OT: Restoring/Painting an Old Gelcoated Swimming Pool Slide

[varuscelli]

Sorry if I'm posting in the wrong area, but this question seems more related to boat restoration than anything else, especially in terms of painting over something gelcoated (although I understand this post might get moved to the Non-Boating Technical Topics forum). In terms of a project, this seems closer to boat painting and restoration than anything I can find that's similar...and I'm finding precious little about the subject on any of the swimming pool forums I've visited.​

I have acquired an old, fiberglass (gelcoated) swimming pool slide (deck only) that has not only a partially worn through gelcoat but that has also been painted over by someone using an unknown (to me) type of paint. The "new" paint (which itself seems to be several years old) has also been rubbed off and powdered away in places, but also adheres very well in other places.​

The slide is 13 feet long and has an overall top surface area of right at 40 square feet.​

There are a few chips and cracks (minor) that I am planning to fix with Marine Tex. I have also done a bit of sanding (by hand and random orbit sander) to see if the last paint put on the surface can be easily removed without damaging the original gelcoat any more than it already is, but it's evident that with sanding alone, that's going to be a difficult job. I might have to leave some of the old paint rather than risk too much sanding and extra damage to the original finish. Well...that or use something to try and remove the upper layer of paint without damaging the gelcoat beneath.​

These slide decks (the slide itself with no associated hardware like ladder, legs, water distribution system) are roughly $1200 decks. This one cost me less than $100 and I'd like to keep my expenses to a minimum in restoring it. I don't mind spending money on the right paint and my own time sanding/patching/etc., but want to keep my expenses reasonable while doing it (not more than a could hundred extra dollars spent, if possible). I'll be doing a backyard/garage style restoration on this thing, so it's going to call for hand painting (roller and brush). Spraying is not an option for me.​

Looking ahead to paint, I have somewhat tentatively narrowed my choices to something along the lines of either Interlux Perfection or maybe even Interlux Brightside (but I think Perfection is a better choice for longevity). Those seem to be good choices for someone like me to has to do this in a pretty basic DIY mode. I'm absolutely looking for advice on my options for painting.​

Even though this is a slide...and kid's butts will be going down it regularly...it's a water slide, so even though bathing suit and skin friction plays a big part in wear and tear, the friction is lessened considerably by the water flow (just one more part of the long-term thinking). And, our pool gets only average use, so it's not like use on public pool slide or anything along those lines.​

OK...that's my intro to the job. I am following up with photos of the current condition of the slide (the calico cat of slides, appearance-wise) and would love to get some advice on a best path to take to restore this slide with a reasonable amount of money and effort. Again, I don't mind doing the work myself...but I have to keep costs down as much as is reasonably possible and still get a good paint job. My only related experience is in refinishing furniture on occasion and one refinished and repainted fiberglass canoe. ​

By the way, my local swimming pool shops have been unable to offer advice on this project other than to use pool surface paint, and the manufacturer says they don't recommend repainting (manufacturer seems reluctant to answer any questions other that to refer me to a retailer for a new slide).​

The slide (full length, 13 feet).

Closer-up images of the surface (very dark areas are where the slide was wearing through to the fiberglass or the top surface of the fiberglass mold or something; blue areas are the original gelcoat; and the whitish areas are the secondary paint job (unknown paint, unknown length of time since painting).

 

[varuscelli]

Re: OT: Restoring/Painting an Old Gelcoated Swimming Pool Slide

Here are a few photos of some of the more damaged areas (cracked and worn).​

Underside separation of fiberglass at support pole recess.

Two-inch crack in lip of slide exit (shown upside down since slide is resting on sawhorses).

Friction burn from slipping off someone's trailer? Looks like damage that occurred after the secondary paint job, maybe when the slide was being transfered to the guy who sold it to me. Or could they have been trying something inappropriate like a powerful disk sander to remove the paint?

Potential problem areas where the secondary paint seem to be thicker than on other areas of the slide.

 

[allpoints360]

Re: OT: Restoring/Painting an Old Gelcoated Swimming Pool Slide

The area where the slide is cracked at the exit should be ground out and reglassed with some mat. It appears maybe load bearing, so the crack will return if just patched. The places where the gelcoat is rubbed off to the glass can be repaired with marine tex or putty. Sand it out and clean it acetone.

Any 2 part poly should do the trick. They will lay down and settle out smooth. You will need to rough it up with at least 220 grit and wipe it down with acetone. The more prep you do, the better...

Not a difficult project! Should turn out great.

 

[varuscelli]

Re: OT: Restoring/Painting an Old Gelcoated Swimming Pool Slide

The area where the slide is cracked at the exit should be ground out and reglassed with some mat. It appears maybe load bearing, so the crack will return if just patched.

Yes, and thank you for that feedback! That would indeed be a place that would be considered load-bearing, as the lip/exit end of the slide deals with all that downward force of the person sliding. There's probably more downward pressure on the end of the slide than anywhere else, and I've wondered how much I should do to fix that crack.​

It never broke all the way through the fiberglass, but it's close. It *might* be that if I fill the crack and reinforce the backing with some woven mat that I will have done enough. But I think you're right in that a more thorough job would be called for.​

Here are a couple of more shots of that crack from the slide lip front, edge, and back (about a 2-inch crack as viewed from the front/top of the slide).​

Front (top) view of crack:

Lip (side) view of crack:

Back (bottom) view of crack:

 

[varuscelli]

Re: OT: Restoring/Painting an Old Gelcoated Swimming Pool Slide

Along the rail where I'm sanding off some of the "newer" paint, a lot of the original coating looks pretty good.

Unsanded:

Sanded (a bit, anyway):

 

[varuscelli]

Re: OT: Restoring/Painting an Old Gelcoated Swimming Pool Slide

If anyone has advice on removing the top layer of paint for me, I'd love to hear it. I'm worried that sanding alone might result in me damaging the existing gelcoat (mostly on the harder-to-sand, non-flat areas).​

I'm wondering if I should consider some kind of paint remover like Interlux Interstrip 299E to try and remove that secondary paint and retain the gelcoat. But perhaps further complicating that approach is the fact the gelcoat itself is worn through to layers beneath in some places, and I don't know how something like Interstrip would affect the layer below the gelcoat...(?).​

Or...should I sand away what will sand away easily and then paint over it all? That's not ideal sounding, but given how well some of that secondary paint is adhering, I'm at least thinking about that as an option.​

For the sanding that I have done, I've been using a Bosch ROS20VSK variable speed random orbit sander (great little finishing sander for woodwork, but maybe not ideal for this kind of sanding...I dunno...but it's done the trick for me for a lot of other little projects I've use it on).​

Any advice on that secondary paint removal where sanding is not removing it easily?​

 

[Titanium]

Re: OT: Restoring/Painting an Old Gelcoated Swimming Pool Slide

bump....

 

[varuscelli]

Re: OT: Restoring/Painting an Old Gelcoated Swimming Pool Slide

Thanks for the bump, Titanium -- and for your advice on checking this forum for possibilities on the restoration. ​

Although I'm not getting a whole lot of direct feedback on the little project yet, I've been doing quite a bit of reading through other posts on surface preparation, painting over gelcoat, patching materials, etc., and picking up a lot of good info.​

So far, my inclination is to go with the Perfection, as you originally suggested in the Trouble Free Pool forum as a consideration. I was looking at Interlux products as possibilities (based on reputation and other reading I had done), but I did not yet know about Perfection until you pointed me toward it. Given the intended surface, the need for durability, my desire for a shiny and smooth appearance, and my very basic capabilities to apply it (roller and/or brush method), I think it's likely a good way to go. Again, thanks for that suggestion. ​

 

[D.spencer]

Re: OT: Restoring/Painting an Old Gelcoated Swimming Pool Slide

Have I got a deal for you . It seems I have a gallon plus some (fresh) gel-coat that is a dark pink that I will not be using on anything soon and will go to waste if not used. It is yours for shipping. I will throw in some mekp also. PVA I am out of but you can have the surfacing wax I have left over. You would need to buy a little bit of other supplies but they are not bad. It would be best be sprayed ( equiptment could always be rented) or buy a sprayer like one of those wagners or something. just post the pics here when it is done

 

[varuscelli]

Re: OT: Restoring/Painting an Old Gelcoated Swimming Pool Slide

Have I got a deal for you . It seems I have a gallon plus some (fresh) gel-coat that is a dark pink that I will not be using on anything soon and will go to waste if not used. It is yours for shipping. I will throw in some mekp also. PVA I am out of but you can have the surfacing wax I have left over. You would need to buy a little bit of other supplies but they are not bad. It would be best be sprayed ( equiptment could always be rented) or buy a sprayer like one of those wagners or something. just post the pics here when it is done

Generous offer, whatever the color! Is it a manly pink for my man-slide? I wouldn't want the over-the-fence neighbors seeing me on anything less than purely "man pink" slide... ​

The flip side is that my daughter would probably love it, as would her friends (well...maybe not the boys, but pink would make the slide no less fun). And of course I'd need to check with my wife...and my anal compulsive neighborhood association. ​

Actually, I could probably live with a pink slide as long as my wife approved. She's the boss in home decor...and this might be construed as falling in that category.​

My main concern is dealing with gelcoating, since that kicks my application process (for such a small project) into a higher gear than I think I'm prepared to handle in terms renting or buying and using a sprayer, safety (safe breathing gear?) and a proper environment for doing the spraying as opposed to something I can brush on. I'm sure I can set the slide up in my garage with enough elbow room to use a roller and brush, but I'm not sure about setting up for spraying. However, I do have a professional painter friend I might be able to call on for a favor or two (another possible option).​

In any case, let me think about this as an option. I am open to most feasible possibilities in this...and I do sincerely appreciate your offer. ​

 

[ondarvr]

Re: OT: Restoring/Painting an Old Gelcoated Swimming Pool Slide

Try some 80 grit sand paper to remove the thicker paint, you can go over it with a finer grit once the paint has been removed. Not sure what you mean by damage the gel coat by sanding.

Buy the best paint possible, one part products like Brightsides won't hold very long, look into Awlgrip or similar paints. This project won't use much paint, so the cost won't be as of a big factor, the difference will be the cheap stuff will wear through possibly in one season, the good stuff will last many years.

The spots where the gel coat is missing will cause issues when you go to paint it, there will be tiny pin holes in the glass that will show up if you don't fill them. You have two options, 1, use a primer to fill these areas, 2, use the paint itself. To use the paint, get a bondo spreader and before you start the actual painting put a very small amount of paint on the surface and work it around with the spreader, this will force paint into all the pits, now just start painting.

 

[varuscelli]

Re: OT: Restoring/Painting an Old Gelcoated Swimming Pool Slide

Thanks, ondarvr, for your advice. I appreciate it.​

Not sure what you mean by damage the gel coat by sanding.

Whether I'm over-rationalizing this or not, I don't know...but what I meant was that I don't want to damage the gelcoat any more than it already is by overly aggressive sanding. I'm guessing it won't hurt to rough the gelcoat up a bit since I can do a finer sanding job after the initial removal of that secondary coat of paint...so maybe I'm just being too cautious in my thinking about how to best remove that secondary paint coating. And since I''ve already got to deal with gelcoat that has been pretty much worn through to the layer beneath, I probably can't hurt it much more that it already is, unless I'm just super-clumsy in my sanding. ​

Buy the best paint possible, one part products like Brightsides won't hold very long, look into Awlgrip or similar paints.

Yes...thanks. I definitely want this paint job to give us a few years of service, if possible within my limited abilities. I don't want to go on-the-cheap with paint​

The spots where the gel coat is missing will cause issues when you go to paint it, there will be tiny pin holes in the glass that will show up if you don't fill them. You have two options, 1, use a primer to fill these areas, 2, use the paint itself. To use the paint, get a bondo spreader and before you start the actual painting put a very small amount of paint on the surface and work it around with the spreader, this will force paint into all the pits, now just start painting.

Hey, great tips! Again, thanks.​