Quartz pool faded... looking for ways to restore.

[Austintatious]

High everyone! I am new to the forum and a new pool owner ( though not a new pool) and I look forward to being a participant here.

I bought a foreclosed home and I know it sat uninhabited for at least 2 years, possibly longer. It had a pool which to my untrained eye looked like it was in decent shape. The home is 10 years old but I do not know how ld the pool is. It has fairly nice and recent looking equipment (which I have all running/working properly now) but I really have no good way to tell unless you can give me ideas.

Here is a pic of the condition it was in when we uncovered it.

I emptied it (believe it or not it was nearly halfway full), set the two resident turtles free and then gently power washed it. I got only close enough to blast off the algae, which worked V. I was advise not try to hard to get the stains off now and that proper chemistry would undo the rest of the algae stains so I didn't sweat it.

Here is an after pic.

Now... When I power washed it there were a few places where I got a bit to close by accident and a DEEP almost cobalt blue started to shine through. I was talking to the new neighbor and he told me that when the pool was first put in that the whole pool was that deep blue. I came to realize this is a quartz pool. You can see by the pics however that the once deep blue quartz is now very white and almost looks like regular plaster.

Here is a pic of the pool full

Other than not looking great, the pool finish seems to be in good shape... Refinishing it for looks isnt going to happen for a while.... I actually like this coating because it has traction but isn't really rough like PT. I WOULD however like to try to restore it to its original luster if that is even possible.

I have made search after search and cant find any info on treating a quartz pool. I have tried gently wire brushing an inconspicuous area with no damage done but no results either. I was thinking about draining the hot tub and acid washing it to see if that works but I decided to chime in here first. The Pool store wanted to sell me an 80.00 bottle of stuff they claimed would slowly restore the original luster but I wont trust a salesman.

Any advice anyone can give would be appreciated. If I have to just live with it the way it is now that is fine... As I understand it no one does quartz anymore which seems shameful... I saw some old sat photos of this pool and wow was it gorgeous with that deep blue!

Thanks again for your time.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Welcome to TFP!
I doubt the pool is faded...it probably has a nice thick coating of calcium scale from years of water chemistry mismanagement. Does the surface feel rough? The fact that you could get some of it off with a pressure washer is another clue.

Try searching the forum for "no drain acid wash" and you can see the process that some others have used, and the varying degrees of success they had. Feel free to post back with any questions!

 

[Austintatious]

Thank you... I cannot be certain if it is calcium or not... i just dont have the experience. I did decide to drain the hot tub down and hit a small area with some MA. I just poured 100 % on a small area and scrubbed it with a brush... It was very reactive and definitely restored the deep blue. It caused some minor pitting.... I was thinking about tomorrow emptying it all the way and then making some diluted MA and hitting the whole hot tub with it and letting it set.

What is produced by the acid and calcium reacting to one another? Is the calcium still present and can redeposit or is it converted to something else? i guess what I am wondering is if I get the calcium off will I just have a really high calcium level that will build up on the surface again?