Swimming Pool Resurfacing in Little River-Academy, Texas
Killeen Pool Resurfacing handles swimming pool resurfacing in Little River-Academy, Texas, a Bell County city on the Little River where State Highway 95 crosses Farm Road 436, with Temple eight miles to the north. A good part of the job comes before any new finish: SGM's installation manual has all loose material scraped, pressure-washed or sandblasted off the shell, and a chlorine wash to kill algae, mold and mildew, since algae left in place causes discoloration and delamination.
The Census Bureau puts the city at 2,020 residents on July 1, 2025, close to its 2020 estimates base of 1,994. The City welcomes visitors to "Bumblebee Country," and a free estimate here starts with a look at the pool's surface, its drain and its tile line.
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Resurfacing pools in Bumblebee Country
What the Census counts
The 2020 Census found 1,992 people in Little River-Academy and 748 housing units, 680 of them occupied and 68 vacant. The Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey gives 1983 as the median year the town's housing was built, with 590 of 747 occupied homes, or 79.0%, lived in by their owners. The same survey puts the median home value at $183,300 and the median household income at $75,563, and it counts no homes in buildings of five or more units. On the Bureau's Gazetteer, Little River-Academy is a city with an active government, lying wholly in Bell County, 23.8 miles east-southeast of Killeen's center point.
Published prices for this work vary widely. National averages reported in 2024 run anywhere from $1,000 to $100,000 for pool resurfacing, with homeowners generally paying around $6,500 per 1,000 square feet. Those are published averages, not our prices; a figure for a particular pool follows a visit.
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Get free estimatesUnder the new surface: the drain and the shell
The main drain, its cover and the relief valve
With the water out, the main drain is in plain view. The National Plasterers Council's glossary explains that federal law (the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act) requires every swimming pool or spa drain cover made, distributed or sold in the United States to meet the ASME/ANSI A112.19.8 entrapment protection standard, or a successor standard. Pentair's main drain guide says covers should be inspected regularly and replaced if they are cracked, broken or older than the design lifetime the maker marks on them. Where a pool has a hydrostatic relief valve, it sits in the drain sump: Hayward's threads into the 1½-inch or 2-inch pipe opening inside the sump, with a slotted collector tube at the bottom.
Degreasing the shell and stopping weepers
SGM's manual treats oil and grease as a cause of bond failure. It has them removed with trisodium phosphate and water, and checked by wetting the whole shell and looking for water that beads up; the surface is then etched with muriatic acid and water. Water seeping through the shell under groundwater pressure, which SGM's manual calls weepers, has to be stopped before plastering, and SGM plugs those leaks and seals around fittings with hydraulic cement.
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Get free estimatesLittle River Fort, Academy and a merged town
Fort Griffin on the Little River
Work on Little River Fort began in November 1836 under Sgt. George B. Erath. The fort covered half an acre near the junction of the Leon and Lampasas rivers, with six or seven cabins built against the north wall of a nine-foot-high stockade and a blockhouse sixteen feet square. First named Fort Smith, it was renamed Fort Griffin after 1841 for the settler Moses Griffin, and the Texas Historical Commission has marked the site. The fort stood somewhat west of the future town, built to defend settlers, and a number of families settled near it. A railroad station followed in the 1880s, and in 1886 the community was granted a post office named Little River.
Two schools, one district, one town
Little River had 25 residents in 1890 and 250 by 1914, with a hotel, two general stores and a cotton gin. In 1903 Little River School taught 84 pupils with two teachers, while Academy School, in the neighboring community of Academy, had 78 pupils and two teachers. In 1925 the Academy, Little River and Sparks schools consolidated into the Academy Independent School District, and soon after the first consolidated rural high school in Texas was built in Academy.
The population slipped to 120 by 1926 and was back near 250 in the 1940s, with ten businesses in 1946. Growth came fast in the later 1970s, to 1,155 by 1982, and around 1980 Little River and Academy merged into a single community. The merged town counted 1,390 people in 1990 and 1,645 by 2000. Today the City describes itself as part of the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood area, "known for its historical roots and rural appeal."
More pool work along State Highway 95 and toward Temple
Besides resurfacing, Little River-Academy owners can ask us about quartz, pebble and glass bead finishes, a full replaster, fiberglass refinishing, pool paint, a new vinyl liner, waterline tile and coping, deck resurfacing, and repairs to cracks, skimmers and leaks, whether the pool belongs to a household or to an apartment complex, HOA or business.
Holland, also on State Highway 95, grew up on Darrs Creek after James R. Holland built a steam cotton gin there in 1878; its page covers pool plastering and replastering in Holland. Temple began in 1880 as a railroad construction camp called Temple Junction, and its page is on commercial and residential pool resurfacing in Temple.
Steps in a swimming pool resurfacing job
Look at the pool
During a free estimate we'll check the surface, the main drain cover and the tile line, and talk through which finish suits the pool.
Ask the City and the water provider
Check with the City Secretary on the permit question, and ask whichever utility serves the address about any limits on refilling, since the City says it does not run water or sewer service.
Drain with care
Groundwater presses up on a pool shell, says River Pools, a fiberglass pool maker, and with too little water inside a shell can bulge, crack or even float; the maker adds that the same principles hold for every type of pool, concrete included.
Undercut at the tile and fittings
SGM's manual calls for undercutting the old plaster at all existing tile and fittings on a resurfacing job, 2 inches away and 3/8 inch deep.
Apply the new finish
The National Plasterers Council says a cement-based pool finish should average between 3/8 and 3/4 of an inch thick, with small allowances for filled holes and dig-outs around fixtures.
Fill and keep it full
The Council recommends getting a new interior finish fully underwater as soon as practical, to limit shrinkage cracking and debonding, and keeping it submerged for the rest of its service life, except for limited servicing or repair.
Call or request a free estimate any time, 24/7.
Get free estimatesPermit and water questions in Little River-Academy
Does Little River-Academy have a permit form for pool work?
The City uses one Construction Permit Application for all projects, filed with the City Secretary by email (City address: 102 N Evans, P.O. Box 521). Its job types are only "Residential" and "Commercial," and it asks for the estimated cost and the total building square footage; it prints no line, fee or checklist for swimming pools. Under its residential plan requirements, a remodel or addition needs "1 Floor Plan (include details, scope of project and energy data if required)," and any other project must "Provide detailed drawing and/or measurements as needed." The form warns that "Incomplete application WILL Not be processed." The form is silent on resurfacing an existing pool, so the City Secretary is the one to settle the permit question before work is booked; Killeen Pool Resurfacing can plan the job around the answer.
Does the City supply the water to refill a pool in Little River-Academy?
No. On its Public Works page the City says: "The City of Little River-Academy does not manage water or sewer services. Any water or sewer-related issues should be reported directly to your service provider, as the City does not have jurisdiction over those utilities." Before the old surface comes out, ask the utility that bills your address whether any watering or pool-filling limits are in force, since a fresh finish has to go underwater promptly.
Request a free swimming pool resurfacing estimate in Little River-Academy
Killeen Pool Resurfacing takes Little River-Academy calls and estimate requests around the clock, from Farm Road 436 to the Little River.