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I have wanted to update the colouring of the besser block wall next to the pool since I moved in. I also knew it was going to be a pain to remove the old paint that was peeling off in sections. The project was easy enough just incredibly messy.
Materials
Light grey Nutech Pavecoat Paint (leftover from patio painting)
Water, multiple hours worth for the high pressure washing.
Tools
Paint brush
Roller brush
High pressure water blaster
Wire sanding wheel
Wire brush
Steps
Step 1
After renovating my deck the next step was to repaint the old cream coloured besser block wall. I had been putting it off as a too hard task due to paint flakes going everwhere. I couldnt repaint the wall as some of the paint had lifted from the bessa block surface.
Time shift way back to the 80's? mmmm maybe 90's in the colouring?
Im not sure whether to paint the concrete slab around the pool or not. Will leave that for the next project I think...
High pressure water blasting is going to be slow I think
The paint really has lost a lot of its bonding to the concrete.
Once I started stripping the paint I reallised how much there was to be done.... This top plus the fancy header blocks was time consuming in removing the old paint.
I figured I would slowly work away a little bit at a time, I started this stripping in the begining of January 2024 and it took a few weekends to get it totally clean. Then it sat there until January this year 2025 before I painted it.
This is the reason I was putting the job off...
There was so much paint flakes all over plus into the pool 😕 Thankfully it did clean up out of the pool easy enough 
Step 2
I was lucky to be gifted a high water pressure washer that a mate didnt want anymore Its come in handy a few times now.
To stop sheets of high pressure water and paint flakes from going over to my neighbours I draped an old sheet over the top of the wall. It worked really well in dissipating the water and paint flakes
It was an aldi water blaster and really it has kept on going nicely, its missing a nozzel tho but still does a decent job.
Showing the state of the paint, it had no bonding left in some areas.
Working my way along the wall, I was doing the hardest parts first (eat your peas first type deal)
Just one of the piles of wet paint flakes that came off, the pool probarlly got at least half of this again into the pool and maybe some went elsewhere in the yard. 😕
Better view, I really dislike paint on concrete lol
No one tells you how cold you feel when water blasting, even tho it was summer.
Decided to clean the pool edge as well, Seriously you dont realise how much dirt hangs out until you clean it.
Step 3
I was thinking should I redo the concrete within the besser block post or not, I decided to leave it mainly as I didnt feel like trying to excavate it to a clean state and then redo it.
The paint was the only thing holding some of this dodgy sandy concrete in place. I dont know how many coats but it was thick.
How do you fill the side of a besser block? with dodgy sandy concrete courteously of "dodgy bro inc".
Working away section by section, the wall was still solid and the blocks had no cracks between them.
Almost done, I do remember it being cold and wet.
Cheering! I was pretty glad to have all that paint off the wall.
Its like painting a house, where do you stop after you paint a room, this is where I stopped next to the deck and the house
Eight months later it was time to continue with the project.
I made sure the besser blocks were dry and clean, then I scrubbed them all with a wire brush to remove any grit form sitting there for 8 months.
I had this paint left over from when I redid my patio and the painting job so figured why not use it. It had been sitting for a year and a bit under the house as paint does but still smelt the same and still looked the same. The paint dealer had said its lifespan once opened should be around two years. The reason I liked this concrete paint is there was no other coats needed to bond it, tho I did go over the wall twice.
Step 4
Not a hard job of painting, a fiddly one mostly because of the decorative blocks and the state of the joins between the blocks. I really wanted to be sure it was all painted so nothing old showed up.
I did NOT want paint on the ground, I am happy enough with the faded look of the old yellow paint for now, havnt figured a paint that wont be slippery when wet.
Eat your peas first I made sure all the harder bits were done, then went back and did the easier flat areas.
The day was getting close to finishing... I really wanted it done and dusted!
First coat done! Was pretty happy with it and also the colouring.
Side shot.
Second coat done!
Not that there was much differnce look wise between the coats.
The wall blends in with the background nicely now, A lot more subdued. Also the paint has a low reflection number so less intense reflection on those bright days.
Still to do the other parts of the pool yard but slowly the whole pool area is being tied together. All up if you wanted days spent on this project, maybe 5, with 4 ish of them for water blasting the old paint away.
Good Evening @EricL
Thank you I couldnt believe the difference between before and afterwards. Now all I need to do is tidy and redo the other half of the pool yard
Dave
