How long does applying a polyurea coating take?

Polyurea is not rolled or brushed on, it is sprayed. Two liquid components are heated, mixed under high pressure in the spray gun and react within seconds into a closed, elastic skin. That is why we spray an average pool in one day, from the floor to the edge, in one pass and without seams.

That one fast moment says little about the total lead time. A coating only bonds to a substrate that is dry, clean, stable and firm, and you rarely find such a substrate in an existing pool or on an old roof. Loose tiles, weathered plaster, cracks and moisture have to be removed or repaired first.

So expect almost all of the working days to go into preparation. That is not delay but the work itself: the membrane is only as good as the layer beneath it. Anyone who promises you a coating in two days is skipping that preparation, and you only notice one or two summers later.

The larger the pool or the roof, the more square metres have to be cleaned, repaired and sprayed. Yet size weighs less than you might think: spraying a large pool takes a long day, spraying a small one a short day. The difference in days is made elsewhere.

The condition of the substrate is the biggest factor. A pool from the seventies with gresite tiles, half of which sound hollow, needs days of chipping and repair; a pool with firm plaster and a few hairline cracks is ready for the primer within a day or two. Every loose tile, every hollow patch and every crack goes on the schedule.

Moisture determines the rest. A shell that has just been pumped out, old plaster that has soaked up water or a roof after a shower has to dry first, and we measure the moisture content before the primer goes on. Then there are the fittings: skimmer, lights, inlets and the main drain are detached so the coating can run right onto the flange, and that is precise work that takes time for each one. And the weather has the last word; more on that further down.

Below you see how a complete pool renovation runs. The order is fixed; how long each step takes depends on the points above. An average pool comes to 5 to 10 working days, plus seven days of waiting before you fill.

Steps 2 to 4 together take most of the days, usually 2 to 6 working days, because that is where the removal, the repairs and the drying sit. Step 5 is the day of the moisture check and the primer; steps 6 to 8 are more or less fixed: a day of spraying, the top layer usually the day after (1 to 2 days together) and the week of waiting.

A roof or terrace gets the same system, primer, membrane and top layer, but a much shorter process. There is no pool to drain, no pressure test and no shell two metres deep that has to dry. The preparation consists of removing loose parts, cleaning, repairing cracks and properly finishing upstands, outlets and roof edges.

That is why an average terrace or flat roof is finished within a few days: usually 1 to 2 days of preparation, a day for the moisture check and the primer, and a day of spraying, with the top layer following as soon as the membrane is ready for it. A roof with many pipe penetrations and upstands sits at the top of that range, a clean terrace without obstacles at the bottom.

The surface can be walked on within a few hours, and once cured, usually within a few days, the roof or terrace can bear load again: furniture, planters and normal use. For a comunidad de propietarios with a shared roof or roof terrace this means the disruption for residents stays limited to a few days; we agree the schedule with the administrator and agree which passages stay accessible and when.

The membrane reacts within seconds, but the coloured top layer works differently. It keeps curing in the days that follow, even when it already feels dry and can be walked on. Only after seven days does it have the hardness and the bond it needs to spend years under water, in contact with chlorine, salt and sunlight.

If you fill earlier, chlorinated water lands on a layer that is not ready. That costs colour, gloss and in the worst case adhesion, and it cannot be put right afterwards without applying the top layer again. That is why those seven days are fixed in every schedule, even when summer has already started and the pool is sitting there in its new blue.

Use that week well: have your pool maintenance person plan the filling, check the filter installation and set the water values right after filling. A fully cured top layer and a correct water balance from day one are together the best start for the coating.

Polyurea is sprayed outdoors, and outdoors the weather decides the day. Rain wets the substrate and then the machine stays off. Wind carries spray mist and dust over the fresh surface and towards the neighbours. High humidity and early morning dew slow the drying of the shell and the primer, and strong heat makes an empty shell in full sun a poor place to work, for the material and for us.

That is why the dates in your quote are target dates. A wet day shifts the whole sequence, because the next step waits until the previous one is finished and dry. We keep you informed and would rather take a day extra than spray on a substrate that is just too damp.

On the Costa Blanca, spring is often the calmest period to plan: mild, mostly dry and without the heat and humid air of summer. In autumn heavy showers can fall and in winter the nights are cold and the mornings damp, but work goes on then as well, with a little more room in the schedule. Many owners deliberately choose the months in which they do not use the pool anyway, so the renovation plus the week of waiting does not fall in the swimming season.

A large part of the delay we see is caused not by the weather but by small things that were not arranged. With the following points in order beforehand, the week runs as planned.

Access: a key, a gate code or someone who opens up, even when you are not in Spain yourself; many second homes stand unattended for months and then someone with the key is needed. Water and power on the property, because cleaning and repairs cannot do without them. A parking space close to the pool or the roof, because the spray rig is in our van and works with hoses.

The pool empty at the agreed moment, not weeks earlier: an empty shell in full sun cracks sooner and can float up where the groundwater is high. The surroundings clear of furniture, pots and loose items, so we can start straight away. And the permissions that are needed, from the town hall or from the comunidad de propietarios for a shared roof or pool, you arrange in advance; we gladly supply the information required for that.

Finally, agree with your pool maintenance person when the pool is emptied and when it is filled again. That way no chemicals are dosed in between and the water values are set after the seven days.

The process starts with a visit on site; the tailored quote follows within 24 hours, with a realistic schedule. The overview below puts the phases side by side. The days are averages for an average pool or terrace in normal condition; a badly damaged substrate needs more, a good one less.

Added up, a pool comes to 5 to 10 working days plus seven days of waiting: in practice you are without your pool for two to three weeks. For a roof or terrace you usually end up at a few days, and the space is back in use shortly after.

Everything in this article comes down to one thing: the coating is only as good as the substrate beneath it. Gaining a day by spraying on plaster that still holds moisture means that moisture stays trapped under the membrane. It looks for a way out as vapour, and that gives blisters and patches where the bond gives way, often only after the first hot summer.

A tile that sounds hollow but is left in place, a crack that was not ground open, a skimmer that was not detached: every skipped item is a spot where water finds its way later. Polyurea bridges movement, but it changes nothing about a loose piece of substrate or about a structure that is still moving.

A well prepared and well applied system has an expected service life of 15 to 25 years, and the quality of the preparation is the biggest factor in that. Those days at the front are therefore not delay but the reason the system lasts for years afterwards. When you plan with us, we always build that time in, and we tell you honestly when a substrate is not yet dry enough.