If you have a pool, it is extremely important that you properly maintain the water in the pool. If you fail to, the minerals in the water can affect the pool tiles, grout, and liner. If calcium has built up on your pool tiles, there are several ways to remove it. If the calcium is thick and scrubbing methods don't work, a professional may have to blast the tiles. When they do, they use one of three different blasting methods. Learning about the blasting methods can help you request the type that makes the most sense for your pool. Here are the three tile blasting methods that are used for pool calcium removal.
Glass Bead Blasting
Glass bead blasting involves blasting your tiles with small, round glass beads. This is a great way to remove oil and calcium from pool tiles. The advantage to glass bead blasting is that it is relatively inexpensive. The glass beads can be used again and again making them relatively affordable. They also will not affect the balance of your pool's water because the beads are all cleaned up and removed from your pool after they are used. The disadvantage to glass bead blasting is that it can take some time to remove all of the glass beads, so it is not the fastest method.
Salt Blasting
Salt blasting involves shooting kieserite mineral salt at your tiles using a low pressure shooter. When mixed with water, this type of salt creates a burst or fizzing action that helps to remove calcium and build up from the tile. The advantage to this type of blasting is that it is safe to use on both soft and hard tiles, including sand stone and ceramic. And the salt has a neutral pH, so it won't throw your pool chemical balance out of whack. The downside to this is that salt blasting may not remove pool calcium that is caked on or has been in place for years.
Soda Blasting
The last type of blasting that can be done to remove calcium buildup from pool tiles is soda blasting. Soda blasting involves shooting baking soda at the tiles. This is not as abrasive as glass bead blasting but is more abrasive than salt blasting. The upside is that this method works well on most tile types and works to remove the pool calcium from tiles in the majority of cases. The downside is that soda blasting can affect the pH balance of your pool's water, meaning you may have to use chemicals to decrease the alkalinity after this is used.
Pool calcium can make your pool tiles look discolored, cloudy, or dirty. If the calcium has been in place for awhile, it can become baked in the tile thanks to the sun. If you have tried scrubbing them clean and can't remove the calcium, a professional pool cleaning service can use glass bead, salt, or soda blasting to remove it.
