newby with new concrete pool and taylor k2006c kit, now what?

[Dirk]

I was about to clarify that it's not just not operating the chlorinator at first, it's not putting in the salt for it, too. Yes, for 30 days. But then I caught that you're down under. So it's winter. So do what I did. My pool got filled in October (our Fall). So I just ran it as a fresh water pool (no chlorinator, no salt, manually adding liquid chlorine), until Spring. Where I live, the pool water wouldn't even get warm enough for the chlorinator to run (needs to be above 50°F, depending on brand), so I figured whatever benefit there is to waiting on the salt for a month, might as well wait a few extra months until Spring, for the water to warm up.

Also, unless your warranty or pool builder says otherwise, you need to brush twice at day, at least, for the first week or two, or until you see absolutely no plaster dust coming off the brush as you make a pass. Brushing loosens the stray plaster dust and circulates it into the water for removal by the filter. If you let it settle and stick to your plaster, it can compromise the finish. Again, I played it safe and brushed twice a day for a month. I certainly wouldn't skip a day during the first month.

And yes, run your pump 24-7 until you're sure there is no stray plaster dust. You won't wear it out or burn it up, and it won't cost all that much.

The first month, and especially the first week, are critical to the long-term health of your finish. Don't skimp on brushing or testing. You'll have plenty of years to skimp on pool supplies and testing gear and rigorous maintenance, but don't do any skimping of those in the first month (really, for the first year). Test accurately. Test often. Keep the water balanced as best your can, especially the pH and the CSI. CSI is critical to plaster longevity. Keep a close eye of your FC, you do not want an algae outbreak in the first month.

Good luck!

 

[FIESTA62]

I was about to clarify that it's not just not operating the chlorinator at first, it's not putting in the salt for it, too. Yes, for 30 days. But then I caught that you're down under. So it's winter. So do what I did. My pool got filled in October (our Fall). So I just ran it as a fresh water pool (no chlorinator, no salt, manually adding liquid chlorine), until Spring. Where I live, the pool water wouldn't even get warm enough for the chlorinator to run (needs to be above 50°F, depending on brand), so I figured whatever benefit there is to waiting on the salt for a month, might as well wait a few extra months until Spring, for the water to warm up.

Also, unless your warranty or pool builder says otherwise, you need to brush twice at day, at least, for the first week or two, or until you see absolutely no plaster dust coming off the brush as you make a pass. Brushing loosens the stray plaster dust and circulates it into the water for removal by the filter. If you let it settle and stick to your plaster, it can compromise the finish. Again, I played it safe and brushed twice a day for a month. I certainly wouldn't skip a day during the first month.

And yes, run your pump 24-7 until you're sure there is no stray plaster dust. You won't wear it out or burn it up, and it won't cost all that much.

The first month, and especially the first week, are critical to the long-term health of your finish. Don't skimp on brushing or testing. You'll have plenty of years to skimp on pool supplies and testing gear and rigorous maintenance, but don't do any skimping of those in the first month (really, for the first year). Test accurately. Test often. Keep the water balanced as best your can, especially the pH and the CSI. CSI is critical to plaster longevity. Keep a close eye of your FC, you do not want an algae outbreak in the first month.

Good luck!

hi ok thats some good info i copied and pasted into my plan, along with other members info, i am probably overthinking it all as i do, but it will be the cleanest pool in sydney !, ok so i will run pump until i see clear water no dust, i have a varible speed pump should i run say half speed while its on 24/7 it just bugs me thinking about the pump running flat out for a week....thanks

 

[mgtfp]

Where I live, the pool water wouldn't even get warm enough for the chlorinator to run (needs to be above 50°F, depending on brand),

Aussie brands seem to be pretty forgiving there. My SWG is running all year round in Melbourne. Not expecting any issues in Sydney, it's a fair bit warmer up there.

 

[FIESTA62]

this is the Watermaid brand, after lots of research it came out on top, i got the RP9 model,

WATERMAID EcoBlend RP9 Self Cleaning Salt Water Chlorinator | AQUAELECTRA - 2019

 

[duraleigh]

i have a varible speed pump should i run say half speed while its on 24/7 it just bugs me thinking about the pump running flat out for a week....thanks

No, don't run it full speed unless you are manually vacuuming. I think most folks seem to find a nice run speed around 1800.

Do not forget to brush and vacuum often........you can not do the SLAM correctly if you don't.

 

[mgtfp]

this is the Watermaid brand, after lots of research it came out on top, i got the RP9 model

That should be fine with Sydney winter. It has a winter mode with reduced output, but you don't need much in winter anyway. And once you're through your start-up period, it'll start getting warm in Sydney anyway, I guess.

 

[FIESTA62]

No, don't run it full speed unless you are manually vacuuming. I think most folks seem to find a nice run speed around 1800.

Do not forget to brush and vacuum often........you can not do the SLAM correctly if you don't.

hi, ok i will try 1800 speed for starters ................i wasnt even thinking much about vacuuming, there is so much going on with this build learning everything and building everything, i guessed i was thinking i just scrub and the filter takes care of all the cement dust, but i have to vaccum too dont i
a friend bought a Maytronics Swash TC robot and never used it so i can give that unit a try, i assume robot vaccum is ok or should i be manually vacuuming during this initial time of cleaning the cement dust from the pool, thanks

 

[Dirk]

I was told not to use any kind of automated vacuum for the first month. That's more important for plaster, as the plaster can scar before it fully cures. Vacs have traction wheels that grind on the surface, and some pivot. Others drag and swish a tail around on the plaster. All bad for a new, tender finish. Again, the first week is critical, first month a little less so. Pebble is considerably tougher than plaster when it comes to this issue. But I keep going back to my MO (which, admittedly is probably overkill). If brushing is good, brush more. If no salt for a month is good, two months could be better. No vacuuming machines on plaster for a month, why not apply that to pebble, too? Sure, you might spend a little more with this MO, or work a little harder, but this is a huge investment, and repairing, or replacing early, your finish will not be cheap. Much cheaper to err on the side of caution. The more effort you put into this first month, the longer your finish will last, and stay looking better longer, too.

 

[FIESTA62]

I was told not to use any kind of automated vacuum for the first month. That's more important for plaster, as the plaster can scar before it fully cures. Vacs have traction wheels that grind on the surface, and some pivot. Others drag and swish a tail around on the plaster. All bad for a new, tender finish. Again, the first week is critical, first month a little less so. Pebble is considerably tougher than plaster when it comes to this issue. But I keep going back to my MO (which, admittedly is probably overkill). If brushing is good, brush more. If no salt for a month is good, two months could be better. No vacuuming machines on plaster for a month, why not apply that to pebble, too? Sure, you might spend a little more with this MO, or work a little harder, but this is a huge investment, and repairing, or replacing early, your finish will not be cheap. Much cheaper to err on the side of caution. The more effort you put into this first month, the longer your finish will last, and stay looking better longer, too.

ok thatr make sense , so i will do brushing and vacuuming manually for the fdirst few weeks or month till the dust settles....

 

[FIESTA62]

when you all refer to plaster dust im not familar with that term, remember i am in australia i dont hear anything here about plaster pools, when u say plaster is that cement from pebbles ? i am pebble creteing my pool, so its cement that is used to bond pebbles, am i still looking at cement dust for a month ? that seems a really long time for cement to be coming off pebbles......

 

[Dirk]

Just to illustrate the lengths I went to... When they installed my pebble, they acid washed it to remove all the plaster residue, then they filled it. From day one, I never saw the tiniest puff of dust when I brushed. I brushed the heck out of it anyway, banned the vac, no salt/SWG for six months, ran the pump 24/7 for weeks. I'll probably never know if all that was necessary, or drastically impacted the longevity of my pebble, but at least I know I did the best I could...

 

[FIESTA62]

Just to illustrate the lengths I went to... When they installed my pebble, they acid washed it to remove all the plaster residue, then they filled it. From day one, I never saw the tiniest puff of dust with I brushed. I brushed the heck out of it anyway, banned the vac, no salt/SWG for six months, ran the pump 24/7 for weeks. I'll probably never know if all that was necessary, or drastically impacted the longevity of my pebble, but at least I know I did the best I could...

ok but is plaster the same as cement ? when u say plaster dust, is that cement dust? as i said no one here uses the word plaster, so i am not sure if thats the word you guys use for cement....as i just cant imagine much dust from cement after say a few days scubbing

 

[Dirk]

when you all refer to plaster dust im not familar with that term, remember i am in australia i dont hear anything here about plaster pools, when u say plaster is that cement from pebbles ? i am pebble creteing my pool, so its cement that is used to bond pebbles, am i still looking at cement dust for a month ? that seems a really long time for cement to be coming off pebbles......

It's my understanding that the pebbles are being held in place with basically the same stuff that makes a plaster-only finish. And yes, plaster is a refined type of cement. So the dust isn't coming off the pebbles. They're just little rocks. The dust is coming off of the plaster in between the pebbles. When they installed my pebble, you couldn't see much of it at first, as it was covered with a skim of this plaster. They acid washed that skim off, in a controlled way, just enough to reveal the proper amount of pebble. As I mentioned above, that acid wash eliminated (in my pool) most all of the plaster dust. Like I said, if it was there, I never saw it. But I brushed it anyway, just to be sure. Even in a pebble pool, there is still plaster (cement) that is exposed to the water, it's just very "skinny" in between the pebbles. Make sense?

 

[aussieta]

pools in australia have a shotcrete first layer, concrete applied with a pump and hose, rough troweled finish
then a second layer of "plaster", more of a white cement finish with chosen pebbles/quartz flakes or colour added

 

[FIESTA62]

yep i get it, u say plaster between pebbles, here its white cement between pebbles, they tell me they use pure white cement, its not plaster , well they have never mentioned plaster, i can see there would be some stuff to scrub off for a few days even a week with cement , but really cement would be well and truely hard by then, i cant imagine any dust after a week or even less, i guess they will tell me what to do but there has been some mistakes by these guys so im not 100% confident on there advice...

 

[Dirk]

I might have this wrong, but it seems you're after a way to spend as little money and effort on your start up as possible. And that's fine. I approached my new plaster startup from the other end of the spectrum, looking for the MOST I could do. If we each had our way, on identical pools, I wouldn't bet money that yours would look any different than mine, so I'm in no position to judge. But I had the time, and I had the money, to do the most I could for my pool, even if it wasn't necessary. I just wanted to be sure I didn't do too little for my startup, and the only way I could think to guarantee that was to be sure I did too much!! Not a critisism, just some insight into the screwy brain you're conversing with!!! OK, gotta hit the hay. Good luck.

 

[FIESTA62]

pools in australia have a shotcrete first layer, concrete applied with a pump and hose, rough troweled finish
then a second layer of "plaster", more of a white cement finish with chosen pebbles/quartz flakes or colour added

yep im at the rough shot crete stage, he said he will use pure white cement to do the pebblecrete finish, as its cement do i still scub pool for 1 month to clean cement dust off the pebble crete cement finish ? im happy to do it, just seems like it really would not be needed, or needed after say 1 week of scubbing at best...cement will be hard after a day or 2

 

[Dirk]

OK, one last shot. I 100% agree that you should not put 100% faith in your builder. Not blind faith, anyway. This forum is filled with posts about how builders dropped the ball during the startup procedure. It's not uncommon at all. You're doing the exact thing you should. Researching what should be done, asking lots of questions here, making up your own mind, and keeping tabs on your own startup. One thing's for sure, once those guys are done, whether they did it right or wrong, they'll be done and gone in a month and won't look back. You're the one that'll be stuck with the results!

 

[FIESTA62]

OK, one last shot. I 100% agree that you should not put 100% faith in your builder. Not blind faith, anyway. This forum is filled with posts about how builders dropped the ball during the startup procedure. It's not uncommon at all. You're doing the exact thing you should. Researching what should be done, asking lots of questions here, making up your own mind, and keeping tabs on your own startup. One thing's for sure, once those guys are done, whether they did it right or wrong, they'll be done and gone in month and won't look back. You're the one that'll be stuck with the results!

yep i been let down a few times already on this build, i am not looking for the cheap way thats no concern, i want to do it right, i got the best gear possible for filtration and pump, and test kit, so not trying to skimp, but rather not scrub twice a day for a month if it really does nothing, once cement sets it set, i know there would be dags and stuff to clean but after a few days scrubbing cement will just wear out the brush! but im here to learn so anyone please tell me if im wrong...

 

[aussieta]

i think plaster is just what it is called in usa, but same finish
pool does need to be brushed daily at the start
sorry. just the way it is