gman66 - I completed a remodel of my older pool last August, but a couple of years before that I had the pool man acid wash it.

The pool was drained overnight and the next day the acid solution was applied. He and a helper brushed the walls and the bottom working on some of the spots more intensely. After that they washed it down with clear water to wash off any residue of acid. After that the pool is refilled. There is no painting. Do not paint your pool.

If the plaster is in relatively good shape and the staining is primarily on the surface, you should notice a difference after the acid wash, a brighter clearer water color, but an acid wash will not remove all types of stains.

My pool is an old style kidney shape, roughly 92 ft around and my deep end is also 8 ft. In 2005 it cost me about 500 dollars for the acid wash. It lasted about a year, but I had some deep staining. That's what made me decide to go ahead and resurface it with pebbletec, not to mention my tile and coping was also in bad shape.

Considering the cost to resurface the pool even with plain white plaster, it wouldn't hurt to try the acid wash and see if it works for you, especially if you aren't quite ready to take the resurface plunge. At the least get a couple of opinions on the degradation of the plaster. If the pool is really old, resurfacing is probably the thing to do.

Good Luck!

There are many products on the market that can eliminate plaster stains better than acid washing and will not etch the plaster surface. Ask your pool service man to use the Jack's Magic Stain ID Kit to determine if this process will work for you. It may cost a little more than an acid wash to do the Jack's method, but it does work better.