I had one of my local plastering companies stop by my store today. He was asking some questions about something he heard recently about aggregate finishes. We've always followed the basic rule of bicarb and acid after replastering, followed by calcium a few weeks later. He heard that some plaster companies are starting with the hardness and doing bicarb later for aggregate finishes. I guess the idea behind it is to adjust the hardness to about 100ppm to limit the aggressiveness of the water. We live in an area where our source water is about 40ppm in hardness. First off, what's your take on this? Second, what is the main benefit of your bicarb setup by slowly adding it to the pool with the startup and not broadcasting it in later? Thanks, Jeff
Hey Chuck, how are things in the beautiful northwest? Lived there for a few years and absolutely loved it. Just curious, how busy do you stay in that region?
Chuck,
I appreciate your willingness to perform a bicarb startup and sharing the results. I can understand the concern regarding calcifying. It does seem counter-intuitive. Some guys won’t try a bicarb startup because they are afraid of scaling the plaster, but yet they are willing to do an acid startup. It seems to me that dealing with a scaled pool is easier than dealing with an etched pool.
I look forward to your final results and conclusions. Since you have been experiencing plaster dust on past pools, I would like to ask you some questions and learn from your experiences. And since you are a “hands on” type of person, I would appreciate learning what you have experienced.
Thanks, and I now know you are from Washington, not Oregon.
Kim
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Hey Chuck,
I had one of my local plastering companies stop by my store today. He was asking some questions about something he heard recently about aggregate finishes. We've always followed the basic rule of bicarb and acid after replastering, followed by calcium a few weeks later. He heard that some plaster companies are starting with the hardness and doing bicarb later for aggregate finishes. I guess the idea behind it is to adjust the hardness to about 100ppm to limit the aggressiveness of the water. We live in an area where our source water is about 40ppm in hardness. First off, what's your take on this? Second, what is the main benefit of your bicarb setup by slowly adding it to the pool with the startup and not broadcasting it in later? Thanks, Jeff
I appreciate your willingness to perform a bicarb startup and sharing the results. I can understand the concern regarding calcifying. It does seem counter-intuitive. Some guys won’t try a bicarb startup because they are afraid of scaling the plaster, but yet they are willing to do an acid startup. It seems to me that dealing with a scaled pool is easier than dealing with an etched pool.
I look forward to your final results and conclusions. Since you have been experiencing plaster dust on past pools, I would like to ask you some questions and learn from your experiences. And since you are a “hands on” type of person, I would appreciate learning what you have experienced.
Thanks, and I now know you are from Washington, not Oregon.
Kim
I guess you're located in Oregon and are plastering pools and doing service?
Val Peck