If the finish is more than a week old and the techs added the salt in more than one location and were careful when they brushed, you should be fine but let him know verbally and in writing. If the finish got messed up from overly aggressive brushing, it's an expensive thing to fix and shouldn't come out of your pocket.

Can you see any issues at this point? If not, you should be safe.

Scott

Thanks Scott as always for the quick follow up! I shot an email off to the folks at PT/PS and here was their response back to me. I do feel much better at this point but obviously need to stay on top of it. Sorry for the long response here:

I have had a recent application of Pebblesheen to our new pool.

Salt was added to the pool 6 days after start up and the pumps had been running. Im getting feedback that the minimum number of days before salt should be added is 30.

Should I be concerned about this and if so, what steps do I need to take in regards to discussing with my pool builder?

Thanks in advance.

PT/PS response:

Thank you for your choice of Pebble Sheen pool finish. (The concern with adding salt is the potential for tiny amounts of minerals in the salt. Although it may be fine to start a salt-system right away, pool contractors and service companies have various opinions and experiences with starting these systems.

1. The most conservative answer is to wait 30 days before adding the salt to the pool water and starting the salt system. You can use liquid or tablet chlorine in the meantime. Just a couple of tablets in a floater is fine. Do no shock the pool for 10 days from the date of installation. There is a remote possibility that minerals in the salt could make a stain on the new finish. You want to protect the finish while it is curing in those first 30 days to prevent any stains from minerals, chemicals and etc. After 30-days it is easier to remove any stain.

2. It is common to hear a recommendation to wait 10-days before starting the salt system. It is less conservative, but the contractor/service may have had good experience with waiting 10-days and don't see any need to wait longer.

3. Some contractors/services start the system right away. There is very minimal risk of staining and they may have had good experience doing it this way.

My response back:

Denise, thanks so much for the quick response as I was quite worried with some of the feedback I had received.

My PB has been in business for 30 years and had used PT/PS products since it was introduced with little or no issues.

As far as salt systems, I know that he typically adds salt within the first couple of weeks and has been doing that for an extended period of time with no problems.

I just wanted to be sure that adding salt so soon was within the the PT/PS guidelines and would not impact any warranty issues. This will not correct?

PT/PS response:

Your pool finish should be fine. If you donÂt see any stains or rust spots on the surface then it is likely that the salt he uses is typically free from minerals and wouldnÂt cause any stains on the surface anyway. If you notice a stain of any kind within the first 30 days from the day the finish was installed, report it right away so it can be cleaned off and not get set-into the surface. After the finish has cured for 30-days if you do get a stain on the surface, it is unlikely to become set-in and could be cleaned off more easily. (In 9-years of answering customer questions, I have not ever heard of a case of adding salt too soon causing a problem.) ÂDenise

Scott, i do have one small stain on the first step but that was actually there a day or two after filling the pool. the PB has been advised and he said that he would take care of that issue. other than that i have not seen any stains at all on the interior. We have Pool School on Thursday morning so i will share my concerns with him at that point.

The biggest issue I have seen with pool fills is the fill water. People should test the fill water for metals and phosphates in addition to normal pool parameters.

Metals can stain. The metals can be sequestered so they don't attach to the walls.

Phosphates are algae food and can reduce chlorine's ability to do it's thing in elevated levels. The phosphates treated for after the 1st month.

I generally check the hose water beforehand and encourage other to do so also.

Scott

Salt was added to our PebbleSheen pool immediately after filling 3 years ago. There were no problems then and have been none since.

i didn't think about this until tonight but just wanted to say that i hope that me posting this conversation with the pebbletec folks did not offend any of the pool builders on this forum. that certainly was NEVER the intent. although your answers and comments are on the mark, the feedback in regards to the salt addition into the pool left me extremely uneasy and felt that i needed to go directly to the source to help me understand your comments and why my PB treats new installations of PT/PS the way he does. so with that said, if anyone was offended, please accept my sincerest apologies. as always i appreciate your comments during our building process as your information proves to be invaluable to those of us that frankly have no idea as to what we are doing! thanks again.

I am going to be more analytic and scientific here, because some of the explanation is a little over my head.

When water has a high pH it makes it so the minerals will precipitate out of the water.

When plaster, of pebbletech is curing the pH tends to drift upwards. The high pH causes the high concentration of salt, and calcium to precipitate out of the water.

I have seen this on a few pools. We have also made it policy to wait 30 days after an acid wash, because the plaster tends to act in the same fashion after the acid wash.

Usually the damage is immediately noticeable. If the finish looks good, you will be ok.

sorry to keep harping on this subject but fighting irish/david mention that "etching" could occur due to adding the salt so early. can someone tell me exactly what i would be looking for if this were taking place?

thanks all!

Interesting article in Aqua Mag

Just-a-pb...thanks for the article, I've already printed out 2 copies!! I'm curious how Australia handles these issues since they have been using salt water generators for a very long time?? It looks like I can turn our pool chemistry into a science with the loss of electrons and need for hard metals...interesting!

Thanks!
Tara

I'd bet in Australia, they say "Used in the USA since 19XX"

Another helpful article....

http://www.intec-america.com/resources/SaltWaterPools.asp

HTH!
Tara

HA on Australia!! I can't find many articles on corrosion for their systems...think it's just us catching up to the system and tweaking it after the fact...