Pool Plastering Guide
What Is MicroGlass?
1. Pool Plaster Is Not Exactly Waterproof
Most people know that pool plaster is comprised of a variety of materials, including Portland cement, plus marble dust and/or quartz and/or other aggregates, and a variety of other chemicals and additives.
But if you put that pool plaster under a microscope, you will see it is not a solid, impervious block of material. In fact, it is full of tiny voids and capillaries, which are a result of water and other liquids exiting the plaster during the curing process.
It is because of these voids that pool water can enter the plaster matrix and react with the calcium hydroxide and other materials in the plaster. That is why a freshly plastered pool will often have you working to stabilize the pH and total alkalinity.
2. Pool Plaster Reacts With Pool Water
Most people know that maintaining a stable pH and total alkalinity in a safe zone is vital to protecting your pool plaster and other parts of your swimming pool. Similarly, most people know that when the water chemistry is out of balance, your pool plaster may be damaged or do things you do not want it to do.
3. Calcium Nodules
Some of the more visible examples of pool water reacting with the calcium hydroxide in the plaster are fading plaster color and the formation of small white calcium deposits on your pool finish. These can be unsightly, and they can feel like small barnacles on your feet.
Note
Calcium nodules and “scale” are two different things. Scale comes from minerals in the water, not from the plaster.
Calcium nodules are a direct result of the interaction between pool water chemistry and the pool plaster.
Plaster etching, spalling, color loss, and shortened lifetimes are other common side effects of chemicals interacting with the plaster.
4. How MicroGlass Fills the Voids
MicroGlass is not a “waterproofing agent,” nor a paint or coating, or anything remotely like that.
The source article describes MicroGlass as a process that penetrates the pool plaster matrix by up to half an inch and chemically converts and displaces the soft, vulnerable calcium hydroxide with small, harder glass-like silicates.
By removing much of the calcium hydroxide and filling many of the voids and capillaries with MicroGlass, the application is intended to reduce chemical interactions between the plaster and the pool water.
5. MicroGlass Is Not a Temporary Fix
The source article describes the MicroGlass application as “one and done.” When the process is complete, the plaster is described as improved and hardened. The silicates do not revert back to calcium hydroxide. The source article says the process would not need to be applied again until if and when the pool is completely re-plastered.
6. MicroGlass Was Not Invented Yesterday
The source article says MicroGlass has been used on hundreds of swimming pools in the United States for more than 15 years, with results on different types of pool interior finishes, both new and old, in different environments.
The source article describes MicroGlass as a product and process that hardens new and old plaster, may extend the life of plaster, and may help protect it from etching, spalling, color loss, nodules, and shortened lifetimes while simplifying water chemistry management.
Talk to Sac Pool Pros About Pool Plaster and Surface Options
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