The best way to clean pool tile???

johnkitchens

We had to have about 25 tiles replaced today and now the others look really bad in comparison/  I looked it up, and it appears to be calcium stains. 

This is not my pic, but a very similar one and close to what I am dealing with. 


In the past we tried using a pumice stone, and that was a joke. It did nothing. The pool guy said to use muriatic acid. I am familiar enough with muriatic acid to know that the idea of using it sounds about as fun as a root canal. 

Have any of you fought this battle and won? I voted for a backhoe and a couple of loads of dirt to solve this problem, but I was outvoted. 

Any help would be appreciated. 

theyolksonyou

@blasting paging dr blasting

johnnyp

For what it's worth, I managed commercial pools for about 7 years.  Muriatic acid works like a dream.  Buy a plastic flower watering pot and dilute the acid 1:1 with water (Acid into water, never water into acid), then add a bottle of dish soap to add some viscosity to the mixture.  Pour along the tile and wash away with a power washer. It'll take an hour, tops 

caliking

A friend had a similar issue and a pool guy hopped in a raft and blasted tiles with some kind of glass beads to clean them up.

johnkitchens

johnnyp said:

For what it's worth, I managed commercial pools for about 7 years.  Muriatic acid works like a dream.  Buy a plastic flower watering pot and dilute the acid 1:1 with water (Acid into water, never water into acid), then add a bottle of dish soap to add some viscosity to the mixture.  Pour along the tile and wash away with a power washer. It'll take an hour, tops 

That sounds like something I can do. So DON'T use straight Muriatic acid? Use a 50/50 mix and then add Dawn dishwashing liquid to the mix? I was thinking of using a spray bottle and then an acid brush. 

I like the idea of a pressure washer better though. I just have to be careful not to mess up my grout with the pressure washer. I have messed up the grout on my brick patio before with my pressure washer. 

Does that sound right? 

johnkitchens

caliking said:

A friend had a similar issue and a pool guy hopped in a raft and blasted tiles with some kind of glass beads to clean them up.

A portable bead blaster would certainly do it, but I don't have one. I have a big one at the shop, but it isn't portable. Thanks for the idea though! 

johnnyp

johnkitchens said:

johnnyp said:

For what it's worth, I managed commercial pools for about 7 years.  Muriatic acid works like a dream.  Buy a plastic flower watering pot and dilute the acid 1:1 with water (Acid into water, never water into acid), then add a bottle of dish soap to add some viscosity to the mixture.  Pour along the tile and wash away with a power washer. It'll take an hour, tops 

That sounds like something I can do. So DON'T use straight Muriatic acid? Use a 50/50 mix and then add Dawn dishwashing liquid to the mix? I was thinking of using a spray bottle and then an acid brush. 

I like the idea of a pressure washer better though. I just have to be careful not to mess up my grout with the pressure washer. I have messed up the grout on my brick patio before with my pressure washer. 

Does that sound right? 

I wouldn't rule out using straight muriatic acid depending on how stubborn the deposits are, but 50/50 normally does the trick.  but the real gem is the flower pot delivery method.  

johnkitchens

@johnnyp You mean a flower watering pot like this? 


If this is right you just pour it on the tile? How long do you wait before you pressure wash it off? 

johnnyp

@johnkitchens yes!  Exactly.  In regards to waiting, no real rules, acid works fast.  pour it on until the watering pot is empty, then hit it with he pressure washer 

johnnyp

If it's extra stubborn, up the acid ratio and hit it with a brush.  

Romain

What @johnnyp said, although we use stiff bristled brooms instead do handscrubbing with a brush.

johnkitchens

Thanks guys. I will let you know the outcome! 

johnnyp

Sounds good.  Remember mix the acid into the water and not the water into the acid.  

Also,  depending on the size of your pool, you may want to add some sodium bicarbonate to help balance out the ph and total alkalinity 

blasting

theyolksonyou said:

@blasting paging dr blasting

@theyolksonyou  thanks yolk.

Yep, this is what I do for a living.  I blast calcium and other scum off pool tile.

I use specialty blasting equipment  - it's a technique somewhat similar to sandblasting.  I use a product called maxxstrip.  Most guys use a glass bead, which will strip your tile of the glaze, so not recommended.  When it's done you would think it is brand new tile - really an amazing process.  Afterwards, if treated with a product called TPS, you can retard the formation of calcium again - at least for a while.  Hopefully you can find someone in your area to take care of it.

All the off the shelf products that you add to water have minimal use, in my experience.

blasting

fyi, I've done lots of pools way worse than your picture, and they turn out like new, providing they haven't been blasted before and the glaze hasn't been damaged by someone using glass bead on it.

Wish I was closer John - I would have been happy to take care of it for you

northGAcock

I may or may not have had a few, but I'm going with having someone else do it. 

johnmitchell

I wouldn't cancel the backhoe guy.. Votes can be bought..

johnkitchens

@blasting Thanks. I wish you were closer as well. I would love to hire you to do this for me. 

tonyled

do not store near or let the muritic acid touch anything metal.  even the fumes will eat through metal and quick like.  avoid breathing the fumes too, very dangerous.

ive used it to clean hard water off toilets and to etch my garage before covering it.  in saying all this its really easy to use if you are careful and is exactly what you need

blasting

tonyled said:

do not store near or let the muritic acid touch anything metal.  even the fumes will eat through metal and quick like.  avoid breathing the fumes too, very dangerous.

ive used it to clean hard water off toilets and to etch my garage before covering it.  in saying all this its really easy to use if you are careful and is exactly what you need

@tonyled   for the future, 3M makes a cartridge filter for their masks for acid fumes.

tonyled

@blasting good to know!

im still pissed about all the rust on my craftsman cabinet i stored the jugs in    wasnt thinking on that one

johnkitchens

If it doesn't rain I will be trying this when I get home after work today. 

rmr62

muriatic is hydrochloric, so it is fine with chlorine pools and works good.  Just protect skin, etc.  I have even used bleach in my pools with some success but it's not as strong as HCl

saluki2007

I would first drink a lot of beer.  Then I would pee on it.  If that didn't work, resort back to step one and try again.

NPHuskerFL

@saluki2007  

johnkitchens

saluki2007 said:

I would first drink a lot of beer.  Then I would pee on it.  If that didn't work, resort back to step one and try again.

I have tried that many times before so far it didn't work. I guess one more time might do the trick. 

blasting

saluki2007 said:

I would first drink a lot of beer.  Then I would pee on it.  If that didn't work, resort back to step one and try again.

I'm going to offer this as an add on service to my clients.  Great idea. 

MotownVol

My pool has a liner so I cant help,

johnkitchens

Okay so I had limited success. I applied the acid, and it helped, but it still didn't all come off. I tried to pressure wash it, but it wouldn't touch the water line area. The only thing that will do it is pumice stone. I burned through a $7.00 pumice stone in a few minutes. 

I am going to pick up some more of these hopefully tomorrow and try to scrub it off. I have had this pool for around 5 years. When I get these tile clean I will never let it go that long again. 

Here a few pics of when the pool was new before we had the cool deck applied. 

theyolksonyou

 I hate your back yard with all my being. 

johnkitchens

I am sore and my hands are bloody, but the tile are clean. The pool deck has also been pressure washed. Afterwards it was determined that the pool deck needs to be sealed again. 

Fun, fun.