Whether you’re managing a hotel pool or an apartment pool, commercial pools see a lot of use (and hopefully, a lot of fun for residents and guests). Which is why maintaining the pools on your properties is crucial for both safety and longevity. 

Regular upkeep ensures they remain clean, functional, and visually appealing for guests while also preventing costly repairs down the line. In addition to ensuring healthy water for swimmers, proper maintenance helps avoid issues like surface deterioration, water imbalances, and safety hazards such as slippery areas or rough plaster. Consistent care can also extend the life of expensive pool components, ultimately saving money and preserving your hotel or living community’s reputation.

From time to time, this includes pool replastering–the process of removing the old, worn-out plaster surface from the interior of a swimming pool and replacing it with a new layer of plaster or a similar material. This is typically done to restore the pool’s aesthetics, ensure a smooth and safe swimming surface, and address issues like cracks, stains, or rough texture that can develop over time. 

It’s a significant process that involves draining the pool, prepping the surface, applying the new plaster, and allowing it to cure before refilling the pool with water. In this blog, we’ll get into some detail on the reasons for pool replastering, as well as what you can do to keep the need for replatering to a minimum. 

Pool Replastering is Often Required After Natural Deterioration from Commercial Pool Use, Exposure to Pool Chemicals and the Elements, and Pool Wear and Tear

Part of a plaster pool’s long-term maintenance cycle should include the need for pool replastering. In the best case scenario, the average lifespan of pool plaster is between 10-15 years. Plaster naturally degrades over time with exposure to water, sunlight, and weather, as well as wear and tear.  

As we mentioned, hopefully, the pools on your properties are drawing people in, being enjoyed, and seeing a lot of use. However, this high traffic can also add up to wear and tear on the pools, both from simply the physical impact from swimmers and pool equipment, as well as debris. Constant exposure to pool chemicals, including chlorine and bromine, can take its toll as well. You’ll notice wear and tear in the form of cracks or chips in the pool plaster.

While wear and tear is natural and inevitable, you can also take steps to limit its impact and prevent the early need to replaster. Consistent maintenance, cleaning, and upkeep helps, including the prompt removal of debris–especially following big storms or winds. Ensuring your pool water maintains a healthy chemical balance, so you don’t overuse chemicals, is another key.

Temperature and Environmental Factors Leading to Commercial Pool Replastering

Regular weather, water, and sunlight exposure will contribute to a natural cycle of wear and tear on pool plaster, but extreme weather cycles–including freeze/thaw cycles, extreme heat, and large storms, such as hurricanes–can speed that cycle up. 

When extreme weather happens, ensure you’re taking the right steps to properly prep your pools and recover them. For example, heavy rains can cause groundwater levels to swell dramatically, quickly, and while it may seem like a good idea to drain your pool beforehand, this can cause your pool lining to float and even crack. 

In cases of extreme heat, monitor water temperature levels as prolonged exposure to high temperatures can cause plaster to become brittle. If for any reason you have to drain your pool during high heat, use a pool cover to protect it from UV exposure and high temperatures. A pool plaster sealant can also help prevent plaster from UV damage, as well as increase stain resistance and defend against erosion. 

When you have advance notice of weather events, inspect your pool and pool systems before, checking for water leaks–that can cause drops in water levels and impact plaster integrity–and proper filtration. Always inspect pool and pool systems following weather events too, addressing any small cracks or other issues promptly before they get worse.

Commercial Pool Chemical Damage and Imbalance is a Leading Cause of Pools Requiring Replastering

There are multiple reasons why maintaining properly balanced pool water is one of the most important parts of pool management. For starters, it’s how you keep your guests and residents healthy. From irritation and disease caused by chemical overuse, to the easy spread of disease caused by chemical underuse, balanced water means water that is safe and healthy to swim in. Germs and organic matter are sanitized, while water does not irritate skin or eyes. 

This means maintaining proper pH and chemical levels at all times. 

However, improperly balanced pool chemicals also wreak havoc on the pool itself. When chlorine levels are too high, they form corrosive acids that damage and rust metal parts both in and around the pool. 

If calcium hardness levels are too low, this will also cause plaster to crack–as water will pull calcium out of plaster and concrete in order to reach equilibrium in the water. 

Your pool’s pH should be maintained between 7.4 and 7.6. Below 7.0, the pool water is acidic, which is also corrosive. Not only will it irritate and sting swimmers’ eyes and noses, and dry out their skin, but it will cause etching in your pool plaster as well as any tiling, grout, and stone. Like chlorine, it will also corrode any metals. If left consistently at this level, you will have to replaster your pool surface well before the average 10 year mark.

Conversely, a pH above 7.6 indicates alkaline water that will reduce chlorine’s ability to kill bacteria, and allow bacteria and algae buildup, scale formation, and corrosion. 

Commercial Pools Showing Staining and Discoloration–and Acid Washing too Frequently also Create the Need for Pool Replastering

Minerals, metals, algae, and other organic materials that can build up over time with unbalanced water chemistry will also cause staining on your pool plaster–staining that can also become persistent and unresponsive to regular cleaning. 

Often, pool managers will turn to acid washing pools to remove persistent stains. While acid washing, done with muriatic acid, is effective, it’s also highly aggressive. As an acid, it’s more than a stain remover–it’s a surface remover, etching and dissolving the outer surface of your pool. This can cause permanent damage, including rough surfaces, surface cracking, and even discoloration. 

Ironically, while you may turn to acid washing as a less expensive stain removal method and in hopes of avoiding replastering, acid washing too frequently can lead to an early need to replaster. 

A rough pool surface can be uncomfortable for swimmers, leading to complaints, but it also makes an easy harbor for bacteria and algae–exacerbating cleanliness, staining, and maintenance challenges. An uneven or abrasive pool surface will require pool replastering. 

There are a few ways you can prevent the need to acid wash, as well as alternative stain removal methods to try first. 

Preventative maintenance, of course, is going to be your best defense against algae, minerals, and staining. Keep consistent, thorough cleaning and maintenance habits and schedules and ensure proper maintenance of your water circulation and filtration systems. As we mentioned, take care to promptly remove debris and perform any necessary cleaning following storms or winds. Address even minor issues right away; just like keeping up with regular car maintenance, such as oil changes, does, addressing small issues promptly helps prevent larger issues from developing in your pools. 

If you’re struggling with algae or persistent staining, try adding consistent brushing to your cleaning and maintenance routine. If this doesn’t work, there are still other, less aggressive stain removal methods you can try that may help you remove stains while preventing the need for early replastering. 

Structural issues, Including Water Leaks and Pool Resurfacing

Water leaks are not only expensive, but they can cause major damage over time. Leaking water can weaken the pool's structure over time and can cause plaster to crack or deteriorate, while also causing pressure changes that affect the pool’s surface and weaken the pool shell.

Water loss can also cause isolated areas of the pool to become underfilled, or improperly balanced–which again, can cause algae, bacteria, mineral buildup, and stains that can be stubborn and difficult to remove. Improperly balanced and constantly fluctuating water levels also make it difficult to regain water chemical balance, causing the issues we identified above, including corrosion and scale formation.

Key takeaways on Pool Replastering

The pools you manage at your properties will naturally require pool replastering every 10-15 years, thanks to weather exposure, use, and other causes of natural wear and tear. However, several factors–from structural issues to improperly balanced water–can speed that cycle up, and cause the need for early replastering. 

Keeping on top of regular maintenance and cleaning, and addressing any issues, including leaks, early and promptly, will go a long way towards helping extend the lifespan of pool plaster. 

Water quality and maintenance is especially critical, as pH levels that are either too high or too low can quickly cause major structural and health issues, as can improper chemical levels. While proper chemical balances can be tricky, PoolShark H2O’s simple app can do the complex pool math equations for you automatically, in seconds, making it simple. As a digital logbook and maintenance system, it locks pool chemical test results and adjustments, making them 100% Health Department compliant and alerting managers and owners when pools go untested for more than 24 hours or require attention.