New construction replaster

[Onetype]

Our pool was “completed” 1.5 years ago. They shot the shell during a torrential downpour so it developed some voids and started weeping groundwater.

The groundwater damaged the pebble plaster and we’ve been fighting for over a year to have them fix it. They kept telling us it would go away and even out over time. The manager actually told me our pool looked beautiful and that he wasn’t sure why I was complaining, and that Premier Pools doesn’t have to fix anything and that I should be thankful they’re going to fix it. Entire building was a Darn show and they made several mistakes which I had to force them to fix.

Well, they finally started the process of replastering it, but it looks like they only chipped it out around the plumbing, lights and tile. It looks like they are adding a concrete bonding layer on top of the pebble plaster and then they are going to add new pebble plaster on top of that. I’m obviously not really ok with this method, but our plaster was very new and had no structural issues aside from the aesthetic discoloration. It does look like they’ve chipped some of the spa wall out. We have a 15 year warranty on the plaster so I have no problem making them redo it until they get it right. Obviously they’re trying to avoid a full chip out to save money, I just want to make sure we’re left with a quality product.

 

[HermanTX]

Well, they finally started the process of replastering it, but it looks like they only chipped it out around the plumbing, lights and tile. It looks like they are adding a concrete bonding layer on top of the pebble plaster and then they are going to add new pebble plaster on top of that. I

Did they do anything different where the discoloration was? If that was water seepage or just poor application of plaster, then they should chip out all that plaster out and try to repair that issue? Gunite is porous but they can determine if there is another underlying cause.

A full chip out would be best, and I am surprised the PB is cutting corners when he knows that if this doesn't work then he may be in for another round of new plaster.
Has the PB given you any reason why he does not want to do a full chip out so that the new plaster will have proper adhesion to the gunite?

Maybe @AQUA~HOLICS can provide you some better insight to this issue.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

Can you provide any more detail to the “voids and weeping ground water”, pictures of the process or afterwards showing the locations and amount of water seepage? I personally am not familiar with the practice of a concrete bounding layer instead of a full chip out of the old plaster.

 

[Onetype]

Sure. They started spraying the shell and a torrential downpour came through so they had to pack up and leave. They basically did a a thin layer over the entire shell before leaving. They came back a few weeks later, spent half the day prepping the shell and then finished spraying it.

But the issue is the sheer amount of rain we received that day. Water does what water does, which is find paths to flow. So the water built up on the outside of the shell on that wall and created little paths through the shell and was actively weeping ground water during the entire build (because there was no deck on that side of the pool yet) up even until the plaster was sprayed.

It basically boils down to the fact that ground water damaged the plaster due to poor judgement to spray the shell on a day of projected rain. Then the shell weeped water in that spot during the entire build (and they knew about it) because it kept filling the pool up with water, so they kept having to drain it. There was nothing wrong with the plaster structurally, it was just cosmetically discolored from the ground water.

Concrete does in fact heal itself very slowly over time. It will pull in Carbon dioxide and calcium from the water. When we drained the pool those trouble spots are no longer weeping, and we never experienced any water loss during the last 1.5 years of use. We have a lifetime warranty on the shell and a 15 year warranty on the pebble plaster so I have no problems making them redo it until they get it right.

 

[Onetype]

Last picture is of the replaster. They finished yesterday I believe. Doing some clean up work this morning then acid wash and fill I believe.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

Was all the loose material removed (picture) before the shell was reshot?

 

[Onetype]

They spent almost an entire afternoon prepping it using both a pressure washer and jackhammers, so I’m assuming.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

With the shell no longer weeping water and no water loss over the past 1.5 years I would assume that the problem has corrected itself in regards to the staining possibility and the second plaster application should be fine.