"hot start" fiasco

[lasalmf]

Hi! I am new here and first time home and pool owner. When we had our 4-year old pool inspected, the poolman had a list of things he recommended, one of which he called a "hot start" to remove a few rust stains from the bottom of the pool (from previous nails that fell in) as well as to create uniform color since there was some mottling. Completely trusting them and not researching ahead of time, they poured in gallons of muriatic acid. And I mean GALLONS. They poured in maybe 8-16 gallons and left it in 3-4 days and then repeated the process afterwards when the uniformity did not improve. It probably stayed very acidic for around 8-10 days. I had no idea that this would mean we would lose layers and layers of our quartz plaster! This process was done over a month ago and our pool is still shedding and you can actively see plumes when brushing, although it has slightly slowed down some. We are running the Polaris daily and emptying out giant handfuls of white and blue quartz. I am livid. On top of this, our pool ledge is made of flagstone. A few weeks after this process was completed, some of the blue stone had started to turn orange and the grout in between keeps coming off. I run my hands and get brown "sand". Is this salvageable? How long should I expect the shedding in the plaster and grout to continue? My pH is no longer acidic (currently at 8.2) so why is the stone still changing? Please help. Thank you!

 

[Snoobug]

I don't have the answers but I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along soon. I'm so sorry this happened to your pool.

 

[kimkats]

I am sorry to be meeting like this. I LOVE your shelf with the flagstone. SO pretty!!

I am sorry to hear they did that to your plaster. It is not something to be done lightly. I have someone I want to see this thread. Almost the same thing happened to his pool. He was able to sue the pool guy who did it and get his pool replastered and have the pool buy pay for it! @Dirk

 

[Selenap]

That sucks. Muriatic acid is an etcher and cleaner for concrete so no wonder it’s eating up your pool. I’d document record video and call the pool company’s corporate office to start.

 

[cowboycasey]

Welcome to TFP

So sorry they did this... It will be a while before your plaster stops coming off.. They took years of your plaster life...

Love the look of the flagstone but you are gong to hate this... Flagstone is basically sand stone and will erode.. when used as coping it is usually slow at eroding.. Under water it is not slow, water will erode sandstone, at what rate that is unknown.. that is why you are getting sand off of it... the acid wash did not do it any favors just like your plaster...

I wish I had better news.. The one good thing is it can all be fixed and this time you get to pick the surface ..

 

[JoyfulNoise]

What they did, incorrectly, was attempt a “zero alkalinity” treatment but went far, far beyond what should have been added to your pool. Also, a Z/A treatment should never go more than 24 hours before the acidity is neutralized and the pH/TA restored using baking soda. The highly acidic water essentially dissolved a significant amount of the calcium carbonate “binder” in the plaster, grout and stone (flagstone is nothing more than sand particles bound together in layers with calcium carbonate). Your pool surfaces were turned into a porous, structurally unsound mush of silicates. That is all the plaster crud and stone mud you are brushing off and sweeping up.

This is lawsuit territory. The contractor basically damaged your pool surface. If you have the financial means and intestinal fortitude to see it through you might be able to get them to pay for a complete resurfacing if the pool. But that is a long road abs you’d better get a lawyers advice now on what you need to document and how you must communicate with the pool contractor that did all the damage. This could require core sampling the plaster surface to show the extent of the damage.

Good luck. Sorry you didn’t find us sooner.

 

[lasalmf]

What they did, incorrectly, was attempt a “zero alkalinity” treatment but went far, far beyond what should have been added to your pool. Also, a Z/A treatment should never go more than 24 hours before the acidity is neutralized and the pH/TA restored using baking soda. The highly acidic water essentially dissolved all of the calcium carbonate “binder” in the plaster, grout and stone (flagstone is nothing more than sand particles bound together in layers with calcium carbonate). Your pool surfaces were turned into a porous, structurally unsound mush of silicates. That is all the plaster crud and stone mud you are brushing off and sweeping up.

This is lawsuit territory. The contractor basically damaged your pool surface. If you have the financial means and intestinal fortitude to see it through you might be able to get them to pay for a complete resurfacing if the pool. But that is a long road abs you’d better get a lawyers advice now on what you need to document and how you must communicate with the pool contractor that did all the damage. This could require core sampling the plaster surface to show the extent of the damage.

Good luck. Sorry you didn’t find us sooner.

Thank you so much for your response. My calcium levels are very elevated. When we checked it a week after they finished it was in the 600s and now it's in the upper 400s. Is there anything I can do in the meantime to stop further damage? I never in a million years thought this would keep dissolving weeks later. This was done in late April.
What type of lawyer should I be looking for? Also, what do I need to build my case? The company we used was very flippant and dismissive when I voiced my concerns early on in the process. I was shocked and angry. It's been a very stressful process. Thanks again!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I really would not know what type of lawyer you should contact. The rules governing the workmanship and warranty of contractors varies from state to state. You would likely need to talk to a law firm that specializes in contractor litigation as they can guide you on what has to happen legally. If your claim is not big enough, then you may need to pursue this in small-claims court which would put all of the burden of case work on you. Again, state laws vary widely in this area so get some basic legal advice. Perhaps start with your state contractor licensing board (if South Carolina has such a thing) and see what information you can get there.

As for the damage, it is not ongoing. The damage was done when the pH was dropped and the pool was left in an acidic state for all those days. After the pH was restored, the damage stopped but now you're seeing the results of that damage - the highly porous layer created by the acid removing the calcium carbonate is slowly "wiping" off. It will eventually stop but you may be left with a very rough surface after it does. The stones too will eventually stop shedding material but again, no telling what the surface will feel like. Grout/mortar will follow the same pattern.

Does your pool have a heater? Was the equipment bypassed when all that acid was added or did it flow through the equipment as well. If a heater was present, then the heat exchanger inside it may be damaged as well.

 

[Woodstock1234]

If you have an insurance certificate from the company (which you should always get from anyone doing work to or at your home), you can try filing a claim directly with their insurance company without an attorney. The biggest mistake most people make is not checking insurance prior to having work done.