Through years of trial and error, research, testing, and input from pool plaster manufacturers and specialty pool chemical companies the following recommendations have been adopted by most of the pool industry as standards for opening your swimming pool with a new plaster finish.
To begin, after your pool has been freshly plastered homeowners should begin to fill their pool with a constant output, like a garden hose, until the water reaches the tile line. A new, clean filter should be ready to go. Start the pool pump and allow the pool filter to operate continuously without pause.
It is best that for every ten thousand gallons of pool water volume that is added a quart of a good quality sequestering agent is added. Use the right product for your application; ask your pool supplier for the right application for your pool, salt vs. non-salt pools.
In addition to the sequestering agent homeowners should add one gallon of muriatic acid for every ten thousand gallons of pool water. The chemicals should be added to the pool water directly pouring the chemicals directly into the pool while walking the perimeter of the pool.
With nylon brushes, starting at the tile, start brushing the pools surface downward toward the pool floor. Each stroke should overlap the previous one as you work your way around the pool until all of the pool walls have been brushed. Brush the steps, swim outs, and ledges as well.
Start with the shallow end of the pool when brushing the floor. A cloud of dust should follow after each brush stroke. Continue brushing the pool floor until you care confident that every square foot of the pool surface has been brushed. It is highly recommended that this process is done at least twice a day, morning and night. The filter will need to be cleaned frequently. Keep an eye on the pressure gauge as an indicator. No matter what the filter should be cleaned each and every morning.
Note that you don’t need to add any more chemicals yet. Keep cleaning the filter and brushing the pool day after day without adding chemicals. The sequestering agent and acid that was added right after the plaster was finished help to burn the plaster dust off the pool finish by keeping the pool alkalinity on the low end. The dust itself raises the ph and alkalinity of the pool water over the course of the next few days. With stone and quartz finishes this is extremely important as the acid that was added will lower the ph and alkalinity creating an environment that is difficult for the plaster dust to adhere to. By constantly brushing the pool plaster you are getting the dust out of the water where it has less change to stick on the surface and more of a chance on being filtered out.
Every day as you brush the pools plaster, less and less dust should be present. At about day three or four it is time to test the pools water for ph, alkalinity, calcium, and stabilizer. The levels should be as follows:
- Stabalizer: 30 – 50ppm (the closer to 30ppm the better)
- Calcium: no higher than 200ppm for stone and quartz, 250 – 350ppm for marcite (plaster) finishes
The following day the water should appear clearer, bluer and looking almost ready to swim in. Your filter should receive a thorough cleaning. If the cartridge is looking questionable go ahead and change it. At this point the pool water should be balanced with a total pool alkalinity of 80-90, and the ph to 7.2-7.4. The plaster will not be fully cured for 28 days. During this time you will want to be diligent in monitoring the ph and alkalinity. It will climb as the pool plaster finish cures. Adding acid allows them to be kept in check. Chlorine should be between 1.0 and 1.5 and at this point you can slow the pool plaster brushing to a weekly basis.
Learn more about Pound Pool Plastering and their numerous pool plastering options including: pool resurfacing, plaster surfacing, commercial pool plaster, residential pool plaster, plastering swimming pools, tiling swimming pools, coping swimming pools, and more at www.pound-pool-plastering.com. To contact our pool plastering specialists call 248.476.4544 today.