Bottom of pool pitting, am I doomed?

[Skenn81]

The previous owners kept the pool with a CYA reading somewhere off the charts over 100 and a pH reading of we don't care. When I bought the place I had to use my aquarium water test kit to see how far over 8 it was kept. Since then I have brought it down and tried to maintain around 7.6 as best I can with adding acid. CYA is also now below 50 and it's much easier to maintain. I follow the usual TFP methods, details in sig on the pool. They also had a leak I patched along the tile and replaced broken bits and pieces.

Despite that the bottom of the pool is slowly going away, I have included a picture of the current state. We know we need to get it resurfaced but fixing other things around the house and hoping to get antother year out of this and do the big job in 2020.

Will the pool last or will a hole just appear and I am doomed? Is there any patching I can do in the mean time or for now do I just keep the pH down and the other readings in line? Images below. The brown spots are where the pool is chipping away.

 

[Jimrahbe]

81,

Yes you are doomed!!! Doomed to have to re-plaster at some time in the future...

Your pool is gunite with a coat of plaster.. The plaster is what makes the pool water tight and gives it a nice appearance.

Old plaster will often delaminate or come loose from the gunite... Once water gets behind the plaster it will come off in chunks.

Around here, the first thing they do when re-plastering a pool, is to use a hammer and tap the plaster looking for a hollow sound. When they find it they know that part is delaminated and the plaster is removed down to the gunite.

It is much more of a visual problem than anything else, so using it the way it is, for another year of so, would work. Unless of course you were married to my wife..

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[Skenn81]

Yeah, we found the old papers from the old owner in which they were starting to get quotes for replastering the pool but instead they sold the house and moved north.

So with the brown spots, besides it being a visual mess, if I keep levels in check will any serious damage be done which would require more than just them coming in to do replastering? Is there anything that can be applied under the water to seal it up for a little while longer?

 

[Jimrahbe]

81,

At this point I don't believe that the chemical balance will have much of an impact, one why or the other...

I am not too familiar with "underwater patching" so let's see if others might chime in on that one..

Keeping your chemicals in balance makes sense, regardless of the plaster condition...

Show us a full set of test results as follows...

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Temp..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Skenn81]

FC: Kept at 7, check and add liquid twice a week
CC: This one I dont know
pH: 7.6 but added acid this morning to bring down to 7.4 to try to reduce TA
TA: 100
CH: 320
CYA : 40
Temp: Low 60s currently, Florida cold season.

 

[Jimrahbe]

81,

That all looks good to me, even without dropping your pH..

Keep in mind this is not a game of darts, where only the bull's-eye wins.. It is more a game of hand grenades, where close is plenty close enough..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JamesW]

The concrete below the plaster should be about 9" thick. So, there's no danger of a hole opening up.

As long as the spots are not leaking, there's no reason to do anything.

You can Google underwater pool plaster patch kit for several products that can be used under water to patch the spots if you want.

White pool putty can also be used.

Try to maintain the CSI between -0.3 and 0.0.

I would suggest that you keep the pH at 7.8 and not lower.