Quartzon Pool (6 month's) old with light grey patches

[cooldip]

We have irregular patches (light grey in colour) throughout the surface of the pool which appear to be increasing. Have had pool people out to get the chemical balance right but the patches remain. Can anyone put some light on the subject, please.

[ninpoolman]

It could be chemical or it could be a bad mix of maybe dirty plaster. Maybe bad fill water. Also it could electrolysis if you have high tension electrical wires near your pool.
Really nobody knows for sure on these kinds of stains because the definitive work in studying these troubles are still in the works. A lot of pool techs. will tell you it is this or that but it is guess work at best and they want to sound
authoritative and in control or if a store they want you to buy their products to help pay the overhead on the store.
Barry

[Guest]

Could be badly mixed plaster or leaching of the coloring agent.

[Guest]

Scaling or high pH and TA with metals or calcium

[bond]

Scaling or high pH and TA with metals or calcium

YOU FORGOT TO MENTION TO TAKE OFF THE TRANSITION LENSES.
BTW,THIS AN ADULT FORUM.

[czechmate]

Scaling or high pH and TA with metals or calcium

Seriously now.
It is a common practice in the pool industry to acid wash the newly applied plaster to clean from plaster residual and expose the new surface. The concentration of muriatic acid and technique applied is crucial as well as the experience of the crew.
From all the modern surfaces applied today the dark colored plaster is the most demanding on lot match and the perfect mixing during the application process and then also very touchy about acid washing. In your case it may be the combination of both.
Since the plaster application is usually supervised by the owner or company foreman and the acid wash almost never, I suspect that the crew washed from the deck by buckets, acid mix was not uniform and the exposure time to the harsh acid mix was uneven and possibly too long in places, where it sat prior to following wash down.
There is no easy fix for improper work procedure. Acid wash is fairly demanding procedure on old white plaster. It takes even more experience to wash properly fresh Diamond Brite or Pebble Tech.
The gray or dark plaster is sort of crap shoot, depending on quality of the crew and almost always with some deficiencies.
The industry does not always inform the potential customer of the downfalls in selecting some of the exotic surfaces now available. It is mostly left to the buyer to do diligent research prior to spending their hard earned money.

[Guest]

Thanks for the very informative post. I never realised that the new surface was acid washed, I thought that was only for old pools.

I also didn't know that the acid could change the tone of darker surfaces so much. Thank you

[czechmate]

Most pool owners do not know that new pool surface acid wash is fairly common.
The reason s two fold.
It removes the film of plaster milk that was pushed to the surface by troweling.
This residue will harden fairly quickly and wold have to be removed by hard brushing, 3 times a day for 2 weeks. This is specially important on plaster like Diamond Brite to expose the embeded quartz aggregate, which will immediately lend its colors to the hue of pool water color for its ultimate desired result.
Similar result is achieved on Pebble Tech, where cleaned stone is reflecting color a and clarity to the water.
Pool contractors know, that the customer will not do this brushing diligently to a satisfying result ,which will in turn affect contractors reputation and possible recommendation.
Second reason is to get rid of calcium rich film out of the pool quickly and lower the demand for acid needed to balance the PH, while the plaster is still curing, releasing it also.
Some contractors do the acid wash by dumping 7-9 gal in the fresh fill and than brushing for 5-7 days.
This will bring more uniform result, but the pump is not running and the brushing has to be rigorous for several days.
This procedure is commonly used even after basic acid wash, with lower acid concentration and owner doing the brushing. The acid is afterward neutralized by borax or baking soda to balance PH.

[marteb]

Both my neighbor and I had pools built within eight months of each other. They are identical except in size. My pool is 2years old and his is 1 1/2 yrs. We both have the same type staining of light grey pathes. Howevr booth also are experpitting in the plaster whic has the apperance of an orange peal. However my hot tub had to be replastered approximately 1 week after it was filled do to rough spots. It now has not shown any discoloration or spotting like my pool. When Ibrought it up to my builder he claimed it was the water and the chemical balance. Same water in the pool and hot tub 1 discolored 1 not. I believe it to be a plaster issue. What is your take on the pool verus the spa? Why would one stain and not the other? What can be done to eliminate the staining?

Thanks

[Guest]

Hi All,

I have been doing numerous research and obtaining quotes to resurface an old marblesheen pool. A fellow from Melbourne, I am in Brisbane and accidently rang him for a quote. we worked out he was not going to come down for a quote ,so there was nothing in it for him, informed me never to do quartzon in a pool as you will have stains and won't be happy, but also the surface won't last. Many pool people are pushing it - looks nice in the samples! research and quotes plus plus are a must. So I have decied no to quartzon now. Still researching.

[suz]

I have a quartzon pool which is 2 yrs old and has blue grey patches or sploges covering the base of the pool surface creeping up the sides.

I have been trying to resolve this issue for over a year now and have been told it is purely Ph related. I have endeavoured to keep the Ph at 7.2 but the markings remain.

I have spoken with Quartzon and they recommend that I give the pool an acid bath. Meaning lower the Ph to 6.2 for 24 hours.

Has anyone else done this? Does it work? How is the best way to go about it?

[John Murray Caringbah]

I have a Quartzon pool that started exhibiting white(cacification ) spots almost immediately it was filled , by end of summer , it looked like pool had measles. During winter it was re-acid washed& refilled& rebalanced , almost immediately white spots reappeared. Quartzon rep said could be Quartzon not laid properly, leading to microporosity & rising ph. I had pool balanced aprox every 2-3 weeks & white spots still form. After initial acid wash & refilling pool, white spots started to form but not as many as 1st time round. Any solutions?

[floridapooltech]

I have a Quartzon pool that started exhibiting white(cacification ) spots almost immediately it was filled , by end of summer , it looked like pool had measles. During winter it was re-acid washed& refilled& rebalanced , almost immediately white spots reappeared. Quartzon rep said could be Quartzon not laid properly, leading to microporosity & rising ph. I had pool balanced aprox every 2-3 weeks & white spots still form. After initial acid wash & refilling pool, white spots started to form but not as many as 1st time round. Any solutions?

you may need to utilize the warranty your contractor gave you with is work on the re-surfacing of the pool in order to resolve this issue. I would have him come out and see what he says about it.

[Steve of Harrington Park]

I have a Quartzon pool that started exhibiting white(cacification ) spots almost immediately it was filled , by end of summer , it looked like pool had measles. During winter it was re-acid washed& refilled& rebalanced , almost immediately white spots reappeared. Quartzon rep said could be Quartzon not laid properly, leading to microporosity & rising ph. I had pool balanced aprox every 2-3 weeks & white spots still form. After initial acid wash & refilling pool, white spots started to form but not as many as 1st time round. Any solutions?

you may need to utilize the warranty your contractor gave you with is work on the re-surfacing of the pool in order to resolve this issue. I would have him come out and see what he says about it.

I've had enough of this Quartzon rubbish.My pool is 2.5 yrs old amd i've had nothing but problems with Quartzon.As soon as the pool was filled i had white spots appearing almost all over the shallow end of the pool.I put in the recommended amount of "cal-stop" all the time. Constant scale over the salt cell. Nobody wants to help!!! They always try to blame the ph level,which is absolute BS.I manually test the water every few days in summer and have my pool shop test it weekly,and everything is always right.It's the crap surface that Quartzon is, that is the problem.I manually have to get in the pool and pick the spots off.Didn't get a pool for all this trouble.
One bit of advice for any potential pool buyer,DON'T USE QUARTZON!!!!!!. But if you have nothing better to do and have plenty of money,install it,as it will keep you busy.

[Allen G myerson]

Steve of Harrington Park,

Your chemistry is off. Post the following information and I will be able to advise you better.

pH
Total Alkalinity
Calcium Hardness
Cyanuric acid
Salt
Temperature