Plaster Smaster- Issues or not?

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DannyBon0886

New member
Mar 12, 2022
4
Louisiana
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
We have the Quartscapes French Gray. Not too long ago we had some major discoloration which, after looking online, appears to be mottling. So the PB said the best thing to do was to drain, acid wash, and fill back up so they did. Seemed to help for a little bit but now there is a distinct pattern throughout. The walls are darker and the bottom is lighter with streaks at the floor to wall transition. There's also prominent white specks rough to the touch along the wall that gets majority of the sun throughout the day (not sure if that's a factor or not). The PB is pretty much at a loss and wants to acid wash again (drain, etc. etc., refill) but I'm afraid this may make it worse plus be rougher to the touch. I went down with a gopro and got some pictures of what I'm talking about. Also after using the vacuum there was a bunch of sediment (like sand but not) in the basket. Could this be the prominent white specks on the wall (IMG_9770 and 9771)?

What are your thoughts? Another acid wash or redo plaster?

Timeline
Plaster applied 10/05/21
Acid wash 01/08/21
DIscolorations starting appearing not even a month later.
 

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Do not acid wash again, it is destroying your plaster and shortening its useful life by years every time you do it. All grey plasters suffer from mottling, there’s simply no way to avoid it. It is a consequence of the dark color, the mix of the plaster and the workmanship (troweling). The white stuff is essentially dissolved plaster cream that has reacted with carbonate and has formed calcium carbonate and calcium silicate scale. It’s what happens when you acid wash the plaster. The plaster surface sheds calcium compounds until it reforms a cured surface.

There’s really not much you can do. I’d be surprised if your PB would willing rip out and replace your plaster on his own dime. More than likely he will continue to pretend like he doesn’t know what’s going on, do more acid washes and suggest more band aids until you finally give up or you pay most of the cost for a new plaster job.

Grey and blue dark-colored plaster are not great colors for uniformity. They mottle easily. If you should get new plaster, I suggest you go with a different color.
 
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JoyfulNoise said:
Do not acid wash again, it is destroying your plaster and shortening its useful life by years every time you do it. All grey plasters suffer from mottling, there’s simply no way to avoid it. It is a consequence of the dark color, the mix of the plaster and the workmanship (troweling). The white stuff is essentially dissolved plaster cream that has reacted with carbonate and has formed calcium carbonate and calcium silicate scale. It’s what happens when you acid wash the plaster. The plaster surface sheds calcium compounds until it reforms a cured surface.

There’s really not much you can do. I’d be surprised if your PB would willing rip out and replace your plaster on his own dime. More than likely he will continue to pretend like he doesn’t know what’s going on, do more acid washes and suggest more band aids until you finally give up or you pay most of the cost for a new plaster job.

Grey and blue dark-colored plaster are not great colors for uniformity. They mottle easily. If you should get new plaster, I suggest you go with a different color.
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Thank you for the response, JoyfulNoise. They had a sub en-route today to do another acid wash but after finding this site I called and told him to dog it off for fear of further damaging everything and us having to pay for it. We still have not finished this project so, to me, redoing is on the table especially with all of the other stuff they have put us through.

Let's pretend we get what we want, what plaster color/manufacturer would you suggest?
 
I don’t think Quartzscape or any other manufacturer is that much different. The key is to go with a lighter color. As I alluded to, any dark color (grey, blue, black, etc) will have some kind variation and be subject to mottling. Lighter colors are less noticeable.

Maybe you can have meeting with the plaster subcontractor and discuss it with them.
 
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Pile up the sediment and pour some acid on it and see if it bubbles. If it bubbles then it is calcium and likely coming from your plaster.

I would like to see what @onBalance thinks these white spots are from...

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Please do what AJW requests. Remove the crystals and determine whether all of the crystal material fizzes, dissolves, and disappears completely. Dilute the acid one part acid to 4 parts water before the test.
 
onBalance said:
Please do what AJW requests. Remove the crystals and determine whether all of the crystal material fizzes, dissolves, and disappears completely. Dilute the acid one part acid to 4 parts water before the test.
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Thank you both for the response @onBalance and @ajw22. I will do my best to remove these crystals along the wall though I am not certain I will be successful with the pool full of water (unless you have some best methods there). What I will do is run the vacuum again and vigorously scrub with brush and then test that. Is muriatic acid ok to use?
 
@onBalance @ajw22 Diluted the acid as prescribed and it dissolved all of the accumulated sediment that was just vacuumed out.

In the voice of Mel Brooks, "What to do? What to do, now? ".... I have a meeting with my PB tomorrow to discuss the plaster issue. Note that the project still isn't finished. They've had to rework numerous issues so that may have been a blessing in disguise I suppose.
 

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