Pool Painting – Prepare to relax by the Pool

Times when you may want to revamp your pool:

• Your pool is new and needs to be prepared for painting (see below).

• Your pool has faded but there are no other problems. You just want to give it a new lease of life.

• Water is getting behind the paint to form bubbles. This is often caused by poor preparation of the surface.

• Your old paint is flaking. This is natural but if you have long cracks in your paint you might have bigger problems with subsidence and cracking in the concrete. You will need to make sure that there is no movement in the ground or any water table problems before it can be painted.

• Your pool is chalky. Painted surfaces degrade after some time. If you can rub your fingers over a dry surface and they come away dusty, the paint is nearing the end of its lifespan.

There is a considerable amount of work involved in just preparing a pool for painting:

Northland Painters are one of only a few NZ companies that will guarantee the paint work that they complete in swimming pools for five years. The secret is in the preparation! If the surface of the pool is prepared properly, it will last for years.

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Preparing your new pool for painting

• The concrete must be left to cure for at least a month.

• The surface then needs to be cleaned of any residual chemicals, dust and grease so that the paint will adhere to the concrete.

• The paint also won’t adhere properly if the surface is too smooth. Lightly blasting or grinding will help improve adhesion.

Preparing your old pool for painting

• Fully drain the pool and remove any debris.

• Remove all loose paint with a high pressure water blaster. Don’t use the electric ones in a pool!

• Remove any loose concrete. You will need to dig out any cracks to at least 5mm and then caulk cracks and holes with hydraulic cement.

• Wearing protective clothing and a suitable mask you will need to scrub the entire pool with an acid wash. Then rinse.

• Now you will need to clean the entire pool with trisodium-phosphate or suitable alternative. This is a detergent that will neutralize the acid and remove any glaze from any remaining paint. Rinse again with fresh water.

What paint should you use to paint your pool?

Northland Painters only use quality Altex epoxy paint as this is the best in New Zealand for pools. They come in a large range of colours, so you are bound to find one to suit you.

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Painting the Pool:

Northland Painters paint all surfaces with the correct Dulux and Resene paint system; following the manufacturer’s specification.

Resene’s would like to see the following steps followed when building and coating a swimming pool:

1. Damp proof membrane to be laid before the floor is poured and also to be applied to any of the exterior wall surfaces which may be underground.
2. Leave pools to dry for a minimum of four weeks before (re) coating.
3. All new or used concrete pools should be acid etched, rinsed and dried before coating.
4. All sealant-filled joints should be masked off and left unpainted.
5. The pool should be coated with three coats of chlorinated rubber, allowing a minimum of 12 hours between coats.
6. The finished coating should be allowed to cure one week before filling.

Do you have the time and the energy to do all of the above?

First you will need a lot of free time on your hands.  Second, preparing and painting a pool can be back breaking, unless of course you call in the professionals.

Northland Painters carry out on-site inspections before starting pool painting projects, so why not contact them now?

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