Can someone help me identify what's going on with my plaster?

[ramathorn15]

Hey all,

I'm in the process of redoing my waterline tiles. I figured while I had the pool emptied, id try and address some issues with the plaster.

Pool is roughly 30 years old and I have no history on what was done to it in the past. I haven't done anything since buying the home in 2018.

I was originally thinking these were stains, but once it was drained and the plaster dried, I'm realizing that it's maybe something else.

Also, I just tried to do a tiny amount of acid washing (less than a gallon of both acid and water) just to see if it would help, but it didn't change anything. It almost looks like there is a coating on top of the plaster. The grey splotches look and feel much smoother than white/greenish around it.

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

It's hard to tell from the photo, but if that's truly 30 year old plaster, the underlying gunite may be coming exposed. You don't want that. Have a pro or other knowledgeable person look at it. It could be due for a re-plastering.

 

[ramathorn15]

It's hard to tell from the photo, but if that's truly 30 year old plaster, the underlying gunite may be coming exposed. You don't want that. Have a pro or other knowledgeable person look at it. It could be due for a re-plastering.

I'm honestly not sure if it's the original plaster. I popped the waterline tiles off and can tell there's like .25" of plaster before the gunite, so I don't think it's that.

After staring at it for the last few hours, I think it's the likely the original smooth plaster surface and everything around it is where the plaster is deteriorating.

I've never owned a pool till this one, so I just kind of assumed it was supposed to be somewhat rough and look like the blue/greenish areas in the photo.

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

Looks like old worn plaster to me. You need to replaster to get it looking better.

 

[1poolman1]

Hey all,

I'm in the process of redoing my waterline tiles. I figured while I had the pool emptied, id try and address some issues with the plaster.

Pool is roughly 30 years old and I have no history on what was done to it in the past. I haven't done anything since buying the home in 2018.

I was originally thinking these were stains, but once it was drained and the plaster dried, I'm realizing that it's maybe something else.

Also, I just tried to do a tiny amount of acid washing (less than a gallon of both acid and water) just to see if it would help, but it didn't change anything. It almost looks like there is a coating on top of the plaster. The grey splotches look and feel much smoother than white/greenish around it.

View attachment 561136

Plaster is just worn out. The smooth areas that you see are the "cream" that makes up the smooth finish in a pool, the rest is the aggregate that gives the plaster its strength. Its very similar to any concrete work with a smooth finish. Eventually you will start to see what's underneath as it wears. New finish time. The green is copper staining.

 

[ramathorn15]

Plaster is just worn out. The smooth areas that you see are the "cream" that makes up the smooth finish in a pool, the rest is the aggregate that gives the plaster its strength. Its very similar to any concrete work with a smooth finish. Eventually you will start to see what's underneath as it wears. New finish time. The green is copper staining.

Thank you. Very informative. The plaster has looked like this since we bought the house 5ish years ago. I just assumed the rough majority of it was the way it was supposed to look. The pool inspector didn't mention that the plaster was in bad shape, but he was also pretty awful. Seemed upset to be spending his hour doing visual inspections for $800. I know I'd be overjoyed in that situation.

 

[Bperry]

Thank you. Very informative. The plaster has looked like this since we bought the house 5ish years ago. I just assumed the rough majority of it was the way it was supposed to look. The pool inspector didn't mention that the plaster was in bad shape, but he was also pretty awful. Seemed upset to be spending his hour doing visual inspections for $800. I know I'd be overjoyed in that situation.

Don’t leave the plaster exposed for any longer than necessary.(unless you’re going to replaster now) Cracks can start forming as it dries out and it’ll never be the same.

 

[ramathorn15]

Don’t leave the plaster exposed for any longer than necessary.(unless you’re going to replaster now) Cracks can start forming as it dries out and it’ll never be the same.

Yeah. That's kind of what I'm debating now.

Option 1 is to spend about 15k on a full replaster/retile and hope they can get it done before peak swimming season.

Option 2 is to spend ~500 on putting up cheap new tile at the water line then pushing through the season while simultaneously saving and getting estimates for a fall/next spring plaster job.

Timing was bad on my part. Drained the pool last weekend so it's been empty for about 7 days already. I don't think it's gonna be possible for me to finish retiling this weekend. Then I'm out of town next weekend. Best case scenario is 3-4 weeks empty.

Trying to brainstorm ways to retile with the pool mostly filled. Problem is I won't be able to circulate water since the skimmer is basically right at the tile line. I guess I could use only the main drain (if I can get it primed).

 

[Bperry]

Yeah. That's kind of what I'm debating now.

Option 1 is to spend about 15k on a full replaster/retile and hope they can get it done before peak swimming season.

Option 2 is to spend ~500 on putting up cheap new tile at the water line then pushing through the season while simultaneously saving and getting estimates for a fall/next spring plaster job.

Timing was bad on my part. Drained the pool last weekend so it's been empty for about 7 days already. I don't think it's gonna be possible for me to finish retiling this weekend. Then I'm out of town next weekend. Best case scenario is 3-4 weeks empty.

Trying to brainstorm ways to retile with the pool mostly filled. Problem is I won't be able to circulate water since the skimmer is basically right at the tile line. I guess I could use only the main drain (if I can get it primed).

Best would be to wait on retiling until the plaster is ready to be replaced. My plaster started cracking uncontrollably in a couple weeks after draining.

 

[ramathorn15]

Best would be to wait on retiling until the plaster is ready to be replaced. My plaster started cracking uncontrollably in a couple weeks after draining.

Well I kinda screwed up and pulled all the water line tiles already. I was thinking I could retile, acid wash, and be good for a few more years. Then I started to try and understand the plaster thing once I could really see it with the pool drained, which delayed me.

 

[Bperry]

Well I kinda screwed up and pulled all the water line tiles already. I was thinking I could retile, acid wash, and be good for a few more years. Then I started to try and understand the plaster thing once I could really see it with the pool drained, which delayed me.

I would get the tile installed but not acid wash. If the plaster survives you are fortunate, if not then you just started saving for new plaster job.