2004: The Return of the Black Pool
After we had been happily swimming for seven years, the faded black plaster was mottled cobalt and chalky blue, still perfectly beautiful, but now porous enough to be a nightmare to maintain. Craig was shocking the pool twice a week (compared to once a month in the beginning) and still he could not keep the algy down. Something had to be done.
We drained it. Yikes.
It was even beautiful drained, the old pool was. It looked like a Pompeian ruin. See:
Pool people told us that you could get a few extra years before replastering if you painted your pool, and that a painted pool is nearly maintenance-free.
Everybody we consulted seemed to think you could paint a black pool black just as well as you could paint a white pool white. Why not? In retrospect, no one said they had actually seen it done.
We ordered the best paint on the market, prepared the surface by the book, and in one very scary day, painted the old plaster black with a special paint. We were not at all sure this had been a good idea as we surveyed the results, which I was not willing to photograph.
We filled the pool. I remember vividly filling the old pool the first time. It looked like it would never come out right as the first two to three feet filled the black bottom and sides. It just looked like the La Brea Tar Pit.
But magically, as the level of the water climbed into the light and reached the natural colored tiles, the color changed from black to the most beautiful blue ever. It was thrilling!
But that was the first time, in 1997. In 2004, it once again looked too black as we started filling it, only this time it was uncomfortably reminiscent of a black artificial leather couch. And as the level climbed right up to full, it didn't change. Omigosh, it was HIDEOUS!
We left the country for two weeks.
When we got back, Craig started calling plastering companies. Long story short, we wasted the money for the paint, had to pay to have it blasted off, then had to pay to replaster after all, BUT! Our pool is now beautiful again. Whew!
The moral of the story is, you can paint a white pool but not a black one. So you see not all of the projects go smoothly!
