can a gunite pool be fiberglassed

[janice]

I have a gunite pool that has a crack. We live in an area with clay soil. I have heard that you can hand put on fiberglass over a gunite pool. Is this true, and any thoughts.

[micahharwell]

Yes, fiberglass can be used as a pool finish on a gunite pool.

But, this will only be a temporary fix because a crack in the gunite is a structural problem that can only be fixed by repairing the gunite.

Gunite is usually anywhere from 8" to 12" thick and reinforced with rebar. If there was enough soil pressure to cause it to crack, a 1/4" of fiberglass or plaster will fail.

[lonestar]

A pool guy mentor whose been involved in building, repairing and maintaining pools for most of his life told me of this subject:

When you put fiberglass over gunite you will always have problems because the fiberglass and gunite contract and expand at different rates and at different temperatures. So at first the bond is very strong but after a few winter/summers there will be parts of the pool where the fiberglass is becoming unconnected. This eventually leads to a hole and once water is behind it the fiberglass will start to come off in large chunks.

-alan

[Guest]

Would this hold true for a thin fiberglass layer over a concrete shell and with tiles on top of the fiberglass.

In other words, the fiberglass is sandwiched between the concrete shell and the tiles. The fiberglass layer is thin at only 2 mats. A friend made a pool like this and supposedly researched it beforehand, but was only able to supply anecdotal references.

Thanks