Plaster Pits

[johntafshar]

I have a plaster/gunite pool that I just finished the SLAM process on. All this was pre-existing, but now that the water is sorted I wanted to get some opinions on my pool's surface. It looks like the plaster is pitting. I'm not sure how old it is, but I'm sure it was poorly maintained by the previous owner (and I probably didn't do it many favors last season.) This is certainly pitting, not scaling, as they are indentations and my Dolphin (and sometimes pump filter) has blue plaster flakes in it almost every time. The spa is the worst, but it's also occurring on the pool steps, walls, and, to a much lesser extent, pool floor.

I assume the remedy is to have the pool replastered, but I wanted to get some opinions. There is some possibility that the pool was painted, but I'm not sure how to tell if the flakes are paint/epoxy or plaster. I don't believe the spa was painted, which leads me to believe that it's plaster, but the pool floor is also slicker than the spa is. I also wanted to check resurfacing opinions - I assume plaster is fine, and pebble tec or quartz would be standard resurfaces for this type of pool. I'm not sure if a vinyl liner could be used, or if if it's a good idea even if it can.

Thoughts?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Looks like paint to me. Notice how the tile “grout” looks very different from the surface. Normally the accent tiles would be glued into place and then the plaster would be used to grout the tiles. That looks like someone masked off the tiles and applied some kind of coating to the pool.

The long term fix is to have a plaster company come in, chip it all out down to the gunite shell and replaster the pool. That’s $8k-$12k worth of work depending on the finish material you use.

 

[ajw22]

Looks like epoxy paint over worn plaster. If the pool is holding water, no rust spots, and structurally sound then it is cosmetic. Eventually a chipout and replaster job is in your future. There are various plaster finishes at different price points.

 

[mknauss]

All those nooks and crannys is what made the SLAM so problematic.