Acid wash or resurface, which one does your pool need?

What an acid wash really does

The pool is drained and a diluted acid is washed over the surface to strip off a thin layer, taking the stains with it. Because each wash removes some plaster, a surface can only take a few of them before it gets thin and rough.

Acid attacks the cement in every finish, quartz and pebble included, and a newly plastered quartz pool shouldn't be acid washed at all. Ask the contractor how strong a wash they plan to use.

Where the wash water goes is regulated too. Mesa, for example, doesn't allow acid wash water into the storm drain or the sewer, and makes the owner responsible for how it's handled.

Pick an acid wash if

1. Stains only. The surface is still smooth and the problem is discoloration.
2. Younger plaster. The finish has years left and hasn't been acid washed several times already.
3. Short horizon. You plan to sell soon and want the pool to look clean.

Pick resurfacing if

1. It feels rough. Roughness means the finish has worn down, and an acid wash makes that worse.
2. It's cracked or hollow. Cracks, hollow spots and flaking need a new surface.
3. It's been washed before. Stains came back after an earlier acid wash.
4. You're staying. You want something that lasts 10 years or more.

See what resurfacing costs