Flagstone Sand

[Jbthompson]

Hi everyone. My pool has been built for about three years, and over the last year and a half, there has been a massive amount of sand for my flagstone coping in the pool. The pool always looks dirty. I sweep it, and within a few hours there is sand pretty much all the way around the pool.

Is there a way to seal this stone or make this stop? I’m literally considering redoing the coping in the future it’s so annoying.

 

[kimkats]

I found your older thread where you have great pics of the "dirt" in the pool. Flag stone sand in pool That has to be a pain to deal with day in and day out. I hope someone has some ideas for a sealer to buy you some time until you can redo it.

 

[Jimrahbe]

jb,

That is what happens to cheap Flagstone. No one would buy it if they called it "sandstone"..

I doubt that sealer will make much of a difference, but it can't hurt.

If your pool is like my rent house pool with Flagstone, some pieces fake off and others do not. Seems to come off in very thin layers. My robot cleaner takes care of the sand in the pool, but obviously it can't stop the shedding. The sand has turned the cleaner brown.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Texas flagstone is a known problem. It tends to disintegrate easily. We have flagstone coping and aside from a few flakes that come off here or there each season (usually in large, quarter sized wafers), it pretty much looks the way it did when it was installed. I wouldn’t use it again in another build but it sure does look nice.

You can try stone sealers by DryTreat or StoneTech. You want a penetrating sealer NOT a surface sealer. But be warned that it is a PITA to apply the sealer after the fact and you don’t want it getting into your pool. So it’s going to be a lot of careful and slow work to apply it. You’re also going to need to apply it on a regular basis, maybe every 2 years or so.

Sorry for your hassles …

 

[Toxophilite]

Yes, sealer might help slow it down. We have a lot of use here for what we call Austin stone, which white limestone but similarly soft to a lot of flagstone here in Texas. The front elevation of my house and mailbox is made up of it. It also sheds readily when the temps swing from freezing to warm, so keeping some moisture out of it might help. Sometimes I find large chunks flakes right after these swings in temp.