Roofing Nail Rust Stains

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CreedenceTapes

CreedenceTapes

Well-known member
Nov 30, 2023
54
Tampa Bay Area
Pool Size
12000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
I'm a new owner of an old pool. The seller replaced the roof before we purchased, and they let roofing nails sit in the water while the house was on the market. There are several nail-sized rust stains.

I tried scrubbing one with a Vitamin C tablet and couldn't tell that it had any effect whatsoever. I have read the Wiki entry on Ascorbic Acid Treatments and would probably wait till winter before trying that. (Our pool stays open year round.)

In further reading, I have come across CuLator. Is there any chance that putting it in my skimmer basket would have a noticeable effect on highly localized rust stains from roofing nails, or is that more intended for high-iron water with widespread, lighter staining?
 
Culator is not going to help you.

Show us pics of the stains. I am surprised the Vitamin C did not work.
 
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Newdude said:
Cu is copper on the periodic table. So CuLater a cutesy name to see the copper later. It's not for iron. The only thing it removes is the money in your wallet. :)
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Ah, yeah, that makes sense. They claim that it removes a number of different metals, but I'm more inclined to trust TFP than their marketing materials.
 
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Do you have any of the nails you pulled out of the pool?
 
Did you remove the nails yourself ?

Or were there nails in the pool that they removed that coincided with rebar rust poking through ?
 
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Newdude said:
Did you remove the nails yourself ?

Or were there nails in the pool that they removed that coincided with rebar rust poking through ?
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Heh. Yeah, I removed a few myself and the robot got a few too.

So what's to be done about rebar rust? Get used to it? There are other spots that look the same.

There are definitely some marks that coincided with nails that I retrieved myself, but I haven't tried vitamin C on any but the pictured rust. I suspect they'll respond better
 
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Newdude said:
It can be chipped out and patched (underwater).
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I suppose that's a job for a PebbleTec rep. (?)

Newdude said:
It may take many tries to lighten with Vit C if the nails sat so long to make such wide stains. It's probably pretty deep.
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At least you've saved me the trouble of trying to scrub out the rebar stains with vitamin C tablets.

It might be time to get the scuba gear out of storage for the nail marks.
 
Newdude said:
Nothing says they are rebar, it's just a possibility. Maybe the nails sat there so long they left big stains which will take many attempts.
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Ah, thanks. Next time I get in I'll do an inventory. My memory at this time is that at least a few of them are crescent shaped, but I'll have a better idea of what to look for now that I know that there's a such thing as rebar rust creeping through the finish.
 
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CreedenceTapes said:
know that there's a such thing as rebar rust creeping through the finish.
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The wire ties holding said rebar often poke through and may even look like rusted nails or stains. Or the rebar itself is too close to the now worn finish and it's bleeding through.

You found actual rusted nails. So that's the working hypothesis at the moment. :ROFLMAO: But the other 2 are always possible also. Or some combo of the 3. (y)
 
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That one pic does not look like rebar rusting. It is too symmetrical.

The rust stain could be deep due to how long the nail sat there.

I would try a paste of Vitamin Ccin a sock held over the stain for a length of time.

If that fails they make a pipe you can hold over a stain and pour acid down to spot treat a stain. That should nuke it.
 
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