Local Pool Renovations

Asbestos in swimming pools can be more common than you might think, find out more information about Marble-sheen & Asbestos here.

Marblesheen


Marblesheen is a pool interior coating that is rendered over the pool concrete, marblesheen consists of crushed white marble and white cement.

Marblesheen no longer gets installed in swimming pools & has a reputation for deteriorating, becoming unstable, and crumbling away from the pool surface.

Most alarming is that Marblesheen in many cases is known in the pool industry to contain asbestos, even though many pool owners are unaware.

Where is Marblesheen found in pools?

Marble-Sheen is rendered over the top of the concrete pool shell.

Marblesheen_render_concrete_swimming_pool_asbestos Asbestos in Swimming Pools - Local Pool Renovations

See this diagram below to understand where Marblesheen is installed & located.

Marble_Sheen_Pool_Asbestos_Marblesheen_Interior Asbestos in Swimming Pools - Local Pool Renovations

Can a pool have Asbestos?

Yes, a pool can contain asbestos.

Marblesheen is the most widely known swimming pool product to contain asbestos.

In many swimming pools we have noticed asbestos products such as cement sheeting from the 60's & 70's that was used to hold the top of the skimmer box into place, in most cases the sheeting was tiled over making it hard to notice until the removal was done.

Asbestos in Marblesheen

Prior to 1984 asbestos mixed within the marblesheen was very common practice, however asbestos has been found in Marblesheen pools built up to around 1990, so any marblesheen pool should be tested for asbestos.

The most common type of asbestos found in Marblesheen is chrysotile also known as white asbestos, while it is the most common in Marblesheen it is not the only type of fibre that can be detected, in some instances organic fibres including horse hair can be found in cementitious products.


For more information regarding asbestos you can learn more here Asbestos Information

What does Marblesheen look like?

Identifying Marblesheen

Marblesheen can be tricky to identify.

It can take many forms and develop many colour patterns over the years. The first step is your pool colour, a white/grey Marblesheen when filled with water typically makes your pool look like a light sky-blue colour, though this alone means nothing unless the pool is emptied.

  1. The most dangerous and highly disguised Marblesheen pool is a painted pool, Painting a swimming pool will hide the marblesheen making it difficult to recognise until a piece of the pool surface is taken for testing, in some cases the paint may be deteriorated enough to identify the marblesheen.
  2. Greenish stains, from chemical burns or metals in the water can sometimes disguise Marblesheen.
  3. Deteriorated spots is usually a good indicator, if you know the pool surface has never been renovated. (Though this can also occur in Quartzon)
  4. Little spiders web cracks or larger cracks throughout the pool surface.
  5. Marblesheen started as white, and can still be white or greyish, greenish white/grey, stained and offwhite / yellow-ish, Unless painted.

Marblesheen zoomed in has small crushed pieces of white/greyish Marble.

Asbestos_Marblesheen_magnified_Close_detection_recognition_compare_see_What_is Asbestos in Swimming Pools - Local Pool Renovations

How to recognise Marblesheen

Here are some photos to help you recognize Marblesheen in a swimming pool, it is important to remember that Marblesheen can have these features individually as well as a combination of all of some or all of them!

Grey Marblesheen

Marblesheen was intended to be white since the main ingredient in the Marble mixture is white cement, many factors can come in to change the look of Marblesheen, time is the biggest culperate for any changes in the look and feel of the Marblesheen.