Yep, high pH and TA would lead to scaling which will not damage the plaster, just feet. Scale is just another cosmetic issue. Aggressive water and etching is what can cause permanent damage. 15-20 years should be easy with TFP!
Plaster scaling and losing bits of plaster
- Thread starter needsajet
- Start date
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,298
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
Well, here we are a year later, and things are coming to a head for my daughter's pool. See pics below. My son-in-law nearly bashed his head when this piece came off.
One question... the glass bead is very smooth, and I wonder if it is normally mixed throughout the plaster. It doesn't seem that it would function very well as "aggregate". For my own pool, the glass bead was sprinkled on top after the plaster was on, lightly troweled in, and then the final troweling started about an hour later.
First pic - one of the chunks. Lots of glass bead, throughout the plaster
Second pic showing the spot that shed the plaster. Note the gap behind the plaster.
Thanks again for all your help!
One question... the glass bead is very smooth, and I wonder if it is normally mixed throughout the plaster. It doesn't seem that it would function very well as "aggregate". For my own pool, the glass bead was sprinkled on top after the plaster was on, lightly troweled in, and then the final troweling started about an hour later.
First pic - one of the chunks. Lots of glass bead, throughout the plaster
Second pic showing the spot that shed the plaster. Note the gap behind the plaster.
Thanks again for all your help!
OUCH! Glad he did not get hurt when that gave way.
-glass beads-many ways to do them. It depends on how the plasterer is used to doing it. Of course the easy way for them is to throw the beads into the plaster and go from there. Of course that way you "lose" a lot of the beads as they are inside the plaster so cannot be seen
The casting them on the top would make them really stand out AND possibly help with the grip.
So what is the plan with the plaster? It is so sad that is is only 5 yrs old so much money to have to redo so soon. I think it has become a safety factor now though.
Kim (NO cheering on this one)
-glass beads-many ways to do them. It depends on how the plasterer is used to doing it. Of course the easy way for them is to throw the beads into the plaster and go from there. Of course that way you "lose" a lot of the beads as they are inside the plaster so cannot be seen
The casting them on the top would make them really stand out AND possibly help with the grip.So what is the plan with the plaster? It is so sad that is is only 5 yrs old
so much money to have to redo so soon. I think it has become a safety factor now though.Kim (NO cheering on this one)
- May 23, 2015
- 24,672
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Sorry I hear it’s getting worse. Patching can be done but it will definitely look, well, patchy. The rolled edge of a step is a pretty common place for cracks to form.
One opinion - the marker tiles were set too close to the step edge. I would have pulled them back another inch or two. Also, in my pool, I only did single 1” (rotated 90 to the edge so they pointed like a diamond shape) spaced very wide apart (~16” or so). I wonder if that tile line was simply too close to the edge to allow for a good mechanical bond. You might want to redo the marker tiles as well with a new plaster job.
One opinion - the marker tiles were set too close to the step edge. I would have pulled them back another inch or two. Also, in my pool, I only did single 1” (rotated 90 to the edge so they pointed like a diamond shape) spaced very wide apart (~16” or so). I wonder if that tile line was simply too close to the edge to allow for a good mechanical bond. You might want to redo the marker tiles as well with a new plaster job.
Was this a replaster over the previous plaster? It looks like white plaster under the delamination?
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,298
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
Sadly her pool is fairly new at about 5 years of age, and it's the original plaster. The white is a deposit like what I showed in the earlier pictures. There also seems to be some light brown deposits on the back of the plaster in some places, but mostly whitish.
That's a good idea to move the marker tiles back when it's redone.
Yeh it's a tough one for them. I recommended they get a few quotes and try to get a feel for the plasterers. Luckily they have lots of contacts.
That's a good idea to move the marker tiles back when it's redone.
Yeh it's a tough one for them. I recommended they get a few quotes and try to get a feel for the plasterers. Luckily they have lots of contacts.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,672
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
The white on the backside of the plaster is likely from voids filling with pool water through the crack and then the plaster gets bleached white and scale develops. Not sure about the brown bit. Plaster color in the bulk of those chunks looks very uneven, line it wasn’t even mixed fully.
The chunk at 6 o’clock in the bucket, looks like beads inhibited a cementitious bond.
Was the “blue line” facing water or stairs?
Was the “blue line” facing water or stairs?
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,298
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
I went and took a couple more pictures. The blue line on the chunk at 6 o'clock in the bucket was the surface facing the water. Also I figured out the brown. Not sure of the pool terminology, but it's a bit of the thinset used under the marker tiles.
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,298
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
Thanks, Kim. She's looking at it on the bright side at least. They got a great deal on the pool, so now not so great, but still good, and she can spruce it up, or at least has options. She recognises they've got some pro-rata value from it. Smart kids she and her hubby are, but fun it's not.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,672
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
That aggregate looks really exposed. Does that pool surface feel very rough, it certainly looks like it would be....
If a replaster isn’t in the very near future, I’d get that exposed gunite sealed up with a pool patch. You really don’t want the shell exposed to pool water and vice-versa...
If a replaster isn’t in the very near future, I’d get that exposed gunite sealed up with a pool patch. You really don’t want the shell exposed to pool water and vice-versa...
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,298
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
It's actually a fairly nice surface, though I agree the glass bead seems a bit high. I'm still wondering if there's too much glass bead to make a good concrete. There's always bits of it in the skimmer basket coming from the cleaner. Probably 3 or 4 beads every two weeks.
I think they'll get the plaster re-done after swim season, probably around May/June. Could that cause a problem for the shell do you reckon?
I think they'll get the plaster re-done after swim season, probably around May/June. Could that cause a problem for the shell do you reckon?