Browse Forums Pools & Spas Re: Fiberglass Pool Bleaching under the water line 77Jul 25, 2021 12:48 pm M1key My commiserations to all suffering in the same situation. We have a Barrier Reef pool, and it is exhibiting all of the symptoms described above. We have manually sanded the worst of the marks from the bottom of the pool with 2000 grit wet/dry paper (as suggested by BRP), but can see now that the entire shell has slight bleaching (I know it will appear much worse when it is dry). My question is, if I remove the bleaching by sanding it, will it simply return again with the newly exposed material being affected in exactly the same way? Is the only permanent fix to recoat the pool with a more robust lining? Mike /color] I’m late to this thread, but I have suffered all the same issues and frustrations with our 3 year old Barrier Reef pool. I did consider a re-coat (estimate $10K) after the restorer chap told me that sanding off the gel coat surface and stain would only temporarily fix the problem, but in the end decided to give sanding a go (before resorting to a full recoat) That was Dec 2020. I dropped the pool level down and first used a battery orbital buffer and fibre glass polish - but that didn’t work. I then used a battery orbital sander and 1500 grit wet and dry - and that did work. I only took off about the top 15cm from the pool level (so that the white stain would never show above the waterline - even when the level dropped to the bottom of the skimmer box (I particularly hated seeing the white line all around the surface of the pool). I then finished off with a fibreglass buffer and polish. It was hard work, but the pool looked so much better after. Good news is that is now nearly August and the staining hasn’t come back. I am now almost obsessively fastidious about checking the free chlorine level and keeping it below 3ppm (we have a virkon equilibrium system), this is our first pool and I never thought it would require so much attention. I tried the warranty angle too, but no joy. Re: Fiberglass Pool Bleaching under the water line 78Jul 27, 2021 10:03 am I have the same problem ... could you please give detail steps on how you buffed the pool -- what products did you use and if you used a variable rotary machine ...... How much did you remove - a few passes ?? .... could you see the color on your sand paper? Just really looking for some advice ... did you do the floor too or just the walls? Re: Fiberglass Pool Bleaching under the water line 79Jul 27, 2021 10:32 am I used an 18v Ryobi orbital sander and and 18v Ryobi orbital buffer. The fibreglass buffer and polish I got from super cheap auto (it’s for boats) and the fine grit wet and dry papers (with a Velcro back) to fit the Ryobi I got on line from Smith & Arrow. As mentioned, I’ve so far only done about 15-20cm all around the pool (and spa) around (just below) the waterline level. I dropped the water level to the level of the bottom of the skimmer box, got in the pool (waited until early Dec when it was warm!) and went round the pool with the orbital sander (using 1200 and 1500 grit orbital sanding disks) sanding the area just above that waterline. You’ll be sanding it wet, so you don’t see that much on the paper - but you certainly see what’s coming off in the water - it’s like a white cloud. I’m sure the Ryobi sander isn’t meant to get anywhere as near as wet as it did (despite my best efforts) and I did kill one of my batteries eventually, but my 2 spares both survived, as has the sander. It does take a few passes before you get rid of the white and are back to blue (or whatever colour) again. I used quite a few sanding disks (they come in big packs). Once I’d got the wall back to blue from the top down to the level of the bottom of the skimmer box, I went round with a buffer and used fibreglass buffer as described above. I didn’t use the polish, it didn’t seem to need it and I don’t know how long that would last in pool water. Might be worth a try? I then topped up the pool, ran the (quite cloudy) water through the pump and filter for a few days until it cleared, rechecked the chemicals and all was good. The white bleaching has not come back after 8 months (even in the spa where it was particularly bad). The pool just looks much better because you can’t see the horrible white tide mark that used to appear as the levels fluctuate, especially in the Summer with evaporation. I’m sure the pool makers would tell you not to do this, but they refused to help me and I thought I’d try this as a last resort before having the pool shell resurfaced. When you look into the pool you can still see the white, below where I’ve sanded. But it’s much less noticeable and if it stays like this I’m reasonably happy and can live with it. Re: Fiberglass Pool Bleaching under the water line 80Jul 27, 2021 10:59 am Thank you very much - to be honest I am devastated - our pool was a dark blue - it looks terrible now - not sure what to do - the cost of new gel coat is cost prohibited - 3m makes a gel coat restore with wax - I was thinking of trying that product with a variable speed buffer and a wool pad at around 800 rpm but afraid of burning the finish - I did try some hand wet sanding last fall but little success - I think a power machine is needed - could send a picture to me - thanks again - I appreciate your honesty Hi all I am looking to run a water line under my concrete footpath which is directly next to my home, was seeing if this is possible without cutting the entire section… 0 20638 Hi everyone, Looking for some advise. We are about to build an above ground pool in our backyard. There is a private sewer line running under the pool at 1.6m… 0 12295 Building Standards; Getting It Right! Thank you for the generous offer. I need to get the plumber out to give me an explanation. As mentioned I haven't seen any rain water discharge from pipes 1& 3. It… 7 11182 |