Pool renovation across Brevard County.
Full chip-out to plaster on every job, on shells from the 1970s to last decade. Old plaster hides problems like exposed rebar that stain through a new finish. Pebble interiors, waterline tile, coping, deck, and equipment, done in the right order.
What a renovation covers
Most jobs are a combination rather than a single item. You don't have to know which ones you need. That's what the walk-through is for.
Interior resurfacing
Full chip-out of the old plaster, then a new pebble interior. We remove all of it rather than patching, because anything left behind flakes up under the new finish later.
Waterline tile
The band that takes the most heat and the most movement. Set wrong, tiles pop. Set over continuous waterproofing, after coping, so it goes on once and stays.
Coping
Travertine, pavers, concrete, or ceramic. Set on a full mortar bed with a decoupling layer underneath, so the coping outlasts movement in the deck. Coping that lifts almost always skipped one of those.
Deck
Resurfaced or replaced alongside coping when the scope calls for it. Heights are checked before anything is set, and everything is worked off the coping.
Equipment
Pumps, heaters, lights, and controls. Hydraulic calculations and diagnostics before anything is replaced. We install and repair Jandy, Pentair and Hayward equipment, and we are a Jandy warranty station.
Additions
Sunshelves, spas, water features, and major structural renovations cut into an existing shell. Built up with structural foam, not whatever fill was left over from the last job.
Where renovations go wrong
Almost every failed renovation we get called to fix failed for one of four reasons. None of them are visible once the water is in.
The old interior wasn't fully removed
The common shortcut is chipping out the failed areas and leaving the sound plaster in place. It saves a day. It also means the new finish is bonded to something already letting go, and it flakes up within a season or two.
What we do insteadWe chip out all of it, on every job. There's no partial version.
Tile went on before coping
Setting tile first and then building coping up to it is faster, and it is how a lot of pools get done. It leaves a cold joint directly behind the tile that the deck pushes against every time it moves, and it makes it easy to set tile without full thinset coverage. That joint is why waterline tile releases.
What we do insteadCoping and deck go first. Tile follows, cut once, with waterproofing running continuously behind both. Poured concrete coping is the one exception: it is part of the deck, so the tile goes on first and stops at the top of the bond beam for the pour to carry over.
The shell was never properly waterproofed
Waterproofing the tile band is a separate product and a separate step from the bond coat that goes on before plaster. They get conflated constantly, including by builders. And when the band was waterproofed, was it the right product? Elastomeric coatings aren't made for submerged pool conditions. If you see RedGard on your jobsite, ask questions.
What we do insteadTwo coats of cementitious waterproofing on the tile band before coping and tile, Laticrete Hydroban Cementitious or Miracote. A bond coat over the whole shell before plaster. Both, every time.
Nobody handled the first week
A new pebble interior is still curing when the water goes in, and the chemistry in those first days decides whether it stays the color you chose. Most builders hand the pool over at fill and leave startup to whoever services it.
What we do insteadWe run startup chemistry ourselves, on the Orenda method. It's our finish, so it's our responsibility.
If you want the full sequence with the reasoning behind each stage, it's written up in Field Notes.
What goes in
- Interiors — pebble only
- Tempool Element Series, CL Industries Pebble, PebbleTec
- Waterproofing
- Laticrete Hydroban Cementitious or Miracote on the tile band, bond coat over the shell
- Waterline tile
- Glass mosaic, set in Laticrete 254 Platinum with Laticrete grout, or Litokol epoxy grout as an upgrade
- Coping
- Travertine, pavers, concrete, ceramic
- Equipment
- Jandy by preference, or Pentair and Hayward where the pool already has them
Glass tile is the hardest waterline to install correctly. It doesn't forgive a bad substrate or the wrong setting materials, and that's why so much of it fails early. We set it in Laticrete 254 Platinum with Laticrete grout, or Litokol epoxy where a client wants it, over a waterproofed band.
Pebble on residential work. Under Florida sun and chemistry it outlasts the alternatives on a home pool, so that's what we recommend. Quartz is the right finish in the right place, usually commercial work or a specific design detail, and we install it where a job calls for it. Plain plaster we don't install.
What a renovation costs.
No two shells are the same, so we don't publish a price list and we won't quote over the phone. Surface area sets where a renovation starts, and scope moves it from there.
Renovations start around $20,000.
Questions we get
How do I know if my pool needs resurfacing rather than a repair?
If you're worried about it, you probably already know the answer. A patch of delaminating plaster is the first sign of a failing interior, and it only gets larger. Rough underfoot, staining that won't brush out, or color loss all point the same way. Patching buys you a season at most.
Why does coping go on before waterline tile?
We build pools to be as durable as possible, and that means no voids. Coping first, on a full bed, gives the tile a solid edge to set to and lets the waterproofing run continuously behind both. Tiling first and building coping up to it leaves a cold joint behind the tile at the most exposed point on the pool. That gap is what eventually pops the tile. Poured concrete coping is the exception, because it is part of the deck rather than a separate piece. There the tile goes on first and is held to the top of the bond beam, so the pour carries over it.
Will you replace just the waterline tile?
No. Existing tile is rarely set level, so taking it off leaves a band around the pool that has to be plastered back anyway. It is messy work, and the shell dries out while the new tile is being set, which delaminates more of the plaster you were trying to keep. On a pool with cantilever concrete coping the coping is part of the deck and does not have to change, so that job is tile and interior together, with the deck left alone.
Can you resurface the interior and leave the existing tile?
Only in a specific case. Tile pops off regularly during a plaster-only renovation, and matching an existing tile years after it was set is hard. If the interior is failing, the tile band usually has problems of its own that nobody has seen yet.
Can I supply my own tile?
Yes, as long as it is made for a pool. Pool tile has to survive constant submersion, sun and chemistry, which is a higher bar than tile sold for a floor or a shower. Send us what you are looking at and we will tell you whether it will hold up.
Why does waterline tile fail on so many Florida pools?
Water gets behind it. We waterproof the entire shell including behind the tile line, then set the tile in Laticrete 254 Platinum, a mortar rated for permanent submersion, with their submersion grout. Litokol epoxy grout is the upgrade if you want the color range or the glitter finishes, and it is the most stain resistant of the options. The tile is usually not the thing that failed on the pool we are looking at. The system behind it was.
What's the difference between waterproofing and a bond coat?
Different products at different points in the job. Waterproofing goes on the tile band before coping and tile. It keeps water from migrating through the joint and carrying minerals with it. That mineral bleed is the white efflorescence you see on grout and coping. It also puts the best product on the spots most likely to crack. A bond coat goes over the whole shell right before plaster so the new interior adheres. Doing one and calling it the other is a common shortcut and a common reason renovations fail early.
Do you install quartz or plain plaster?
Pebble on residential work: Tempool Element Series, CL Industries Pebble, and PebbleTec. Quartz where a job calls for it, which is usually commercial work or a specific design detail. Plain plaster, no. Under Florida sun and chemistry, pebble outlasts the alternatives on a home pool, so that's what we recommend. The pebble is applied by Tempool, who make the Element Series and who have shot our interiors for years, including back when the product in the truck was CL Industries'.
Do you offer weekly pool cleaning?
No. We build and renovate, and we install and repair equipment. We handle startup chemistry on a new interior because that's what protects the finish we just installed, but we don't do recurring cleaning or chemical service.
When do I pay?
Milestone billing. Each stage triggers its own invoice and is only billed once it's complete. Nothing is billed ahead of the work.
Can I finance it?
Yes. We work with HFS Financial, a home-improvement lender that finances pools and the work around them. You apply with them directly, and the terms are between you and HFS; we never see your application. If you want a number before you apply, book the walk-through first. Apply with HFS Financial
Renovations we've done
Walk your project with Luke.
Luke comes out himself and inspects your pool with you. Before any work starts, you get an itemized proposal and a dated schedule.