patrickg Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Our entire pool is a big stain. What is the best option for making the pool look new again. Is it better to replaster the pool? Is painting the pool the best option? Is there a chemical that will remove all these stains without effort (we've tried hundreds of chemicals and acids with no success)? The pool is already etched from hydrochloric acid and is ready for painting or replastering. The pool is only three years old. All the stains were caused by a hurricane and the stains have been on the pool for two years & 350 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrickg Posted May 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Nobody has any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool-newb Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Any idea what they are from? I've seen test kits that will help identify stains. Maybe that would be a good first start. You could also check with the pool builder for ideas. Painting or replastering will help the water areas but the tiling probably wouldn't look good. As my name suggests I'm still learning but I struggled with some stains caused by rusted iron pipes and used ascorbic acid. it worked wonders where scrubbing did nothing but my pool was also full of water. To test if this will work, use half a slice of lemon or just some ascorbic acid pills from the vitamin department crushed and moistened on a small spot. Pool stores have it but I recently saw it for $45 for 2 pbs. You can get it online a bit cheaper. If they are biomass stains (leaves, branches, etc) chlorine may work. Good head-scratcher, this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbdeli Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Ascorbic acid will quickly get rid of metal stains. The one way to tell if these are metal stains is to get some vitamin c tablets and rub it directly on the stain. If the vitamin c erases the stain where it's being rubbed, then you know you have metal stains. If it is indeed metal, you can buy a container of ascorbic acid at your pool store which will quickly remove the stains. Try the vitamin C tablets and then report back here for the best way to begin treatment. You will want to keep a fairly low chlorine level for the ascorbic acid to work best. That means you might want to use an algaecide while treating to prevent algae due to the low chlorine. After the stains are removed, you will need to buy a sequestering agent to keep the metal from causing further stains. I used a product called, Metal Free last year. I still had problems with stains returning all summer. Rob Our entire pool is a big stain. What is the best option for making the pool look new again. Is it better to replaster the pool? Is painting the pool the best option? Is there a chemical that will remove all these stains without effort (we've tried hundreds of chemicals and acids with no success)? The pool is already etched from hydrochloric acid and is ready for painting or replastering. The pool is only three years old. All the stains were caused by a hurricane and the stains have been on the pool for two years & 350 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkusmier Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Nobody has any suggestions? Not alot of activity on the board over the weekends - especially during pool season. Could be copper, but more likely iron or organic stains. See this thread at Trouble Free Pools for starters, and use the search engines on both this site and TFP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrickg Posted May 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 I guess I should have been more clear about what actually happened to the pool. It is difficult to understand if you haven't been through this situation. The pool went through a direct hit from hurricane Katrina. The water was completely exchanged with salt water. The pool was completely filled with crap (including, but not limited to: the air conditioner from our house, lawn furniture, a car, part of our roof, clothes dryer, clothes, jewelry, silverware, tv, copper gutters). The pool was not cleaned for over a year. We finally cleaned it out and put fresh water in it. It looked bad so we drained it, pressure washed it, and used hundreds of chemicals to get the stains off. It isn't just one type of stain. There are many different corroded metals, chemicals, oils, etc. that have caused the stains. I already tried vitamin C and it didn't do anything for it. It actually made it a little bit worse. I guess I am going to give up on getting the stains out. They are the pool's battle scars. Will they show through a re-plastering job? Note: If you look at the first picture you can see two slabs in the background. Those used to be a house and a garage. No house survived in this area (the elevation of the yard is 26 feet above sea level). The building in the background was built after the storm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkusmier Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 I guess I am going to give up on getting the stains out. They are the pool's battle scars. Will they show through a re-plastering job? I don't think so, especially if you acid wash the existing plaster. That sucks - look on the bright side, at least you're not being evicted from a FEMA trailer like many Katrina victims. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 See if you can get a guy in there to sand blast the plaster before they put the bond coat on. It'll get the oil off the walls and roughen up the plaster for good adhesion. If you can, get a guy that has done pools before so he knows not to blast the tile and coping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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