Brown spots on Pebble Tec

[Dirk]

I looked on TFP's posts and many use some acid to remove metal stains which it looks like it was. The acid literally sits there for a second and is underwater which dilutes it quickly. Really no difference than adding it to your pool albeit this is much smaller quantity and basically like a local acid wash. If it keeps coming back I will contact the PB as my plaster is less than 2 months old...thanks all!

Not sure if you're agreeing or disagreeing. Yes, it is exactly a "local acid wash." Just like the bigger version that destroyed my entire plaster surface. If you're applying enough acid in such a way to affect a stain on your plaster/pebble, then you are also affecting the surrounding and underlying plaster/pebble. That was the warning. It doesn't matter that the acid "dilutes" afterward into the pool. Your burning off some amount of plaster. And for a pebble surface, not so much the pebbles themselves, but the plaster that is holding them in place. As I mentioned, if you're OK with the results, then that's fine. But you are not just removing the stain alone.

If you don't agree, that's fine, but the warning was as much for other folks as you. You claimed "I looked on TFP's posts and many use some acid to remove metal stains." And that's probably correct, that many do. But that doesn't necessarily make it good practice. Just as many acid wash their entire pool to make it look better. It very well might make it look better. But that is costing them a layer of plaster (however thin), and that will affect the plaster's longevity. Acid should be the last resort of stain removal, IMHO. One of our most respected experts quantified it in one of his threads, but I now forget the number he used. X number of years less plaster life per acid wash (I think it was 2 or 3, I apologize for not being able to share the stated number). Just want to make sure those two ideas appear together, so you and others can make up your own mind about this practice. If you apply acid to plaster in sufficient quantity, you will reduce the life of that plaster, because you are removing some amount of that plaster (or, at least, some part of its chemical make up).

Certainly I've made too big a deal about squirting a little acid at a little stain in a gigantic pool! Just be careful how you do it, and how often at the same stain, is all I really intended to say.

For all I know, the warranty repair is chipping out the flake by chipping out the surrounding plaster. Essentially the same thing! Perhaps my guy patched it afterward somehow, like a mini chip-out/replaster job. I didn't catch that. And I can't now find the spot he treated.

 

[Dirk]

...

 

[Jimmie48]

I gotcha Dirk, I am pretty careful with my new plaster...but I will heed your warning. At this point I have only hit it once and it seems to be coming back so I will probably call in the PB to come and take a look. I first attributed it to one of two things. The starter fertilizer my landscaper used and/or the mineral cartridge they put in my chlorinator, which I have now since removed. Very very quickly when I put the acid on it...diluted in an old eye wash bottle btw, it fizzed and disappeared leading me to think it was some kind of metal stain. I will keep an eye on it and I appreciate the warnings.

Be sure and let us know how your second spot gets fixed up! Thanks for replying!

 

[Dirk]

Applying acid to stains is a pool guy's go-to move. They're pretty cavalier about it, and they do it all the time. That makes the practice mainstream. But they'll be long gone 10 years later when their victim's plaster poops out sooner than it should have. My pool guy did it so badly that he burned off my plaster on the spot! Which is why I get carried away and am hyper-sensitive about this issue. My bad. I have a very highly-skilled stone guy that taught me a lot about this stuff, after the fact. About the proper way to dilute the acid (it's not with water, by the way, you have to use an alkaline substance), and how to apply it sparingly and carefully, just enough to do the job and no more, and perhaps in a test patch first, to make sure it doesn't do more harm than good, etc. Blah, blah, blah. I now know that muriatic acid is more powerful than some realize, and I pass that along...

The more important consideration I was sharing, which I also say around here all the time: don't try to fix stuff that is under warranty. That's a good way to void the warranty. Let them fix it, that's what the warranty is for!

Thank you for being so gracious about my tirade!

 

[Browneyes5477]

Crush up Vitamin C tablets in a nylon and place it on one of that stains for 5-10mins. See if it lightens or removes the brown stain. Report back.

I did this and the vitamin c removed the stain. Any suggestions on what to put in the pool to remove it all around the bottom edge about three inches out

 

[JoyfulNoise]

You're going to have to follow the ascorbic acid stain removal process -

Ascorbic Acid Treatment - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Matorres52]

I looked on TFP's posts and many use some acid to remove metal stains which it looks like it was. The acid literally sits there for a second and is underwater which dilutes it quickly. Really no difference than adding it to your pool albeit this is much smaller quantity and basically like a local acid wash. If it keeps coming back I will contact the PB as my plaster is less than 2 months old...thanks all!

The stain is caused by contaminants in the pebble finish itself. The contaminant must be removed from each stain then the stain removed.

 

[krissdsu]

I looked on TFP's posts and many use some acid to remove metal stains which it looks like it was. The acid literally sits there for a second and is underwater which dilutes it quickly. Really no difference than adding it to your pool albeit this is much smaller quantity and basically like a local acid wash. If it keeps coming back I will contact the PB as my plaster is less than 2 months old...thanks all!

How did you apply the acid since its underwater?

 

[crystallake]

You're going to have to follow the ascorbic acid stain removal process -

Ascorbic Acid Treatment - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Would the ascorbic acid process stain or discolor dark grey pebble tec?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Would the ascorbic acid process stain or discolor dark grey pebble tec?

When done properly the AA treatment will simply lift and remove metal stains from the surface without affecting the plaster beneath. In the case of light plaster colors like white, grey, and blue, many people feel that the color of the plaster improves after AA treatment as metal stains can be all over the plaster surface to such a minor degree that they make the plaster color seem dull rather than forming a singular noticeable patch.

As always, be sure to follow the instructions to the letter and don’t skip steps. You’d be amazed at the number of people that post about doing and AA treatment and having trouble. Then when you questions them they reveal that they skipped a certain step or substituted a different chemical … this ain’t baking brownies with Chef Emeril, you don’t substitute or skip steps. You don’t get to choose what parts of the recipe you want to follow and then go “BAM!” and expect it to be awesome. Follow the process as listed and you should be fine.

 

[crystallake]

When done properly the AA treatment will simply lift and remove metal stains from the surface without affecting the plaster beneath. In the case of light plaster colors like white, grey, and blue, many people feel that the color of the plaster improves after AA treatment as metal stains can be all over the plaster surface to such a minor degree that they make the plaster color seem dull rather than forming a singular noticeable patch.

As always, be sure to follow the instructions to the letter and don’t skip steps. You’d be amazed at the number of people that post about doing and AA treatment and having trouble. Then when you questions them they reveal that they skipped a certain step or substituted a different chemical … this ain’t baking brownies with Chef Emeril, you don’t substitute or skip steps. You don’t get to choose what parts of the recipe you want to follow and then go “BAM!” and expect it to be awesome. Follow the process as listed and you should be fine.

This made me laugh...thanks. I'm a good rule follower. The wife teases me about always reading the instructions. We'll see how it goes! Thanks as always.

 

[Dirk]

Use the Gordon Ramsey method instead: follow directions to the letter or risk unrelenting abuse!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Use the Gordon Ramsey method instead: follow directions to the letter or risk unrelenting abuse!

It’s is a huge pet peeve of mine when I read the comment sections on cooking and recipe websites where someone will post -

OMG!!! This is the most amazing recipes EVER!! But, instead of using this ingredient, I decided to substitute this other one and then I only used half the sugar called for on Step 3 and instead supplemented the rest with Mung bean paste and then I omitted steps 7 thru 9 and decided to bake it at half the temperature called for ….

To which I want to scream in reply - THEN YOU DID NOT ACTUALLY FOLLOW THE RECIPE AT ALL!!!

I am literally banned from Allrecipes.com because I channel my inner Gordon Ramsey and Simon Cowell