Pool Acid Wash & Drain-and-Clean FAQ

Most residential acid washes run $300–$800. Larger or heavily stained luxury pools run $700–$1,200 or more. Price is driven by pool size, plaster condition, and stain severity. We quote flat from photos, and the quote is free.

It's a periodic restoration, not a weekly cleaning. We drain the pool completely, wash the bare plaster with a diluted muriatic acid solution to strip stains, calcium, and algae plus a thin layer of old plaster, then neutralize, run a chlorine bath, refill, and rebalance the water.

Roughly every 3–5 years for a plaster pool, or as a rescue when a pool goes green or gets badly stained. It's not something to do more often than needed — each wash removes plaster, so over-washing shortens the surface's life.

Only a handful of times over a plaster surface's life, because each wash removes a thin layer. Once the plaster is thin, mottled, or showing aggregate, another wash does more harm than good and it's time to resurface. We'll tell you honestly when you've reached that point.

The City of Chandler requires pool water to go to your sanitary sewer cleanout — the black 3–4 inch capped pipe near the house — at no more than 12 gallons per minute, or onto your own landscaping. Draining to the street storm drain is prohibited unless you request a city exception. We handle the drain the legal way.

No permit is needed if the water goes to your sanitary sewer cleanout or stays on your property. A permit-style exception is only required if you can't locate the cleanout and need to drain to the street. We deal with this as part of the job.

Sometimes a lightly green pool can be recovered by balancing chemistry and running the filter. But a pool that's dark green, black, or full of debris is usually faster and cheaper to drain and clean than to chemical-treat. We'll tell you which your pool is.

Calcium scale from Chandler's hard tap water. As pool water evaporates in the heat, calcium concentrates and cements onto the tile and plaster. Brushing won't remove it — it needs bead blasting or acid treatment. See calcium and scale removal.

A drain-and-clean drains the pool and pressure-washes the surface without acid — good for debris and mild algae. An acid wash goes further, using acid to strip embedded stains, calcium, and a thin plaster layer down to fresh white surface. Acid wash costs a bit more and does more.

The drain, wash, and neutralize is usually a day of work. Draining takes several hours on its own, and refilling from the hose takes a day or more depending on pool size, so plan on a couple of days from empty to swimmable.

Not when it's done right — kept wet, worked in sections, in the cooler part of the day. Done wrong (dry plaster, too strong a solution, uneven application) it can etch the surface unevenly. That's the whole reason to hire someone who does this constantly rather than a generalist.

Yes, but carefully and usually at a milder concentration than bare white plaster. Pebble and quartz finishes are common in newer Chandler pools, and calcium and light staining come off well. Heavy calcium on pebble is often better handled with bead blasting on the tile and a gentle surface treatment.

The water is on your city bill. A residential refill uses several thousand gallons and typically adds $60–$200 to your Chandler water bill depending on pool size and rates. We estimate it for you before draining. Truck-delivered water is an option for large pools at several hundred dollars and up.

No. We specialize in acid washing, drain-and-clean, calcium and tile work, and resurfacing prep — periodic restoration jobs. For weekly route service we can point you to someone who does that.

Spring through early summer is peak season — pool openings, algae blooms, and less overnight evaporation. Fall and winter work fine and often schedule faster. We work year-round; the main thing is to acid wash during the cooler part of the day so the plaster doesn't dry out.

Yes. Work is performed by licensed, insured local pool professionals. Every quote is free and flat — you get a real price before any work starts.

Chandler and the surrounding southeast Valley: Gilbert, Sun Lakes, Ahwatukee, and Tempe. Most are a short drive from our Chandler hub, so we can get to a green or stained pool quickly.

Four filters do most of the work: confirm the crew is licensed and insured, insist on a flat written price from photos rather than an open-ended hourly rate, ask how they drain — the right answer names your sewer cleanout and Chandler's 12-gallon-per-minute limit — and ask whether your plaster can even take another wash. A company that answers all four without hedging is worth hiring; one that dodges them is practicing on your pool.

If you're in Chandler, yes — Ocotillo, Fulton Ranch, Clemente Ranch, Circle G, and the older central neighborhoods off Arizona Avenue, Alma School, and Dobson are all home turf. We also cover Gilbert, Sun Lakes, Ahwatukee, and Tempe from the Chandler hub. Include your cross streets with your photos and we'll confirm a scheduling window.

When the plaster still has healthy thickness, very much so — a $300–$800 wash can make a tired surface look near-new, while a full replaster runs thousands. The math flips once the plaster is thin: at that point a wash buys almost nothing, and the smarter use of the money is resurfacing. We tell you which side of that line your pool is on before you spend anything.

Usually, yes. Photos of the whole pool, the worst staining, and the waterline are all we need, and quotes typically go out the same day they come in. Scheduling the work depends on the season — spring and early summer book fastest — but the quote itself doesn't wait.