Hi All
Last year, year 4 on a 16,000 gal. diving pool, deck clorinator with ozone, cartridge filter, infloor cleaning system. 1 hp pump..I decided to drain it and acid wash beause I had a few stains, no big deal, I thought.
When the contractor came to acid wash after draining, he tried the acid in a few places and said he was not comfortable acid washing it and left. Now I am concerned and call the pool builder, he looks as it and says the clorine level had been too high and I should polish it. Well it already had been drained for a few days and even though the temp. in Phoenix had been below 80 degrees in Jan. I decided to fill it up and deal with it next year.
The pool had a light grey scale on the horizontal baja step and I just thought it was a calcium buildup. I could scratch it off with my finger, but I could not touch it with a pool brush, even the ones with steel brissles
So this year, I hired the pool contractor the pool builder recommended, as the pool builder does not polish pools. They came out and drained it and tried acid again and said the cream on the plaster was gone and it could not be polished or acid washed. I can easily scratch the pool surface with my fingernail.
So the pool builder comes out again and says the scale and soft plaster is a result of the clorine level being too high.
I was very careful about monitoring the water chemistry and tested it myself with the strips a couple of times a week and took it into a pool store to doulbe check about every other week. It is true, the clorine level was high at time 6-10 , but the pool store said not to worry about it and I just reduced the amount and it came back to 1-3 .
So my question is " can a high clorine level actually cause this kind of damage? "
Looks like I need to replaster after only 5 years but I don't want to end up in the same place 4 years from now .
What can I do to prevent this from happening again. Was this really my fault? I did my best before so now I am really concerned.
Geez, I though taking care of a car was difficult. I thought if I just keep the water chemistry within the proper ranges, I would be ok.
The finish they put on was something call "Shasta shield" and was suppose to be a big upgrade over regular plaster. It was suppose to last 10-12 years.
Really appreciate any feedback you can give me.
Garyg