Pool Renovation in Bartlett, Texas

Renovating the deck around the pool

Recoating a cool deck

Mortex, the maker of Kool Deck, says its bonding system sticks only to solid concrete, not to brick, wood, tile, natural stone or clay, and won't hold on concrete still carrying dirt, oil, wax, paint, stains, loose toppings, deteriorated concrete or curing compounds; its rule for preparation is "The More You Do, The Better the Job." Its PTA Bonding Agent is a cement-based bonder with the same chemical and physical properties as the base concrete, gray so coverage is easy to check. The classic topping is mixed on site from one Kool Deck unit, a 94-pound bag of white cement, 10 gallons of 20-mesh marble sand and 8 gallons of water, and one unit covers about 300 square feet; Kool Deck Elite comes pre-mixed in a 50-pound bag that covers about 65 square feet. A mix that is too thick, Mortex warns, covers less ground, leaves a poor pattern, sets faster and craze-cracks more.

Travertine and paver decks

The Natural Stone Institute says travertine varies more than any other natural stone, even from one quarry, so buyers should ask for a range of samples and mix pieces from every pallet on a multi-pallet order. It names three ways to set stone paving, mortar-set where stability matters, sand-set for most exterior paving, and pedestal systems for drainage, and notes that in hotter climates heat expansion and long sun exposure can affect color and movement joints. For concrete pavers, the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute's typical build-up runs from compacted soil and an aggregate base to a nominal 1-inch bed of sand and sand-filled joints, with edge restraints it calls essential to keeping the pavers interlocked.

National averages reported in 2026 put pool deck resurfacing at $3 to $6 per square foot, concrete resurfacing generally at $3 to $7, and a decorative or stamped overlay at $6 to $20 per square foot. Those are published averages, not our prices; Killeen Pool Resurfacing prices a Bartlett deck after measuring it.

A Katy Railroad town on the county line

Settlers were in the area by 1851, but the town itself began when the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway started surveying in 1881. It was named for John T. Bartlett, who with J. E. Pietzsch gave the land for the townsite. A post office opened in 1882, and by 1884 Bartlett had 300 residents, a gin, a hotel, a grocer, a meat market, four churches and a school. At incorporation in 1890 it had a bank, two weekly newspapers, a Masonic lodge and a waterworks.

From 1909 the Bartlett-Florence Railway, later renamed the Bartlett Western, made the town its eastern terminus. Bartlett reached its peak of some 2,200 people in 1914, with three banks, electric lighting and three cotton gins, shipping cotton, grain, livestock and produce. The Bartlett Western closed in 1935 as cotton declined; the town had 1,668 people and seventy-five businesses by 1940, 1,439 in 1990, and 1,675 by 2000.