Prolonging resurface project?

[vtognaci]

Hello,
I have a gunite pool and noticed last summer etching in my plaster. I was told I should have it resurfaced because if it gets worse it could damage the gunite. I've read a few threads here and am now under the impression that's not possible. So am I missing something? How long can I go before I need resurfacing? Currently I don't have any loss of water due to the "etched" surface. I can live with the etching as long as I'm not causing a bigger problem long term.

Thanks,
Vince

 

[ajw22]

I think you have been fed a Texas size load of ...

A bit of etching is not going to get near the gunite. And gunite/concrete will not be damaged the way plaster is.

How old is your plaster and how bad does it look? Post some pics.

 

[JJ_Tex]

I would agree with ajw22. Given that most of the homes in Prosper are less than 10 years old, I'm guessing your pool is fairly new and should be years away from a resurfacing.

 

[vtognaci]

I live in an older home (1996) and think the pool was put in around 2000ish. I was told it was re-surfaced roughly 5 years ago. We moved in 2.5 ago. When I first moved in there wasn't any etching but think over the first year of learning pool maintenance, the hard way, I might have done something to cause the problem. Like I said no leaking and I can live with the etching but didn't want to cause a larger problem. It's still has the leaf/safety cover but as soon as I remove it I'll post some pics.

What's the "rule-of-the=thumb" here... how long can I go?

Thanks,
Vince

 

[ajw22]

Until rust spots from rebar are showing on the plaster, or chunks of plaster are falling off, or it is leaking, or it is cosmetically unacceptable to you.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Dang, Prosper in 1996... it must have been just your house and Deion Sanders' mega monstrosity. I've been here for 8 years and its crazy how much it has changed.

So the general premise here is its all about testing your own water and only adding what you need. I see you have a good test kit, mind posting your full set of test results? That way we can make sure you are in balance and don't have any aggressive water that could contribute to the etching.

 

[vtognaci]

Here are my results today:

FC: 1
PH: 7.4
TA: 60
CH: 210
CYA: 60

I use chlorine tablets in the winter so that explains my higher CYA, but my FC is typically around 1-3, so just added bleach to bump that up. I figure since no one's using the pool the lower is not bad as long as I don't go to 0.

CH is low, according to app I should add 8 lbs of CA CL. I added 7 lbs 2 months ago, I'm assuming this fluctuation is due to rain? Based on the following I'm assuming the low CH level caused my etching in the first place.

Calcium Scaling

Calcium scale on your pool is something we all want to avoid. With some elbow grease and a pumice stone for pools we can help you remove this eyesore.

www.troublefreepool.com

I'm some-what surprised that it was this low again. I guess I should be checking monthly. I check chlorine every couple of weeks, but haven't checked this in two months.

 

[ajw22]

A FC of 1-3 with a CYA of 60 leaves your water open to algae wether someone is swimming in it or not.

Raise your FC to 6-8. See FC/CYA Levels

 

[vtognaci]

A FC of 1-3 with a CYA of 60 leaves your water open to algae wether someone is swimming in it or not.

Raise your FC to 6-8. See FC/CYA Levels

Thanks... I added a gallon of bleach as indicated by the app to get the FC back to that range.