Pool Plaster Removal Techniques

Removing Plaster

• To remove the plaster topcoat from a concrete pool, you'll need to chip, break up and strip it away using a process known as "stripping and chipping." Plaster removal workers use small hand-held tools to chip away at the plaster topcoat. Some of the tools used to chip and break up pool plaster resemble small jackhammers. Hammers and chisels are also used to break up and chip off a concrete pool's plaster topcoat.

Stripping

• Stripping a concrete pool's plaster topcoat involves using cutting saws to get at difficult spots, cutting them up and chipping them away. Stripping concrete pool plaster is also done to preserve and protect pool tiles that are going to remain in the pool. Afterward, a new plaster topcoat is applied. Sometimes pool plaster removal involves only removing plaster problem areas, with the majority of the plaster topcoat left intact.

Acid Washing

• An alternative to completely removing a concrete pool's plaster topcoat and applying a new one is to acid wash the old topcoat. Acid washing a concrete pool's plaster topcoat removes a thin layer, exposing fresh plaster beneath. You can also have your pool's plaster topcoat acid washed a few times, then apply a fresh plaster topcoat over the old one. Acid washing the old topcoat lowers often cost and reduces project completion times.

Considerations

• Plaster topcoats have to be removed from a pool's concrete shell carefully so the concrete doesn't crack. Once a pool's plaster topcoat is removed, re-plastering is done quickly and the pool is filled back up with water almost immediately. In 2011, pool re-plastering ranged from $2,500 to $4,000, reported the website Pool Center. Extensive pool renovations, however, may cost $15,000 or more.