Bad plaster???

[MikeDG]

Ok, got a big problem here. About 9 months ago, we had an in-ground pool put in. i'm pretty sure the plaster brand is diamond brite, and we added the blue (i believe quartz) aggregate (little specs of blue in the plaster). The day the plaster was installed, i came home and things didn't look right (i've had a previous pool plastered, so i'm sort of familiar with the process). There were VERY gray areas all throughout the plaster. The pool was filling when i got home from work so i let it continue, but called my contractor. He said it would need to cure for several days/weeks and that the discoloration would go away... it didn't. A month or so after installation, the discoloration got slightly worse and we noticed the plaster surface getting VERY rough. I contacted the contractor and he again said it would fade over the summer... it didn't. Now my kids feet were bleeding after only a half hour in the pool. Plus, just vacuuming the pool with the standard (plastic) vacuum head left streaks in the plaster. I contacted a neighbor who had a pool installed by the same contractor about 6 months prior to mine. I asked if they had any issues with bleeding feet and he said no. I went over and felt his plaster and it was as smooth as can be, and no discoloration. Finally my contractor admitted there was a problem, but said the plaster company "changed the formula" and acted like it was a "no brainer" to remedy. I took it at face value at the time. He told about 15 other pools in the area had the same issue and told me to wait until the swimming season was over because we would have to drain the pool and let the sun "bleach" out the spots for about 3 weeks. So we did. Bleeding feet and all, we put up with this crap all season. Now that swiming season is over, the pool is empty but the progress is not going according to plan. The spots are comming out (visually) where the sun is hitting the plaster directly, but the sun is now low in the sky and not hitting certain areas. I hadn't really spoken to the contractor since this fix started, so when he came out the other day while i was home, i approached him and asked about things. He got real impatient and snippy. I pressed a little more about the roughness in particular and he proceeded to curse me out.

I now don't believe anything about a "changed formula" and have reason to believe the plaster is bad. Does anybody have any experience with "bad" plaster and how it was determined to be "bad"? Any clues on what is causing the roughness?

Mine is a salt system and my chemicals have stayed pretty much balanced, except sometimes on the basic side since it was difficult to keep up with the acid. I have since been told that the extreme acid consumption is normal for the first year or so after a plaster job (just don't remember the previous plaster job on my old pool needing so much acid).

Any info would be helpful,
Mike

[PoolDoc]

Sounds like you are correct -- you have a big problem.

Just FYI, if it all goes to heck, you can probably recover for the pool's function by painting with epoxy -- costly, but won't break the bank.

Unfortunately, removing plaster and replacing IS expensive, and is probably what your contractor is DESPERATELY trying to avoid. If he's got 15 pools like this, there's a fair chance he's looking at bankruptcy.

So:

#1 - Take a FULL set of pictures. If you want some of the pool service guys here to look at them, send a few to poolforum@gmail.com
#2 - Write down a FULL diary of events, as accurately and completely as possible.
#3 - Take the pictures, the diary, and your contract to an attorney, explain, and find out what you need to do -- if anything to (a) preserve your rights and (b) try to get at the front of the line for repairs or reimbursement. I'm guessing that whoever is at the back of the line may be out of luck.

Regarding change of formula, my guess is that that COULD be the problem. Try to get the details on HOW it changed. There may be a manufacturer that can be sued. But talk to an attorney, and try to be as nice as possible. There's a really good chance that your contractor is scared and not sure what to do -- scaring him more probably won't help your situation.