Pool Refurbishment in the Algarve: When to Repair, When to Renovate

Ten Algarve summers rarely finish a pool off in one go. The tiles come loose one by one. The grout along the waterline darkens before it starts to crumble. A pump that once ran quietly develops a whine that nobody quite remembers starting. In the Algarve, pool refurbishment tends to begin with a single complaint, such as a cracked step or a patch of persistent staining. The real question for most owners is not whether their pool needs attention, but how much.

The distinction between a repair that solves one problem and a renovation that addresses the whole structure is where most decisions about pool renovation in Portugal go wrong.

Signs Your Pool Is Asking for Attention

Hairline cracks along the waterline in a Vilamoura villa pool are normal enough after ten years of thermal movement. Cracks running down a wall in Carvoeiro are a different matter, especially if they widen at the corners or turn up again straight after filling. That usually means the screed has shifted, or there is pressure from groundwater underneath, or the waterproof membrane has failed.

Discolouration also tells its own story. A grey or brown bloom across the mosaic of a pool near Silves is often mineral staining from well water, or from a heat pump exchanger shedding metal into the water. This usually responds well to the right chemical treatment. By contrast, a finish that has turned patchy or chalky across large areas usually means that the underlying waterproofing has failed.

Water loss is the sign that owners in Loulé and Albufeira most often misinterpret. Once the loss exceeds what the local climate and pool size would explain, a pool that needs topping up every week is not "just evaporation". This usually indicates a crack in the shell or a problem with the pipework, and should be ruled out before any cosmetic work begins. We're the only provider of electronic leak detection equipment in Portugal, and we can usually locate the fault without draining your pool.

Equipment ages just as fast, even when the tiles look fine. A pump running day and night to keep the water clear. A heater that has stopped holding temperature. A chlorinator well past its working life. None of it shows on the surface, but the pool is getting old all the same.

Repair or Renovation: What the Difference Actually Means

A repair fixes what is visibly wrong. A run of loose tiles reset. A cracked line of grout raked out and redone. A pipe joint resealed once pressure testing has found it. Repairs are targeted. They rarely require the pool to be drained for long and do not affect the underlying structure.

A renovation goes further. It involves stripping the existing finish back to the screed, addressing the cause of the damage and rebuilding the surface. This is often a surprise to owners searching for pool replastering in the Algarve. Most pools in Portugal are tiled rather than plastered. That differs from many other pool markets, where a plastered or marcite finish is standard and gets redone every seven to ten years. We only work with mosaic, so when we refurbish a pool here it means new tiles, not new plaster. The steps are much the same either way: strip back, fix what's underneath, rebuild the surface. Tile simply lasts longer. Considerably longer, in most cases, than a plastered finish.

What a Pool Refurbishment in the Algarve Involves

Every refurbishment starts with an inspection, not a quote worked out from photographs. We visit your pool, check the screed, the pipework and the existing finish, then write up a specification before anything is touched.

We take the old mosaic off first, exposing the screed underneath. Whatever's cracked or falling apart down there gets fixed at this stage, because building on a bad base only carries the problem into the new finish. Waterproofing goes on next, across the whole surface.

New tiles go down over the waterproofing, set in epoxy or standard grout depending on the finish you want. We work exclusively with SQ Mosaic, a Spanish manufacturer making tiles from 100 per cent recycled glass across six collections, in formats running from the 25mm cube up to larger rectangles and hexagons. Most colours you're likely to want are somewhere in that range, near-black through to white. We can supply it as part of a full refurbishment, or fit it on its own if the structure underneath is already sound.

We pressure test the pipework at the same time as the retiling, which turns up weak joints and hidden leaks before they're sealed behind the new finish. It's worth treating steps and the shallow end for grip while the work is already under way, especially if children use the pool. We apply Grip Factory anti-slip treatment, which alters the surface's grip without changing its appearance, and you can walk on the treated area again within minutes.

Realistic Timelines

Straightforward repairs, such as resetting a run of tiles or resealing a pipe joint, can usually be finished within a few days of us inspecting your pool and specifying the work. A full renovation is a more time-consuming process. Stripping the old finish, repairing the screed, waterproofing and retiling a typical family-sized pool generally takes several weeks from start to finish, and the timeframe can be even longer for pools requiring more extensive structural repairs or replacement of the pipework.

Weather also plays a part. Refurbishment is easier to schedule outside the swimming season, when nobody's using the pool day to day. Most owners get the work done well before summer starts.

Get in Touch

Since 2008, we've inspected and refurbished pools across the central Algarve and beyond. We work to a written specification, not a guess from photographs. Whether it's a handful of loose tiles or a pool that needs stripping back to the screed, the starting point is the same: an on-site assessment. Get in touch to arrange one.

Common Questions

How often does a pool in the Algarve need refurbishing?

There is no fixed interval. In our experience the first complaints appear around the ten year mark, usually as loose tiles or darkening grout, and how long the pool goes before needing full attention depends on how well the original screed was laid and how consistently the water has been balanced. A pool whose waterproofing has never been touched is generally closer to a renovation than its owner expects.

Does the pool have to be drained for a refurbishment?

For a full renovation, yes. Stripping the old mosaic, repairing the screed and applying new waterproofing all require an empty pool. Targeted repairs are different and often need only a partial drop in level. Leak detection requires no draining at all, which is why it is worth ruling out a leak before committing to any larger work.

When is the best time of year to have a pool refurbished?

Outside the swimming season, when nobody is using the pool day to day and the weather allows the finish to cure properly. Autumn through to early spring is the practical window in this region. Booking well ahead matters, because most owners want the same thing: the work finished before summer starts.

Can just part of the pool be retiled?

Yes, provided the screed and waterproofing underneath are sound. The difficulty is rarely structural, it is visual. Existing tiles have faded under years of sunlight, and recycled glass varies slightly between production batches, so a patch repaired today will not match the surrounding surface exactly. On a waterline or a single step this is usually acceptable, and on a whole wall it rarely is.

How long does a tiled finish last compared with plaster?

Considerably longer. A plastered or marcite finish is typically redone every seven to ten years, which is why owners arriving from other pool markets often expect resurfacing on that cycle. Mosaic laid over sound waterproofing lasts far beyond that, and it is the standard finish in Portugal for exactly that reason.