Damaged Pebble Sheen Interior - Power Washed By Previous Occupants

[sterbz]

Hi all. Newbie and first-time poster here. I look forward to learning a lot. In the meantime, I have a question regarding an interior surface issue I’ve been left with compliments of improper maintenance by former occupants.

I bought a home and resurfaced the plaster pool with Ocean Blue Pebble Sheen in early 2009. It came out incredibly well. I enjoyed it for a bit and then unexpectedly wound up renting the house for 3 1/2 yrs. I have recently moved back in and now see that the pool interior exhibits some dark spots, 2 of which are much larger than the rest. After determining none of these spots were black algae and gathering some other clues, the gentleman who did the resurfacing came by with the Ocean Blue Pebble Sheen triangular sample yesterday. We placed it in the water and the result is in the attached picture (this is one of the 2 larger areas)…

Shortly prior to this, I obtained an e-mail that the tenants sent to the property manager in May 2013 which stated they had a “power wash" of the interior done because they could not get the pool clean after a series of storms. And lastly, the darker areas still have abalone shells present (I had some more added to the Ocean Blue mix), whereas, they are virtually nowhere to be found anywhere else (i.e., the lighter areas).

While the tenants have not replied to inquiries regarding this issue, I am left to believe that a true high rpm power washer was indeed used in May 2013 on the well-established surface, and this is what I’m left with. What is my best course of action here, aside from resurfacing the entire interior again? Drain the pool and try to power wash the remaining spots? Try a high pressure acid wash on the dark spots only? Acid wash over the entire surface? Something else?

I am disgusted to say the least, and am open for all suggestions. Thanks.

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! When the Pebble Sheen guy came by did you do any water testing? If you have any current test results please post them here. You did not mention if the Pebble Sheen guy had any suggestions on how to fix the problem. I wonder if they power washed the whole pool or just the "problem areas" and removed too much of the surface. I don't think another power wash or an acid wash is the answer. You may end up having to patch the damaged areas, but I am no plaster expert so let's see what some of our other members have to say.

 

[sterbz]

I haven't gotten any water tests yet because I know a pool drain is eminent...was going to do it first thing after the fill and chemical balance.

The Pebble Sheen guy didn't have any suggestions...he was just in shock that anyone would do that to an interior...oh, and he'd side with me if I decided to seek legal action.

 

[Casey]

Well if this was my pool I would seek legal action against the tenant on getting it corrected. That would make me sick!

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[sterbz]

Well if this was my pool I would seek legal action against the tenant on getting it corrected. That would make me sick!

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Yeah, I've kicked off discussions with a lawyer as of this morning. In the meantime, I still haven't decided what to do. As expected, no one can guarantee any results with a repair or a wash. And a full re-surfacing is going to be a pain and another $5k minimum. *sigh*

 

[MiaOKC]

Sorry to hear about that - it constantly surprises me when our tenants don't have basic knowledge of household systems (like a garbage disposal) and I know I would be a mess if I had to rent out a house with a pool. In your area it is probably much more common, but I would still be a wreck.

Just spitballing here, but ... if the majority of the surface has been discolored through a mechanical abrasiveness of a power washer, I would try to confine my remediation to the dark areas only, to try to lighten them to the body of the pool. If high pressure wash got it to this point, it stands to reason that isolating those areas and pressure washing them should even them out. But I'd do that as a nearly last resort, right before a resurface as a final resort.

I'd experiment with scrubbing in a small test area under water (grab your mask!) - various levels of abrasiveness, like a dish scrubber, stainless steel wool pad, pumice stone, maybe a fine sanding block. Again, that is just an idea and I've never tried anything like that but it might not hurt to try if it's already so messed up you can't live with it.

Do you have any pics of the pool from far away?

 

[Flippy]

Just from the picture and it is hard to tell but that does not look like something a power washer could do. Not saying they didn't do something. When you power wash you usually end up with streaks and that looks like a stain to me. Hope you figure it out.

 

[sterbz]

Just from the picture and it is hard to tell but that does not look like something a power washer could do. Not saying they didn't do something. When you power wash you usually end up with streaks and that looks like a stain to me. Hope you figure it out.

It's been windy the past couple of days, but I will post pics of the entire surface for all to see in a bit.

Everyone originally thought it was staining of some sort or black algae, but between there still being abalone shells in only the darker areas and the Ocean Blue sample matching the darker areas, it's hard to come to that conclusion. I still haven't taken any action, but have narrowed the list of people I'd consider helping out down to 2.

 

[sterbz]

Here's the best early morning pic I could get. The person I was most comfortable with doing the job won't touch it with a power washer, and is telling me he's 99% sure that an acid wash isn't going to help matters. I wish I were a lizard on the wall so I could've seen what happened because this just hasn't made sense to anyone, and I've gotten 6 varying opinions. At least the pool is functional and it's just a cosmetic issue.

 

[Flippy]

That to me still does not look like a power washing issue. Really would like to know what they did.

 

[jblizzle]

So currently it is believed that the dark strip is what the pool SHOULD look like?
If this was not the case, it would be easier to think that some chemical pooled on the bottom and created the strip.