What determines the price of a polyurea swimming pool coating?

The surface to be treated is the floor plus every wall, almost always more than people estimate. More telling still is the number of edge metres per square metre: every internal corner, step nosing, bench, skimmer, inlet, light niche and overflow channel is handwork that does not move along with the spray pass.

A Roman staircase or a kidney shape carries far more of that detail than a crisp rectangle of the same size, and a long, narrow pool has more wall and edges relative to its floor. On small pools this counts twice over, because few metres carry the fixed costs.

Preparation sets the price more often than the coating does. A shell that is bare, dry, stable and reasonably flat needs little more than thorough cleaning and mechanical keying. Loose tiling, cracks in the shell or a floor gone uneven over the years all add repair work.

Where the surface must be brought flat, a levelling layer of cement-based mortar goes on, roughly 15 kilos per square metre for a layer of one centimetre. Across a whole pool that is significant in material, hours and waiting time. What is truly needed only shows once the pool is empty and clean.

The build-up is largely fixed, because a pool stands under water permanently: an adhesion primer in two coats, a sprayed membrane of at least two millimetres, and the UV and wear layer. What varies is the levelling layer, the crack repair, the combining of colours and an anti-slip finish on the steps and beach zone, since that means masking and an extra pass.

Access is the factor most often forgotten. The spray unit has to stand close enough to the pool, and a narrow passage, a steep slope or much level difference means carrying materials and equipment by hand. You keep the cost down with free and safe access, water and power, a pool emptied in good time and a cleared area.

Surprisingly little material goes into a pool. The adhesion primer is applied in two coats totalling roughly 500 grams per square metre and doubles as a vapour barrier, the seamlessly sprayed membrane comes to about 2 kilos per square metre, and the UV and wear layer is rolled on in two coats totalling around 400 grams.

The hours tell a different story. A complete renovation takes five to ten working days on average, while the spraying itself is a single day's work. The rest goes into draining, stripping old layers, repairing, levelling, drying, masking, priming and curing, plus transport, setting up the unit and waste removal.

A quote far below the others is rarely organised more cleverly, just executed in less time. The shortcut runs through preparation: less keying, smearing cracks shut instead of repairing them, skipping the levelling layer, or working over a substrate still damp or not yet cured.

Then comes the build-up: a missing or unsuitable primer, a membrane sprayed too thin, or a pool without the UV and wear layer that can take permanent immersion. Residual moisture and osmosis from an insufficiently cured substrate, a missing primer where a third party prepared the surface, and work carried out against written advice all fall outside the warranty. If the surface area, the layer build-up or the warranty certificate is missing, you are buying a promise.

Count in replacement rounds, not purchase moments. A liner is a pre-formed sheet, relatively cheap, but it can leak at the seams, damages more easily and is usually replaced after eight to twelve years. With tiling the recurring item is the grout: mosaic can come loose and joint repair returns with some regularity, each time with an empty pool.

What we put in writing are the terms: ten years on watertightness and on adhesion, five years on UV colour stability and three years on the finishing details, all from the handover date. The expected service life is 15 to 25 years. That is an expectation and not a guarantee. Your part is keeping the water in balance, because incorrect water management falls outside the warranty.

Quotes can only be compared once they describe the same thing. Ask for the number of square metres and how it was measured, for the system build-up layer by layer with consumption and final thickness, and for the colour as a RAL reference.

Ask what is and is not included: who drains the pool, who removes the demolition waste, whether crack repair sits in the price or appears as a provisional sum, and who supplies water and power. Ask about the warranty terms and the warranty certificate. Dates are target dates, because the weather has a say, the pool may only be filled after seven days, and permits are your responsibility, including the consent of the comunidad de propietarios.

If the pool is soon to be enlarged, reshaped or replaced, coating it is money thrown away. The same holds for a structure that is still settling and for a new shell that has not fully cured: residual moisture, osmosis and movement beyond the elongation limit fall outside the warranty. Waiting is then not a delay but the sensible choice.

If you are selling very shortly and the pool is not leaking, there is rarely reason to invest now. If the sale lies further off, the remaining warranty transfers to the new owner, provided this is reported in writing within thirty days of the transfer. On a small prefabricated or above-ground pool the investment is out of proportion to the pool's value, and moisture or water pressure from outside has to be solved first.

An honest figure can only be given once we know how many metres are involved, what the substrate is doing and how the site is reached. That is why the inspection is free and without obligation, on site or based on photographs and measurements you send through.

You receive the quote within 24 hours, stating the surface area, the system build-up per layer, the colour, the warranty terms and a realistic schedule. We work along the Costa Blanca in the province of Alicante, Monday to Thursday from 08:00 to 16:00 and on Friday until 13:00.