Maybe I never looked at my old plaster close enough. But I definitely never had volcano looking things and it cannot be brushed off. Let me try to get a better pic.
Could use some help navigating plaster issue with builder.
- Thread starter Megsyperk
- Start date
Couldn’t get a better angle, will try again tomorrow. PB said they’re coming tomorrow to get their eyes on it.
Update: once I could see the not-a-calcium-nodule in the daytime I realized it was sloppy plaster and wasn’t of huge concern.
But PB came out to look at the iron stains, which they’re insisting are organic, even after I pointed to the one stain that had responded to ascorbic acid. He rubbed one of the stains with a pumice stone. There wasn’t any improvement in the spot, but that didn’t stop them from gaslighting me, trying to convince me that it had worked and so it proved it wasn’t in the plaster itself and was organic. It was bizarre, like what I was seeing with my own eyes wasn’t real.
He even offered to dive in and pumice them all today, but also assured me these hundreds of organic stains (most on vertical surfaces) would come out once I could raise the chlorine in 30 days.
I’m frustrated and confused. I’m fine treating them myself, but I’m just really disappointed. In them — for either being dishonest or for not knowing that AA won’t treat organic stains, in myself for not researching before hiring them. I was just so excited to start with a blank slate because the previous owner of this home left me a mess of a pool to try and fix; the idea of spending $11k to start out fighting metals within three days of fill is just — sigh. They knew I’d battled metal staining with the old plaster. They’d assured me they used a special filter for the water to fill (does cotton filter metals?).
Ultimately I feel confident these can be treated with chemicals, but I’m unsure if I should do it now or wait until the plaster has further cured. I added a startup dose of Jack’s Magic Blue Stuff (with the PB’s assurance it wouldn’t void the warranty) and a Culator (I know results aren’t clear on these but figured it couldn’t make anything worse) to the pump basket.
Any help would be really appreciated.
But PB came out to look at the iron stains, which they’re insisting are organic, even after I pointed to the one stain that had responded to ascorbic acid. He rubbed one of the stains with a pumice stone. There wasn’t any improvement in the spot, but that didn’t stop them from gaslighting me, trying to convince me that it had worked and so it proved it wasn’t in the plaster itself and was organic. It was bizarre, like what I was seeing with my own eyes wasn’t real.
He even offered to dive in and pumice them all today, but also assured me these hundreds of organic stains (most on vertical surfaces) would come out once I could raise the chlorine in 30 days.
I’m frustrated and confused. I’m fine treating them myself, but I’m just really disappointed. In them — for either being dishonest or for not knowing that AA won’t treat organic stains, in myself for not researching before hiring them. I was just so excited to start with a blank slate because the previous owner of this home left me a mess of a pool to try and fix; the idea of spending $11k to start out fighting metals within three days of fill is just — sigh. They knew I’d battled metal staining with the old plaster. They’d assured me they used a special filter for the water to fill (does cotton filter metals?).
Ultimately I feel confident these can be treated with chemicals, but I’m unsure if I should do it now or wait until the plaster has further cured. I added a startup dose of Jack’s Magic Blue Stuff (with the PB’s assurance it wouldn’t void the warranty) and a Culator (I know results aren’t clear on these but figured it couldn’t make anything worse) to the pump basket.
Any help would be really appreciated.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,600
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
No, polyfill will filter iron that is in suspension in the water.
Iron Fill Water Filter - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
- May 23, 2015
- 24,504
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Let the PB finish up and then do it yourself. This is typical in the pool industry - a lot of these guys are a joke when it comes to knowing anything beyond how to schedule subs and collect checks. Once the final money comes in they don’t want anything to do with what they built or with the customer. They’ll do anything and say anything to cover their rear ends and avoid accountability.
Once you get past the startup phase, you can try an ascorbic acid treatment to remove the stains. If the stains continue to return in the same spots then you may need to use a pumice stone yourself to try to remove the offending contaminant. Sadly it’s going to take lots of work on your part but it’s probably less of PITA than dealing with a useless pool builder.
Sorry. It sucks to pay so much only to have incompetence make it’s way in.
Once you get past the startup phase, you can try an ascorbic acid treatment to remove the stains. If the stains continue to return in the same spots then you may need to use a pumice stone yourself to try to remove the offending contaminant. Sadly it’s going to take lots of work on your part but it’s probably less of PITA than dealing with a useless pool builder.
Sorry. It sucks to pay so much only to have incompetence make it’s way in.
Thanks Joy. Misery loves company so that helped me to feel better
I just realized I never came back to update. Our area Jack’s Magic rep came to the house and helped identify the stains. Mentioned this in another thread but our working theory is that these are shingle granules that blew in during the plastering. I haven’t fully treated them, but have been regularly adding Jack’s Magic pink and blue stuff (this may be overkill) and they’ve slowly gotten better. When the pool is warm enough for me to get in, I’ll spot treat and see how that shakes out.
But I’ve otherwise internalized the advice in this thread and accepted that literally no one but me is going to notice these imperfections, especially with the TFP sparkle of the water.
But I’ve otherwise internalized the advice in this thread and accepted that literally no one but me is going to notice these imperfections, especially with the TFP sparkle of the water.