Fiberglass pools are prized for their attractive combination of affordability, strength, and versatility. Unfortunately, sometimes fiberglass pools will develop cracks as time goes on. If you would like to learn more about minimizing the ill effects of such cracks, read on. This article will teach you how to repair a cracked fiberglass pool.

Prep Work

To begin, you will need to drain your pool. Note that you do not need to remove all of the water—only enough so that the crack is fully exposed and dry. Now, using either a hand or an orbital sander, smooth out the area around the crack, being sure to sand down any bumps or jagged edges. Medium-grit sandpaper should be suitable for this task.

Now gather the following items, all of which will be necessary to move forward with your repair:

• marine fiberglass repair kit
• circular saw
• masking tape
• paint brush
• putty knife
• safety goggles

Only proceed once you've got all of these items on hand.

Opening the Crack

The idea here is that you will be using a combination of bonding agent and fiberglass putty to repair the crack. Both of these items should be contained in the repair kit you purchased. However, to ensure a watertight result, it is necessary to expand the crack so that you can better fill it with the putty.

Wearing your safety goggles, use a small circular saw equipped with a diamond blade to open up the crack along its length. Don't worry about making the crack any wider than the width of the blade. Be sure to extend your cut beyond the ends of the crack by a couple of inches.

Filling the Crack

Now use your paintbrush to apply a coat of bonding agent to the crack. Concentrate on coating the inside walls of the crack as far back as possible. Now follow the repair kit's instructions for preparing the putty. This may involve mixing two different components together. Then fill up the crack as fully as possible with the putty, smooth it out with your putty knife, and allow it to dry thoroughly.

Painting the Crack

Your fiberglass repair kit should also contain a tube of gel coat as well as a piece of fiberglass cloth. These items will be used to form a watertight seal over the putty. Begin by surrounding the crack with masking tape, and then paint a layer of gel coat over the area.

As soon as this layer of gel coat has been applied, press a piece of fiberglass cloth on top of it. Be sure that the cloth is touching the fiberglass flatly on all sides. Now add a second coat of the gel. Allow the patch to dry, and then gently sand it down before repainting the area with an appropriately colored epoxy paint.

Contact a company like Distinctive Swimming Pools Inc for more information.