Looking to replaster and probably remodel my pool/spa in Sugar Land. It was built in the early 90s and have a feeling its been ignored since then. I moved in a few years ago. I have some dark rust looking stains (a few about 1-2 sqft in size) on sections of the bottom. Guessing its rebar rust or something seeping through - although it feels smooth to the touch and doesn't seem to be leaking any water. I think I plan to redo the tile backsplash as well, with something more modern. I'd like to do all the decking, but I think that may be out of my budget for this project.

Anyway...

-Recommendations on surface? Pebblesheen the way to go these days? My pool takes some serious abuse from a live oak tree that overhangs 80% of it...at least certain times of the year. But on the flip side it gets a lot of shade.

-Any company recommendations that service Sugar Land? I called a few places last year, and felt like no one was interested. Either too busy or mainly just deal with new pool installs.

-Any thoughts on what kind of costs I should expect? I think it's a 30-35k gallon pool. Photo below. Depth maxes out gradually around 6ft.

-Anything else I should address when doing this kind of project? The waterfall feature works but not well (streams all broken up) and doesn't really have any visual beauty benefit. But not sure I care.



Thanks!

Depends on how much you want to spend honestly.

Pebble is good for staining as dark stones will break it up but if you get a light color you'll see the stains all the same. I don't like pebble just due to the texture but that's my personal preference. I'd go with a quartz finish and get a better Polaris cleaner like a Quattro or Alpha IQ.

I probably wouldn't mess with the stone coping or waterfall unless you just hate it. You can have it media blasted (most use salt) to clean off the calcium build up.

I'm sure there's someone in Houston who can blast the plaster off (my preference if the homeowner will agree), but most just put it over the existing finish by removing any hollow spots and rolling on a bond coat.

Tile upgrade would be easy especially if you're doing new plaster.

Decking you'd probably be looking at $5/sf for removal plus $10/sf for broomed or salted finish, more for stamped or acid washed. There's also be the option of an overlay, but I've not done them and I've heard horror stories of it delaminating within a few years. If your coping stone is thin (1&1/2") then you might be able to change it to 2&1/4" and cover your deck with stone.

Lots of options out there.

Corps_AG12 or someone smarter than me might have thoughts but if you do rip up the decking I would think you might consider replacing skimmers? From my understanding the deck removal / replace is a big chunk of the cost.

May I ask who did your PebbleSheen? Did you get more than one quote where 10.2k seemed in-line (for the time)?

Thanks for the Carvestone overlay insight, will definitely look into it...although even at 16.9k its probably a project for another time.

Thanks!

https://www.poolworkstx.com/

planoaggie123 said:

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Corps_AG12 or someone smarter than me might have thoughts but if you do rip up the decking I would think you might consider replacing skimmers? From my understanding the deck removal / replace is a big chunk of the cost.

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Only if they're leaking but bad water chemistry typically leads to brittle skimmer bodies which leads to them getting broken when we tear up decks. We've done it without replacing the coping too but it's a real pain.

If we do replace them we remove them and epoxy a new cage into the shell around the new skimmer body and pour concrete around it so it'll be tied to the pool shell.

Bregxit said:

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There is a huge difference between the original PebbleTec and PebbleSheen. Sheen is a much less rough surface. It is rough, but not sharp like Tec is.

I just don't like Pebble personally. I don't want a rough finish in a pool, especially if you're playing basketball or volleyball. Too many complains of torn up feet on kids. I'll only install it if people specifically request it.

We had our 14k gallon pool done with PebbleSheen and replaced all the waterline tiles and coping with travertine. That project cost $10,200 in 2017.

Last year I had Carvestone overlay installed on my deck by Allied Outdoor. I think they measured it at 1000 sq ft. Cost was $16,900. It is beautiful.

At nearly $17/sf I could tear that out and pour a new colored & salt finished deck or even an acid washed deck. Houston is insane apparently.

Also for what it is worth, I originally wanted to rip out my old deck and have a new one poured. I had multiple quotes ranging from $28k-$42k just to do that. If Allied did it they wanted $35k more for the Carvestone project.

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Bregxit said:

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You must have a cheap supplier. The lowest bid I got for tearout and repour just bare concrete was $28/ft.

Weren't concrete prices ridiculously high at the beginning of 2023?

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I just don't rip people off, honestly.

I charge what my subcontractors charge plus a fee. I manage all their work and supervise them.

Now if I'm just doing a deck replacement that doesn't include a pool re-model and new equipment then yes, it'd probably be more fee to make it worth my time.