, where there's lots of competition, and just as importantly, where the pool business is a year round business with low excavation costs. They tend to be highest in the Northeast, where the work is very seasonal, and it's also high anywhere it's hard to make holes in the ground.

And, it's not just labor or construction that's cheaper in Florida; everything is cheaper. A pump that costs $350 wholesale from SCP in Chattanooga may be sold -- by SCP -- in Miami for $250.

This is one reason I've tried to discourage price comparisons here. They aren't entirely meaningless, but they can be pretty close.

"Service Guy"'s remark about getting someone reputable is worthwhile as well. The cost of plaster is not the material; it's the skilled labor. And just because the skills involved don't require a particularly high IQ, doesn't mean that they are trivial or easy to acquire.

In south Florida, where plastering goes on every day of the year, on 1,000's and 1,000's of pools, it's a common skill, and it may not be hard to find a good plasterer. But in many areas, it's an uncommon skill. In the Chattanooga areas, there are several guys that do plaster, but none of them are very good. There are a couple of guys who build high end pools, and they always hire plaster subs from Atlanta or elsewhere.

I've occasionally done some patch plastering, often underwater, and charged very high prices for it, because it was work that always had to be done in the busy season and because there weren't many others who could do it, in my area.. Was it worth it? Well, my customer felt like it, because they didn't have to drain or shut down commercial pools mid-season.

However, my plaster work never looked very good. The patches have proved very durable and sound, but I didn't have the skill to make them look good, too.

So you really do need to look around for someone good. But, contrary to what "Service Guy" said, you don't always get what you pay for. I know service guys and builders who are good at marketing and expensive, but who actually do lousy work. I know of some fairly inexpensive guys, who are poor at marketing, but who do great work. However, at least in my experience, it is often true that 'you don't get what you don't pay for' -- cheap in price usually tends to be poor in quality. You just have to keep in mind that, when construction is the issue, "cheap" and "expensive" have very, very LOCAL meanings.

Hope this helps;

Ben
PoolDoc.

PS: This is yet another thread that's helped convince me that I need to encourage everybody to include at least an approximate geographic location in their profile. Location matters, for both pool chemistry and pool construction.