Spa / Pool floors have turned to a sandpaper type feeling

[peterpiper]

We re-plastered 5 years ago and no problems. In the last year We had been mentioning to our pool person that there were green algae growing in the crevices of our rock. last week my kids mentioned that the Jacuzzi felt like sandpaper. I investigated and it was very rough. I also noticed sweep marks in the deep end that appeared overnight, it looks like the guy was really pushing hard on the sweeping. I went to leslies pool store and they gave me readings as follows. CH = 620 / CYA = 200 / TDS = 3,900.

The pool store said the pool would need to be emptied because there is no way to balance the water. I told my pool guy about this and he said he used to many chlorine tablets. My pool guy contacted his insurance company. The insurance company now wants to blame the startup pool people who did the plaster 5 years ago. My questions are
Can the readings above cause the pool plaster to turn into a sandpaper like feel?
Could the imbalance cause the plaster to soften?
Can the plaster company be held responsible from 5 years ago?
Note we have an inground paramount cleaning system. Nothing crawls on the pool bottom

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! I'll get right to the point to address your questions. First & foremost, you are placing faith in person(s) who don't appear to have a good background in pool chemistry. We see it all the time. Pool store testing is often flawed and so is their advice. Just about everything you have been told is off the mark and you will get more & more frustrated as time goes on.

If, and that's a big "IF" those pool store testing were correct, I see two major problems with your chemistry:
1 - Your CYA is way too high and algae is inevitable. See FC/CYA Levels That subject is totally different than the potential scale/sandpaper feeling on the floor.
2 - In SoCal, water is expected to be quite hard. Your elevated CH, combined with your current TA & pH, leave you open to scale. To get a better understanding of that subject (hard water, scale, and "CSI") enter all your test results in our PoolMath tool and place your cursor over the CSI row/numbers to see if your water is balanced or if there's a potential for scale. You'll see what I mean.

So what do to?...... :
1 - Order your own proper test kit and test on your own. We recommend the TF-100, but a Taylor K-2006C will suffice as well. See Test Kits Compared.
2 - Lower your pH ASAP. With your elevated CH, your pH needs to be more around the 7.4-7.5 range.
3 - You could afford to let the TA drop a bit as well to about 80 or so for now.

Items 2 & 3, along with lots of brushing, "may" help to reduce the scale beginning to build-up on the floor, but it will take time and lots of elbow grease.

Other than ordering the test kit and using some muriatic acid to lower the pH/TA, I wouldn't add too much more chemicals (other than regular bleach/pool chlorine) to increase your FC level. If you have tabs/puck in use - remove them now. Be prepared - all those tabs/pucks the pool store sold you increased your CYA to where you need to exchange a lot of pool water. That is the only way to lower CYA (and CH). Once you get your own proper test kit, post a full set of results and we can coach you more from there.

 

[Neto]

IT sounds like your pool guy is a novice... He should have the right test kits and adjust accordingly.... Using chlorine tablets will increase your CYA so if you have used tablets for 5 years, CYA will be through the roof.