Pool Drain and Acid Wash in Flower Mound, TX
Flower Mound Pool Resurfacing handles pool drain and acid wash jobs in Flower Mound, Texas: draining the pool with care for the shell, washing the plaster with diluted acid from the deep end up to lift stains, dirt and efflorescence, neutralizing what is left with soda ash, and refilling. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says a well-maintained pool should need draining only every 3 to 7 years to keep total dissolved solids down.
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What a pool acid wash does
Three meanings of acid wash
The National Plasterers Council's glossary uses the term three ways. One is cleaning a finish by dissolving material on its surface to remove efflorescence, dirt or other stains; another is etching a fresh cementitious coat to expose the aggregate of a new exposed-aggregate finish; the third is a low-strength, diluted acid that removes certain stains, dirt, precipitants or marks with little, if any, of the surface compromised. Efflorescence, in the Council's definition, is soluble compounds, mostly calcium hydroxide, carried to the surface by moisture, where they settle and harden.
Acid washes on new finishes
A new finish gets its own acid treatment. NPT acid washes its StoneScapes finish once it is hard, 4 hours at the least and most often the next day, then pressure-washes it and takes out all the water before the start-up fill. SGM also describes an acid start-up, which it says is also called a no-drain acid wash, for fill water high in alkalinity or hardness: after the fill, muriatic acid takes total alkalinity to zero, the pool is brushed twice a day for 3 days, and then a sequestering agent goes in and soda ash brings the pH back up. Used alone, without water washing, SGM says it gives the least desirable result, with a streaked look.
How finishes and tile take it
Results depend on the finish. SGM's account is that acid washing gave traditional limestone-based plaster only temporary relief and wore it away faster, while its quartz-based Diamond Brite can take an acid wash several times over its life without lasting damage. Universal White Cement, a white cement maker, counts the cost of frequent drain-and-acid washes in years of plaster life, however much whiter the pool looks afterward.
Tile makers keep acid off new tile work. LATICRETE allows no acid-based cleaner on its grouts while they are installed, while they cure or before the pool is filled, and doesn't recommend acid-cleaning a shell before tiling where another method will do, since acid that is poorly diluted or poorly rinsed can damage the concrete and leave chlorides that weaken the bond. Scale along the waterline tile alone is a separate job, covered under pool tile cleaning.
When a wash isn't the answer
Metal stains and abnormal discoloration have treatments of their own, chelating chemicals and the National Plasterers Council's torching process, covered under pool plaster repair. Some stains won't lift at all. SGM says staining that no cleaning or chemical treatment removes, or fading in a colored finish, may justify a new finish even when the old one is otherwise sound, and that is the work of pool replastering.
Flower Mound Pool Resurfacing will talk through whether your finish and its stains suit an acid wash.
Call or request a free estimate any time, 24/7.
(469) 526-3886How a pool drain and acid wash is done
Draining with the shell in mind
Draining carries its own risk: the National Plasterers Council says the interior finish can be damaged any time a pool is drained. Writing for public-pool operators, the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance warns against emptying a pool without precautions, among them making sure the installed hydrostatic relief valves work, and wants the work finished and the pool refilled as quickly as possible. Hayward's relief valve threads into the 1½-inch or 2-inch pipe opening in a main drain sump, over a slotted collector tube, and Pentair explains that such a valve lets groundwater pressure under the pool relieve into it.
Houston engineering guidelines on pools warn that some builders punch holes in the floor of an emptied pool to relieve that pressure, which can cause a leak and, in expansive soil, uplift. River Pools, a fiberglass pool maker, advises owners not to drain a pool themselves and to hire an authorized professional when draining is truly needed. The EPA tells owners to check local rules on pool water discharge before draining, so ask the Town of Flower Mound how the water must be handled before draining and refilling a pool; Building Inspections takes general questions.
Washing from the deep end up
SGM's procedure for its finish starts with proper safety equipment, which it says must be worn at all times. The wash begins in the deep bowl and works up toward the shallow end, the order that keeps streaks, which it calls rivers, off the floor. Walls and steps are washed last, the solution is never left to puddle in the bowl, and an acid-wash additive cuts the fumes and evens out the coverage.
Neutralizing the wash
In SGM's procedure, a sump pump takes the run-off out continuously once it has been diluted and neutralized, and the wash solution is handled according to local requirements. Acid left on the finish is neutralized with soda ash and water to avoid discoloration. SGM's prep for its Bond Kote bond coat treats an acid wash the same way, with neutralization by soda ash to follow.
Chlorine washes and TSP
Not every wash uses acid. Before new plaster goes on, SGM has algae, mold and mildew killed with a chlorine wash, since any left behind leads to discoloration and delamination, and oil and grease taken off with trisodium phosphate and water; its test for oil is to wet the whole shell and look for water beading up.
Flower Mound Pool Resurfacing will talk through draining, washing and refilling your pool, start to finish.
Call or request a free estimate any time, 24/7.
(469) 526-3886
Refilling a pool in Flower Mound
The refill runs under the Town's water rules, which the Town says can change with drought or with water storage and pumping conditions. As of October 2026 no emergency stage is in force, and Flower Mound is working under its Long-Term Water Conservation Plan. Should Stage 1 be declared, the Town's code treats refills after maintenance, and top-ups, as outside water use on that stage's watering schedule; under Stage 2, filling or refilling a pool is allowed only from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m.
At the Town's rate of $8.65 per 1,000 gallons in the 15,001 to 50,000-gallon block, effective October 1, 2026, refilling a 15,000 to 25,000-gallon pool works out to $129.75 to $216.25 when the month's other use already exceeds 15,000 gallons. With less other use that month, part of the refill bills at the lower $5.62 or $7.60 rates; sewer and the minimum charge are separate.
Neighbouring utilities set their own terms. The Lake Cities Municipal Utility Authority, which serves Shady Shores, treats filling or topping up pools as non-essential use and encourages less draining and refilling in its Stages 1 and 2; our page on pool drain and acid wash in Shady Shores covers that town.
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(469) 526-3886Pool drain and acid wash costs
- Acid wash, national average (2026)
- $250–$600
- Acid wash by pool size and condition (national, 2026)
- $120–$1,500
- Acid wash per sq ft of walls and floor (national, 2026)
- $0.40–$0.60
- Full drain and clean, acid wash extra (DFW, 2025)
- from $1,200
- Draining a pool (Dallas, 2026)
- $180–$232
- Cleaning, average (Dallas, 2026)
- $258
Published averages and other companies’ ranges, not our prices; no Dallas–Fort Worth acid-wash figure was found. A real price needs a look at the pool.
Acid washes are priced on the walls and floor together. By 2026 national figures, a pool 10 feet wide, 20 feet long and 6 feet deep has 560 square feet of surface and costs about $280 to acid wash; another set of national figures, from 2025, puts most residential in-ground pools at $300 to $700. Typical Dallas–Fort Worth figures from 2025 start a full drain and clean at $1,200, with acid washing extra.
Call or request a free estimate any time, 24/7.
(469) 526-3886Pool acid wash questions and answers
How much does it cost to get your pool acid washed?
National averages in 2026 run $250 to $600, or $0.40 to $0.60 per square foot of walls and floor, with most homeowners paying between $120 and $1,500 depending on size and condition. Draining and cleaning are often priced separately: Dallas figures for 2026 put draining at $180 to $232 and cleaning at an average of $258.
Is it good to acid wash your pool?
Sometimes. The National Plasterers Council describes a low-strength, diluted acid wash that lifts certain stains with little if any of the surface compromised. But SGM found that acid washing limestone-based plaster brought only temporary relief, and Universal White Cement advises against frequent drain-and-acid washes. Flower Mound Pool Resurfacing will talk through whether your finish and stains suit one.
What kind of acid do you use to acid wash a pool?
Muriatic acid, diluted, in the makers' instructions. SGM's exposure wash for a new finish uses a 25% muriatic acid solution, with soda ash to neutralize the surface afterward, and its shell preparation etches the surface with muriatic acid and water.
Can I acid wash my pool myself?
Weigh what the makers ask for first. SGM requires proper safety equipment at all times and pumps out the neutralized run-off continuously, NPT says the best acid washes on its StoneScapes finish are done by a three-person crew, and River Pools advises owners not to drain a pool themselves. The National Plasterers Council adds that any drain puts the finish at risk.
Is it necessary to acid wash a pool?
Not as routine care. The EPA expects a well-maintained pool to need draining only every 3 to 7 years, and Universal White Cement warns against frequent drain-and-acid washes. Many stains have other answers: chelating chemicals for metals, as the National Plasterers Council describes, and an acid-free calcium remover with a nylon brush for scale on tile, the way Oceanside Glass & Tile does it.
Get a free pool drain and acid wash estimate
Flower Mound Pool Resurfacing answers calls and estimate requests 24/7. Tell us the finish, how old it is, and what the stains look like.