Pool Resurfacing in Cape Coral: Plaster, Quartz and Pebble

Resurfacing replaces the interior finish of a pool. SGM, a Florida maker of pool finishes, describes pool plaster as “the cement-based interior finish troweled over a concrete or gunite pool shell”. Small chips and spots can usually be patched, SGM says, but “when wear is widespread, resurfacing is the better fix”, and widespread wear usually calls for draining the pool.

Replastering and resurfacing name the same job. “Pool plaster” once meant white marcite, and SGM notes that the term now also covers finishes built with marble, quartz or pebble aggregate.

The three finishes

Marcite is the traditional white plaster. SGM calls it the smoothest and lowest-cost option, with the shortest lifespan of the group and the lowest fade resistance. Quartz blends colored quartz aggregate into the cement, which SGM says adds hardness and color stability that plain plaster lacks. Pebble, which the trade also calls exposed aggregate, sets natural stones in cement and washes the surface to expose them; it feels textured underfoot rather than slick.

The two makers quoted in the table below give different lives for the same finish, so read both, and remember that each is describing its own products. For the full comparison, see marcite, quartz and pebble compared.

Signs a pool is due

SGM lists the signs to watch for: “rough or etched spots, stains that won’t brush out, chips, cracks, and areas that sound hollow when tapped.” Fine cracks can be surface check cracks rather than damage to the shell; surface crazing or a structural crack explains the difference. For the full list, with what causes each one, see the signs your plaster is worn out.

How a pool is resurfaced in Lee County

Draining. A drained pool shell has groundwater pushing on it from below. The Florida Building Code, Residential (8th edition, 2023) says: “In areas of anticipated water table an approved hydrostatic relief device shall be installed”, with an exception for plastic liner pools. A valve maker describes the device as one that “helps prevent swimming pool damage due to hydrostatic pressure beneath the pool shell when the pool is drained.” Where the water goes is regulated too. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says dechlorinated pool water may be discharged if it causes no violation of water quality standards: let it stand at least 48 hours after the last chlorine (or until free chlorine is below 0.01 mg/L), run it over a vegetated surface, and never straight into surface waters. Draining a pool in Florida covers each of these in full.

The new finish. The new finish is troweled on over the prepared shell, and heat works against it: SGM’s installation manual warns that “hot, dry shells will cause rapid setting of the plaster and result in check or shrinkage cracking and delamination.”

Refilling and start-up. Pebble Technology International says “a pool project can require 1 week and much longer” and tells owners: “Do not enter your pool until it is filled with water.” Its start-up guide says that during the first 28 days “the product develops most of its durability characteristics”, and that “it is recommended to test the source water prior to filling the pool.” Brushing, the 48-hour wait for chlorine and the longer waits for salt and heat are set out step by step in pool startup after plaster.

When to schedule resurfacing

No source names a best month, so none is given here. Three facts bear on it. SGM’s warning about hot, dry shells applies to the day the finish goes on. About two thirds of the year’s rain at Fort Myers falls from June to September (38.47 of 57.41 inches in NOAA’s 1991-2020 normals for Page Field). And a drained shell in an area with a water table depends on its hydrostatic relief valve. Ask the contractor how they plan around the weather.

Permits for resurfacing in Lee County

Each city in Lee County with its own building department sets its own rule. Lee County’s permit center says projects within Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Estero, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach or Sanibel “may need to apply for permitting through your local jurisdiction.”

• Fort Myers: the city’s permit list shows in-ground pool bottom refinishing as needing no permit for residential property (a permit for commercial). Pool repair in Fort Myers has the city’s other rules.
• Estero: the village’s permit brochure lists “In-Ground Pool Refinishing” as needing no permit.
• Cape Coral: the Building Division has a residential Pool Renovation permit. Its guideline does not say whether resurfacing on its own counts, so ask the division before work starts.
• Bonita Springs and unincorporated Lee County (including Lehigh Acres and North Fort Myers): no published rule for resurfacing was found. Ask the office that issues permits for your address.

What moves the price of resurfacing

No price is published here: no current, local price source could be quoted. What changes the price is easier to say. The finish is one part; SGM calls white plaster the lowest-cost finish. Size is another; SGM’s own first step is the pool’s square footage. When you compare written quotes, check whether each one includes the drain and refill, any crack or shell repair found once the pool is empty, and the waterline tile and coping. Replacing tile and coping as well turns the job into pool remodeling.

Acid washing

An acid wash cleans a finish; it does not replace one. SGM’s installation manual calls acid washing one of the “typical cleaning methods” and, writing of the plaster problems of the late 1980s, says it “brought only temporary relief and caused accelerated erosion.” The same manual says SGM’s quartz finish “can be cleaned by acid washing several times throughout its life span, without sustaining permanent damage.” Acid also has a place in new work: Pebble Technology International says “a special acid solution is used to create a clean finish” once a pebble finish is applied.

Who can do the work

Florida law puts “interior refinishing” and “the substantial or complete draining of a swimming pool … for the purpose of repair or renovation” within the scope of a swimming pool/spa servicing contractor (s. 489.105(3)(l), Florida Statutes). The state’s licensing board adds that pool specialty contractors, including finish specialists, “may not contract directly with the public”. Before you sign, look the contractor up at myfloridalicense.com; Florida law says a contract made by an unlicensed contractor is unenforceable by that contractor.