Newly Plaster Pool Assistance Needed

[Emma]

I hope you can answer a question for me. I just had my pool re-plastered last week. I went to pool store and had them test the water to see what I needed to ad. They said I needed 3 pts of muratic acid. But for some reason the young man at the store sold me 4 gallons of the muratic acid. I didn't pay too much attention because I was buying a bunch of stuff at the same time. When my friend and I got home I said to him "Why did the guy sell us so much muratic acid, we only needed 3 pints?" He didn't pay too much attention to me, just carried the crate out to the back, He then poured in 1 of the gallon containers. I came out to tell him to stop, but it was too late - he had poured the whole gallon in.

I siad not to put anymore in because we already had too much, I would take the rest back to the store. Two days later he poured in another gallon of the muratic acid. We now had 2 gallons in the newly plastered pool instead of the 3 pints. This time I made sure he listened to me. I took some of the water back to the pool store to be tested and they told me to add 14 lbs of a white powdery substance, which I have done.

I am hoping and praying that that large amount of muratic acid didn't damage the new plaster on the pool. Please tell me the truth. It was supposed to be a "Black bottom" pool, but now looks very mottled. Is that from the acid or is that what happens naturally? I just hope the new plaster wasn't damaged. Can you please tell me the truth, good news or not.

Thanks for your help.

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

When you have a newly plastered pool, you normally need to add acid daily for the first month. It is extremely important to keep the PH below 8.0 during this period.

Without more information about what your levels are it is impossible to say more than that. It would help you tremendously if you had your own test kit. PH changes rapidly, and you don't want to be running back and forth to the pool store twice a day.

It is possible for acid to damage the plaster. But the PH also goes up very very quickly when the pool is now. You might have needed the acid, or you might not have.

 

[Emma]

My thanks to Itongate for helping me post this question and to JasonLion for such a quick response. You are both amazing. I wish the pool company that did the plastering had a "fact sheet" about taking care of the newly plastered pool. This is the first time I have been through this (and probably the last). This pool will outlast me, providing I haven't ruined the plaster. It is an 18K pool. I put in the 14lbs of Sodium Bicarbonate to counterbalance the 2 gallons of muratic acid. But you say, Jason, that I need to add a little acid everyday for a couple of weeks? How much do I add? I will need to get some kind of chart so I can understand what the test kit is telling me to do. I will be honest here. 26 years ago when I bought this house I didn't even want a pool. But this was the right house for me so I took a chance. I learned to love the pool. But the pool service I inherited when I bought the place was over $100 per month. I timed him for several weeks. It was 90 seconds from the time he drove into the driveway until he drove out again. It was the same 90 seconds week after week so I decided it couldn't be that hard. So for the last 26 years I have just made sure it had plenty of chlorine pucks in the little floaters. Once in a while I would throw in some shock. I never really learned how to do the test kit. It is time I learned all about it. My social security doesn't have room for a pool service.

Thanks again for your help. I am open to learning more and any other suggestions you have (or anyone else has) for me.

 

[JasonLion]

To know how much acid to add you need to know the PH and TA of the water. Then you enter those into PoolMath, along with your pool size, and it will tell you how much acid to add.

When you have a chance, do some reading in Pool School (button towards the top right of every page).

 

[three4rd]

Hi Emma,

I also just replastered. You would do well to learn a bit about testing and keeping track of the readings. I've been learning alot on this site about pool store test results and advice as not always being accurate. JasonLion is right in that new plaster generates a higher pH level for the first few weeks. Didn't your plasterer give you any sort of start-up guide as to what to do? Were you told to brush the new plaster? This should be done twice a day to help the plaster cure and also to get out all the plaster dust. I've never had a pool store actually come to my house to do any maintenance, BUT I always followed most pool store advice until now. I've learned alot here and am beginning to feel confident about testing water myself and understanding what the various tests mean. By the guy adding large amounts of MA, he probably figured it'd need it to help bring down what was probably high pH in your fresh fill, but certainly adding a little at a time, every day, testing the results to see where your pH and TA are, would be the better way to go. Keeping the pH in the right range (7.2-7.8) is the MOST important thing right now - even more important than TA (total alkalinity). Best of luck...hang in there! I also had my pool 25 years and knew it was time for new plaster.