{"id":767045,"date":"2026-07-16T21:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T21:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/767045\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T21:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T21:35:11","slug":"reflecting-pool-peeling-probably-caused-by-application-flaws-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/767045\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflecting Pool peeling probably caused by application flaws, experts say"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has blamed vandals, but a Washington Post analysis finds that the peeling tracks closely with stages of the renovation process.<\/p>\n

July 16, 2026 at 10:17 a.m. EDTToday at 10:17 a.m. EDT<\/p>\n

The lining of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool peeled away in at least seven places along seams that were created when the material was applied in large rectangular sections, indicating likely problems in how it was installed, according to a Washington Post analysis of visuals and interviews with experts. <\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said vandals are to blame for the damage that appeared just two weeks after the $14 million renovation was completed in early June. \u201cThe slashes were 300 yards long, and the floor of the pool was cut and then pulled upward, with great force, by these thugs,\u201d he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday. On Tuesday, photos emerged on social media that showed the pool had been drained in preparation for repairs.<\/p>\n

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum made similar claims in television interviews in early July, saying on Fox News<\/a> that vandals left gashes totaling 350 feet. \u201c[The lining] didn\u2019t peel off,\u201d he said on CNN<\/a>, adding that people were \u201cliterally trying to destroy part of a monument.\u201d<\/p>\n

Post reporters visited the Reflecting Pool on June 25 and identified seven locations where the lining \u2014 a waterproof membrane that was painted onto the concrete basin \u2014 had partially or entirely peeled away. The peeling occurred in irregularly shaped patches that stretched alongside the long edges of the pool. The pieces ranged in size from a few inches to as long as six feet. In one case, the concrete was visible underneath. (Reporters could not see the condition of the lining in the middle of the basin.) <\/p>\n

By comparing the seven locations with satellite imagery, photos and videos taken during the renovation process, the analysis found that all of the failures occurred at the seams \u2014 lines between two areas that were painted at different times. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

Reflecting Pool coating <\/p>\n

failure locations<\/p>\n

The Post identified at least seven locations where the newly painted lining partially or completely separated from the bottom of the Reflecting Pool<\/p>\n

Sources: Google Earth; Washington Post reporting<\/p>\n

\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

Reflecting Pool coating failure locations<\/p>\n

The Post identified at least seven locations where the newly painted lining <\/p>\n

partially or completely separated from the bottom of the Reflecting Pool<\/p>\n

Sources: Google Earth; Washington Post reporting<\/p>\n

\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

Reflecting Pool coating failure locations<\/p>\n

The Post identified at least seven locations where the newly painted lining <\/p>\n

partially or completely separated from the bottom of the Reflecting Pool<\/p>\n

Sources: Google Earth; Washington Post reporting<\/p>\n

Four experts in waterproofing materials \u2014 who have decades of experience and have served as educators and expert witnesses in pool-related construction lawsuits \u2014 reviewed The Post\u2019s findings and said the failure pattern strongly suggested errors in the application process. They said that while a precise cause cannot be determined without on-site examination and lab testing, such seams require careful attention and are especially prone to failure.<\/p>\n

When The Post shared its findings with the White House and the Interior Department, spokespeople disputed that the surface had been improperly applied. \u201cThere were no missteps during the initial repairs to the pool,\u201d said White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers. \u201cUnfortunately, deranged individuals made several gashes in the side of the pool and destroyed over 300 feet of the pool\u2019s siding. Once the necessary repairs to fix the vandalism are complete, the Reflecting Pool will be restored to all its glory.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Interior spokesperson said that \u201cthe National Park Service team has walked every foot of the Reflecting Pool, and unlike the exorbitant Obama renovation, the Reflecting Pool is now leak-proof. This project was executed after consultation with the Army Corps of Engineers Engineering Research and Design Center and other leading experts who have experience working on the Reflecting Pool.\u201d Interior said \u201cgashes\u201d are located along the edge of the pool on its perimeter expansion joint, which is where the coating is soft enough to be cut. Officials provided no evidence to support the administration\u2019s assertion that the pool was vandalized.<\/p>\n

After the concrete basin was emptied, cleaned and dried, the Reflecting Pool was painted in sections. The sections were coated with two products, both made by the San Diego-based company Rhino Linings, according to the imagery, government records, and public statements by the company and contractors. The process began with Rhino 406, a light blue epoxy base coat applied on the concrete to seal surface irregularities and establish a protective barrier. Next, a thick, sprayed layer of Pipeliner 5000 \u2014 a dark blue hybrid polyurea \u2014 was applied to complete the waterproof membrane.<\/p>\n

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Section <\/p>\n

painted with<\/p>\n

dark blue<\/p>\n

coating <\/p>\n

\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

Section painted <\/p>\n

with dark <\/p>\n

blue coating <\/p>\n

\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

Section painted <\/p>\n

with dark <\/p>\n

blue coating <\/p>\n

First, the light blue epoxy is applied as a base coat. Then, the dark blue is added as a durable top layer.<\/p>\n

On May 3, workers applied the dark blue coating across a rectangular section of the pool.<\/p>\n

The next day, they applied the same coating to an adjacent area, producing a visible seam. This is one of the places where the coating failed.<\/p>\n

More than a week later, on May 12, multiple sections had been sealed. The new coating failed in at least three places.<\/p>\n

By May 15, several more sections were completed toward the east end of the pool. That coating failed in three more places.<\/p>\n

In five of the spots, the dark blue Pipeliner 5000 coating had peeled off to reveal more of the same material. Experts said this appears consistent with an adhesion failure caused by an overlap of the dark blue over a dried layer of the same material at the seams. For any overlapping Pipeliner 5000 to adhere, the underlying layer would need to still be wet or, if not, steps would need to be taken to prepare the surface.<\/p>\n

Pipeliner 5000 dries within four hours, according to technical documents<\/a>, depending on temperature and humidity. The Post confirmed that in each of the five spots, five hours or more had elapsed between when adjacent sections were sprayed. <\/p>\n

At a sixth spot The Post identified, the dark blue Pipeliner 5000 had peeled back to reveal the light blue Rhino 406 primer. The Pipeliner 5000 should be applied within 24 hours of the primer<\/a>, according to technical specifications. Photos and a video of the renovation process showed that, at this location, it was applied more than 24 hours after the primer, which experts said made it less likely that the two materials bonded properly.<\/p>\n

At the seventh spot, both the dark blue coating and light blue epoxy primer underneath had peeled away, leaving the concrete exposed. This was one of three failure points that occurred on top of visible expansion joints built across the concrete basin \u2014 which experts said would also strain the coating. The width of the perimeter expansion joint referenced by the Interior spokesperson is not clear from visuals, but at least one failure point appeared directly on the pool\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n

When applying the product, the goal should be to have the coating be \u201cas monolithic as possible\u201d and to lay down as much material at one time as possible, said Vito Mariano, president of waterproofing company Basecrete Technologies. \u201cAnytime you have a stop [and] go, you\u2019re going to open yourself up to a problem that might occur,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The experts agreed that the seams required special treatment, but their assessment of the best approach varied. After reviewing The Post\u2019s timelines, photos and video of the peeling sections and the technical specifications of the sealants used, they said several techniques might have prevented the failures but stopped short of diagnosing a definitive cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a window [of time] \u2026 to get the next layer down. Otherwise, it\u2019s not going to adhere properly unless additional prep is done,\u201d said Rudy Stankowitz, a pool operations expert.<\/p>\n

If a section has already cured, its edges need to be sanded to rough up the surface and cut at an angle before a new set of coatings is applied next to it, otherwise they will fail to bond properly along the new seam, according to Michael Bushnell, a retired certified coating inspector for the U.S. Navy. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf [the seams] are the only place where the failure is occurring, it\u2019s strongly indicative of improper [edge] preparation,\u201d Bushnell said.<\/p>\n

Derek Downey, an expert in pool failure analysis who frequently testifies as an expert witness in construction defect lawsuits, recommends placing a separate material, such as tile and grout, between pool sections. That material would act as a physical barrier between separate coating applications, preventing adhesion failures when the coatings overlap.<\/p>\n

The available visuals do not show workers applying special treatment at the seams where The Post found failure points, although it\u2019s possible those steps were taken but not photographed. Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the contractor responsible for the project, and Mid-America Industrial Coatings, the subcontractor whose crews helped line the basin, did not respond to questions from The Post. Rhino Linings also did not respond.<\/p>\n

On June 21, Atlantic Industrial Coatings said in a statement on its website that the company, along with the U.S. Park Service, had identified areas in the Reflecting Pool that needed repairs. \u201cThese areas are a very small part of the massive 7 acre project, and do not indicate a failure of the liner,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Rhino Linings, in a statement on its website, said the company is \u201caware of reports regarding localized areas of finish coat separation within portions of the Washington DC Reflecting Pool rehabilitation project.\u201d The company added that, based on information provided by the project team, the condition \u201cdoes not affect the underlying waterproofing membrane.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Canton, Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings<\/a> was awarded a no-bid contract in April to repaint and waterproof the pool\u2019s concrete floor. A March 31 Interior Department memo justifying the sole-source award said that \u201conly a limited pool of contractors possess the qualification and equipment necessary\u201d to complete the project in time for the 250th anniversary celebration. <\/p>\n

In turn, Atlantic Industrial Coatings hired the Oklahoma-based Mid-America Industrial Coatings as a subcontractor to assist in the renovation. The company advertises its prior work with Rhino materials. Its website states that the company aimed to create \u201ca seamless, protective barrier\u201d for the pool.<\/p>\n

The pool, which holds approximately 4 million gallons of water, has long had problems with algae and leaks. In 2012<\/a>, it completed a two-year, $34 million renovation that shored up its floor support system to prevent the pool from sinking. For that project, contractors poured new, tinted concrete for the bottom of the pool and utilized a hydrophilic joint sealing strip, Hydrotite, from the New Jersey company Sika<\/a>. In June, CNN reported that Sika declined to work on Trump\u2019s renovation after being asked to do so, saying that the quick time frame and the color change made the project \u201cunfeasible<\/a>.\u201d Sika did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

In addition to the peeling paint, the pool experienced one of the biggest recorded algae blooms<\/a> in years just days after its reopening. <\/p>\n

On CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union\u201d on July 5, Burgum said that the pool will be partially drained and that repairs will be completed by Atlantic Industrial Coatings. \u201cWe\u2019ll use the same company, because they did a fantastic job,\u201d he said, noting that the repairs could cost tens of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

Federal authorities have charged at least four people in connection with alleged vandalism, and three of them have pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges after allegedly peeling paint off the bottom of the pool and being caught in possession of pieces of liner. One person has been indicted, former Olympian David Hearn, and he has pleaded not guilty<\/a> to a felony vandalism charge. At a news conference<\/a> on July 2, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said National Park Service employees witnessed Hearn \u201cforcefully and violently\u201d pulling at the liner with both hands and turning belligerent when told to stop. No one has been accused of making gashes, according to charging documents.<\/p>\n

Salvador Rizzo and Luis Melgar contributed to this report. Photos of the renovation process were shared publicly by the Interior Department.<\/p>\n

correction<\/p>\n

A previous version of this article misstated the time that had elapsed between when adjacent sections of the Reflecting Pool were sprayed with dark blue Pipeliner 5000 coating at five of the spots where the coating had peeled off. Five hours or more had elapsed for all of the spots, not more than 24 hours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump has blamed vandals, but a Washington Post analysis finds that the peeling tracks closely with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":767046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-767045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}