silverghost
11-28-2009, 11:37 PM
Thought you might like to see my latest fiberglass project~
Not exactly a Donzi~
But it does float !
It's a combo 8'X 19' & 4' deep pool /swim-spa & whirlpool.
The two large middle pool jets let you adjust water flow and swim in place against the jet current.
The small section is a whirlpool.
Here is how I got it~
I bought this pool/swim-spa/whirlpool from behind a waterfront house in Ocean City NJ as the house was being torn-down for redevelopment and the two lots were being sold for over $ 2 Million each !
The house was almost gone and in two large dumpsters.
I stopped and asked the demo-contractor what was to become of this fiberglass pool/spa. He replied that he had an order to break-it-up with his backhoe and fill the hole !
I bought it on the spot; and the next day I "Borrowed" the contractor's backhoe and after a half hour of self-instruction on the art of operating a Case extend-a-hoe backhoe I slowly dug around this pool unit.
After cutting all lines and pumping it out it began to float in it's hole up about two feet due to the high-Tide on the other side of the bulkhead and the now high watertable !
After some interesting rigging with old sash weights tied on the middle of my nylon lifting straps to get them under the pool we were able to get two straps underneath the unit and lift it out of the hole.
I took my 27 T Load-Rite trailer over to the lot but the case extend-a-hoe would not lift this unit high enough to get it on the roller trailer~
Now What were we going to do ?
It had to be out of there that day !
My 91 y./o father, a retired engineer, suggested half kidding that we should drop it over the bulkhead and into he bay and tow it to the boatyard ! We had seen a local fibeglass pool builder , ALMO Pools do this before !
Great Idea !
We plugged all inlets & outlets with styrofoam and dropped it into te bay !
It did indeed float but was a bit tipsy until we added about ten inches of seawater as ballast.
After "Borrowing" my neighbor's Aquasport (he always leaves his keys in the ignition & my boat is now winterized on land) we towed it back to the Boatyard in Somer's Pont NJ about three miles away!
By this time the water level in the pool had doubled !
I guess we did not do such a good job with those styrofaom plugs?
A boatyard forklift was used to place it on the Load-Rte Trailer after going to Home-Depot for some landscape railroad tie lumber to properly support this on the 64 roller trailer!
You can now see it in photos behind a friends house in Ocean City.
It will soon be in a new hole next to my porch at home here in PA.
Dad suggested that I now had a place to water-tank test my SeaDoo in now ! ; )
Has anyone ever re-gelcoated the inside of a fiberglass pool ?
What prep work must be done to do this?
Do I need to remove the old gelcoat completely ?
What type of gelcoat will cure in the open air?
Will it stick to this fiberglass that is under water all year around?
Any ideas or help greatly appreciated !
Not exactly a Donzi~
But it does float !
It's a combo 8'X 19' & 4' deep pool /swim-spa & whirlpool.
The two large middle pool jets let you adjust water flow and swim in place against the jet current.
The small section is a whirlpool.
Here is how I got it~
I bought this pool/swim-spa/whirlpool from behind a waterfront house in Ocean City NJ as the house was being torn-down for redevelopment and the two lots were being sold for over $ 2 Million each !
The house was almost gone and in two large dumpsters.
I stopped and asked the demo-contractor what was to become of this fiberglass pool/spa. He replied that he had an order to break-it-up with his backhoe and fill the hole !
I bought it on the spot; and the next day I "Borrowed" the contractor's backhoe and after a half hour of self-instruction on the art of operating a Case extend-a-hoe backhoe I slowly dug around this pool unit.
After cutting all lines and pumping it out it began to float in it's hole up about two feet due to the high-Tide on the other side of the bulkhead and the now high watertable !
After some interesting rigging with old sash weights tied on the middle of my nylon lifting straps to get them under the pool we were able to get two straps underneath the unit and lift it out of the hole.
I took my 27 T Load-Rite trailer over to the lot but the case extend-a-hoe would not lift this unit high enough to get it on the roller trailer~
Now What were we going to do ?
It had to be out of there that day !
My 91 y./o father, a retired engineer, suggested half kidding that we should drop it over the bulkhead and into he bay and tow it to the boatyard ! We had seen a local fibeglass pool builder , ALMO Pools do this before !
Great Idea !
We plugged all inlets & outlets with styrofoam and dropped it into te bay !
It did indeed float but was a bit tipsy until we added about ten inches of seawater as ballast.
After "Borrowing" my neighbor's Aquasport (he always leaves his keys in the ignition & my boat is now winterized on land) we towed it back to the Boatyard in Somer's Pont NJ about three miles away!
By this time the water level in the pool had doubled !
I guess we did not do such a good job with those styrofaom plugs?
A boatyard forklift was used to place it on the Load-Rte Trailer after going to Home-Depot for some landscape railroad tie lumber to properly support this on the 64 roller trailer!
You can now see it in photos behind a friends house in Ocean City.
It will soon be in a new hole next to my porch at home here in PA.
Dad suggested that I now had a place to water-tank test my SeaDoo in now ! ; )
Has anyone ever re-gelcoated the inside of a fiberglass pool ?
What prep work must be done to do this?
Do I need to remove the old gelcoat completely ?
What type of gelcoat will cure in the open air?
Will it stick to this fiberglass that is under water all year around?
Any ideas or help greatly appreciated !