Help! Newly plastered pool with new tile. Looks terrible!!

[soscared]

Pool just replastered (8/5/21) with Stonescape minipebble. New tile installed with grey grout. After acid wash, pool was filled. There are plaster stains on the grout and tile. There are white "stains" in the grout between the tiles. It looks like a 20 yr old pool with terrible calcium build up. PB says is calcium deposit, but water level has never gotten that high for calcium to build up. And would it build up in a day? So very disappointed. My "new" pool looks OLD, OLD and as though the chemicals were never kept in balance.

Has anyone had this happen? Does anyone know if this can be fixed? Any advice would be most welcome.

P.S. Before replaster, plaster was dark grey with dark grey grout. Never had white stains in the grout, like in my "new" pool.

 

[soscared]

Not sure where to post this, so am trying here. Pool replastered (8/5/21) with minipebble plaster and new tile with grey grout. Day after pool filled with water, ugly calcium-like stains appeared in the grout in my tile.(See pics) Tile has plaster stains. Can this be fixed? My "new" pool looks like an old pool that never had the water in balance. Soooo disappointed!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ferretbone]

Pour some muriatic acid on the tile line you should be able to burn that off the grout. The white smear across the tilte is plaster for sure. They just didn't put much work in the clean up. You can get all that off with muriatic acid and a WIRE brush. Use a PLASTIC bottle straw. Or a pvc pipe to help aim and spread the acid by pouring into the pipe while holding it against the tile.

 

[soscared]

Pour some muriatic acid on the tile line you should be able to burn that off the grout. The white smear across the tilte is plaster for sure. They just didn't put much work in the clean up. You can get all that off with muriatic acid and a WIRE brush. Use a PLASTIC bottle straw. Or a pvc pipe to help aim and spread the acid by pouring into the pipe while holding it against the tile.

A thousand thanks for the reply. So, from your experience, I should be able to get this to look like new pool? Thx. I'll be able to sleep better tonight.

 

[ajw22]

If you pour muriatic acid on the tiles to clean them have a solution of baking soda to put on the tiles to neutralize the acid. Otherwise the acid can sit on the tiles and eat away at the grout.

 

[ferretbone]

If you pour muriatic acid on the tiles to clean them have a solution of baking soda to put on the tiles to neutralize the acid. Otherwise the acid can sit on the tiles and eat away at the grout.

Or just rinse it off with your wire brush dipping it in the pool water as you scrub the tile. Like you would cleaning your tile while brushing

 

[soscared]

If you pour muriatic acid on the tiles to clean them have a solution of baking soda to put on the tiles to neutralize the acid. Otherwise the acid can sit on the tiles and eat away at the grout.

Oh! Thx for the advice. Im trying to clean the grout, which is grey, but turning white...

 

[cowboycasey]

Can you take picture of your coping.. what type coping did they use? There is not a perimeter / expansion joint between the tile and coping...

Expansion Joints and Coping - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Efflorescence is what is happening to your tile grout.. looks like they used a cement grout..

https://www.custombuildingproducts.com/media/61016236/TB21-Efflorescence-on-Grout.pdf

White Residue | Tile Council of North America

What causes a whitish residue on grout? Generally there are a few possible causes for white residue on colored grout. When there is a whitish mineral residue on the grout, commonly this is caused by efflorescence. Similar to the white powder left in a drinking glass when a glass of […]

www.tcnatile.com

 

[PoolGate]

The muriatic acid is very caustic do not handle it without gloves and a mask.

 

[ferretbone]

Can you take picture of your coping.. what type coping did they use? There is not a perimeter / expansion joint between the tile and coping...

Expansion Joints and Coping - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Efflorescence is what is happening to your tile grout.. looks like they used a cement grout..

https://www.custombuildingproducts.com/media/61016236/TB21-Efflorescence-on-Grout.pdf

White Residue | Tile Council of North America

What causes a whitish residue on grout? Generally there are a few possible causes for white residue on colored grout. When there is a whitish mineral residue on the grout, commonly this is caused by efflorescence. Similar to the white powder left in a drinking glass when a glass of […]

www.tcnatile.com

They have old brick coping. There hasn't been enough time for Efflorescence, it could be. I'm betting its just plaster. I guess we will see.

 

[soscared]

Can you take picture of your coping.. what type coping did they use? There is not a perimeter / expansion joint between the tile and coping...

Expansion Joints and Coping - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Efflorescence is what is happening to your tile grout.. looks like they used a cement grout..

https://www.custombuildingproducts.com/media/61016236/TB21-Efflorescence-on-Grout.pdf

White Residue | Tile Council of North America

What causes a whitish residue on grout? Generally there are a few possible causes for white residue on colored grout. When there is a whitish mineral residue on the grout, commonly this is caused by efflorescence. Similar to the white powder left in a drinking glass when a glass of […]

www.tcnatile.com

There are bricks around the perimeter of the pool that were already in place before the replaster. It may not show in the image, but there is about 1/2 inch of grout above the top row of tile and the brick. Is that what you mean by expansion joint? Or do you mean decoseal? That is another error. Am hoping to get them back to install the decoseal.

 

[soscared]

They have old brick coping. There hasn't been enough time for Efflorescence, it could be. I'm betting its just plaster. I guess we will see.

Not sure, yet, but I think it is plaster. For all that have taken time to reply, today, I tried cleaning the "white" away with only a pumice stone on a few grout lines. It seemed to work. Tmo morning, I'll check to see if it was more than an illusion.

Can anyone tell me if using the pumice stone to remove the white stain is wrong? Will I be creating a new problem by doing so?

 

[soscared]

The muriatic acid is very caustic do not handle it without gloves and a mask.

Thank you for the advice. Today, I tried removing the white stain with a pumice stone, no acid or anything else. It seemed to work, but hard to tell, bc the grout looks black, when its wet and i washed away the stone residue with the pool water. I'll check tmo to see if this really is a solution. Unless members of the forum say using the pumice stone is a mistake.

 

[soscared]

The muriatic acid is very caustic do not handle it without gloves and a mask.

Thank you for the advice. I'll be careful.

 

[soscared]

If you pour muriatic acid on the tiles to clean them have a solution of baking soda to put on the tiles to neutralize the acid. Otherwise the acid can sit on the tiles and eat away at the grout.

thank you for the advice and caution. Would it be wrong to try to clean the grout with a pumice stone?

 

[soscared]

There are bricks around the perimeter of the pool that were already in place before the replaster. It may not show in the image, but there is about 1/2 inch of grout above the top row of tile and the brick. Is that what you mean by expansion joint? Or do you mean decoseal? That is another error. Am hoping to get them back to install the decoseal.

thank you for the link to the PDF. Very informative and helpful. I appreciate your time.

 

[ajw22]

thank you for the advice and caution. Would it be wrong to try to clean the grout with a pumice stone?

Pumice stone can scratch certain tile finishes. We do not recommend using it on glass tile. It can also leave a slight hazy/scuffed look to high gloss tile glaze. Pumice stone is fine to use on the grout lines. Pumice is also better suited for spot cleaning; if the pool tile has significant calcium buildup all along the perimeter line, manually scrubbing the tile with pumice will take forever and will likely be quite uneven.

 

[lukeydukey4u]

I have a similar problem with grey grout and similar tile. I used muratic acid and the white haze still appears but only when grout is dry. I have no idea what is causing this as it just appeared 1 month after pool was replastered and re tiled with micro pebble