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New Pool finish, tile and coping!
When the swimming pool at Harrah's Reno was cracked and in need of repair, they called Advanced Pool Coatings to solve their dilemma. Located on the roof of the 5th floor of the casino's West Tower, this pool posed some logistical challenges. Because it was on the roof it was exposed to the outdoors, and the afternoon winds were quite strong. This required professionals who know how to work in these conditions. We resurfaced the swimming pool with our Advanced-Glass fiberglass sytem, which is especially effective against cracked and leaking pools. We also replaced their pool tile and coping and handrails.
Newly remodeled swimming pool
Quality Pool Job Matches School's Vision
Reprinted from Splashlines
Instilling A Vision
Sometimes a swimming pool is just a pool - a recreation outlet or a venue for competition and aerobic exercise. Sometimes, though, a pool is a little bit more. At Echo Glen Children's Center, in Snoqualmie, Washington, the indoor pool is not only a recreational facility, but an integral part of a greater vision to promote the personal responsibility of its residents.
Echo Glen is Washington State's juvenile detention center. Its endeavors to create quality rehabilitative programs have resulted in an effective canine training program and multiple humanitarian efforts. Residents are encouraged to participate in these service activities that allow them to look within themselves and identify with others. The rewards of their work enable them to see a future outside the center.
The center's swimming pool, similarly, provides an on-site incentive and rewards program. Used strictly for recreational purposes, this indoor pool is an effective motivational tool. Residents look forward to earned opportunities to take part in swimming, playing and relaxing in the facility.
Restoring A Pool
Given the importance of the pool, when it began showing its age, the center looked for ways to fix it long term. The tile pool had been repeatedly repaired and was beginning to leak into an underground mechanical room. The state contacted Yi and Associates, a general contractor, and architect Jim Mortensen began working to find a solution.
As Jim began looking for an alternative to pricey and ultimately leak-prone tile, he consulted the State of Washington on past projects under its jurisdiction. He learned about Advanced Pool Coatings in Roseville, California, which specializes in the application of fiberglass pool surfaces. The state had used Advanced on other projects and had even completed a pool at the Bellevue Aquatics Center nearby.
After learning about Advanced Pool Coatings' reputation and job record with the state, Jim requested a bid. "When I compared the cost to repair the pool with ceramic tile versus fiberglass, I found the difference to be about $60,000. It was a major cost savings for the client." Advanced got the job.
Satisfying A Client
Echo Glen's swimming pool was put on Advanced's schedule and the work was completed at the end of January 2009. When asked about the crews of Advanced Pool Coatings, Jim said, "They were in and out faster than what they said." In fact, "the work was done faster than the client could fill the pool back up." The work and the pool surface have impressed all involved. "We don't have any complaints," said Jim.
Working with company president Paul Walter was a great experience, said Jim. Based in the Sacramento area, Advanced Pool Coatings is not limited to local jobs. In addition to several Washington state projects, the company has completed commercial and residential work throughout various western states. Distance does not hinder the work at all. "Paul and I did everything 100 percent through email, down to the contracts. It was that easy to work with them," said Jim.
Maintaining A Reputation
Advanced Pool Coatings was founded in 1993, when two veterans of fiberglass pool resurfacing combined their expertise to form a company that provided quality work, a guaranteed finish, honest salesmanship, and prompt, professional customer service. Throughout the last decade and a half, Paul and his co-worker Dwight Johnson have enjoyed a successful relationship, growing the company and its reputation one job at a time.
Jim Mortensen's experience with Advanced Pool Coatings is not unique. Thousands of homeowners and business owners alike have enjoyed the results of a job completed to their specifications. Previous issues of Splashlines featured homeowners (and their grandchildren) who have enjoyed several years with an Advanced fiberglassed pool.
City administrators at the previously mentioned Bellevue Aquatics Center still enthusiastically recommend Advanced Pool Coatings, even seven years after the job was completed. Bellevue City's Assistant Operations Manager Paul Craig said the company assured them more-than-satisfactory results after they expressed concern about lesser quality fiberglass jobs they had witnessed.
"We heard about Advanced's improvements with fiberglass...and they assured us everything would be great. We wouldn't have any problem with delamination or cobalting, which some other applicators had experienced," said Paul Craig. "With Advanced Pool Coatings, we've had no problem whatsoever. They delivered."
A fiberglass surface is second to none. Paul Walter of Advanced states that even though most people don't know when they are swimming in a fiberglass pool, he can recognize one almost as soon as he gets on a potential job site. "If I know the age of the pool and I still see a clean, lustrous surface, even from a distance, I can tell that it must be a fiberglass-lined pool and not a porous plaster pool that has picked up dirt."
The non-porous surface of a fiberglass pool doesn't pick up the stains and dirt particles normally found in an aging plaster pool. In fact, most people feel that the surface achieved through a fiberglass application is better than new, with the additional benefits of longevity anda strong resistance to black algae. Warranty callbacks, Paul says, are almost unheard of.
Repeat business, however, is common. Customer satisfaction with Advanced Pool Coatings has led many companies to request more work at additional facilities and maintenance work on high-usage venues. For instance, Advanced has maintained the water flumes inside the log ride and mine ride mountains at Knott's Berry Farm for the past 13 years.
Committment to Residential Customers
Although high-profile jobs like those at children's centers and amusement parks are impressive, Advanced Pool Coatings remains highly committed to providing its residential customers with the same quality fiberglass resurfacing. When asked about this vital segment of the business, Paul's partner Dwight Johnson says, "I've fiberglassed more than 2,500 residential pools in Sacramento and the Bay Area combined."
With an unsurpassed reputation to maintain, Advanced Pool Coatings strives to please every one of its customers with its quality product and service. Readers can learn more about fiberglass pool resurfacing by contacting Advanced Pool Coatings by phone at (916)773-1883 or by email at:
info@advancedpoolcoatings.com.
Or visit the company's website at:
www.advancedpoolcoatings.com.
by Tami Stokes
KNOTT'S WATER RIDES REPAIRED
Local Pool Contractor Selected for the Job
by Tami Stokes
“Oh, that place is so great!” exclaimed my 14-year-old neighbor when I asked her about her family’s trip to Knott’s Berry Farm last summer. Caitlin continued by sharing her favorite ride (Supreme Scream), her favorite treat at the park (funnel cakes with powdered sugar), and her favorite memory (daring her cousin Shelby onto the Boomerang).“I love Knott’s because it’s different. It has a smaller feel than nearby theme parks, but it’s actually just as big and just as fun. And it’s so clean.”
Many seem to agree with Caitlin. Hundreds of thousands attend the park every year, including many local residents, who buy annual passes for their families. Knott’s Theme Park has somehow managed to create a wonderful balance of nostalgia and progress, with wholesome and exciting entertainment venues. It has remained highly competitive in the tight Southern California market with timely additions of world-class thrill rides. But despite its success in this regard, Knott’s has never forgotten its humble beginnings as a family-owned berry market and nursery. It retains an “Old West” feel through much of the park and prides itself on several patriotic attractions. “It’s a great place for families,” agreed Caitlin.
The maintenance department is responsible for keeping many of the attractions at Knott’s in tip-top form. Safety is their first priority, which is why when the water rides began showing subtle signs of age seven years ago, They sought a guaranteed long-term solution. Despite Knott’s rigorous maintenance routine, issues of wear led personnel to seek outside expertise on how best to perform waterproofing procedures on containment pans and to keep them functioning at full capacity for many years to come. Practically speaking, though, these rides are among the most popular in the park, and down time was a major concern. Daily revenues had to factor into any potential renovation.
Armed with these considerations, park administration eventually settled on Advanced Pool Coatings, a company out of Northern California that specializes in commercial and residential pool resurfacing. With a reputation among local fiberglass suppliers as one of the best contractors around, Advanced has the tools and experience to transform almost any existing surface into one that is lasting and durable, not to mention beautiful.
Timber Mountain Log Ride, inside Knott’s Ghost Town, was the first water ride approved for an update. These types of attractions use large metal pans that collect the vast amounts of water required to run the ride. The largest pan is about 120 feet long and 5 feet wide, and collects the 24,000 gallons of water that has flowed through the flume. The ride’s smaller containment pans average about 200 to 300 square feet and serve the waterfalls along the Log Ride’s exterior.
Dwight Johnson, vice president of Advanced Pool Coatings, says that he and his crew created shells of fiberglass for all the metal pans, rendering each one completely leakproof with an almost indestructible finish. The crew was able to access all the difficult-to-reach areas with the necessary equipment and to perform the work within the stringent schedule imposed by the park. Knott's agrees. “The ride was shut down for a minimal amount of time. It was just a matter of a couple days.”
Evidence of the success of this first project lies in subsequent jobs requested by Knott’s over the next six years to the present. Advanced has resurfaced parts of the Log Ride’s flume by fiberglassing over new wood structures. The company refurbished the pans associated with waterfalls at the Calico Mine Ride, also in Ghost Town. And just this year, it “glassed over” (in effect, waterproofed) the 60-foot-diameter turntable at Big Foot Rapids, a whitewater river raft ride in Knott’s Wild Water Wilderness.
Advanced Pool Coatings has proven its ability to address all the waterproofing challenges presented to date at Knott’s Theme Park with the least possible disruption to guests and with their safety and comfort always in mind. Knott's adds that over the past few years “there have even been a few mornings when the crews started early and completed their day’s work before 10 a.m., when the park opens.” In fact, Knott’s is so satisfied with the work Advanced has done for the park that jobs are already in the planning for next year. “It’s really worked out well for us,” says Knott's.
Locally, Advanced Pool Coating’s reputation for commercial work is truly impressive. Educational and community institutions like Sierra College, Cosumnes River College, Sacramento YMCA, and the San Juan Unified School District have all selected Advanced when refurbishing their aging pools. In addition, Advanced has performed work on city pools, many apartment complex pools in the area, and the Officers’ Club pool at McClellan Air Force Base.
Although Advanced Pool Coatings is capable of producing superior commercial work and tackling unique challenges presented by venues like Knott’s Berry Farm (as well as the Marin County Civic Center, where Advanced crews performed extensive repair of a historic fountain designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright), the company is better known around the Sacramento area for its residential work. Advanced has resurfaced literally hundreds of residential pools in the past 10 years, and specializes in transforming old swimming pools with bad plaster into gleaming, smooth-textured structures. Your pool will look like new again. What’s more, the work is warranted for five years, with a long-lasting fiberglass surface that is much easier to maintain than plaster and that is impenetrable by algae and most stains.
Advanced President Paul Walter says it generally takes about two days to transform an old residential pool into a new looking one. The application process consists of several steps, from prep work, to the spraying of fiberglass, to cleanup. For a complete, step-by-step description of a typical application, please access the web site listed below and select Specifications.
If you are eager to beautify your pool for this swimming season, don’t delay. Paul urges pool owners to call soon for an estimate. “We already have a large backlog of work and expect that by Memorial Day, the backlog will extend well beyond the Fourth of July.” For Advanced Pool Coatings, your pool is just as important as any water ride at Knott’s Berry Farm—just try to avoid the long lines.
MARIN COUNTY CIVIC CENTER FOUNTAIN
Reprinted from "Splash Lines"
Advanced Pool Coatings, a northern California company, specializes in producing a gun-shot fiberglass surface for existing residential and public pools. Following is a testimonial on their reputation and success during their experience resurfacing a historic fountain at the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California.
A plaque outside the Marin County Civic Center marks it as historical landmark number 999, one in nearly a thousand--and surely today, one in many thousand more. Yet this structure stands truly alone not only as a beautiful public facility but as a pristine example of an architectural form envisioned by the late Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright was best known for unwavering insistence on his own idea of perfection. And his theory of organic architecture, which is a complete synthesis of ground and building, is ideally executed in this, his last important work.
Originally constructed in 1962, the long, horizontal structure gracefully unites three separate hills. Constructed of concrete, steel, and glass, the Civic Center combines classical elements with several of Wright’s more forward-thinking details. Decorative arches reminiscent of Roman aqueducts grace the length of the building. A bright blue barrel arch roof of pre-cast concrete mirrors the sky above. Skylights and atriums run down the center of each segment, lifting the eye upward and out to the golden hills and green trees or downward and in toward planters on the ground level. Natural light softly permeates every inch of walkway, and whimsical, circular accents throughout give the facility an "other-worldly" ambience not felt in traditional public buildings.
This unusual building has inspired even the imagination of Hollywood. The Civic Center was recently used as the set for the sci-fi film Gattaca. Viewing the movie after touring the building, you feel a deeper sense of wonder at Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision for buildings of the future.
One of many circular formations throughout the Civic Center is the fountain. Located outside the cafeteria, this pool is part of a beautiful reception area that includes a terrace with patio tables overlooking a lawn and garden. A family of ducks often swims lazily along the channel leading to a spillway. There is a waiting list for wedding receptions here.
Until recently, this scenic fountain had a reputation for cracks and leaks. Jim Zortman, building maintenance manager for the department of Public Works in Marin County, was concerned about these defects. Of particular concern to Jim was the green cast to the water, which visually clashed with the blue roofline, much of which is meant to be seen by visitors at various levels throughout the facility. In light of the fact that the fountain is such a visible element, he gave it high priority when funds became available during a two-year seismic renovation of the Civic Center.
Advanced Pool Coatings was chosen for the fountain’s complete refurbishing. The company had special considerations from the start with this project. The Civic Center is a public facility, operating daily, and the fountain is a central gathering place for employees and visitors alike. Advanced decided to do the job on the weekend in the hope that doing so would cause the least amount of disruption to daily routine at the Center.
When asked if there was any public inconvenience that went along with the resurfacing job, Jim agrees. "No one even realized there had been a job performed because it was done so neatly and quickly--all over a three-day holiday weekend. It was drained and fiberglassed, then filled in that brief time period."
When asked about his satisfaction with the overall job, Jim continues, "It cured all of our former problems. We had lots of problems with leaks over the years and cracking in the original cement. I’m sure that [the fiberglass finish] will be a long-lasting cure."
For aesthetic purposes, Advanced put color in with the fiberglass so that the pool perfectly reflects the blue of both the sky and the newly painted roof. The fountain is now a natural complement to the many other "organic" architectural elements of the Civic Center. "It looks beautiful," said Jim.
Sounds like even Mr. Frank Lloyd Wright would be pleased.
There’s no telling where else you’ll find the crews of Advanced Pool Coatings these days. After an unusually temperate spring and a long, dry summer season, the fiberglass contractor can rightfully boast its most successful year yet. And with the endorsement of the YMCA, Sierra College, the San Juan School District, Knott’s Berry Farm, and the Marin County Civic Center, the company has every reason to expect more of the same kind of success in the future.
Advanced Pool Coatings was founded in 1993, when two veterans of fiberglass pool resurfacing combined their expertise to form a company that provided quality work, a guaranteed finish, honest salesmanship and prompt, professional customer service. Co-owners Dwight Johnson and Paul Walter have enjoyed a successful relationship since the start, each in his own way growing the company’s reputation into what is today.
Kent Williams, pool consultant and founder of Professional Pool Owners of America (PPOA), often touts the advantages of fiberglass over alternatives such as plaster, paint, or vinyl. He says that ease of maintenance and durablity are two top reasons to consider fiberglass. "Algae just can’t seem to get a foothold, soils don’t adhere, and stains rarely occur in a fiberglass pool." Moreover, aggressive water meets its match in fiberglass; "it simply has no effect on the surface." As a result, cleaning a fiberglass pool is relatively easy, owing to the smoothness and the impervious nature of the fiberglass finish. To the swimmer, the "orange-peel" texture of a fiberglass surface has a classic "plaster" feel, allowing for secure footholds and true push-offs.
Several notable organizations in the area seem to agree with these statements. The YMCA of Sacramento has for years selected Advanced over other contractors, most of whom simply replaster failing pools.
Adam McGowan, director of facilities and grounds for the YMCA, maintains the pools for Sacramento’s San Juan School District. Of Advanced Pool Coatings, he says, "The company does really clean, detailed work. They are competent, good people to work with." During his four-year relationship with Advanced, the company has resurfaced five high school pools within the district as well as the YMCA’s own downtown Sacramento pool. Adam has seen the advantage of fiberglass over replastering first-hand. "The maintenance on a fiberglass pool is much easier than with plaster," he says. "It is easier to clean up because it is less porous than plaster, so much so that it resists staining in the first place. I like the product. It is durable and has a much longer life than plaster. Plus the finish is not abrasive to the foot, like plaster sometimes is.
Residential pool owners appear to have the same positive reaction to fiberglass. Besides, public pools and special projects like the ride facilities at Knott’s Berry Farm, Advanced Pool Coatings resurfaces many backyard pools a year. The company finds the same level of satisfaction from these homeowners as it does from pool maintenance workers at public pools.
With a reputation that is beginning to precede itself, Advanced Pool Coatings strives to please every one of its customers with its quality product and service. Whether you maintain a historic fountain, several public pools, or simply the one in your own backyard, Advanced Pool Coatings is sure to meet, and even exceed, your expectations.
