Pool is 10 years old. New pool service since June 2024. Now have white spots that may be calcium buildup? Any thoughts? Pool company wants to drain my pool and acid wash and charge me for it when these were not there a few weeks ago.
White spots on PebbleTech
- Thread starter JoJessup
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,705
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
What test kit do you use?
Post your water chemistry in the format..
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
SALT
CSI
Do you calculate your CSI using PoolMath?
Post your water chemistry in the format..
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
SALT
CSI
Do you calculate your CSI using PoolMath?
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,705
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I would not let a company do an acid wash of a pebble pool. If done wrong it can loosen the pebbles and ruin the pool.
@Dirk had his pebble pool ruined ny an incompetent contractor doing an acid wash.
@Dirk had his pebble pool ruined ny an incompetent contractor doing an acid wash.
- Nov 12, 2017
- 12,677
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
My finish was less than 10 years old, and my set of white blotches looked similar (but worse). I'm guessing yours is what my finish looked like when mine first started going down hill. (I inherited my pool with house, and the white blotches were very advanced when I first saw it). Mine was simply calcium deposits on the finish, due to improper water maintenance. I also inherited the pool maintenance company, and not knowing any better, they talked me into a $1,900 acid wash. That process peeled the plaster off my pool, which then had to be replaced.
Since that new finish was installed, I took over the water maintenance, and 7 years later I don't have a spec of white on my new finish. That's why Allen is asking for your water chemistry, and asking you about CSI. I maintain my CSI perfectly, and I believe that is directly related to my lack of any new calcium buildup.
So don't acid wash your pool. Even if done perfectly, it'll just cost you finish lifespan. Acid washing doesn't magically attack what you don't like, and leave the rest alone. No, it burns off a layer of your finish and takes the imperfections with it. Well, some of the imperfections. When they finished acid washing my pool, it barely looked better. Some of the calcium was gone, but it still looked blotchy. Even if an acid wash solved your blotches, your finish will not last as long as it would have. But by then, you won't know why your finish pooped out early, you won't even know it was early, and your pool guys sure aren't going to tell you what happened.
Better to use manual abrasion (like sanding) to strategically spot-remove blemishes. Using care and precision, and controlling when enough is enough and not too much. Then climb on board the TFP train, and maintain your water with our tried and true method, and your blotchiness will stop. Or just leave it alone and accept that a 10 year old finish can show its age in this way. I should have left mine alone, that's for sure.
That said, the stuff on the rocks might be something else. It could be from calcium-rich water, or it could be efflorescence leeching out of the rock, or it could be from evaporation. While my finish still looks like new, I do get some white build up at the water line (on the tiles). I believe this to be unavoidable, as it is the minerals left behind from the water evaporating off the tile, just above the water line. That has to be mechanically removed (with some sort or abrasion, or bead-blasting, etc). I don't actually know the best way for dealing with your rock, but we can ask @mcleod about that.
Since that new finish was installed, I took over the water maintenance, and 7 years later I don't have a spec of white on my new finish. That's why Allen is asking for your water chemistry, and asking you about CSI. I maintain my CSI perfectly, and I believe that is directly related to my lack of any new calcium buildup.
So don't acid wash your pool. Even if done perfectly, it'll just cost you finish lifespan. Acid washing doesn't magically attack what you don't like, and leave the rest alone. No, it burns off a layer of your finish and takes the imperfections with it. Well, some of the imperfections. When they finished acid washing my pool, it barely looked better. Some of the calcium was gone, but it still looked blotchy. Even if an acid wash solved your blotches, your finish will not last as long as it would have. But by then, you won't know why your finish pooped out early, you won't even know it was early, and your pool guys sure aren't going to tell you what happened.
Better to use manual abrasion (like sanding) to strategically spot-remove blemishes. Using care and precision, and controlling when enough is enough and not too much. Then climb on board the TFP train, and maintain your water with our tried and true method, and your blotchiness will stop. Or just leave it alone and accept that a 10 year old finish can show its age in this way. I should have left mine alone, that's for sure.
That said, the stuff on the rocks might be something else. It could be from calcium-rich water, or it could be efflorescence leeching out of the rock, or it could be from evaporation. While my finish still looks like new, I do get some white build up at the water line (on the tiles). I believe this to be unavoidable, as it is the minerals left behind from the water evaporating off the tile, just above the water line. That has to be mechanically removed (with some sort or abrasion, or bead-blasting, etc). I don't actually know the best way for dealing with your rock, but we can ask @mcleod about that.
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- Nov 12, 2017
- 12,677
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Sorry, one more thought. If those stains appeared that pronounced virtually overnight, they could be burns. I burned my pool finish resulting in a similar-looking stain by mishandling CYA (a type of acid). Have the pool guys added any CYA lately? Do they add muriatic acid to your pool? Do they just dump in a gallon, or do they carefully, slowly, dispense it in, broadcasting it around the pool with the pump running? If they used liquid CYA, dispensing that incorrectly can make stains like that (that's how I got mine).
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