How bad is the condition of this pool surface

Jump to latest Follow Reply
F

firstpool3304

Member
May 28, 2019
23
San Jose, CA
Before I bought the house and saw the pool, it just looked like it was dirty. To some degree it was (pic 1), but nothing stood out on the disclosures or inspection. So I buy the house, and after 5 months of renovations I finally move in and the pool was really dirty and green. I put in some shock products from home depot, which cleared up the water, but it revealed what looked like staining (Looking back at pics I took when I bought the house, the same kinds of dirt/stain patterns is there, I just forgot about it). I've been doing all kinds of things to remove the stains. Spot treatments Jack's Copper #2 seemed to clear it right away, so I've been doing that treatment. I also discovered aluminum sulfate also removed the "stains" in spots, so I put a lot in all over the place. Once I realized I wasnt supposed to use it with a DE filter I started to completely drain the pool.

Now as I'm looking at the pool without water, and a lot of the stuff which looked like stains appears isnt a stain but the actual surface, or removing the stains revealed something else. Its a sand color, and looks kinda gritty. It almost looks like two different finishes. So anyone know what is going on? Was this a temporary treatment applied to the original surface, or is this what it looks like when the original surface is degrading. Or is this just something on the surface? When the pool was empty I was going to do an acid wash on any remaining spots, but now all that is on hold. At the moment I'm not really in a position to refurbish it 100% like new, but if there is a bandaid that I can be done now would be a good time since its empty. Or am I seeing the effects of a previous bandaid?
 

Attachments

  • 1 at purchase.jpg
    1 at purchase.jpg
    391.4 KB · Views: 142
  • 2 one month ago.jpg
    2 one month ago.jpg
    133.8 KB · Views: 146
  • 3 emptying 1.jpg
    3 emptying 1.jpg
    220.3 KB · Views: 146
  • 4 emptying 2.jpg
    4 emptying 2.jpg
    348.4 KB · Views: 152
  • 5 emptying 3.jpg
    5 emptying 3.jpg
    248.2 KB · Views: 147
Last edited:
mknauss said:
Cheapest band aid is live with it.

The stains look like copper.
Read Stains in Your Pool - Trouble Free Pool
Click to expand...

Yeah, Jacks Copper and Scale in spots was the only thing that cleared up the darker areas. The spot with the sock would be clear in minutes. The complete Jacks treatment seems similar to the zero alkalinity treatment, since the ph reading was like a highlight yellow, and zero TA. I was doing that for a week, but it only seemed to work in the first few days. Since I got all the stuff for the acid wash, I'll do some spot tests and see how that goes.

So you think the beige areas are still copper stains? If thats the case, would the acid wash restore the surface to the bluish color?
 
  • Like
Reactions: bikeweenie
Hard to tell from the pictures. Is the surface rough, like calcium scale build up?
 
If it is rough like sandpaper, see if you can scrape some of it off and put it on a piece of hard plastic. Put a drop of muriatic acid on the scrapings and if they fizz it is calcium scale. You don't happen to have any test results from before you drained the pool, do you?
The tile does look like it may have some calcium build up on it. Does it wipe off easily?
 
zea3 said:
If it is rough like sandpaper, see if you can scrape some of it off and put it on a piece of hard plastic. Put a drop of muriatic acid on the scrapings and if they fizz it is calcium scale. You don't happen to have any test results from before you drained the pool, do you?
The tile does look like it may have some calcium build up on it. Does it wipe off easily?
Click to expand...
Well I was doing the copper and scale treatment, and everything was screwy. Before the copper and scale treatment the pool was partially drained to meet the numbers required for the treatment. CH was 300, CYA < 30, ph 7.2, TA 80, TC 3. But right before I drained, ph was bright yellow, and TA was 0.

I’ll try your test and reply.
 
Last edited:
zea3 said:
If it is rough like sandpaper, see if you can scrape some of it off and put it on a piece of hard plastic. Put a drop of muriatic acid on the scrapings and if they fizz it is calcium scale. You don't happen to have any test results from before you drained the pool, do you?
The tile does look like it may have some calcium build up on it. Does it wipe off easily?
Click to expand...

Looks like scale, as it fizzles when in contact with the acid. It doesnt come off easy though, I had to use a knife and I could just get powered bits.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Acid wash is the last resort. You have to decide is it worth it or save the money and put it towards a full chip out and replaster.
 
It’s very likely a mixed scale - calcium and copper scaling. The surface also looks etched and pitted. My guess is the previous pool owner either used a very poor pool service or did lots of chemical treatments that resulted in aggressive water.

Clear it up as best you can with scale remover and wait until you can resurface the pool. A full chip-out and replaster is the best approach.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chickinvic
It’s actually in pretty good shape. It looks identical to 25-35 year old marcite plaster that really is built like a freight train compared to today’s (plaster) stuff.
It’s got that turquoise hue to it, that is typical after cause of a ‘green pool’, but back then they used to tint the plaster that color so it may make the water a more vibrant color. It looks worse empty, but Marty’s right, leave it be. If you acid wash, chances are it’ll come out splotchy. If it’s been acid washed previously, that could be where it gets some of its roughness.

My last pool was similar, 32 year old marcite, that still looked pretty when you appreciate current plaster can’t hold a candle to it. The crew is also accurate, if you kee up on the pH balance the scale will not disappear, but slowly dissipate.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chickinvic
mknauss said:
Acid wash is the last resort. You have to decide is it worth it or save the money and put it towards a full chip out and replaster.
Click to expand...

This implies that an acid wash would cause more problems than simply removing a thin layer of plaster. What kind of problems would it lead to? I wanted to put off any big money projects until like October. I'm assuming this is going to cost like $7.5K or more to completely resurface the pool. It wouldnt be the end of the world to do it in a couple weeks, but it somewhat depends how much worse things could be by attempting an acid wash. Since its already empty I might put off the stuff I was going to do today and tomorrow and see if I can get a quote next week. But if its going to be say $7.5k now vs $50 acid wash + $7.5K later, I'd rather wait. But obviously if the wash causes some additional damage that raises the price, it makes no sense to do it.

JoyfulNoise said:
It’s very likely a mixed scale - calcium and copper scaling. The surface also looks etched and pitted. My guess is the previous pool owner either used a very poor pool service or did lots of chemical treatments that resulted in aggressive water.

Clear it up as best you can with scale remover and wait until you can resurface the pool. A full chip-out and replaster is the best approach.
Click to expand...

It is etched an pitted, I can see it a lot easier since the pool is empty. Also little black dots on the steps. I also need to patch a couple of spots where the plaster was bubbling and/or flaking off. The house had a lot of deferred maintenance, its the only way I was able to afford it. It was just a old widower who didnt fix anything for maybe 30 years. I had her pool guy come out and show me how to use the equiptment, and he was very nonchalant about things. CH was over 500, it said its fine since its not a public pool. Same with the CYA reading over 100. Just said dump in some liquid chlorine and call it a day. He's also the one who said the discoloration in the pool was algae stains and to get a brush. I brushed for like 3 days straight. lol

Anyways, if it looks a little better than it already does with an acid wash and no other issues, I would just assume do that and be done with it. It
 
Last edited:
KDpoolguy said:
It’s actually in pretty good shape. It looks identical to 25-35 year old marcite plaster that really is built like a freight train compared to today’s (plaster) stuff.
It’s got that turquoise hue to it, that is typical after cause of a ‘green pool’, but back then they used to tint the plaster that color so it may make the water a more vibrant color. It looks worse empty, but Marty’s right, leave it be. If you acid wash, chances are it’ll come out splotchy. If it’s been acid washed previously, that could be where it gets some of its roughness.

My last pool was similar, 32 year old marcite, that still looked pretty when you appreciate current plaster can’t hold a candle to it. The crew is also accurate, if you kee up on the pH balance the scale will not disappear, but slowly dissipate.
Click to expand...

I guess just filling it up and calling it a day wouldnt be the worse thing. The water was perfect after the first partial drain but then the "stains" started to annoy me. I just didnt want to drain the pool again, so the acid wash made sense since it was already draining because of the aluminum sulfate issue.

I guess I should not do anything and research the different resurfacing materials and what the costs would be.
 
I know how much it bugs ya, believe me I do. It’s worth spending that angst as motivation towards researching type, color and bids for a chip-out/resurface. We completed our resurface in Nov 2017, after 3 years of frustration of exactly what you’re gonna through. When I would swim in it, I would literally blur my vision to avoid all the imperfections. It still held water, and had some rough spots, but still had a few years of life left.
Then, we saved the money to do it right, and how we wanted, added a shelf and loved the result. Then...swam in it for one summer and sold it 3 months ago ;). It was totally worth it as all that research made it a huge selling point allowing us to sell the house in 2 days!
 
Acid washing removes the stains/scale but also removes the hard surface of the original plaster. What it reveals is a softer surface that's more prone to staining/scaling/abrasion and dissolution. That's why people here only recommend acid washing as a last resort. But if it is a last resort then that's what it is!
 
sktn77a said:
But if it is a last resort then that's what it is!
Click to expand...

The overwhelming response is chip out and replaster. That seems more like a last resort then potentially going from one kind of ugly to another. I'm probably going to do the acid wash. I already got most of the stuff to do it, I was just waiting for the pool supply store to open to get some bio-dex stain off to add with the white n brite, to hedge my bets.

Plus, the thought of dealing with more contractors or repair guys that do a half Rear, yet expensive job is worse than looking at the stains...well, more like 50-50.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply