Full drain, acid wash,
and a clean refill.
Calcium past 600 ppm, stains that won't spot out, decade-old water you just want gone. A full drain and clean resets your pool to day-one chemistry, but it's only worth doing when there's a real reason, and half the time we'll tell you there isn't one yet.
What’s included
- Submersible-pump drain (24–48 hours for typical residential pool)
- Plaster acid wash, measured pH-buffered solution, no shortcut over-acid
- Stain treatment, metal, copper, organic, chemistry matched to stain type
- Tile band cleaning (calcium line removal)
- Skimmer + main drain interior cleaning
- Refill chemistry reset, Utah-water-aware initial dose for the first 5 days
- Plaster condition report, we tell you honestly if resurfacing is the better call
How it works
Call for an assessment quote. We test calcium, look for stains, age your plaster. Half the customers we see don't need a drain, just a chemistry correction.
Plaster pools should never sit empty more than 5 days, Utah sun pops dry plaster fast. We schedule drain + refill back-to-back over 3 days.
24–48 hour drain, 4–8 hour acid wash depending on staining. We photograph stage-by-stage so you see exactly what the work produced.
Refill takes 18–36 hours on most municipal supplies. We come back to dose the first chemistry, Utah hard water hits a fresh refill hard, and the first 5 days set the season's CSI baseline.
What to know about Utah pools
- Utah hard water (18–24 grains/gallon) means most pools hit "calcium too high to fix with chemistry alone" within 6–8 years of fill, far faster than coastal pools. Drain timing is a real Utah cost.
- Refill water in Northern Utah comes out of the tap at 250–400 ppm calcium. We pre-treat the refill so the first 5 days don't lay down a fresh scale layer on the new acid-washed plaster.
- We assess the pool and quote the work before draining. Chemicals are additional.
- We won't drain a plaster pool in May or October, temperature swings risk plaster shrinkage cracks. April or September is the right window.
Common questions
Do I really need a drain or can chemistry fix it?
How often should a pool be drained?
Can I drain the pool myself to save money?
What if my plaster is in bad shape?
How long is my pool out of service?
Related services
Resurfacing
Plaster cracks, tile falls off, coping spalls, the structural side of pool ownership eventually catches up.
Green-to-clean
Algae can follow a heat wave, pump failure, or a delayed opening.
Equipment repair
Most repairs come up mid-summer, which is exactly when you don't want a broken pump.
Tell us what your pool needs.
Send us your ZIP and a few details. We’ll follow up with pricing and scheduling.