pool replaster

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jandcinok

jandcinok

0
May 13, 2014
14
Jenks, Ok.
We are had a replaster done and I have some questions. How smooth should it be? Should all of the transitions around the steps, the corners, the tile be nice and smooth? Our new plaster has lots of trowel marks, ridges and rough spots. The step edges look like a wash board on one end, on the other end, they look pretty good. I'm not happy, or am I being too picky?

This is the very short version of this experience, I'm not wanting this to turn into a rant. I'm asking did I expect too much? Or is craftsmanship a thing of the past?
 
It doesn't sound like they did a very good job and it doesn't sound like you are being picky to me. It should be smooth everywhere you describe.
 
There should be no trowel marks, ridges or rough spots. Not even one. Troweling is almost an art, and needs to be done by someone with experience and good technique. Someone was learning on your pool. And someone else was not properly performing his tutelage.

Did you use a licensed contractor? Did you obtain more than one bid? Was the price for this job suspiciously lower than other bids?

The contractor should be liable to make this right, at no cost to you.
 
Your pic's just showed up. Yep, I would call that a defect in workmanship. When my pool guy did some work that I have since rejected, the steps were waaay better than what I finally discovered in the deep end. Have you examined the rest of your pool's surface?
 
riley00dog said:
I wouldn’t be happy with that. I’m not sure whether it would be in the range of acceptable or not though.
Click to expand...

I don’t think one can expect a pool surface to be concrete-kitchen-counter-perfect, but when I zoom in on that first pic, I’m seeing really sloppy troweling, and what appears to be pebble-like chunks embedded in the plaster, not just laying on it. Enough to scratch skin. And a couple spots that look like holes? If that’s actually there, I think that’s definitely unacceptable. And if that’s the best they could do in such a highly visible area, then what’s going on lower down in the pool?

If if it was just that one spot, and the rest is good, and they could polish that out a bit, that might be acceptable. But if there is a lot of that, everywhere, I wouldn’t want a lot of my new plaster to be ground down like that. Pool chemicals are going to be doing that soon enough, I wouldn’t want years taken off my plaster’s life to remedy a bad installation! Those would be MY years to spend, not the plasterers!!
 
And would anybody here know? I don’t think this is just about appearance and feel. Isn’t working the plaster correctly, to establish a proper cream layer, integral in the plaster’s longevity? It’s the cream layer that comes apart first, isn’t it? If that isn’t thick enough, or if it’s polished down thin enough to obscure deficient application, doesn’t that mean that plaster is going to fail that much sooner? Just as if it was acid washed one too many times?
 

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Thanks for the replies. I wish I could say I was just being picky, doesnt sound as thats the case. To answer a question, no, they werent the low bid. Just the opposite, they were the high bid, from a large nation wide installer who has been around here for years.. I will happily more for a good job. In this case, I dont think I got it.

No, Im realistic enough that I dont expect counter top smoothness. Trust me, in good light, and in person, it looks worse.

The whole thing has been an ordeal, more problems than you all want to hear, believe me. Its ongoing, Im still fussing with them, they say theyre going to make it right, but nothing happens. Im holding off naming names until we come to a final conclusion.
 
I forgot to ak some questions of anyone who might know.

I have some black streaks in the plaster. I pointed those out, one of the plastet “crew” made brooming motions. I suppose hes trying to lay that onto me which is not the case. I broomed twice a day religiously. What causes the black streaks? Foreign material in wet plaster?

They are saying something about sanding rough spots. Is that an acceptable solution?

My hearing is horrible, the crew they sent dont speak english that well and I have a horrible time communicating, even though I have explained that problem, nothing changes.
 
First off, you should probably not be communicating directly with the crew, or even their foreman. You should be speaking with the person that provided and signed the contract. I would do so in writing, or follow up any verbal conversations with a synopsis in writing. Email is OK.

I already shared what I think I know about sanding plaster. Plaster has a depth, it varies throughout your pool. On top of that is a layer of creme, which is considerably thinner. Pool chemicals attack this cream layer over the years. Once it loses that battle, your plaster needs to be replaced. I would want to know that my plaster was installed with the proper amount of cream, as smooth as reasonable, and I wouldn't want it sanded down any to obscure or remove a bad application. There is some wiggle room there. A light sanding to remove a rough spot would be one thing. Removing half the cream layer to smooth out a bump or valley would be something else all together. Unfortunately, I can't advise on how you are going to know the difference, other than to communicate this concern to the plaster company, and/or watch how they fix your surface's issues. If it's a guy using fine sandpaper by hand, that's probably OK. If it's a guy with a power sander/grinder with a course pad, pressing hard on it... not so much.

This is not my area of expertise, but rather my logic applied from working with similar materials. That and the incident where my PB grinder right through my plaster's cream and exposed the aggregate underneath (so I've seen this happen with my own eyes). Have you ever tried to refinish a table that has a thin laminate surface glued to particle board underneath. You get a few passes with the ol' orbital sander, but once you sand through the laminate and expose the particle board underneath, your table is ruined.

But that's not a great analogy, because if these guys grind off their mistakes and leave just enough cream to hide the plaster aggregate underneath, you might not know that until 10 years from now when your pool chem's finally wear it down. Which will be long after the warranty has expired... Which, frankly, I would suspect they're counting on if I were you, until they can prove to you otherwise. It's all well and good and friendly to expect the best of a contractor, until proven otherwise. I'm quite a bit more cynical. I expect the worst until proven otherwise... That might be just me...

I can't speak to the black streaks, sorry. Others here will chime in about how to test for what they might be.
 
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