White Discoloration On Diamond Brite Surface

[Aquatica]

Hi Guys,

Just wondering if in your area does this happen. Please see pic. I haven't seen a pool on the island without some white discoloration. Some pools look much worst than this one we did. We removed the old surface and acid washed before applying blue quartz. we mixed it with purified drinking water. we only had one hose filling the pool and we were at the mercy of using city water to fill which has around 100 ppm of CH.

I wouldn't count myself as a perfectionist but I do expect a certain standard of results and white discoloration really gets under my skin. I did a text book acid start up.

Just interested in knowing if it is possible to have a resurface job with diamond brite that has no white discoloration? I wouldn't even touch midnight blue. I've seen some horrific jobs on the island done with midnight blue or other dark colors.

Thanks for any input. Much appreciated.

 

[onBalance]

From the picture, it doesn't look like calcium scale because it is not uniform, which is the general norm.

There can be several reasons for the whitening or lightening of newly plastered dark colored plaster pools. Sprinkling water onto a hardening plaster surface while troweling (which can take some time after filling to become visible) will cause streaking, adding calcium chloride to the plaster mix, filling the newly plastered pool with aggressive water, and doing acid start-ups. Anything that makes the surface more porous, including differences in water:cement ratios, loss (dissolving) of cement compounds like calcium chloride from the surface, and etching, will make the surface lighter in color. The whitening of dark plaster can begin to show up within a day or two after filling with water or can take up to a year later to become visible. It all depends on the degree of abuse of the issues mentioned above and below.

There are some good easy rules to follow for keeping dark plaster colors "dark" and to remain dark for years afterwards. Don't add a lot of water (a high water/cement ratio) to the plaster mix, do not add any calcium chloride to the plaster mix, do not add water to the surface while troweling, do fill the pool with positive CSI water, do not perform an acid start-up, and maintain the pool water with a slightly positive CSI (between +0.0 and +0.4).

See ten-guidelines-for-quality-pool-plaster-t42957.html

 

[Aquatica]

Great thanks for the info! will bookmark that link and will try some of the suggestions. yes our fill water is not good. with new plaster it would be best to fill with clean water from a water truck instead of our city water.

Much appreciate the reply.