Just bought a home with a pool... so I'm a newbie. Got some questions

[PoolDoc]

My personal pool experience has been almost exclusively with plastered commercial pools . . . and I don't know of ANY reason why a plastered pool HAS to be re-plastered, just because a pool is leaking.

+ If the pool leaks, the problem is usually not the plaster, but something else. Once that's fixed, you may have to patch the plaster.
+ Rough plaster can be hard on swimmer's feet . . . but you can adapt and survive till next season.
+ Ugly plaster is, well, ugly. But, it's a personal issue and not a pool function issue.

If it were me, I'd drain and clean, once you are past danger of a hard freeze (which CAN damage the plaster) and then re-assess.

[CarlD]

Hi Jacobfox

There's an old joke that to a small boy with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To a guy that works for a pool plastering company, EVERY pool looks like it needs a plastering job.
Ben is far more knowledgeable than me, but it should be clear that if a crack is simply a crack on the inside of the pool, patching it should be sufficient. If it penetrates the outside of the pool, water MAY seep in--if you have ground water, and you'll have to fix it. If not, I'd guess it won't and perhaps just patching from the inside, such as with pool epoxy may be enough.

Carl