Here's Why Pool Service Pros Hate Painted Pools

The Truth About Pool Coatings, Surface Preparation, and Why Failures Really Happen

Everyone wants to know which pool paint is the best.

Wrong question.

In this episode of Talking Pools, Rudy Stankowitz takes listeners far beyond the paint can and into the science of coating failures, adhesion, compatibility, moisture, and surface preparation. Using the recent attention surrounding the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as a jumping-off point, Rudy explains why nearly every coating failure investigation asks the same question:

What happened before the paint ever touched the surface?

From chlorinated rubber and acrylics to epoxy and high-build epoxy systems, this episode explores the strengths, weaknesses, and proper applications of today's most common swimming pool coating systems. More importantly, it explains why even the most expensive coating in the world can't overcome poor preparation.

If you've ever wondered why one painted pool lasts fifteen years while another begins peeling after a single season, this episode connects the dots between chemistry, application, environmental conditions, and good old-fashioned craftsmanship. Along the way, Rudy shares real-world stories, practical advice, and plenty of his signature Gen X humor.

Whether you're a pool service professional, contractor, facility manager, or simply fascinated by how coatings succeed—or fail—this is one of the most comprehensive discussions on swimming pool coatings ever presented on the Talking Pools Podcast. 

In This Episode

•  Why asking "What's the best pool paint?" is the wrong question 
•  The lessons every pool professional can learn from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool 
•  Why compatibility between coating systems matters 
•  Understanding chlorinated rubber, synthetic rubber, acrylic, epoxy, and high-build epoxy coatings 
•  Why surface preparation determines the success or failure of almost every coating system 
•  How to properly inspect an existing painted pool before recoating 
•  The importance of documenting coating failures before disturbing the evidence 
•  Mechanical adhesion vs. chemical adhesion explained in plain English 
•  Why moisture remains one of the biggest enemies of successful coating applications 
•  Proper cleaning, sanding, acid washing, and contamination removal 
•  How silicone contamination, chalking, oils, and residue interfere with adhesion 
•  Why weather, humidity, dew point, and curing conditions matter 
•  Understanding recoat windows and why missing them creates problems 
•  Common causes of blistering, peeling, and coating delamination 
•  Adhesive failure vs. cohesive failure vs. substrate failure 
•  ASTM testing methods used during professional coating failure investigations 
•  Why coating failures should be investigated—not guessed 

Key Takeaways

✔ The most expensive coating cannot overcome poor surface preparation.

✔ Compatibility between existing and new coating systems is critical.

✔ Surface contamination is often invisible but can completely prevent proper adhesion.

✔ Moisture inside concrete can remain long after the surface appears dry.

✔ Proper environmental conditions are just as important as choosing the right coating.

✔ Good investigators document the failure before removing any evidence.

✔ Most coating failures begin long before the pool is filled with water.

✔ Successful coating jobs are built on preparation—not luck.

Memorable Quotes

"Surface preparation isn't part of the job. Surface preparation is the job.""Compatibility matters. Chemistry matters. Guessing doesn't.""Painting a pool isn't hard. Knowing when not to paint—that's what separates a guy with a roller from a pool professional."

Featured Sponsors

Blu-Ray XL

Reduce chemical usage, lower labor costs, and improve profitability with Blu-Ray XL's mineral purification technology for pool professionals. 

Jacks Magic

Professional stain identification, removal, and prevention products trusted throughout the pool industry. 

AquaStar Pool Products

Learn about AquaStar's innovative Pipeline cartridge filters featuring NSF-tested performance and simplified maintenance. 

Service Industry News

Stay informed with nationwide pool and spa industry news, technical articles, and the famous Horror File. Subscribe free at Service Industry News. 

Listen If You...

•  Paint or recoat swimming pools 
•  Service painted pools 
•  Investigate coating failures 
•  Work with commercial aquatic facilities 
•  Want to better understand adhesion and coating science 
•  Enjoy deep technical discussions presented in plain English 
•  Like your pool education served with a healthy dose of Gen X sarcasm 

Connect With Talking Pools

Questions about coatings, chemistry, troubleshooting, or a future podcast topic?

📧 talkingpools@gmail.com

Subscribe to the Talking Pools Podcast Network wherever you get your podcasts, and join thousands of pool professionals each week for practical discussions on water chemistry, coatings, equipment, business, and everything that makes you a better pool pro.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:53

The wait is almost over. After months of reviewing 103 incredible mentor nominations from across the pool and spa industry, the time has finally come. This was not a popularity contest. We scrutinized every nomination looking for the men and women who gave their time, their knowledge, encouragement, and support, expecting absolutely nothing in return. And who made a lasting difference in someone else's career because of it? On Friday, July 24th, 2026, the talking pool's top 10 mentors of 2026 will be revealed. Who made the list? Who came heartbreakingly close? Who has quietly shaped the future of this industry? One person at a time. Mark your calendars, kiss your spouse, walk the dog, feed the fish, finish mowing the lawn, because on July 24th, this announcement is going to smack you in the ass like a screen door in a hurricane. Most importantly, thank you to every single person who took the time to nominate a mentor. Your stories reminded us of what this industry is really about. A very special thank you to our sponsors for making this annual recognition possible. Title Sponsor, Blu-ray XL. Title Sponsor, United Chemical. Gold Sponsor, Lamac Company, Silver Sponsor, Revved Up Apparel, Supporting Sponsor, Aqua Comfort Water Group. These companies didn't just sponsor an award, they helped recognize the people who make our industry stronger by lifting others up. We'll see you Friday, July 24th, and trust me, you won't want to miss this one. Thank you for listening. Any questions anywhere? Hit us up, talkingpools at gmail.com. Thank you everybody for listening. Without you, this doesn't exist. God bless the pool pro.

SPEAKER_04 3:08

God bless the pool pro.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

I've been getting Service Industry News since I first stepped into this business, and every time it landed, I did the same thing. Flip straight to the horror file. The weird installs, the absurd finds, the stuff only pool pros ever see. Then I'd go back and read the articles. Service Industry News is a twice-monthly trade publication for pool and spa service text, 24 issues a year, emailed free to over 10,000 texts and available on their app. Every issue covers nationwide industry news and real technical content you actually will use.

SPEAKER_02 4:50

Get your free subscription at serviceindustry news.net. Again, that's serviceindustrynews.net.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

Do it now. Welcome to Friday. I'm Rudy Stenkowitz. This is the Talking Pools Podcast. Welcome to Weekend Eve. Thank you for coming here and spending just a little bit of it with me. I appreciate you. I'm hoping that your pools were all pleasant and leaf-free and all your customers were happy. And if they weren't, you know what? Fuck. It's Friday. Go out and do something that's not pool related on the weekend. If you're working tomorrow, then make sure that you save yourself some time to kick your feet up and do something fun on Sunday before you have to get back into the grind. My friend Adam Reimer, longtime listener of the show, told me that he paints pools, but he asked me some questions about painting. So I decided that, well, this would be a pretty good opportunity to talk about it. I can talk about it here on the episode. I don't think we've ever talked about painting a pool before, not in the thousand and forty episodes that were before this one. So I don't know how we missed that, but here we are. And it's kind of relevant coming off of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Although that's not paint, what they use there, that coating system doesn't matter. There's not too many people. In fact, I don't think anybody has any experience in using that. So what we have to look at is coatings in general. And coatings have a lot of things in common. So now, before anybody starts typing in all caps, yes, I know the rhino system used there is not conventional pool paint. It's a professionally installed protective coating system. Different animal, different chemistry, different application. But here's the thing the questions people are asking today are the exact same questions we've been asking in the pool industry for decades. Why did it peel? Why did it blister? Why did it let go? Was it the chemical? Was it the coating? Was it the concrete? Was it the weather? Was it vandalism? Or did something go sideways long before the water ever went back in? See, everybody wants a smoking gun. Nobody wants to hear about the surface preparation. Surface preparation is like taxes. Necessary, boring, nobody wants to talk about it until it ruins your life. So today, we're gonna talk about paint, actually. We're gonna talk about coatings. And more importantly, why some last for years and some end up floating around the deep end like blue potato chips. Now, I sold a hell of a lot of paint once upon a time. Different part of the industry, different life. Maybe it was because I lived in the Northeast, maybe it was just what everybody did before Y2K. I don't know. But what I do know is pool service professionals have a love-hate relationship with painted pools. Actually, scratch that. It's mostly a hate-hate relationship with painted pools. Fort. Not because paint is garbage, because paint is needy. Painted pools are the high maintenance girlfriend of the pool industry. Everything's fine until it isn't. Then your phone rings at dinner, on vacation, Sunday afternoon. My paint's peeling. Well, maybe it was the chemistry. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe somebody painted over chalk. Maybe they skipped the acid wash. Maybe the concrete was still holding moisture. Maybe they filled it before it cured because somebody had a graduation party. I don't know. The point is the service company usually wasn't there for any of that. But guess who's standing in the backyard explaining it? Not the dude or dudette who painted it. Nope. It's the service guy or gal that you got now. That's why service companies don't hate paint. They hate inheriting paint. Then there's brushing. Nobody thinks about brushing. Brush algae, brush dirt, brush calcium. That's your job. But every time you brush a painted cool, you're also wearing away the finish. Albeit microscopically and very slowly, you are still doing it. It's like washing your pickup with 4,000 grit sandpaper. You probably won't notice today. You definitely will in five years. Then customers ask, why is my paint fading? Because you've been brushing it twice a week since Obama was president. Paint also has commitment issues. Actually, it has commitment. You're the one with the commitment issues. Because once you paint a plaster pool, you're married. You don't just wake up five years later and decide, you know what? I'd like plaster again. Sure, no problem. Just remove every square inch of paint. Then remove the layer underneath that. Then the layer underneath that. It's like an archaeological dig, depending on how many layers of paint there are. Holy crap! We found epoxy from the Clinton administration. Look, there's chlorinated rubber from Reagan. Every repaint becomes another chapter in the pool's history. And eventually, nobody remembers what the original surface even looked like. Then comes chemistry. Paint isn't plaster. Plaster will forgive you for a lot. Paint will not. Paint wants to be treated like royalty. Actually, not royalty, more like one of those tiny purse dogs wearing a sweater in July. Everything offends it. Don't dump acid directly into the pool. Don't let concentrated chemicals sit on the floor. Don't shock it carelessly. You need to treat it more like you treat vinyl or fiberglass. Because coatings don't appreciate concentrated oxidizers any more than those finishes do. Can they handle properly balanced water? Absolutely. Can they handle abuse? Not so much. Now, before somebody thinks I'm beating up paint, I'm not. A properly selected coating applied over the right surface with proper preparation can last quite a long time. I've seen beautiful painted pools, municipal pools, country clubs, apartment complexes, pools that looked absolutely freaking fantastic. But every one of those successful jobs had something in common. They weren't painted by a fucking idiot. Someone respected the schedule more than the preparation. Which brings us to what we want to talk about today. Everybody wants to buy expensive paint. Nobody wants to spend three days preparing the surface. That's like buying a Ferrari and changing the oil with bacon grease. The coating isn't your problem. You are, or the guy before you, either way. The coating isn't your problem. The homeowner is. The paint gets blamed because it's the part floating in the water. You're the pool pro. You get blamed for whatever's happening in the water. So being that happens in the water, guess what? Every coating seminar starts with the same question. What's the best paint? Wrong question. That's like asking what's the best shoe? For what? Running? Construction? Wedding? Tap dancing? You don't buy work boots to run a marathon, and you don't buy marathon shoes to frame a house. Pool coatings work exactly the same way. The right coating depends on what's already there, not what looks pretty on the color chart. Here's the biggest mistake people make. They tell me the pool's blue. Really? Thanks. Sky's blue too. That doesn't tell me a damn thing. I need to know is it plaster? Concrete? Gunite? Fiberglass? Has it been painted before? What was it painted with? Epoxy? Synthetic rubber? Sorinated rubber? Acrylic? Or three different products layered over 30 years by three different contractors who all swore they knew what they were doing. Compatibility matters. Chemistry matters. Guessing doesn't.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Before you ever think about opening a can of paint, slow down. If you're looking at a coating failure instead of preparing for a new job, don't grab the pressure washer. Don't grab the scraper. Grab your phone. Take photographs. Lots of them. Wide shots, close-ups, the edges of the failure. The places where the coating stayed bonded. The places where it didn't. Around fittings, expansion joints, drains, steps, everywhere. Once you start scraping, grinding, or washing, you're not just cleaning the surface. You might be destroying the evidence that tells you why it failed. A good coating investigation starts the same way every good crime scene investigation starts. Document first, touch later. Then remember this concrete doesn't care how old it is. A 50-year-old pool isn't automatically dry. Moisture moves through concrete its entire life. That's why surface preparation isn't just about making the pool look clean. You're creating the conditions for the coating to bond. Sanding isn't punishment. You're creating millions of microscopic peaks and valleys that the coating flows into and locks onto. That's called mechanical adhesion. Miss the manufacturer's recoat window, and that next coat may lose the opportunity to chemically bond to the previous one. Now you're relying mostly on that mechanical profile you created with all that sanding. Suddenly, those hours behind the grinder don't look so boring anymore. They're the difference between a coating that lasts for years and one that starts teaching you expensive lessons six months from now.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

So looking at five different coating families right now, not because one is better than another, because each has a job. Think of them like tools. Nobody complains that a screwdriver is terrible because it doesn't cut lumber. Wrong tool, wrong job. Chlorinated rubber-based paint, that is old school. Designed primarily for pools already coated with chlorinated rubber. If you've identified the existing coating correctly, great. If you haven't, you're gambling. Different coating families cure differently, expand differently, react to solvents differently, stack in compatible products together, and don't act surprised when they start peeling apart like a bad sunburn. Then you got synthetic rubber. Think of that as chlorinated rubber's cousin. Similar purpose, lower VOC, useful where environmental regulations are stricter, still depends on compatibility. Notice a pattern. Compatibility. Compatibility, compatibility. You know why manufacturers keep repeating that? Because compatibility matters and people keep ignoring it. Then we have acrylic, fast turnaround, soap and water cleanup, like a godsend, it can tolerate damp surfaces better than others. Hotels, love it. Municipal pools, love it. Anybody who loses money every day the pool stays closed, loves it. But every advantage has a trade-off. Shorter service life, different appearance, not intended for every substrate. There are no miracle products. Only products designed for specific jobs. Epoxy is durability. Two components, chemical cure, excellent resistance to chemicals and abrasion, works on concrete, plaster, fiberglass, spas, slides, even fountains, but don't expect it to smooth rough surfaces. It's a relatively thin film. It protects, it doesn't hide your sins. Then comes the high build epoxy. That is epoxy's big brother. Thicker, more durable, better at smoothing rough but structurally sound surfaces. Notice I said structurally sound, because somebody always hears smooths rough surfaces and thinks, good, I don't have to repair anything. Wrong paint isn't bondo. Coatings don't repair concrete. And here's the most important lesson in the entire thing. Before you buy one gallon of paint, before you buy 50 gallons, figure out what's already on the pool. Because almost every coating failure investigation eventually asks the same question. What was underneath? If your answer is, uh, you've already made your first mistake, because the best coating in the world applied over the wrong surface is still the wrong coating. And that's where we're headed next. Because here's the dirty little secret manufacturers don't make money advertising. The guy with the grinder usually has more influence over the life of the coating than the guy who made the coating. And that's why surface preparation isn't part of the job. Surface preparation is the job. And it's the part that everybody hates. You know why? Because it's work. Nobody walks into a paint store and says, you know what gets me excited? Acid washing. Nobody. People get excited about color, they get excited about shiny, they get excited about before and after pictures. You need content for TikTok. Nobody posts a Facebook photo of themselves pressure washing a pool for eight hours because it's not sexy. It's just the difference between a coating that lasts 10 years and one that starts peeling before the warranty card gets cold. Here's the dirty little secret The guy with the grinder has more influence over the life of the coating than the chemist who invented it. Think about that. A team of engineers spends years designing a coating, and some guy named Earl says, Yep, that's clean enough. Congratulations. Earl just beat science. So what's involved in the prep? First thing, drain the pool.

SPEAKER_05 17:49

Jax Magic Products is your industry leader in identifying, removing, and preventing stains. How? With a range of high-performance, eco-friendly products keeping pools safe, clean, and ready to use all year round. The Jax Magic three-step program is a quick and effective way to remove stains and scaling. First, we identify the problem, then our top quality products will remove the discoloration. Finally, our preventative solutions will keep your pool looking like new for much longer. Get helpful tips and check out our product catalog today at Jaxmagic.com.

SPEAKER_07 18:19

Aquastar's new pipeline cartridge filters, available in two sizes, deliver top-notch hydraulic efficiency along with best-in-class filtration performance. Approaching that of DE filters. Uniquely designed open pleat spacing means 100% of the media square footage is usable. And these claims are backed by NSF test results. Designed with a pro's time and comfort in mind, the patented double locking system improves safety and ease of access, making filter cleanings faster than ever before. Available now. Ask your supplier for pipeline filters today.

SPEAKER_06 18:54

That is amazing. I can actually go out and make money clean filter cleanings if you would like to.

SPEAKER_07 18:58

If they were AquaStar filters out there, then I could be a filter cleaner girl.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

We can do that. Make it happen. Let's make it happen. Todd? Perfect. There you go. Awesome. Thank you, Jules the Pool Girl. Again, AquaStar Pool Products Pipeline Filters. Super easy, right? Super easy.

SPEAKER_06 19:19

Blu-ray XL is the power of minerals working for you. Reduce your overall chemical cost and labor up to 50% guaranteed. Whether you have 20 accounts or 20,000, Blu-ray XL's direct pricing and free shipping to the Fool Trade have you covered. Improving Fool Professionals' profit and work-life balance is what they do. Blu-ray XL, the real mineral purifier. Visit them at Blu-rayXL.com.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

Blu-ray all day. So what's involved in the prep? First thing, drain the pool. Yeah, I know that sounds obvious, but you'd be amazed. Once it's empty, and by all means, please do make sure that you're aware of groundwater level before you empty a pool. Make sure you're familiar with well points. Once the pool is empty, safe to enter, inspect every part of that surface. Don't just stand at the shallow end and say it looks pretty good. Walk the entire pool. Inspect the floor, the walls, the deep end, shallow end, the transition slope, the steps, the corners, around the main drains, around the return fittings, around the lights, around ladders, handrails, sockets, and expansion joints. And also around every previous patch. Look for loose paint, flaking paint, blisters, cracks, holes, gouges, soft plaster, crumbling plaster, hollow areas, heavy chalking, rust stains, deposits, algae residue, oil, grease, scal, and silicone contamination. Coating is not a repair for a weak surface. If the material underneath is weak, the new coating may attach perfectly to that weak material. Then the weak material separates from the pool, the paint's still stuck to the plaster fragment, but now the entire fragment comes off. That is still a coating failure from the pool owner's point of view. Concrete and plaster must be checked for integrity. Aged plaster should be examined for hollow, weak, or crumbling areas. Using a ball peen hammer or comparable method to help identify questionable plaster does not mean smashing the pool with the hammer. It means carefully tapping the surface and listening. A solid area produces a sharper, more consistent sound. A hollow or detached area may produce a duller or more drum-like sound. Mark every questionable area. Do not just paint over the fucking thing and hope. Hope is not a surface preparation. Weak or hollow material must be repaired before the coating is applied. Not all old paint has to come off, but all loose, weak, appealing, blistered, or poorly attached paint does examine the edges of damaged areas. Try to determine whether the surrounding coating is firmly attached. Power washing is specified to remove loose paint and dirt on several of the coating systems. Pressure washing should not be treated as the only preparation step. Don't be that guy, don't be that gal. Is one part of the process. If paint releases under pressure, it was not sound enough to support another coating. Continue removing loose material until the remaining edges are firmly attached. Do not leave curled edges, do not leave flakes that move when touched. Do not coat over blisters, and do not assume a section is sound simply because it didn't fall off by itself. Pool surface is exposed to so much more than water. It might contain body oils, sunscreens, cosmetics, calcium deposits, metal. Metals, algae, biofilm, water treatment chemicals, clarifiers, silicone lubricants, and years and years of fine residue. Coating can't properly bond through that shit. Some manufacturers have their own cleaning and prep solution that's used to etch and neutralize the surface. Others use muriatic acid and water mix in a five to one ratio that's five parts water, one part acid. Stronger's not necessarily better. And do not let the solution dry on the surface unless the directions for what you're using specifically allow it. Work manageable sections, scrub thoroughly, pay particular attention to waterline areas, steps, benches, corners, areas around fittings, locations where oily residues commonly collect, rinse it all thoroughly. The purpose is not to make the pool smell clean. The purpose is to leave a surface that is free of anything that can interfere with adhesion. Epoxy coatings naturally chalk over time. Chalk is a loose powdery material on the upper surface of the coating. It may look like faded color or just feel like dust. When recoating epoxy, tightly adhering residual chalk must be removed. Gotta get it out of there. Think of chalk like flour spread across the countertop. You may be able to paint over it, but the new paint is bonding to the flour to the countertop. When the flour moves, the coating moves with it. Wash, scrub, abrade, rinse, and inspect again. Run a clean hand or cloth across the dry surface. If it continues to pick up heavy powder, the surface isn't ready. Repairs have to be completed and allowed to cure before the final surface preparation and coating stages. The guides identify hydraulic cement or approved polyurethane sealant as possible repair materials depending on the condition. They specifically warn against silicone-based products because silicone can interfere with paint adhesion. That warning matters. Silicone is excellent at preventing materials from sticking to it. That is exactly why it creates a problem beneath paint. If silicone contamination is present, simply wiping the top may not solve the problem. The contaminated material may need to be completely removed. For fiberglass or thermoplastic pool steps, the separate step recoding recommends repairing cracks, gouges, or holes with epoxy patching compound before sanding. Allow every repair to cure according to the repair material instructions. Do not sand or coat soft repair material that hasn't cured yet. Do not rush it because the weather forecast changes. A patch that is not cured might shrink. It could move, it could release moisture, just simply interfere with the coating. Coating needs something to hold on to. An extremely smooth, hard, glossy surface may not provide enough mechanical grip. That is why previously painted epoxy and bare fiberglass require abrasion. You gotta scuff that surface up. For EP epoxy, previously painted epoxy or bare fiberglass, it should be abraded to approximately an 80 grit profile. Exceptionally hard surfaces may require sanding with 60 to 80 grit sandpaper before the first coat. For high-build epoxy, the guide calls for 60 to 80 grit abrasion on previously painted epoxy or bare fiberglass to create the required surface profile. The purpose is not to polish the surface. Purpose is to make it uniformly dull and textured. A glossy spot is a warning. It may indicate that the sanding did not reach that area. Pay close attention to corners, edges, steps, benches, curved transitions around any and all fittings, around areas that the power sander could not reach. Use sanding blocks or hand sanding or a wire brush wherever you can't fit the power sander. Make sure you get all areas. The surface should have a consistent, medium grade sandpaper appearance. Cool steps require special attention because they're smooth, curved, frequently walked on, and often exposed to concentrated wear. So cleaning and scrubbing the entire surface with a clean and prep solution, rinsing thoroughly, and allowing the surface to dry, repairing cracks, gouges, and holes, sanding the entire surface with 60 grit sandpaper until a visible etched profile is created, removing all sanding dust, wiping the surface with thinner, allowing it to dry before coating. Do not sand only the damaged spot. The entire surface receiving the coating must be prepared. A visible profile means the original glossy appearance has been removed. That's what we're looking for. The surface should look uniformly abraded or dull. After sanding, remove all dust. Dust left behind becomes a bond breaker layer. Use the thinner only as directed. Allow it to evaporate fully. Do not begin coating while solvent remains trapped on the surface. After sanding or mechanical preparation, the surface will contain dust and debris. Remove it thoroughly. Do not simply just blow the dust from one end of the pool to the other. Clean the walls, floors, corners, steps, fittings, ledges, every horizontal surface where dust might settle. Once cleaning is finished, avoid walking through the pool with dirty shoes. Avoid dragging hoses across prepared surfaces. Avoid placing oily tools or extension cords on the pool floor. And prevent leaves, insects, rainwater, irrigation water, and construction dust from contaminating the surface, please. A prepared surface should be treated like a clean work area. Dryness is critical. The pool should be allowed to completely dry after cleaning. Drying time varies by region and by the porosity of the surface. As a general recommendation, we're looking at a five dry sunny days before performing a condensation test. Note the wording five dry sunny days. A day with rain does not count as a dry day. A day with heavy dew may affect drying. A shaded deep end may dry more slowly than an exposed shallow wall. And a thick concrete shell can hold moisture even when the surface looks dry. The surface looking dry is not the same thing as being dry, not dry enough to coat anyway. The condensation test, take a piece of saran wrap, stick it to the pool, actually do this in a few areas, attach it with painter's tape, big sheets, like two feet long, tape them tightly to different areas of the pool. Make sure to hit the deep end wall, the deep end floor, and several other locations around the pool. Leave the plastic in place for approximately four hours, then come back and inspect it. If condensation forms under the plastic, the surface is not dry enough to paint. Remove the plastic, wait another 24 hours, then repeat the test. Continue until no condensation appears. Do not test only the driest looking wall. Moisture may vary throughout that pool. The deep end may behave differently than the shallow end. The floor may behave differently than the walls. One dry location does not prove that the entire pool is dry. Acrylic is a little bit different because it can be applied to a damp surface, but may be applied to damp surfaces does not mean it should be applied through standing water. Active seepage, mud, slime, or contamination still needs to be cleaned properly, sound, and prepped. The range for coatings is generally between 50 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The application range, that is. Overnight temps have to be at least 50 degrees for proper curing, but don't look just at the afternoon air temp. Check the surface temperature, the overnight low, the humidity, the chance of rain, the likelihood of morning dew, and weather direct sunlight will heat the surface excessively. Do not paint when rain is imminent. Rain or moisture during curing can contribute to blistering, blushing, color changes, or other finish problems. For the acrylic, when the surface temperature exceeds 90 degrees, you may have to be out there in the early mornings or at night misting the surface with cool water before painting. That instruction applies only to acrylic. Do not automatically carry that dampening instruction over to epoxy or rubber coatings. I hope that gives you a bit to think about before we get in there and start painting a pool. If you have been painting pools, look at it just as double checking what you're doing. If you have any questions, you know you can hit me up on this or on anything. Talkingpools at gmail.com. Slow down. This isn't where you grab a roller. This is where you become a detective. Walk every inch of that pool, not just the shallow end, the walls, the floor, the hopper, the steps, the benches, corners, the turns, lights, main drains, expansion joints. Anywhere two different materials meet. You're looking for clues, loose paint, blisters, cracks, soft plaster, hollow plaster, rust stains, calcium buildup, grease, oil, silicone, anything that says, hey buddy, don't paint over me. Because paint isn't magic. It's chemistry. And chemistry doesn't negotiate. Here's one that catches people hollow plaster. Take a ball peen hammer. You're not auditioning for a demolition company. You're listening. Tap, tap, tap. Solid plaster sounds solid. Loose plaster sounds like somebody hiding inside of the wall, trying not to breathe. Mark it. Don't ignore it. Because here's what happens. The new coating sticks beautifully to the old plaster. Everybody celebrates. Yahoo! Six months later, the plaster lets go. Now the customer says the paint failed. No! The plaster failed, you idiot. The paint just had the decency to leave with it. Next, old paint. Here's some good news. You don't always have to remove all of it. Here's the bad news. Everything that's loose has to go. Peeling, gone. Blistered, gone. Flaking, gone. Curling around the edges, gone. You know what? Mostly attached means not attached. Power washing helps. Scraping helps. Grinding helps. Whatever it takes, keep removing material until what's left actually wants to stay there. I've seen guys paint right over peeling paint. That's like putting wallpaper over wet drywall. Sure. It looks great for about 15 minutes. Now let's talk dirt. Let's talk 30 years of human slime. Schmutz, yak, sunscreen, body oil, hair products, calcium, metal stains, biofilm, algae. Every chemical that's ever been dumped into that pool, all of it becomes your enemy. People say the pool looks clean, looks. I don't care what it looks like. I'm worried about what the paint can't see. Because coatings don't bond through contamination. They bond to the surface. Everything between the coating and the surface is a future failure. That's why you scrub, then rinse, then scrub again. Especially the waterline. If you've ever cleaned a waterline, you already know. That's where years of bad decisions go to retire. Now let's talk chalk, not classroom chalk, epoxy chalk. Somebody wipes their hand across the wall, comes back looking like they just powdered a donut. Then they say, It's good to me. No, no, it doesn't. Painting over epoxy chalk, it's a lot like gluing plywood to baby powder. The new coating isn't sticking to epoxy. It's sticking to dust. Acid wash it, scrub it, sand it, wipe it, run your hand across it again. Still getting powder? Congratulations. You're not done. Then repairs. Every crack, every gouge, every broken patch, repair it first. And then, for the love of everything holy, stay away from silicone. Silicone's entire job description is nothing sticks to me, which makes it a fantastic caulk and an absolutely terrible thing to paint over. If silicone contaminated the surface, it usually has to leave because the paint sure isn't sticking to it. Now we sand. And here's another thing people screw up. You're not polishing, you're creating teeth. Paint likes texture. Glossy surfaces are the coating equivalent of trying to climb an ice shrink wearing socks, especially fiberglass, especially old epoxy. You want a consistent profile. No shiny spots, none. Because shiny spots are lazy spots, and lazy spots become warranty claims. Corners, steps, returns, around lights, those little places everybody ignores, those are usually the first places that fell. Not because the coating hates corners, because people do. Then dust. Sweet mother of God. Dust. You just spent two days sanding. Now don't run it. Don't blow the dust into the deep end and call it clean. Actually remove it. Walls, floor, corners, ledges, everything. Then keep it clean. Don't drag muddy extension cords through it. Don't walk around with dirty boots. Don't let your helper eat potato chips over the deep end. Treat that surface like an operating room. Because every speck of dust is another tiny place where the coating isn't actually touching the pool. Now, moisture, and this is where impatience gets expensive. The surface looks dry. Good for the surface. Concrete lies. Concrete stores water, especially thick concrete, especially shaded concrete, especially deep ends. That's why manufacturers tell you to wait. Then test. Tape clear plastic in several places. You can get a sheet of saran wrap. Come back later. If you see condensation underneath, guess what? The concrete just answered your question. It's still wet. Don't argue with it. Don't say, eh, it's probably fine. That's how people end up explaining blisters. The concrete literally told you it wasn't ready. You just chose not to listen. Finally, weather, not today's weather, the whole friggin' forecast. Rain, humidity, morning dew, overnight temps, surface temperature. The coating doesn't care that your customer wants to swim Saturday. It doesn't care that you've got another job on Monday. It doesn't care that your kid has soccer practice. It only cares about chemistry. If the conditions aren't right, wait. I know. Nobody likes hearing that. But here's something I learned over 30 something years in this industry. I've never heard anybody say, I wish we'd spent less time preparing that surface. Not once. I've heard the exact opposite thousands of times. But here's the truth painting a pool isn't hard. Rolling paint is easy. A 16-year-old with a roller can do that, knowing when not to paint. That's what makes you a professional. And that's the difference between a coating that makes you look like a hero and one that has your phone ringing six months later while you're trying to eat dinner. Guess what? Finally, up to opening the damn can of paint. But if you skipped everything we just talked about, you might as well just keep the lid on because the job already failed before the roller even hit the wall. So at this point, we've cleaned, we've scraped, we've sanded, we've repaired, we've vacuumed, we tested for moisture, we checked the weather. Now and only now are we ready to paint. See? Painting's kind of the reward. Preparation was the job. Here's another thing that drives me nuts. People spend three days repairing the pool, then they rush the paint. Really? You just ran a marathon and decided to sprint the last 50 feet blindfolded. Slow down. First, know your escape plan. Seriously. Where are you standing? Where are you starting? Where are you finishing? How are you getting out without walking across the fresh coating? Seems obvious until somebody paints themselves into the deep end like a cartoon character. Don't laugh. It happens. Probably more than once. Now, mixing. Single component coatings, easy. Mechanically mix them thoroughly. If you're using several gallons, box them together. That's just a fancy way of saying mix multiple cans into one larger container. Why? Because manufacturing is incredibly consistent, but not perfect. One batch might be just a hair different than the next. You don't want one wall looking like Caribbean blue and then the next looking like oops.

unknown 39:08

No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 39:10

Now, epoxy is different animal. Part A, part B. Separate until it's time. Mix part A, mix part B. Then mix them together. And then, here's the part people ignore. Induction time. Sounds like something from high school physics. It's not. It's chemistry waking up. Coding needs time for the chemical reaction to begin before you start rolling it. People hear pot life and induction time, and they think they're the same thing. They're not. Induction time is wait before you use it. Pot life, hurry up before it turns into a brick. Two different clocks, ignore either one, and don't act surprised when chemistry gets the last laugh. Now let's roll. Here's where every rookie thinks more paint equals more protection. No, more paint equals runs, sags, longer cure times, trap solvents, blisters. It's paint, not cake frosting. You're not decorating a freaking birthday cake. You're building a coating system. Manufacturers spend millions figuring out how thick that coating should be. Then somebody says, I think I'll double it. Based on what? Hope. Use the right roller. Too thick, and you're whipping air into the coating. Air becomes bubbles, bubbles become blisters, blisters become phone calls. See how everything eventually becomes a phone call? Cut in around the fittings. Work methodically, maintain a wet edge, watch for runs, watch for sags, watch for bugs, because apparently every insect within three counties thinks fresh paint is an Airbnb. If you're applying non-skid, keep it where people walk. You're trying to prevent slips, not recreate 60 feet of sandpaper. Now comes the second coat. And manufacturers love this phrase: recoat window. Translation, you have a certain amount of time where the next coat chemically bonds to the first one. Miss that window? And congratulations, you just bought yourself more sanding. People get mad about that. The manufacturer made me sand. No, the chemistry made you sand. The manufacturer was nice enough to tell you about it. That's the difference. Now let's talk curing. This is where impatience really becomes expensive. The coating feels dry, who cares? I can bake a cake, stick a toothpick in it after five minutes, and it'll feel warm. Doesn't mean it's done. Same thing here. Dry to the touch is not cured. You know who doesn't understand that? Customers. My party's Saturday. Fantastic. The coating doesn't know about your party. Coating doesn't know your in-laws are coming. The coating only knows chemistry. Give it time. Because if you fill that pool early, the coating may spend the next five years reminding you that you did. Then finally, fill the pool, balance the water. And here's another thing people get wrong. Balanced water doesn't just protect plaster, it protects coatings too. Paint isn't bulletproof. Aggressive water can shorten the life of almost anything. The best coating in the world can't win a fight against terrible chemistry forever. That's asking a raincoat to survive a wood chipper. Wrong expectations. Now, let's talk failure. Chlorine peeled my paint. Maybe, maybe not. My algicide ruined it. Maybe, maybe not. The peroxide did it. Maybe, maybe not. See a pattern? Everybody starts with the chemical they remember adding. Almost nobody starts with the six things that happened before the paint ever touched the pool. Here's the reality. Blisters could be trapped moisture, could be excessive film thickness, could be painting indirect sunlight, could be filling too early. Could be incompatible coatings. Poor adhesion usually starts with preparation. Loose paint, dirt, chalk, moisture, silicone, skip sanding, mist, early fill, aggressive chemistry, normal epoxy aging. Notice something? The coating didn't just wake up one Tuesday morning and decide, hey, you know what? I quit. Something caused it. Your job isn't to guess. Your job is to investigate. Because a failure tells you what happened. It doesn't automatically tell you why it happened. That's the difference between a technician and a detective. Which brings us back to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The entire country wanted one simple answer. What caused the coating to peel? That's a fair question. It's also the hardest question in codings, because coatings fail for reasons. Sometimes one, sometimes five. Sometimes the visible failure started months before anybody noticed it. Sometimes the coating is innocent, sometimes it isn't. The point is you don't get to skip the investigation because social media isn't patient. Chemistry doesn't care about headlines, it cares about evidence. So if you remember one thing from this episode, remember this. The coating isn't the hero. The roller isn't the hero. Even the manufacturer, not the hero. The hero is the person who spent three days doing work nobody will ever see. Cleaning, acid washing, grinding, repairing, testing, waiting, preparing. Because when a coating lasts 15 years, nobody says, Man, that surface preparation was on point. No, they just admire the finish. Kind of like a great movie. Nobody walks out talking about the editing, they talk about the ending. But without the editing, the ending would have sucked. Same thing here. Preparation is invisible until you skip it. Then suddenly it's all anyone can see. And that's why I'll say it one last time. Painting a pool isn't hard. Knowing when not to paint, that's what separates a guy with a roller from a pool professional. And listen, before some fuck not on Facebook University, earns their doctorate in coatings engineering because they watched a 30-second TikTok. Understand this. A real coating investigation does not stop at, yep, it peeled. A coatings inspector wants to know how it peeled. Was it an adhesive failure where the coating let go of the concrete? A cohesive failure where the coating tore apart inside itself? Or did the concrete or plaster fell underneath while the coating stayed perfectly bonded to the chunk that came off? Those are three completely different failures with three completely different causes. Then comes moisture. Not well, it looked dry. Concrete lies. That's why professionals use things like ASTM F 2170 in situ relative humidity testing or ASTM F 1869 moisture vapor emission testing instead of holding a committee around a piece of saran wrap, like we spoke about before. They verify adhesion with ASTM D4541 or D7234 pull-off testing instead of grabbing a loose flap and saying, hey, that ain't right. They check dew point because if the concrete is sitting at or below dew point, condensation can form even when you can't see it. And congratulations, Dingleberry, you just painted over invisible water. None of that makes for exciting YouTube content. It doesn't. Nobody's going viral because they because they measured substrate moisture or calculated dew point. But that's the difference between solving a coating failure and becoming the loudest fucking chooch in the comments section. That's all I have for you this week. Until next time, be good. Be safe.