Question on pool plaster discoloring

[onBalance]

You might want to ask him some questions; If the white discoloration problem is calcium scale because the water has been out of balance, then why wouldn't the out of balance water deposit and leave calcium scale uniformly everywhere (every square inch) and throughout the entire pool? Why are there areas that have no white spots or streaks? Why are there different patterns and degree to the "so-called" scale?

 

[BTERRY1]

reviving this old thread. contractor finally came out and of course played the card "I told you this could happen". then tried to use every excuse from water quality, to SWG, etc. after a bunch of mildly heated conversation, he offered to re-do the pool using stone scapes at his cost. i started shopping around and i am glad i did. i found the only company in my area that offers Wet Edge Primera Stone. the cost was only a couple grand more than the other guy to re-do so i will definitely not be using the original contractor for anything ever again. My question is this, and if don't get much traction here, i will start a new thread under the construction section. i tried searching this forum, and there is not much info. for those that have gone this route, what are your impressions? do you like it? is it slippery? we still want to go dark, and am still concerned about mottling. has anyone experienced this with this product? i like the fact that it can be polished again in the future to get rid of any staining or imperfections. thanks in advance!

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

I went with black marble PebbleTec about 5 years ago. I would never go with a dark finish again. I'm seeing mottling and fading, particularly in the transitions from the pool sides to the bottom and seats. Granted, I didn't know what the heck I was doing for the first two years of ownership in regards to water chemistry, but it's gotten worse even after closely monitoring CSI. I've seen many threads from other posters with the same issues. Just my 2 cents.

 

[BTERRY1]

I wanted to provide an update, and ask another question for the pool gurus here. I have decided to go with "wet edge" and demo started today. The guys are showing me that there are two layers of plaster on the pool. When I pull up my old contract, it clearly paid for "removal of existing plaster" as part of the demo and prep process the first time around. when we drained the pool, we found a lot of cracking in the 2 year old plaster. these where the spots alot of the calcium nodules where coming through. so...... is this a common practice to plaster over existing? could this have played a part in the finish issues i was having the first time around? i feel the need to discuss this further with the original guy, and would like much feedback as possible. i feel i should be compensated for some, if not all of this new expense. old demo pic, vs. new demo pic, with close up of plaster cross sections. @onBalance

 

[onBalance]

It appears that a dark colored plaster coat was placed over the original white plaster. Yes, some plasterers just rough up the original plaster coat and then re-plaster over it.
The streaking and blotchy whitish discoloration is not the result of that process. It is a troweling issue.
However, calcium nodules are the result of cracking and delamination from the old plaster coat. That means poor prepping before plastering.

 

[BTERRY1]

It appears that a dark colored plaster coat was placed over the original white plaster. Yes, some plasterers just rough up the original plaster coat and then re-plaster over it.
The streaking and blotchy whitish discoloration is not the result of that process. It is a troweling issue.
However, calcium nodules are the result of cracking and delamination from the old plaster coat. That means poor prepping before plastering.

thanks @onBalance