Light Spots on Dark Plaster ... Smooth ... Scale?

[johnmastraci]

Hi
The pool was built last summer, this is the second season. I had the pool builder winterize and since opening I’ve been using Orenda LSI app, numbers have been in range - numbers are below.

There were some white spots that were present immediately after opening. Others seen in pics came a few weeks after pool was opened.

The rest of the pool looks good. The surface is smooth, even where these white spots are. When I swim down and examine the spots, it does not feel like anything is raised or can be scraped off. Nothing sharp or sand paper texture. I brush regularly, use orenda SC1000 plus some pool life stain prevention as maintenance.

Any idea what these spots can be???

attached a few pics of the spots and one pic of the general pool.

Thanks!

Temp 80
TA 120
CH 450
pH 7.2
Chlorine 3.0
CYA20

 

[ajw22]

White Spotting of New Plaster Pools

The problem of plaster spotting has been an ongoing puzzle and controversy in the swimming pool industry for over three decades. The generally round, smooth-yet-unsightly white soft spots in new plaster pools have long been a source of contention among pool plasterers, and pool chemical service...

www.troublefreepool.com

Plaster Installation and Maintenance - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Rich D]

Hi
The pool was built last summer, this is the second season. I had the pool builder winterize and since opening I’ve been using Orenda LSI app, numbers have been in range - numbers are below.

There were some white spots that were present immediately after opening. Others seen in pics came a few weeks after pool was opened.

The rest of the pool looks good. The surface is smooth, even where these white spots are. When I swim down and examine the spots, it does not feel like anything is raised or can be scraped off. Nothing sharp or sand paper texture. I brush regularly, use orenda SC1000 plus some pool life stain prevention as maintenance.

Any idea what these spots can be???

attached a few pics of the spots and one pic of the general pool.

Thanks!

Temp 80
TA 120
CH 450
pH 7.2
Chlorine 3.0
CYA20

Sadly that looks very familiar. What type and color plaster is that? I have reg plaster with medium grey color. The white spotting link is spot on (pardon the pun). My advice would be to start complaining and documenting now. I am sure if you read the contract there will be a disclaimer about color variations so I would not expect the PB to give you a resurface for what you are currently seeing. I did not see it in the link However onbalence and other sources I found did recommend "Not" letting them do a acid bath or acid wash. This would only be a temporary fix and it removes a small layer of plaster wich will most likely take time of the lifetime of the plaster itself. There are risks of getting a rougher surface when doing a acid bath or acid wash as well. My spotting started out the exact same way. Most examples I found on this forum did not get as bad as my current spotting so there is no guarantee yours will look as bad as my mine.
I complain for several years about my white spotting issue. everyone who came out to look at it agreed there was more white spotting than what you would normally see in a colored plastered pool however the pool builder was still reluctant to give me a new surface. I even had some footprints show up in about the second year. I then developed What appears to be a structural crack in the pool. And the next season after opening we found the sun shelf had a flaking (spalling) issue. I did have the chips tested and it contained approximately 1% calcium chloride. Not a world-shaking amount but it really should have had zero percent. so finally with all these issues we did talk to pool builder into giving us a new surface. They insisted on an upgrade to diamond brite to avoid any further issues with the plane colored plaster. After more negotiations we agreed to get the upgrade at the cost It would have been for that upgrade at the time the plaster was done to the new pool. Of course getting them out there to actually do the work seems to be another issue entirely. They have stood behind their product and fixed issues in the past It is always just a long long painstaking process to get them to do it.

 

[johnmastraci]

Thanks for the pics and advice

glad you got somewhere with the PB

my plaster job needed a no drain acid wash right away as the plaster did not look good. This actually did fix many of the issues like footprints etc. these white spots did go away, but now they are back. The footprints and other issues did not yet return.

 

[johnmastraci]

The other thing that I find odd is that when I run the robot pool cleaner, I find a decent amount of blue Gray sand/grit in the vacuum filter- looks like plaster. Anyone run into this?

 

[johnmastraci]

Hi

Ive been discussing some issues with my plaster and I appreciate the help of the forum.

my main question is... is it normal to have what appears to be plaster sediment in my robot vacuum filter cartridge? See pics... looks like blue gray sediment. Decent amount comes out every time I run the vacuum.

long story short, pool was new build and plastered july 2020, blue black quartz. Very hot day. Acid washed the next day, also very hot. Filled with hose water, orenda startup.pool did not look good at all... lots of streaking, large white spots, footprints. Pool builder did an in pool acid wash in the fall and it seemed to fix many of the issues. However, some of the issues are coming back.

pool is tested every 1-2 days With Taylor test kit, well balanced.

Thank you

 

[BenB]

I can't help, but a < 1 year old pool having gone through 2 acid treatments already in its short life makes me sad I hope you get some resolution and can begin to enjoy your pool in earnest this summer.