Resurfacing a concrete pool in the GTA: cost and timing

Most published prices fall between $6,000 and $18,000. Swimpool 360, which renovates pools across Toronto and the GTA, prices pool resurfacing at $6,000 to $18,000 depending on the surface type chosen. Easy Pools, a Vaughan pool builder, gives the same $6,000 to $18,000. Project Landscaping, an Ontario landscaping and pool company, prices replastering at $6,000 to $15,000.

One source is much higher. John C Young Design, a London, Ontario company that installs fibreglass pools, says a concrete pool needs resurfacing every 10 to 15 years at $15,000 to $30,000 each time. It sells the alternative to concrete, which is worth knowing when you read that figure. The page does not say what size of pool or what finish it assumes, so the two ranges cannot be reconciled from the sources alone.

None of these companies says whether HST, Ontario's 13 percent harmonized sales tax, is included. With it, a $12,000 resurfacing is $13,560.

This guide's reading of the sources is to plan around $6,000 to $18,000, the range Swimpool 360 and Easy Pools publish, which also contains Project Landscaping's range. Treat a quote well above it as a reason to ask which finish and which repairs it includes, not as proof that it is wrong. The pool renovation cost guide sets the resurfacing rows beside liner, deck and coping prices.

A concrete pool has two layers that matter here. Project Landscaping describes the structure as gunite or shotcrete, two kinds of concrete sprayed over a steel rebar frame, with the surface finished in plaster, aggregate or tile. Resurfacing replaces that finish layer. The concrete shell underneath stays.

That is why resurfacing costs a fraction of a new pool. Swimpool 360 puts a complete pool replacement at $50,000 to $100,000 and up, and Project Landscaping says concrete pools start from $100,000 new. Swimpool 360 also says resurfacing extends a pool's life by 15 to 20 years.

The finish is also what protects the shell. Swimpool 360 says water that gets through cracks in deteriorated plaster can reach the pool structure and cause expensive problems. It says fixing surface problems early costs far less than structural repairs later. Action Home Services adds that in freeze-thaw zones like Ontario, concrete can develop hairline cracks if the pool is not properly winterized.

Swimpool 360 lists three signs: persistent staining, rough texture and surface crazing. Crazing is a network of fine cracks across the surface. Swimpool 360 says a surface showing these signs needs resurfacing to restore the finish and protect the shell.

Rough concrete also changes the running cost. John C Young Design says fibreglass pools use fewer chemicals because their smooth gel coat, the hard glossy outer layer, does not harbour algae the way rough concrete does. It says a concrete pool owner typically spends 30 to 50 percent more on chemicals per year. Swimpool 360 says concrete pools need more frequent chemical balancing because of the porous surface.

If you are not sure whether the surface is worn or simply dirty, ask for an inspection before a quote. Ask too whether an acid wash, the cheaper job described below, would be enough for now.

Acid washing is a maintenance job, priced separately from resurfacing. Project Landscaping prices it at $300 to $600 every 2 to 3 years for a concrete pool. Action Home Services lists regular acid washing alongside resurfacing as part of owning a concrete pool. Swim Clean Pool Service, which works in Toronto and York Region, lists acid washing among its services.

Acid washing is part of why concrete costs more to keep. Project Landscaping puts annual maintenance for a concrete pool at $2,000 to $3,500, against $800 to $1,500 for fibreglass, and lists acid washing inside that concrete budget.

It does not replace resurfacing. Project Landscaping lists acid washing every 2 to 3 years and replastering every 10 to 15 years as separate items, so a concrete pool budget carries both.

Swimpool 360 lists three finish options for a resurfacing: marcite plaster, a smooth white plaster; exposed aggregate, a finish with small stones showing at the surface; and quartz, a finish with quartz grains mixed in. Project Landscaping names plaster, aggregate and tile as the ways a concrete pool's surface is finished. Ask to see a sample of each finish a company offers before you choose.

The finish is the main reason the price range is so wide, since Swimpool 360 says its price depends on the surface type. None of the sources checked for this guide publishes a price or a lifespan for each finish separately. Ask each company to quote the same finish, or to price two finishes side by side.

Fibreglass pools have their own version of this job. Easy Pools says fibreglass gel coat needs refinishing every 15 to 20 years at $3,000 to $8,000, and Project Landscaping gives the same figures. The vinyl, fibreglass and concrete comparison sets the three shells' costs side by side.

Resurfacing is one line in a wider renovation, and it is often priced alongside others. Swimpool 360 puts a comprehensive renovation covering the liner, deck, coping and equipment at $15,000 to $30,000, and a full makeover at $20,000 to $50,000. It puts a complete pool replacement at $50,000 to $100,000 and up. Its renovation scope includes new surfaces, coping, water features, lighting and equipment.

The coping, the stone or concrete edge around the top of the pool, is the piece most tied to the surface. 905 Reno, a Toronto renovation company, prices coping replacement alone at $2,800 to $6,500 for a typical 80 ft perimeter. It warns that a new deck laid against tired coping creates a $4,000 problem later. Swimpool 360 says doing several pieces of work as one project saves on mobilization, the cost of bringing a crew and its gear to the site, and on disruption.

Replacement is a different order of cost. Action Home Services prices a new concrete pool at $500 to $900 per square foot for a finished installation, including the shell, excavation, electrical work and basic decking. Easy Pools puts a concrete or gunite build at $100,000 to $220,000 and up. Where the shell is sound, the sources treat resurfacing as the way to keep it. The deck renovation guide covers the deck and coping side of the budget.

Four things make two quotes comparable. The finish comes first, since it moves the price more than anything else in Swimpool 360's range. The pool's size. Any crack or shell repair found once the pool is drained, priced as a rate rather than left open. And whether HST is included.

Draining and restarting the pool are worth asking about too. PF Pools, a GTA service company, lists a full pool drain with start-up as a separate $950 plus HST service. If a resurfacing quote does not say who drains, refills and restarts the pool, ask. John C Young Design, writing about London, Ontario water rates, puts the fill of a pool holding 35,000 to 55,000 litres at about $100 to $200. Water rates differ by municipality.

The sources give different intervals. Project Landscaping says replastering is needed every 10 to 15 years, and Action Home Services and John C Young Design give the same 10 to 15 years. Easy Pools and a Swimpool 360 cost guide both say 10 to 20 years. None of them explains what puts a pool at one end of the range or the other, so ask the company inspecting yours.

A worked example shows what that means over a long ownership. At Project Landscaping's interval of 10 to 15 years, a concrete pool kept for 30 years is replastered two or three times, at $6,000 to $15,000 each time on its prices. At the same source's acid-washing interval of 2 to 3 years, it is acid washed about ten to fifteen times, at $300 to $600 each. Those repeat jobs are part of what a concrete pool costs.

The job is short once it starts. Swimpool 360 says liner replacements and resurfacing projects can be completed in 2 to 5 days.

Swimpool 360 names May and September as the best times to renovate a pool in Ontario. It says fall work comes with cooler weather and shorter waits. This site lists pool renovation as an April to October trade.

Of the 442 companies in this index, 65 are filed under pool renovation, and 41 of those are also filed as pool builders. Google labels 37 of the 65 as swimming pool contractors and 11 as swimming pool repair services. The largest groups are in Oakville with 9, Burlington with 8 and Willowdale with 7.

The stored Google reviews give a hint of what these companies do most. Among the 65, the most common review theme is liner replacement, with 27 companies, and only 10 carry the general pool renovation theme. In this category, customers write about liner work more often than general renovation, so ask each company directly whether it resurfaces concrete pools and which finishes it applies. This index holds no workmanship, warranty or licence data on any company.

The pool renovation hub lists all 65, and area pages such as pool renovation in Toronto narrow the list. The records hold a website for every one of the 65. You can reach a company through its own site, or send one request through the site's request form.

This guide is written by The Pool Trade Desk, the team that compiles PoolBuilderIndex. For this resurfacing guide, the desk read the resurfacing prices and advice published by the Ontario pool companies named above, and checked each page on 17 September 2026. Nearly every price source in this trade is a company that sells the work it prices. Each one is named in the sentence that uses its figure and linked in the source list below. Company counts come from the index's own records, and the methodology page explains how those records are built.

No listed company owns or funds PoolBuilderIndex, and no company can pay for a better position. The index earns nothing today. The request form passes a job to one of the highest-scoring companies listed in the area. The site is also building a paid route for work it passes on, which a company would have to agree to separately, as the page for contractors explains. Corrections go to corrections@poolbuilderindex.ca.