Cracks in 10 month old plaster

[mw63]

Been following TFP since I purchased a house with a pool in March of 2016, my 1st pool. Original plaster on pool was 14 yrs old, replastered in Oct 2016 with a company that had top ratings on Angie's List in the Dallas area, had a couple of quotes. Been babying the plaster, checking chems daily, brushed 2x daily, didn't use robot cleaner for 2 months. Noticed some brown material in several areas, like a thin line several months ago. In the last week, most of these have developed into visible, small cracks in the plaster. All on "bottom" surfaces, not walls. One of the cracks is over a foot long. Outside the startup period I used TFP guidelines on PoolMath, pool has always been in limits.


Before I contact the company, would like some input on this please! Anyone recognize? What needs to be done if anything?

Current chem levels;
FC 4.5, combined Cl: 0
pH 7.5 ( usually around 7.7, pool always drifts to 7.7 then I reduce )
TA 80
CH 270
CYA 50 ( started at 20, gradually raised intentionally to reduce chlorine loss, pool receives full sun. Using bleach I must add about 1/2 g a day even at this level )
Borates 35-40
temp 90

Using 12% bleach

Thanks in advance
Regards, Mike

 

[JoyfulNoise]

It's not a chemical issue.

It's likely an issue with ground movement or plaster adhering to the gunite. Does your area have that Texas black clay soil? Several other TFP'ers in your area, including one of our mods, have had to install micro-irrigation systems to keep the soil in their pool areas with a more consistent moisture level due to shrinkage.

Any idea if the crack leaks at all? Many plaster cracks are just surface cracks and will often happen in areas where the plaster may not be perfectly adhered to the gunite substrate underneath. I had a crack like develop in the rolled seating edge of my spa. When they chipped it out, there was a sizable void (probably 6" x 6" or more) between the plaster and the shell. It happens, there's nothing you can do about it.

If it really bothers you, you can try to find some underwater curing epoxy (pool putty??) and try to mix a white and grey color to get close to your plaster color and then very carefully "moosh" it into the crack. That crack opening looks really small, so I'm not sure the putty trick will do that much for you except possibly make it uglier looking and draw MORE attention to it.

 

[ps0303]

Things happen like this from time to time and I wouldn't say it's caused by chemicals. Maybe just bad application. Your pool is an older one so unless there were cracks in the shell, just a plaster issue. Also, is the pool leaking?

 

[pooldv]

We had a plaster crack that leaked within a few months of building the pool. PB fixed it with pool putty. It has held up fine ever since. We did have a couple of more cracks since then that didn't leak, also fixed with pool putty. We installed a micro irrigation system around the pool, from Lowes, to maintain soil moisture levels year round. Winter is worse than summer some years. It has dramatically slowed the movement of the pool.

 

[mw63]

Thanks for the replies all. Can't tell if the cracks are leaking, been a very unusual summer. Cool and rainy. Had 5 inches of rain last week..... never seen an August like this, am a lifetime resident.
How do I discern leakage from evaporation? May need to wait until fall.

The original plaster had no visible cracks and it was 14 years old, so wouldn't think it would be soil movement. Also, the soil isn't black clay, I'm familiar with that and caliche. It is somewhat brown and sandy.
So if a plaster issue, should it be repaired or just hold for now, perhaps notify the pool co? BTW the plaster has a 10 year warranty ( allegedly ; )

 

[JoyfulNoise]

If the crack is not leaking (highly unlikely it is), then I would say you should leave it alone. It's probably only something that bothers you and no one else sees it.

Remember that crack in the spa ledge I had??

I had it repaired under warranty and the fix looks absolutely worse than the original crack -

It's lightened up a bit and blends in a little better now, but it's way worse than the original 12" long crack that no one but me noticed. And, it's cracked again (smaller) in the same area. It doesn't leak so I'm leaving it alone .

I suggest you leave yours alone too....

 

[pooldv]

If you aren't sure whether it is leaking or not then it probably isnt leaking. I couldnt tell if mine was leaking or not because of the auto-fill but my water bill tripled. Normal evaporation is 1/8" to 1/4" per day.

 

[schatz]

It looks like a Stewart pool from the looks of the accent tile, they are the ones who did my plastering, subbing with my terrible pool builder. The plaster was pretty good though, no cracks yet, knock on wood.

 

[onBalance]

Consider this post as to what is going on with your plaster job.

Calcium Nodules in pools

 

[borjis]

Nice pool by the way!