Concrete issues with SWG

[Rpratt84]

Hi Everyone. We are building an inground pool with a SWG. Some folks have said if you mix the color into the concrete (broadcast then trowel) then the Salt water will ruin the decking over time.

Some have recommended Getting the color mixed into the batch from the concrete company to help with longevity.

I understand that concrete cracks, and changes over time but I do want to make sure we are going the right route for coloring.

It will be a broom finish.

What is your take and experience on this?

 

[kimkats]

Here is a bump to get more eyes on it but my gut says there should be no problem with color being mixed with the concrete as most pools have salt in them from the chlorine without any problems.

 

[dntboles]

Can't speak to the SWG part, but we got color added to our concrete. They gave us a chart that showed the colors we could pick from. Only advice I would give on coloring is to know that (at least in our case) the chart color was the color it would be IF it were sealed. Since we were just getting concrete, it came out much lighter than the color we picked. Had we known that, we would have picked the next darker shade.

 

[PoolGate]

The "saltwater" in a pool is no more damaging to pool equipment and concrete decks than non-"saltwater" pools. I put "saltwater" in quotes because saltwater pools contain less than 10% of ocean salinity (35ppt). Most pools run around 3ppt. Pools that are not "saltwater" pools generally run around 1ppt just from adding chlorine and other chemicals that contain salt. Many non saltwater pools end up at 2 or more ppt after a couple years.

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

So in most climates that you hear about salt being bad for concrete, what they are referring to is the level that is needed to keep the concrete clean of ice. That's higher than ocean level versus being the 10th of the ocean level that we use for our SWCG's. There is little evidence that corrosion of metals is much more at that level, let alone concrete. Salt does not react with concrete. It increases the expansion pressure of frozen brine versus pure water and it can increase the number of freeze thaw cycles....(Effects of Salt on Concrete)

Even in places that pools are closed and the surface ices over, the decks should be not ever freeze/thaw.

Having said that, you'll be fine. You need to give the new plaster and what not at least 30 days, and if you know the curing cycle of concrete, you are 80%+ cured at 30 days... at a year 90%... at 100 years 95%... if you get the picture here... You should be fine. Even in the cold climates they recommend not doing salt on less than a couple of year old concrete for ice removal.

I say to be safe, like I did, go a couple of months without adding the salt, learn TFP with bleach.. it will be good for your understanding and then SWCG away....