Start Up After Re-Plaster - Lessons Learned?

[Shifty]

Recently, my 30 year old, 18x36 plaster pool received a major overhaul. The coping, tile, and plaster were all redone. I opted not to have water trucked in so my refill took a little longer than the recommended 24 hours. The fill water ran constantly for about 36 hours and so far I have not seen any cracks towards the waterline. Currently, I am on day 3 of the start up procedure which involves:
- running the pump and filter constantly for the next 2 weeks, then 12 hours a day thereafter;
- brushing the walls and surface twice a day;
- testing the water daily;
- add muriatic acid as needed to keep the pH at or below 7.0 for the first 5 days;
- monitoring alkalinity and hardness, but not too concerned at this point while I am still filtering out plaster dust unless the hardness goes below 100 ppm; and
- broadcasted a metal sequestering agent.

I am looking forward to day 5 so I can begin to add bleach. I am paranoid with the water being bleachless at this point. Also, I know not to use an automatic vacuum for 2-3 weeks. It will be tough to just stare at the pool as I realize I can't swim in it for around 30 days.

Googling returns similar directions as I am following; however, has anyone tried anything different during the 30 day start up period? For those who have experienced a start up after re-plaster, do you have any lessons learned to share?

[Shifty]

I forgot to ask, does anyone know if I can broadcast algae control during the curing?

[FormerBromineUser]

Sorry. Missed your post. Congrats on the new finish! How is it going?

[Shifty]

So far through 2 weeks, I have been loyally brushing twice a day and running and pump and filter 24/7. The pH rises rapidly each day after I brush up the plaster dust. I have added about 6 gallons of muriatic acid so far in an attempt to keep the pH around 7.

I am definitely looking forward to when I can actually go in and enjoy it!

P.S. Over the winter, I detected a leak in the light fixture in the deep end. The water slowly receded until it leveled off at the light in the deep end. The pool company said the leak would be fixed during the replastering as the surface cures. Does this sound right? I am nervously monitoring the water level.

[FormerBromineUser]

Sounds right. but.... Watch that water level and let us know. They said it would be fixed, so fixed it should be! Right now you need to flow the warranty requirements for your new plaster.