Hello: Thank you for all of the wonderful advice on these boards. We just completed a pool replaster. Day 1: Plaster completed by about 11:30am; Day 2: acid wash in the morning at about 9am, and starting at about 10 am a very quick pool fill with delivered water. All looked good on day 1, but by day 2 after the acid wash there were cracks all throughout the shallow end, the steps and a bench. Can these be fixed? Are these a concern for the life of my pool? Is it fair to insist that the contractor address these cracks? Thank you.
Cracks in New Plaster
- Thread starter spool16
- Start date
What was the air temperature on the day of plaster and day of acid wash
They look like shrinkage cracks from the photos, the mix may have been too wet to make up for the temperature so more water evaporated prior to filling and leaving the over exaggerated cracking. Just one possibility that may have caused the situation.
Yes they can be repaired, your concern is that water penetration may occur due to the depth of the crack proximity to the Shotcrete.
Your concerns are valid due to the fact that the size of the cracks are larger than normal for shrinkage cracks.
They look like shrinkage cracks from the photos, the mix may have been too wet to make up for the temperature so more water evaporated prior to filling and leaving the over exaggerated cracking. Just one possibility that may have caused the situation.
Yes they can be repaired, your concern is that water penetration may occur due to the depth of the crack proximity to the Shotcrete.
Your concerns are valid due to the fact that the size of the cracks are larger than normal for shrinkage cracks.
Thank you for your reply! The air temp was in the 80s both days. I'm glad to hear you say that the cracks can be repaired. What is the process for the repair and how does it look when done - will the cracks still be visible but filled in?
Water lowered to expose the repair area, a batch made up by hand and the cracks filled in.
The cracks will be less noticeable but still visible. The sooner they are filled in the best chance of being not noticeable.
The cracks will be less noticeable but still visible. The sooner they are filled in the best chance of being not noticeable.
Last edited:
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,852
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Thank you! Sorry if this is an obvious question, but by a "batch" do you mean a batch of new plaster is added into the cracks? Someone else mentioned "microbeading" - is that the same thing you are describing or something different?
Having the same plaster company make a small batch of the same mixture and filling the cracks , before this happens they need to remove any loose material by scraping the area until they reach solid material.