How long before we can swim?

[mgmoore7]

We are scheduling the pool build and want to be able to swim by Mar 1st.

So once the build is finished and water goes in, is there a waiting period while water is stabilized, everything settles in....

 

[Patrick_B]

Unless your builder does a hot (acid) start, you can swim that day. You could easily adjust pH if needed, Chlorine, and swim away. Some builders and info tell you plaster needs cure time before swimming, but I'm not in that camp. Of course if it's vinyl, or FG, then you don't even have that worry.

 

[pooldv]

I'm not in that camp either. We were in the pool before it finished filling and had a big pool party the first weekend.

 

[amandahein3]

We were told 5-7 days. I'm bummed!

 

[bmoreswim]

Ours was a hot start so about a week for pH to rise back up. During this time I was brushing to expose some of the quartz aggregate. Wouldn't have wanted to swim too early aside from low pH because of all the plaster dust.

So type of plaster finish and method of startup are key.

 

[mgmoore7]

Ok, thanks, I had read that it would be 30 days.....

 

[pooldv]

Our pebble sheen was acid washed before fill so there was minimal plaster dust. PB even said the initial daily brushing was optional.

 

[smracing]

You can't even run a cleaner for two weeks as it will leave marks. My friends decided to swim the first day against the pool builders instruction. Now they have permanent marks in the shallow end from feet. Looks like a stain from the surface. With my plaster, I had dust for at least two weeks, and it will stick to the fresh plaster if you walk on it.

 

[skylar18]

Our PB said jump right in. We did, had a party first weekend. Was in the pool less than an hour after the fill completed! Was told not to use Polaris for a couple of weeks. And of course wait 30 days before salt was added.

 

[mgmoore7]

So it sounds like there is some disagreement on this. . What are the reasons that swimming should be delayed for weeks to a month?

 

[wjr75]

Depends on your finish. We had ours redone with pebble sheen and were swimming a few days after the initial balancing. We waited a few weeks before using the polaris 280. Regular plaster I believe is softer and needs more cautions.

 

[bmoreswim]

I think the most common ones are mentioned above and a few others:

pH out of range
Excessive plaster dust
Susceptibility of plaster to damage
PB is holding the warranty card
It's not swim season yet

Lots of reasons to swim quickly too.