We drained an inground plaster pool to clean and while cleaning knocked on an area which was hollow in 2 foot circles in 3 areas Should we repair this?

Answer 1

If the pool had been left for more than 3 - 4 days under a hot sun you more than likely are having a delamination problem. You say that you only found 3 bad areas ~ I would venture to say that you can or will have more. The delamination will continue long after you refill the pool. Those blisters will eventually pop and start to fall off. The cause of the delam. could have been a direct result of leaving the pool dry for those few days or it certainly could be from age. Is this the original plaster? If this is a replastered pool ~ another cause could be improper prep of the subsurface. You can try to patch the bad spots with a plaster patch material specifically for Swimming Pools but the patch will not match the original plaster and also the patches will be so large you may not be able to do an adequate job in the application. If your old plaster is discolored ~ consider heavily on getting the pool replastered or even consider getting the best quality fiberglass coating available. I will be guessing here but I think your pool plaster is more than 15 years old. I could go on but I think you have the idea by now. Spend the money for the replaster - you will be glad you did.

On another note, if your pool is that old (15 + yrs.) also consider refurbishing, replacing, updating your pool equipment - filter, pump - for a more efficient model - heater. k