Unlike cementitious coatings, aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® may be used on areas above the waterline and remain resistant to cracking or fading. ecoFINISH® coatings are suitable for always wet, sometimes wet, and never wet applications on the pool surfaces and its features. Pool tile can now be eliminated by applying the aquaBRIGHT™ or polyFIBRO® coating up to the coping. Vanishing edges and the backside of vanishing edges can now be finished with our coatings to provide a matching coating throughout. Exposed bond beams that are never wet are also candidates for a matching aquaBRIGHT™ or polyFIBRO® surface.

Cementitious coatings may be varied with dyes to change the entire surface color of the pool, in only one color. Pebble finishes can utilize different naturally occurring colors of pebbles to create subtle, more subdued shade variations of the coating. With ecoFINISH®’s custom color service you can now have aquaBRIGHT™ or polyFIBRO® made to your order in virtually any color you desire. Just as with interior design choices where material pattern colors are intentionally highlighted throughout a room, now pool designers can choose to accentuate a color or colors in the design scheme for the entire pool, its features, and the surrounding hardscape. Custom colors are available as custom blends with a specifically varied shade/tone, or all the way to wild, solid colors found in water parks and kid’s splash pads. Colors may be matched from a physical sample, a color swatch, or RAL color code provided by the customer.

1. They requires less energy resources to manufacture as compared to cementitious materials. 
2. They require less energy resources to transport than cementitious materials. A typical pool requires around 100 lbs of aquaBRIGHT™ or polyFIBRO® material to be shipped, not tonnage as with cementitious coatings.
3.  Both requires far less energy resources to install the coating.
4. They will outlast the cementitious coatings and will therefore reduce/eliminate the energy expenditure to remove the old coating, manufacture new material, and install a replacement cementitious coating several times over the life of the pool.
5. They require fewer chemicals over the life of the pool to maintain balanced water chemistry, thereby requiring fewer chemicals to be manufactured and reducing the chemical exposure of the customer’s backyard.
6. Although ecoFINISH® does not incorporate recycled materials into the aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® products due to strict manufacturing purity requirements, the aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® materials are considered recyclable should they ever be physically removed from the pool.
7.  Stored properly, ecoFINISH® coating powders have an indefinite useful lifetime, and should never require disposing to a landfill.
8. There is no end-of-job leftover waste to be disposed in landfills, as is with every cementitious coating which can be as much as hundreds of pounds.

aquaBRIGHT™, polyFIBRO®, Commercial Colors, and aquaticLIFE™ - material is manufactured and processed into a fine powder that is applied by the ecoFINISH® thermal process. As the powder particles pass through the flame, they are heated and softened so that when they strike the pools surface they immediately adhere and flatten out onto the existing pool surface. As the application process continues, the particles melt, flatten-out, and join other melted particles, flowing together to form a complete layer. There are no pores for algae, calcium, rust, or other staining agents to grab or embed into. Most discoloration that would normally be a permanent stain in a plaster pool should easily brush off the ecoFINISH® coating.

ecoFINISH® coatings are an incredibly strong, yet very flexible polymeric materials. They remain flexible, although to a lesser degree at very cold temperatures. This was tested in Ontario, Canada, with temperatures reaching 40° below zero. Result of the test showed no detrimental effects to the aquaBRIGHT™ coating applied to two steel pool wall panels that were bolted together. No cracking was observed, even over the joined seam of the panels.

During installation, small craze cracks in an existing coating will be covered by the aquaBRIGHT™ or polyFIBRO® coatings. Larger cracks, including structural cracking are repaired by industry accepted methods such as epoxy injection, hydraulic cement, and/or staples, and then coated over during the normal ecoFINISH® coating installation. Due to the flexibility of the coating, minor cracks which may continue to form should remain hidden below as the aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® stretches over the top. Cracks that do appear through any ecoFINISH® coating represent potentially serious structural issues, and may require that major repairs be completed on the pool. However, it will be much easier to repair and match the aquaBRIGHT™ or polyFIBRO® coating following the repairs than with other coatings.

The aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® installation process yields a very uniform color and pattern over the entire interior surface of the pool. The final appearance of the coating following installation is how it will look for many years to come. Even the darkest colors of ecoFINISH® coatings will not mottle. Unlike cementitious materials with dyes added during mixing prior to installation, aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® pigments are encapsulated in the polymer resin during the manufacturing process, and therefore are protected from the pool chemistry. Dyes that give plaster and other cementitious coatings their color are continuously exposed to pool water chemistry on and below the surface, and the result can be a non-uniform color change that  appears as patches or blotches of bleached-out color. This is called mottling, and usually occurs over time, but may also become apparent almost immediately following the new coating start-up process. Mottling is generally more prevalent and easier to distinguish with darker dyed coatings.

The ecoFINISH® aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® Coatings warranty is unique to the pool coating industry. Other pool coating warranties generally require the pool owner to maintain perfect water chemistry and provide proof of that perfectly maintained water over the life of the coating, or the warranty is null and void. Cementitious coatings will deteriorate from even mildly poor water chemistry, so it is crucial to maintain a balanced pH.

Our Limited Warranty includes the following: Chemical Resistance, Chalking Resistance, Surface Mildew Growth Inhibition, Crack Resistance, Spall and Delamination Resistance, Organic Stain Resistance. (Please see www.ecofinishcoatings.com/warranty for the residential and commercial warranties)

Simply put, unlike plaster or other cementitious surfaces, aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® coatings are inert and do not react with the water chemistry. Any chemicals added to the water in a pool finished with ecoFINISH® coatings adjust the chemistry of the water – and only the water.

A 1991 scientific research report published by the School of Building Construction at the University of Florida stated, “The deterioration of marcite (plaster) has been found to be chemically related and due primarily to the leaching of calcium hydroxide (portlandite) from localized areas of pool plaster. Acidic pool water (pH less than 7.0) can wreak havoc on marcite and pool plumbing, resulting in etching and staining. Proposed solutions to control the damage aggressive water can produce include (1) paying careful attention to water chemistry to avoid unbalanced water conditions and (2) providing a chemically inert barrier between the pool water and the marcite surface.” In 1991 there was no such barrier solution…now, there’s ecoFINISH® coatings aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® for aquatic features.

Since there is no chemical reaction between the water and the cementitious surfaces causing a constant shift in pH, a pool finished with ecoFINISH® pool coatings will use fewer chemicals. Commercial pool owners have reported up to a 40% savings in annual chemical consumption for the same pool after being finished with our highperformance coatings.

The target chemical balance for a pool  inished in aquaBRIGHT™ or polyFIBRO® is basically the same as a vinyl liner pool. Pool owners will find it very easy to maintain the proper pH and chlorine levels, as the major cause of pH drift has been eliminated. Even the job of adding chemicals is easier, since there is now no reason to pre-dilute the acid by mixing with water prior to pouring into the pool. Our aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® pool finishes Start Up and Maintenanc proceedures can be found here: https://www.ecopoolfinish.com/support/

aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® are manufactured from resin in the same base polymer family as the jugs used for storing pool chemicals. They are both approved for installation in swimming pools and spas heated up to 104° F (40° C), and are resistant to blistering, chalking, peeling, cracking, and other signs of deterioration in normal use and with proper maintenance.

aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® are manufactured using a polymeric resin that is engineered to withstand exterior exposure for many years without any breakdown in chemical structure. Unlike vinyl and fiberglass materials, the base polymer family has been used for decades to provide outstanding performance in exterior applications where the other materials eventually show signs of degradation. ecoFINISH® coatings remain a soft, flexible material throughout its life; they are extremely resistant to chipping, flaking and peeling, and should remain a single cohesive polymeric layer that remains well bonded to the pool surface when installed according to the guidelines of our patented installation system.

In addition to using only exterior grade colored pigments, aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® are formulated to provide outstanding U.V. protection and color stability. Real world pool environment testing ranging from the frozen north to very hot desert climates has shown our coatings to be fade resistant. Additionally, outstanding results from long duration QUV Accelerated Weathering Testing confirms the ability of aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® to withstand the affects of exposure to U.V. sunlight. We are confident that an ecoFINISH® coating applied to a pool’s surface should look vibrant and colorful for many years to come.

AquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® were intentionally engineered to be a soft feeling material. The surface can best be described as an “orange peel” texture, which provides a pleasant feel for a swimmer’s feet. Cementitious coatings such as plaster and quartz may begin as smooth coatings, but will degrade over time into rough coatings that can be very abrasive on feet. Pebble finishes, even polished stone versions, are never really easy on the feet due to their bumpy surface.

All currently used pool surfaces are naturally slip resistant, with the exception of fiberglass, which tends to feel very slippery, especially on sloped depth transitions. AquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® coatings, with their orange peel surface, are inherently slip resistant as normally applied for pool surfaces. On step treads, bench tops, and beach entries the coatings can be applied is such a way to increase that slip resistance to very safe levels. Following an application at a San Diego water park facility, the coating was tested by a San Diego Health, Safety, and Environmental Engineering facility to determine if the slip resistance (coefficient of friction) met their standard. Utilizing specialized equipment, our

coatings were tested in a specific wet condition, where the minimum acceptable slip resistance is equal to that of a wet concrete surface. aquaBRIGHT™ and polyFIBRO® was measured to be two full points (on their standard scale) over the minimum standard, and was deemed to be very safe for their patrons.

Cementitious coatings do not provide an impermeable, waterproof surface and for all the unbalanced water chemistry reasons previously discussed, may degrade not only on its surface, but also on its interior. Over time, delamination within a plaster surface can begin to form so that instead of one thick layer – as it was originally applied – the layer has split into two layers: one on top of the other.