Discolored sections on pool floor

[howdy!]

Curious to see what y’all’s thought are on my situation.

I have noticed a few areas within my pool that are a different color/shade. Below are a few pictures I took today in DFW on an overcast day. Also, below is my latest levels.

At one point, I had my pH closer to 7.4 when our temps began to fall causing my CSI to be -0.5 to -0.6 for a week or two. But those area have been discolored for a few months now. Now with the colder water temps, I’m aiming to keep it around 7.8-8.

My first guess is some form of calcium build up, but not sure. I do get calcium built up in my spa on the tile, but rarely in the main pool.

And thoughts or remedy to fix this? Anything I should be doing differently?

Thanks for the help!

 

[ajw22]

Looks like typical plaster mottling to me. It shows more in blue and dark plaster.

Plaster Installation and Maintenance - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[AUSpool]

My finish looks kind of the same although my plaster is more of a white cement/pebble or pebblecrete as we call it. I ruled out organic and iron and think it’s the plaster itself as described in the link above under plaster problems. I don’t believe it is fixable, not easily fixable with a magic solution in a bottle. It’s more of a warrantee claim that’s likely to be rejected. I think the severity of my mottling has reduced over time but it’s hard to tell, it looks different in different light conditions. - now that I look at that pic below it has spread across the entire surface making it a kind of even mottling. -

Diagnosing Pool Plaster Problems

Plaster Discolorations – New white pool plaster can discolor (darken or turn gray) from adding excessive calcium chloride set accelerator, from late hard troweling, from thin and thick areas due to an uneven shell, etc. Gray (or grey) mottled discoloration (also known as “water entrapment” or...

www.troublefreepool.com

How White Pool Plaster Can Turn Gray

One would think that when mixing white cement with white limestone aggregate, the final pool plaster product would always be white. But that is not always the case. Unfortunately, white pool plaster sometimes turns gray (or grey) either immediately or a few months after the pool is filled with...

www.troublefreepool.com

My problem is kind of the polar opposite, a light plaster with dark mottling as apposed to the dark plaster with white mottling.

 

[howdy!]

Thanks for the feedback. Might visit with my pool builder about a potential claim and get their thoughts.

 

[AUSpool]

Thanks for the feedback. Might visit with my pool builder about a potential claim and get their thoughts.

You would have to think that they have seen this before but they will be hesitant to provide a cause. I suspect they will blame it on aggressive water quality issue. If you have any printed test results keep the ones with the best “in range results”.

At one point, I had my pH closer to 7.4 when our temps began to fall causing my CSI to be -0.5 to -0.6 for a week or two. But those area have been discolored for a few months now. Now with the colder water temps, I’m aiming to keep it around 7.8-8.

These results are all within range and would not cause any plaster issues. You will need to add your CH, TA, salt or TDS and temperature. Keep in mind that the range for CSI is 0.6 to -0.6. Yes, we like being as close to zero as possible but anywhere within range is fine.