Pool refurbishment in Middlesbrough, deciding between repair and retile.

Pools across the town

Middlesbrough lies on the south bank of the Tees, with Stockton, Redcar and the rest of Teesside around it and the North York Moors to the south. The area has public leisure and school pools, a university, hotel and health club pools, and private pools in the villages and countryside nearby.

We come up from Warrington for inspections and for the works, and stay locally when a job runs over several days.

Signs that point one way or the other

A few loose tiles in one area, with sound tiles all around them, usually suit a repair. Widespread hollow tiles, grout failing across the whole tank or a finish that has been patched many times over can mean a retile will cost less over the life of the pool.

We will not know everything until tiles come up, so we tell you where the estimate depends on what we find.

• How much of the tank sounds hollow when tapped
• Whether the grout has failed in patches or everywhere
• How many earlier repairs are already in the finish
• Whether matching tiles can still be found
• How long a closure the pool can afford

What a retile involves

A full retile means a drained pool, old tiles and bedding taken off where needed, the background checked and prepared, then new tiles fixed and grouted. Adhesive and grout are given the cure time the manufacturer specifies before the pool is filled again, and the refill is run in a controlled way with your plant staff.

It is also a good moment to look at the surround, steps and channels, since the pool is already out of use.

When a repair is the right call

Plenty of pools do not need a retile at all. If the background is sound and the problem is local, a careful repair with well matched tiles and properly cured adhesive can give years more use. We would rather tell you that than sell a bigger job than the pool needs.