Mam262
Bronze Supporter
The good news is... your pool is so bad there will be no debating what has happened, whose fault it is, and what needs to be done. That is a defect in material or workmanship. Foot prints? Really? Blamed on pool chemistry? Yah, right. It needs to be replaced. Not fixed.
The good news is... your pool is so bad there will be no debating what has happened, whose fault it is, and what needs to be done. That is a defect in material or workmanship. Foot prints? Really? Blamed on pool chemistry? Yah, right. It needs to be replaced. Not fixed.
NOT acid washed. That is a typical "pool pro" remedy used to mask defects at the expense of the pool owner! Absolutely unacceptable. Acid removes plaster. Period. If "fixes" problems by physically removing them along with a layer of plaster that they're attached to or part of. That's why that one spot he "fixed" now feels rough. Yah, he removed the foot print, along with the plaster you paid for. That bill will become due, long after the warranty has expired, when the plaster fails prematurely. Plaster has a life span. In no small part determined by how much plaster there is. If you allow a PB to acid wash your pool, he's removing some amount of the plaster. Which means it will fail sooner, plain and simple.
Your position should be that the plaster needs to be replaced. Chipped out down to the gunite, and replaced. No spot repairs, no acid fixes. Replaced. IMO...
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Well, unless those are your footprints, because you got in the pool before you were supposed to...
A new plaster surface would not get acid washed as part of its normal installation. Even a well performed acid wash etches plaster, and it wouldn't feel as nice to the touch. You don't notice that in a pebble pool, because the pebbles are above the surface of the plaster. Acid washing is used in a pebble pool to burn off just the right amount of plaster to expose just the right amount of pebble, otherwise the pebbles would be mostly hidden in the plaster. The side benefit of acid washing a new pebble surface is that it greatly reduces plaster dust, in some cases. That's why brushing a new plaster surface is more work than brushing a new pebble surface. I never saw any dust while brushing my new pebble...
If it were me, I would push it to the point of a legal resolution through the civil court process. There is not a court in the U.S. that would believe footprints in plaster are acceptable.
Just my 2 cents.
In a conversation with the PB a week or two ago, he said the best time to re-do an interior is the spring since the pool water can be dumped to the ground without the environmental ramifications that would happen if it was dumped when perfectly balanced. The winter rain and time "closed" would dilute down everything.
Absolutely no expert here on the subject, but that sounds a bit like PB-speak, to me. My gut about it:
The sooner this gets resolved the better. He could go bankrupt, or otherwise go out of business, change his mind, recant, die, whatever. No time like the present! He's busy now, that's why this is dragging on, and why he wants to push it out. That's his problem, not yours.
I had my pool fixed in October. I figured the ground would be driest at the end of the summer, just before the rainy season. Do you have any ground water issues in your area? You don't want to empty a pool if there's any ground water about. I also figured October would be relatively cool, air temperature-wise. Less stress on curing plaster.
And I pushed it to October, contrary to my own "get it done sooner than later" advice, because I didn't want to lose any more swim season than I already had.
It also gave the pool all winter to cure, without people, organics or salt in it. With minimum vacuuming (cleaner wheels running around).
I was also juggling the cost of the fill. My city bases my annual sewer charges on water use during winter months. I didn't want to fill my pool during those months and drive my sewer rates up for the entire year.
I'm not sure what levels will be so different come spring. I would expect no environmentally significant differences in salt, CH, TA or CYA. Maybe a little, but not significant. Are there any local ordinances driving this notion? pH can be adjusted within minutes before you dump water (though can't imagine why you'd need to), and chlorine can be neutralized in minutes as well, chemically. PB-speak...
PB just emailed me back after I asked another status update from the Plaster Co. Says he hasn't heard anything since middle/end of last week. He will follow back up with them on Wednesday.
Plasters are slammed this time of year. Chances are you will not get their attention until late September when the work slows for them.
You don't want them palstering if the temp gets below 40F. So your window to replaster in the fall can be small.
Here is an interesting old thread - Ten Guidelines for Quality Pool Plaster
I will tell you a comment by the PB that didn't sit well with me when he made it. "You know, it's only cosmetic. The function of the pool is still fine." Not really what I want to hear.
RC