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View Full Version : Re-Gellcoating Fiberglass Pool/Spa



silverghost
09-11-2011, 09:17 AM
I have a Fiberglass inground Pool/Swim Spa/Whirlpool built by Rio/Aqua Swim-N-Spa .
This is a combination pool, swim spa exercise pool , & whirlpool .
It is ten years old and sits in a 6" bed of sand that surrounds the entire bottom & sides of the unit for support.
The fiberglass shell unit is 5/16" thick mostly chopper gun fiberglass .
19'long X 8' wide X 5'deep with a pool tile waterline border & with a wall that seperates the 8'X 5' whirlpool area..
It is in a sunroom and is used year around.
The pool heater heats the sunroom .
It has a white gellcoat finish that is now getting thin in spots & discolored.
There are a few small stress cracks on the steps~~~not very bad cracks.
I can grind these out and re-glass with polyester resin , cloth/ mat & resin fillers.

My Questions to the fiberglass experts on this forum ~

I would like to re-gellcoat this entire pool/spa unit.
Do I need to remove ALL the old gellcoat in order to do this ?
OR~
Can I just clean, degrease & sand, and rough-up the old gellcoat to prep for new gellcoat application ?

Can I roll/brush , or spray on new gellcoat ?
How thick ?

Most gellcoat used on boats cures in the hull mold between the new uncured fiberglass without air~
Is there a type of gellcoat that cures directly in the air ?

Or ~~~Do I need some sort of spray on air barrier to use after the gellcoat to get a proper gellcoat cure ?

What sort of gellcoat can I apply that will hold-up during continued water immersion in a fiberglass pool/spa used year around ?

The current old gellcoat has no osmotic bubbles , or blisters.

Who sells this sort of gellcoat ?
It does not to need to be super glossy like a new boat.
In fact a slightly matte rough finish might be safer to use on the pool/spa.
I am not really married to any specific color~~~
It is white now~
I just want something that will hold-up in this unique poo/spa applcation that I can spray , or roll / brush on myself.

How any square feet typically does 5 gallons of typical gell coat cover ?

At what temp can it be applied ?
I wish to re-gell this fall~if at all possible ?

I know this surface needs to be super dry before application of any new gellcoat.

Any and all help greatly appreciated .
Thank's Guys .

silverghost
09-12-2011, 12:02 AM
I just did a long Google web search for info on fiberglass Pool Gellcoat methods & materials.
There was sadly not much to be found with the exception of a guy in Feasterville Pa who seems to operate using seven different company names & seven seperate pool repair websites all basically selling the same stuff under different website & company names that all use the same phone contact number.
All his websites basically all sell this Gellcoat stuff he packages ~~~"Fibre- Shelcoat" fiberglass pool gellcoat material.
I talked to this guy and he sounds like part "Snake Oil" salesman & part B.S.
artist.
He will NOT tell you exactly what he is trying to sell you as fiberglass pool gellcoat.
All I know is that is is very expensive as compared to typical high quality boat marine boat hull gellcoat.

AND~
He says that the pool needs to be totally sandblasted to remove ALL the old gellcoat ; after which you need to use fiberglass resin to seal ALL the roughed-up fiberglass before using his own privately packaged mystery "Fibre- Shelkote" gellcoat material.
He claims this stuff is made to your order in South New Jersey.
He does NOT make it !
You need to pay TWO shipping charges~
One to have this material shipped to HIM~
A second shipping charge to have it finally shipped to YOU.

It sounds to me that this self proclaimed pool gellcoat expert is nothing more than a middleman who takes orders and then marks this gellcoat material up 4-5 times from what HE pays his supplier for it .
Most likely it is some sort of readily available gellcot material; possibly for boat marine use ?

What are your thoughts on a good fiberglass pool gellcoat material & good surface preperation & application methods ?
If I go to all the trouble & effort to do this pool/spa gellcoat resurfacing I want it to last a good long while.
After all the orignal gellcoat material is ten years old now and it was put on so thin that you can actually see the chopper gun's fiberglass random glass strand patterns.