I used boulder creek cliffstone. The color is a combo of apache and montour. http://www.bouldercreekstone.com/stone/CS/Cliffstone
The tile, I ended up getting from Lowes. It's a nice thick, porcelain. They had a lot to choose from. I would definately do it again. Everything is working great. I only have three small issues. I'm not really thrilled with the light coming out of the waterfalls. The fiber isn't very bright and seems to be a little splotchy. I made the spillway a little high in the spa so now the waterline is high on the tile when the spillway is on. I also made the jets a little low so the gunite guys made the seats deeper to compensate. So coupled with the high waterline, shorter people may sit a little low but I havnt gotten in yet to test it out. I'm also not too happy with waterway plastics in general. Two of the nine jets wont stay in. The skimmer (renegade venturi) seems to be a bad design. It's very hard to get the plugs in the venturi line and create a loop between the suction and main drains for pressure testing. Also the venturi doesnt return to the pool, the suction pulls it down before it can make its way into the return nozzle. I think I will just plug the venturi port. The jets arent as strong as I would like them...yet. Still working on that. I'm not sure if it's lack of flow or lack of air. Other than those small things, I'm very happy with the way everything came out.

Hi N8
I took the time and sat down and read through all 9 pages and you have created on heck of a pool for the 30K you said it have cost you. Awesome results

Does fresh plaster initially raise the temp of the pool due to a thermal reaction of the curing process or is it just my dark plaster and shallow water that is making it so warm? My pool water was 84° on Saturday and the air was only 74°. I didn't believe the temp on the heater and the Jandy even though the water felt warm so I bought a thermometer and sure enough, they all agreed.

Night pics. Some I used a slow shutter speed for affect. Others I used a normal mode to give you an idea of how bright the lights are.

more pics

still more.

2 more

Really nice job, dude!

I second that

I third that

Very cool, how many and what kind out lights did you use? The color is very nice.

Dude that looks sick!

Congrats. The lighting came out really nice and now I see how well everything space and style wise fits the space. I just hope my pool lights up as well as yours. Can you let me know how many lights and where and why you placed them there?I actually start the real plumbing work today and have to decide where to put a third Intellibrite. Also with a 12 foot spa do you recommend one or two lights in spa.

Awesome job! That is one incredible pool.

Been busy for a while so I havnt had time to post. The lights... 3 Savi Melody's. Two in the pool one in the spa. I think even with a 12' spa, one would look good. The waterfalls are lit by 3 savi melody fiber drivers - one per waterfall. Now that I have the grass back in shape on the other side, so that it wont appear like my pool took up the whole yard, I'll try to get some more pics of the entire yard this weekend. Can't wait to start the outdoor kitchen (far left in the pic) but I still have so many little things left and I'm BROKE. The pool went a lot faster than I expected so my cash burn rate was subsequently much higher.
The main things that I have left before the outdoor kitchen are;
audio/video - all the wiring is in but I need the recievers, speakers (green boxes in pic), tv mounts, amps, etc... Going to do the inside and out all in one shot so that they will all be integrated nicely.
outdoor furniture - I need some nice cozy chairs for around the fire pit (red circle) and some lounge chairs for the raised area by the spa. I'm also going to build a bench by the fire pit along the retaining wall. My mom volunteered to sew me some nice cushions for it.
New fence across the front where the tractor came in.
Paint the house...the list goes on and on. I don't think I'll ever be truely done!

The AV system is something I had not considered in my own build. Did you run the cables during
pool construction? I have extra conduit and need to run drainage to house. Perhaps I should add a conduit there for speaker wire?

Any time that you have open trenches and can run additional lines; do it! Conduit is cheap, so if you don't do anything with it you aren't out much

Live water, low voltage lighting, speaker wire, cable, etc. are all easier to run once it is done as opposed to having to dig new trenches later (I hate to dig!)! Just watch your sweeps (no more than 4 in any run or you won't be able to pull through it! If you can stay at 3 it will be even easier!).

Yeah, I ran all my conduit before hand. Me and a buddy, http://www.avlynx.com/ pulled over 600' of wire. I think he said I'm good for up to 16 speakers. We also pulled some wire down to the far side for the future directv receiver in the outdoor kitchen. I ran it all into a junction (pull) box at the pad then back down into the garage where I am going to build a cabinet on the wall that joins the house. Ill cut a hole in the wall so it's accesible to either side. The back of the equipment will be accesible in the garage for easy wiring. The front is in the inside of the house, laundry room cupboard, to access the amps and stuff. Then I plan to use an RF remote that can be used anywhere.

It looks like a resort...are you taking reservations?

I just purchased a DIY Inground Pool Kit. Already talked to a guy who will be doing the excavating and concrete work. Just waiting on the dig sheets so I can go down to city hall to get permits.
In the mean time, I'm trying to figure out the best place to put the pumping station.
Once we get started, I'll have pictures up.