Orlando pool resurfacing
Fine map-pattern check cracks are common in cement plaster and are usually cosmetic; a crack through the concrete shell is a different problem, and you often cannot tell which without draining and cutting a sample. Delamination, finish that sounds hollow or flakes away, is a bond failure. The repair depends on which one you have.
Most cracks owners notice are in the plaster, not the pool. Fine, irregular map-pattern cracks, often called check or shrinkage cracks, appear to some degree in all cement mortar, usually because the surface dried too fast in wind, heat or low humidity before it was underwater. Finish manufacturers treat them as a normal occurrence rather than a defect, and many close up and become hard to see once the pool is full. A structural crack is different: it runs through the concrete shell, tends to be a single line that continues across steps, floor or wall, and may leak. Plaster is not designed to give the pool strength, so a crack in the shell will eventually show through any finish laid over it.
Often you cannot tell from the deck. Finish manufacturers note that it is virtually impossible to know whether a crack goes into the shell without draining the pool and cutting out a sample of the plaster. Useful clues before that: a pool that loses more water than evaporation explains, a crack that has grown between seasons, a crack that lines up with a crack in the deck, or one that appeared after the pool was left empty or nearly empty. Those are reasons to open it up.
Delamination is a bond failure. The plaster separates from the shell, or a new coat separates from an older one, and the pool shows blisters, raised areas, flaking or rough bald patches. With the pool empty, the simplest test is sound: tap the surface and bonded plaster rings solid, while delaminated plaster sounds hollow. The usual causes trace back to the day it went on: old surface not cleaned of dust, scale or paint, a poor or contaminated bond coat, a cold joint where work stopped, or one more thin coat laid over a surface that was already marginal.
A small, isolated hollow spot can be cut out to sound material and patched, although a patch never matches the color of the surrounding finish exactly. Minor check cracks can be left alone, or cut back and filled if they are open. A structural crack is opened, repaired in the shell, and then finished over. When hollow areas turn up in a pattern across the floor or walls, patching becomes a cycle of chasing failures, and a full chip-out and replaster is the lasting fix. If a crack runs up into the tile line or under the edge, the coping and bond beam are checked at the same visit. And if what looked like cracking turns out to be surface staining on sound plaster, an acid wash may be all it needs.
What sets the schedule? Whether the pool has to be drained to inspect the crack, how far a crack runs into the shell, how many hollow areas turn up when the surface is sounded, and whether the finish can be patched or needs replacing.
These usually come up in the same drain, and can be quoted from the same visit:
Worn, etched or stained plaster chipped back and replaced, with the drain-down managed for Central Florida’s groundwater.
What it involves →Loose, cracked or separating pool coping removed to the bond beam and reset in travertine, pavers or concrete.
What it involves →A thin layer of stained plaster removed with diluted acid, or a no-acid drain-and-clean to reset tired water.
What it involves →Free estimate
Tell us where the pool is and what you’re seeing. We’ll call back to book a look at the pool and bring finish samples.
We’ll call to set up a time to see the pool. To talk sooner, call (689) 305-2500
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