Cleaning the surface of a neglected pool

[Teddyadams]

Hello, I bought my house with its neglected pool last year and had fix a lot of plumbing and mechanical issues, and now I need to clean or refinish the surface and I need some advice. Judging by the looks of it I assumed that I was going to have to refinish the pool, it is pebble tec (I think) about 15 years old. After reading on here and talking to a few folks, I wonder if I just need to clean it. If so, how would I go about cleaning or having it cleaned? Should I have it acid washed or re-plastered? It is going to have to be drained and refilled anyway. I have been reaching out to contractors for quotes, but they are so busy, I am on wait list to get quotes! - so if it needs refinished I might just drain, refill and wait a year.

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

Why do you say the water needs to be drained and refilled?

What is the water chemistry?

The plaster in the pics you posted don’t look bad.

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Put a handful of vitamin C tablets in a thin sock, crush them up a bit, and set it on an area you see as stained. Let us know the results.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[Teddyadams]

Welcome to TFP.

Why do you say the water needs to be drained and refilled?

What is the water chemistry?

The plaster in the pics you posted don’t look bad.

Thank you!

The chemistry is awful. The CYA was over 120 (the highest my kit would test) when I bought the house, it is still well over 100 now. I used the calculator and I think it needs 80%ish replacement.

I was thinking it looked bad, but I haven't had a pebble pool before, only plaster. I was thinking the brown places were "worn" for lack of better term. Do you think that is a stain on the stairs?

 

[ajw22]

What test kit do you have?

Dilute your sample 50% with tap water, do your CYA test on that sample, and multiply the result by 2.

How will you be chlorinating the pool? If you use a SWG you only need to get the CYA down to 70-80.

It is worth doing some stain tests on some areas of your pool...

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Teddyadams]

What test kit do you have?

Dilute your sample 50% with tap water, do your CYA test on that sample, and multiply the result by 2.

How will you be chlorinating the pool? If you use a SWG you only need to get the CYA down to 70-80.

It is worth doing some stain tests on some areas of your pool...

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

www.troublefreepool.com

I didn't think of diluting it, thanks for the suggestion. I have the TF-100 that I use 2x a month and whats left of a "Lamotte Pro" or something like that. Right now I am using Triclor, just because I am already committed to draining for either cleaning or refinishing. I usually use the BBB method, but it is easier to maintain 11-12 PPM with tabs since the CYA is so high (and only getting higher thanks to the tabs). Plus, my HD has been out of liquid bleach!

I am going to try the stain test. I swear it looks like bare concrete, but I don't know my pool from a hole in the ground.

Thank you.

 

[ajw22]

CYA > 90 dilution Test​

For CYA > 90ppm, repeat the test adjusting the procedure as follows:

1. Fill the mixing bottle to the lower mark with pool water.
2. Continue filling the mixing bottle to the upper mark with tap water.
3. Shake briefly to mix.
4. Pour off half of the contents of the mixing bottle, so it is again filled to the lower mark.
5. Continue the test normally from adding R-0013, but multiply the final result by two.

If you need to dilute the pool water further then apply these ratios:

Pool water	Tap or distilled water	Multiply result by
1	1	2
1	2	3
1	4	5

Note that when doing a diluted test not only do you multiply the range of the test you multiply the error rate of the test, so results are a ballpark - not an absolute.

See CYA Testing for tips in how to read the test results.

 

[Teddyadams]

Welcome to the forum!
Put a handful of vitamin C tablets in a thin sock, crush them up a bit, and set it on an area you see as stained. Let us know the results.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

Thank you! I will try that. I just got over a cold, so I happen to have some vitamin C tablets!

 

[wireform]

You may want to take advantage of the high CYA by switching over to SWCG. You will only need a partial drain for that but you still need to know how high of a CYA there is.

 

[Ann.Abrah]

Hey, I guess you have to start from the beginning, if you want it to have a good quality. I had a similar problem and I needed to rebuild it. I asked my father to help me, because he has a huge experience in such situations. He tried, but couldn't and I was a bit stressed, because the summer and 'pool season' was very close and my kids were expecting to spend it swimming in our pool. . I decided to ask for help someone else, and my cousin said I can use https://procleaninglondon.co.uk/areas/newham. Happily, we did everything on time and the pool was super clean and beautiful, better than my family expected.