Pool Resurfacing Service
Your pool tells you when something is wrong. Sometimes the signs are hard to miss. Other times, you need to know exactly what to look for before the problem gets worse. Catching these warning signs early can save you from a far more expensive repair down the road. Here are the ten signs that it’s time to call in a professional pool resurfacing service.
1. Plaster Flaking or Peeling
If you’ve noticed the plaster peeling along the steps or floor of your pool or spa, the pool industry calls it spalling. The most common cause is aggressive pool water with sustained low pH or low calcium levels, which dissolves soluble calcium compounds such as calcium hydroxide. This often shows up first under a floating chlorinator sitting on the top step of a pool or spa. Once spalling begins, there is no patch-and-done repair that holds. Resurfacing or replastering is the only lasting fix.
2. Surface Stains
Copper, calcium, and salt are the main culprits behind surface staining. They discolor the pool plaster and leave behind a bluish-gray tint or a crystal-like deposit. These are called topical stains, and they cling to the plaster surface the same way road grime clings to a windshield. An acid wash can sometimes clean them up, but it requires careful execution. If the staining is severe or widespread, a full replaster is the more reliable path forward. Alan Smith Pools offers a range of pool resurfacing and replastering options to match your budget and the condition of your existing surface.
3. Roughness
What was once a smooth plaster surface has turned into something that feels like sandpaper underfoot. Pool chemicals eat away at the surface over time, and calcium deposits compound the problem. The kids stop wanting to swim, and the situation reaches a tipping point when someone comes out of the pool with cuts on their feet. Draining, acid washing, and polishing can buy some time, but the results are inconsistent, and the cost is often close to what a full replaster would run anyway.
4. Check Cracks
These are easy to miss if you’re not looking closely. Check cracks appear as a spider web of fine lines across the plaster surface, sometimes described as crazing or eggshell cracks. They form naturally as cement hydrates, but become more pronounced when a pool is drained and left exposed to direct sun. Temperature changes cause the cement to expand and contract, widening existing cracks over time. There is no way to repair them in place. Replastering or resurfacing is the only way to eliminate them.
5. Plaster Discoloration
Your pool may have started as a sharp blue or gray finish, but now it looks faded and uneven, with streaks and patches of white breaking up what’s left of the original color. This happens because plaster bleaches out over time, and it tends to show up first on the top steps where foot traffic and chemical exposure are highest. Once the color is gone, it cannot be restored. You can replaster with the same material and face the same eventual result, or upgrade to a more durable pebble finish that holds its color significantly longer.
6. Structural Cracks
If you’re filling the pool more often than you used to, or you’ve spotted a crack running down the wall, you may be dealing with more than a cosmetic issue. Structural cracks run below the plaster layer and into the shell itself. Simply replastering over them will not solve the problem. The proper repair involves filling the crack with an epoxy injection and reinforcing it with steel staples before any resurfacing is done. Depending on the severity, portions of the pool may need to be rebuilt entirely. A professional inspection is the only way to know for certain. Alan Smith Pools also provides pool crack repair to assess and address these issues before they escalate into full structural failures.
7. Rust Stains
A rust spot the size of a coin on the pool floor can seem minor at first. Give it time, and it spreads into something that draws comments from everyone who swims in the pool. Rust stains are typically caused by rebar or tie wire in the pool shell beginning to oxidize. Patching and covering with plaster are possible, but they leave a visible mark and do not address the underlying corrosion. If the rust has spread across multiple areas, resurfacing the entire pool is the more practical and cleaner solution.
8. Loss of Pebbles
A quality pebble finish should last 20 years or more. But if the pool has been acid washed too frequently, the pebbles begin to loosen and dislodge. The colored cement between the stones leaches out over time, leaving a surface that looks nothing like the original. When the pebbles start going, resurfacing is the right move. If you are open to exploring what a fresh finish could look like, Alan Smith Pools carries several pool finish options, including PebbleTec, quartz blends, and custom plaster finishes with significantly longer lifespans.
9. Rebound Cracks in Steps and Benches
This one traces back to a poor trade practice that was common for years in the gunite industry. When gunite is applied under high pressure, a material called rebound forms: sand that bounces off the wall and falls away from the application area. This material has minimal cement content and should be discarded. Instead, it was often collected and used as filler on steps and benches. Years later, it separates from the sound gunite, forming cracks along the edges of steps and benches. If you see this pattern, patching or a full resurface is the appropriate next step depending on the extent of the damage.
10. Paint or Fiberglass Failure
Pool paint and fiberglass overlays are less expensive options that some homeowners turn to when they want to avoid the cost of replastering. The problem is that these surfaces typically last only a few years before they begin to delaminate, chalk up, or cloud the water. The long-term cost of re-applying these temporary fixes usually exceeds what a proper replaster would have cost upfront. The right repair is to remove the failed material and replace it with plaster or pebbles.
Schedule a Free Pool Evaluation with Alan Smith Pools
Don’t let any of these problems sit until they become something more serious. Alan Smith Pools has been serving Orange County, LA County, and the Inland Empire since 1981, with more than 35,000 completed projects and a team that knows pool surfaces inside and out. Call us at (714) 628-9494 or schedule a free pool evaluation online to find out exactly what your pool needs and what it will take to get it back in shape.
