DIY Guide to Applying Luxapool® Poolside & Paving Paint

Why Poolside & Paving Paint

The pool area isn’t just the water. Cracked, faded or slippery paving undoes the look of the whole backyard — and it’s a genuine safety issue underfoot.

Luxapool® Poolside & Paving Paint is a water-based decorative P5-rated non-slip coating for pool surrounds and decks. It suits pebblecrete, concrete, paved and timber surrounds, and other trafficable areas including pathways, disability ramps, outdoor living areas and boat decks. Fifteen colours, in 4L and 15L.

Check the Forecast First

Colormaker are strict about this, and it’s the step people skip. Get a 7-day forecast before you start. Do not apply if:

• Surface or ambient temperature is above 35°C, or likely to be during drying
• Ambient temperature is below 15°C
• Surface temperature is below 12°C
• Minimum temperatures below 12°C are forecast within 7 days
• Conditions are damp or rainy, or rain is forecast within 7 days

Step 1 — Clean and Prepare

• Wash with Luxapool® Concentrated Wash — 500mL diluted to 20L with warm water
• Scrub with a stiff bristle brush or broom, flush with fresh water, then high-pressure wash
• Repair cracks and damage — Patch & Anchor Polymer Cement or Structural Epoxy Filler
• Allow to dry completely

Fine hairline cracks can be filled by the primer and first coat. Anything over 2mm needs proper repair, filled proud, dried and sanded flush before priming.

Step 2 — Prime

Poolside & Paving always needs a primer, unless you’re recoating a sound water-based coating already in place.

Acrylmeric Superseal Primer on concrete, masonry and stone.

Where the substrate is damp, or you want a water-based option or extra waterproofing, use Acrylmeric WB Epoxy Primer Membrane: mix Part A and B in equal volume, dilute 20% with water, apply at 5m²/L with a 10mm nap roller. A second undiluted coat at 3m²/L gives extra waterproofing.

The WB membrane must be recoated within 48 hours of application.

Step 3 — Base Coat

Apply a base coat at approximately 2m² per litre using a squeegee or trowel. The job of the base coat is to fill imperfections in the surface, not to leave an even film over the high and low points.

On pebblecrete, the base coat goes on heavier still — 1 to 1.5m² per litre — using a plastering float or flexible trowel on vertical surfaces and a rubber spreader or squeegee on horizontal ones, to fill the valleys of the profile.

Dry for a minimum of 8 hours at 25°C, or preferably overnight. Repeat the base coat if you want a smoother surface.

Step 4 — Build Coats for P5 Slip Resistance

The P5 rating depends on how you apply it. Colormaker recommend build coats applied with a 10mm nap roller at approximately 2m² per litre.

Repeat depending on the profile you want. A Drill Paint Mixer is worth using — uneven mixing shows up as uneven slip resistance.

Recoat Times

Temperature	Minimum recoat
15°C	12 hours
25°C	8 hours
35°C	6 hours

There’s no maximum recoat window, though best within 48 hours to limit airborne contamination.

Step 5 — Drying and Curing

• Soft-sole foot traffic: 12 to 24 hours depending on surface, at 25°C and 50% humidity
• Outdoor furniture: allow 14 days under good drying conditions

Fourteen days before furniture goes back. Longer in cooler or more humid weather. Furniture feet on a coating that hasn’t fully cured leave marks that don’t come out.

Optional — Unicryl HD Clear Glaze

A final coat of Unicryl® HD Clear Glaze enhances colour and gloss, improves stain resistance and makes cleaning easier. Applied with a 10mm nap roller at around 6m²/L.

Be aware it reduces anti-slip properties. Colormaker specifically do not recommend a second coat of Clear Glaze on trafficable surfaces — so if slip resistance is the point of the job, think carefully before adding it.

Allow 24 hours before foot traffic, 7 days for full cure.

How Much Will You Need?

At roughly 2m² per litre per coat, a 15L tin covers about 30m² per coat and a 4L about 8m². Pebblecrete base coats use considerably more.

That’s much heavier than ordinary paint, so measure properly rather than estimating. Use the Pool Paint Calculator and order in one go — colour varies between batches, and a paved area shows a mismatch clearly.

Maintenance

Clean spills as they happen. Wash with a fine jet garden hose or soft bristle broom and a mild detergent solution, then rinse with fresh water.

Painting the Pool Too?

Different systems entirely. The pool takes Luxapool® Epoxy or Chlorinated Rubber depending on what’s already on it, and needs 10 days in summer or 14 in winter before refilling. Plan the two jobs together.