Diamond Brite Start up procedure

[cdocon]

Hello all. We are on week 5 of our owner/builder pool construction. So far, so good. We were supposed to do our plaster/Diamond Brite today, but it has rained for the past 3 days. No good, for a truck to come in or for the finish. So we are tentatively planning for Thursday. My question is this: We are getting conflicting reports on how to start up. We have found sites that mention a few rules:
*DO NOT SWIM DURING THE BREAK IN PERIOD
*Fill with water immediately
*When the pool is full, add a startup dose of sequestrant
*Brush the entire pool at least once a day for the first week and at least once a week for the rest of the first month.
*DO NO ADD salt or turn on the SWG until 30 days after the plaster was applied.

My kids are dying to get into this pool. Another site said to wait 4-6 days before getting in the water.

The SGM site states to delay the filling by a few hours or until the next day, but to not let the plaster dry too quickly as it may crack.

We are a little overwhelmed. It is such a large investment, that we do not want to mess it up. Advice is very welcome.

Also, I would love to share photos, but am not sure how to do that for the forum.

David and Katrina

[aylad]

Hi cdocon,

I posted a response to this thread in the other one that you had posted, so here's the short version....

Ask the folks who are providing the warranty what the startup procedure should be. Even if it differs from what you read in other places, if you don't follow the warrantor's instructions, if something happens to it then you have to pay for the fix.....

You can email your photos to poolforum@gmail.com, and Ben can post them for you. Better to send oversized photos than undersized....

Good to see fellow Louisianians around the forum!

[vinper]

I put in diamond brite french grey, swam in it the 2nd day . brushed it twice a day for 2 weeks. My contractor left the finish milky he said to add murtic acid ,lower ph .. it would clear up ... It really should have been acid washed 1st ,instead of acid soaking.. but 3 years later its cleared up better than it was ... love the color .

[cdocon]

Thanks to both of you for the replies.
Now I have a more urgent problem. The plasterer never showed. He didn't call. He won't answer his phone or return any messages. Now I am a loss as to what to do. No PB will give me the name and number of any pool plasterer because I didn't use them to build the pool!!!
Any help will be appreciated!!
thanks, Katrina

[PoolDoc]

Did you contract the pool yourself?

If so, you need to call the nearest SCP branch, and get plasterer names (not recommendations; don't ask) from them. But, you'll have to understand that you are going to be at the bottom of the list, during the time of year when the list is the longest. EVERYBODY wants their pool done RIGHT NOW when it's warm, and good subs are (1) already busy, and (2) going to give priority to their regular customers (ie, PBs) rather than you.

If you did NOT contract it yourself, than the pool builder should get involved -- it's his job to get qualified subs on the job, on time.

[vinper]

Do you have any of the subs info ... my pool plumber led me to 3 plasterers, 2 decking , and 2 digging guys . there all intertwined. and know each other from jobs

[cdocon]

OMG!! We are done. So excited. Our plasterer came out and did his job (3 days later that he was supposed to), but, HEY!!! It's done. Now we are trying to learn and perfect the BBB method. I'm emailing some photos to pooldoc so we can share in our owner/builder success. Thank you Pool Forum for all your advice. We are definitely going to stay on this site for more info and support!!!! YEAH!
Katrina and David

[aylad]

Congratulations on your new pool!! Make sure when you email the photos to pooldoc that you include either a link to this post or the thread number 15074 so he can match the pics to the right post. We'll be here as you have questions along the way...

Janet