St Mary’s Bay – Pool Renovation

St Mary’s Bay – Pool Renovation

One of the great things about large pool renovation projects is that we can get to know our clients really well. Getting to know these clients was a particular pleasure and we watched their new inner city curtilage (‘back yard’ in Kiwi) take shape with a real sense of personal satisfaction.

These clients came to us because they were totally transforming their back yard environment. It was a large and impressive project. Our part was to resurface the pool & spa, lay new tiles & copings, to install new lighting & a new pool heat pump and to relocate existing filtration equipment. We spent a lot of time with our clients initially, to help them with difficult decisions on style and colours for the pool and spa. These guys had style and it showed in the careful choices that they made. In the end, they chose to use Quartzon quartz plaster, using a dark colour called Galaxy.

Because the pool renovation was part of a bigger umbrella renovation, it involved our working in with several other contractors on site. This is a fairly common occurrence. Grant was often on site in person for this one, just to make sure that that really good communication was going on with all parties.

We encountered some difficulties once the renovation was underway. When the sand blasting began, we discovered under the existing painted surfaces that the pools had been fibre-glassed at some stage in the past. We were faced with a little bit of a nightmare as we had to remove this fibreglass coating to be able to prepare the pools properly for resurfacing. We sourced highly specialised blasting contractors who were able to do the job and at relatively short notice. Given that the fibreglass would have been applied to the pools’ interiors to resolve structural leak issues, in consultation with the owners, we decided it was more than prudent now to apply a water-proofing compound to the entire pool interiors before continuing with their resurfacing. This we did.

Once completed, we were then able to continue to look after the pool on a regular basis, so our valet staff can make sure that the pools always look great and Nigel knows he only has to call and we will fix any problem we can for him.

In November 2011, my partner and I purchased a property with a swimming pool and spa. Having never previously owned a property with pool facilities, we relied on Grant, Julia and the rest of the team at Sparkling Pools to bring us up to speed with what was required to keep the pool in order.

Combined with this, some pool equipment components had been neglected by previous owners; Grant made time to come and carry out a complimentary inspection of the pool, from a holistic perspective, and to give us detailed feedback on what improvements (heating, filtration equipment, covers etc) we could make, over time, bearing our budget in mind.

The pool and spa are now looked after on a regular basis by Sparkling Pools on a specific customised maintenance plan. Denis (our dedicated valet man) comes on time, on the same week-day each time, and he does a great job maintaining the pool.

We love the team from Sparkling Pools and we love the service we get from them. The pool and spa always look and feel fantastic, and looking after them is one job we just never have to worry about!

Nigel Shanks,

St Mary’s Bay, Auckland