Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Failures
Freedom Chemical’s Kyle Flanagan and Aidan Bradley Featured in National Investigation of Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Failures
When Hearst Television’s National Investigative Unit needed answers about why the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s brand-new $14 million waterproof coating is already peeling, they turned to Freedom Chemical Corp., enlisting president and founder Kyle Flanagan and vice president and co-owner Aidan Bradley as independent experts.
Kyle and Aidan were asked to review project documents, contract specifications, photos, and video from the high-profile renovation. Together, they bring nearly 60 years of hands-on experience designing, developing, and installing the very same category of material used on the National Mall project: spray polyurea waterproof coatings.
Their independent analysis cut through the noise. While public theories have ranged from vandalism to algae-fighting chemicals to the weight of the presidential motorcade, Kyle and Aidan found those explanations unlikely. They also made clear the failure isn’t about the product itself. Polyurea coatings, when applied correctly, have protected fountains, pools, and infrastructure for decades. Aidan pointed to a polyurea hybrid job he completed at New York’s Lincoln Center some 16 years ago that’s still performing today.
Instead, their trained eyes went straight to the installation details: the seams where each day’s work meets the next, and the pool’s expansion joints. In their assessment, thinned-out “feather-edged” seams and improperly detailed joints are the most likely culprits behind the peeling, issues that experienced applicators know to avoid.
Kyle also corrected one of the most widespread misconceptions about the story. “What people are calling paint chips are not paint,” he told Hearst. The material is a thick, durable elastomeric coating roughly an eighth of an inch thick, nothing like an ordinary coat of paint.
It’s a story that reinforces what we tell every client at Freedom Chemical: the right product only performs when it’s installed the right way. Details like seam preparation, coating thickness, and joint treatment aren’t fine print. They’re the difference between a waterproofing system that lasts decades and one that fails in months.