Acid washing is a deep restoration for pool surfaces that no longer come clean with brushing and chemicals. The pool is drained, a diluted acid solution is applied to the walls and floor to strip stains, scale and embedded algae, then the surface is neutralised, rinsed and the pool is refilled.
There comes a point where a pool is chemically clean and still looks dirty. Grey plaster, a brown ring that will not brush off, black spotting in the corners, calcium scale at the waterline. That is a surface problem, and no amount of shock will fix it.
It removes a thin layer of the surface along with everything embedded in it. Stains from leaves, metals and algae go with it, and the pool comes back several shades lighter. On plaster and gunite pools the difference is usually dramatic.
The pool is drained, which has to be done with care — an empty pool in wet ground can shift or float, and the water table in parts of New Jersey is high enough for that to be a real risk rather than a theoretical one. The solution is applied section by section, worked over the surface and rinsed before it can etch too deeply. Everything is then neutralised and the waste handled properly, not simply flushed into the yard.
This is not a job for a homeowner with a bottle of acid. The chemicals are hazardous, the timing matters, and an over-etched surface cannot be un-etched.
Acid washing suits plaster and gunite surfaces with staining or scale, typically after a pool has been neglected or has sat green for a season. It is not for vinyl liners: a stained or faded liner is replaced, not acid washed — see liner replacement. And it is not something a surface can take repeatedly, because each wash removes material. If your pool needs it every couple of years, the underlying problem is chemistry or circulation, which belongs on pool maintenance.
Before anything is quoted, someone should stand at the edge of the pool and look at it. Some surfaces come back with a wash. Some are past that and need resurfacing, and we would rather tell you that than take money for a job that will disappoint you. Lester Pools is a family-owned company in Jackson working on residential and commercial pools across New Jersey and Staten Island, NY.
Call (732) 961-7196 or use the contact form. Related: pool cleaning.
A selection of our projects, featuring a range of pool services — not just acid washing.
79 Whitesville Road, Jackson, NJ
Residential and commercial pools · New Jersey and Staten Island