Pebble Tec Removal - How To?

[troye]

A few years ago we had someone replace our pool coping.
Our Pebble Tec goes all the way up to the coping. When he replaced the coping he did put in some pebbles with grout. It does not match what so ever for the first 3-4" on the pool wall.

The base is pebble tec but the surface of the first 4" is not, as you will see in the first picture.

I just redid the entire coping myself (flagstone) as all of the stone was loose. During this work some of the pebble tec chipped off in large sections

I thought maybe now is a good time to remove the first 4" of non pebble tec. (It's so annoying to be the guy that always has to do everything right, and fix everyone else mistakes )
It is very hard to remove.

I used a diamond tipped blade for the angle grinder and then chipped out the entire pebble tec down to the mortar. This is a lot of work and also has potential to remove too much.

My understanding is I only need to remove 1/4" and then patch it using the product "Pool Patch"

What is the best way / best tool / process to remove the surface of the non pebble-tec pebbles?

Any tips you have is greatly appreciated!

 

[kimkats]

When you say angle grinder I am guessing, but want to make sure, you are cutting a line you measured and marked and cut through to the mortar THEN chipped the other off.

I am also putting in a call to someone else who might have some ideas. Anyone else that had any idea jump on in!

Kim

 

[MinerJason]

A few years ago we had someone replace our pool coping.
Our Pebble Tec goes all the way up to the coping. When he replaced the coping he did put in some pebbles with grout. It does not match what so ever for the first 3-4" on the pool wall.

The base is pebble tec but the surface of the first 4" is not, as you will see in the first picture.

I just redid the entire coping myself (flagstone) as all of the stone was loose. During this work some of the pebble tec chipped off in large sections

I thought maybe now is a good time to remove the first 4" of non pebble tec. (It's so annoying to be the guy that always has to do everything right, and fix everyone else mistakes )
It is very hard to remove.

I used a diamond tipped blade for the angle grinder and then chipped out the entire pebble tec down to the mortar. This is a lot of work and also has potential to remove too much.

My understanding is I only need to remove 1/4" and then patch it using the product "Pool Patch"

What is the best way / best tool / process to remove the surface of the non pebble-tec pebbles?

Any tips you have is greatly appreciated!

I'm not seeing any surface that doesn't look like pebble-tec. Looks to me like faded pebble-tec with a bunch of scale build up on it from being at the waterline, which is one of the reasons that pebble finishes are typically avoided in the waterline area. For scale removal, a pumice stone and/or some diluted acid with a lot of elbow grease is usually the best approach.

But if you want to actually remove the pebbles, a demo hammer or larger rotary hammer drill with a chisel attachment is what you'd want to use. You can rent one, or buy a cheap one from Harbor Freight. I would chip it down to the gunnite and then patch rather than just trying to remove a thin layer from the surface. And if you're going to remove it, replacing it with waterline tile to prevent this issue from recurring might be something worth considering.

 

[troye]

Thanks for the tip. Actually this is how it looked from day1 after the pool coping was repaired, so it is definitely not scale and build up.

 

[MinerJason]

In that case it's most likely a thin layer of cementitious residue from the mortar or plaster. Same removal methods though. And I'd definitely try scrubbing it off with an acid solution before chipping it out.

 

[troye]

I just tried a wire brush on the test piece and no change. Should I try diluted acid and wire brush or do I have to use a pumice stone?

It was intentionally done this way, I just can't remember why. When it was redone he told us it would not match but I had no idea it would be this off.
Maybe I will chisel it out and then do waterline tile or just patch it up so it looks good