Are you Happy w/ Your Custom Blend Pool Finish (StoneScape Mini Peeble)?

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Jaimslaw

Jaimslaw

LifeTime Supporter
Jun 5, 2015
321
San Diego, CA
Going throught the usual angst of choosing a finish. Have committed to Stonescapes mini peeble, either the Tahoe Blue or Tropics Blue. Wondering what any of you might have done to tweak either of these and what was the end result (happy - not happy?).

My pool has a larger than I'd like baja shelf and my spa is front and center so shallow water will reveal less of the deep pool color and. obviously, the actual finish pebble color. I do plan to add a little more abalone and some iridescent 3mm glass beads to the baja shelf and spa; but was curious if any of you tweaked the mix with more blue peebles are adjusting the underlying base color or ???. MY PB hasn't a lot of custom finishes I can go look at . And as we all know, when its in, its in. No looking back if it turns out poorly (symbol for opening a vein).

I've seen some custom Stonescapes Mini Peeble pools on Pinterest and other sites but they usually leave out what formula change was made from the stock finish.

Thanks.
 
I went with NPT Mini-Pebble as well. I like both Tahoe Blue and Tropics Blue. We wanted a very deep blue but not too dark but not too light and as least amount of green as possible. Basically, I tried to get as close as I could to a Windex blue but a shade or so lighter but with ever so slight green so that it would look more natural than Windex. So I tweaked the Aqua blue color formula by paying for double pigment and also added the abalone shell sprinkle for a added layer of interest as well. Sometimes the color of the water looks blue and other times depending on the sun and chemicals it looks more aqua blue which has a slight hint of green to it but still mostly blue. The abalone shell has no effect on color but does give a nice subtle pop of sun reflection sparkle when the sun is out. Hard to explain without pictures. I will try and find some close up pics of the finish for you and post them on this thread.

Maybe you can choose a tan color pebble for the shelf? Like you mentioned shallow water does not allow the color of the water to show so maybe a different color for the shelf with abalone shell for some interest? Glass beads would even be nice as you hinted but those were a big jump in price adder for me so I decided against those.

Regarding regrets... That's a tough one. Your mind will play games with you so trust what your telling yourself regarding your choice and you'll be fine. Color choice is very personal so there is no wrong decision.

By the way, when I asked my pool builder why he didn't have a pool in his own yard (His company does their own plastering - that's their specialty when they started 30 years ago but expanded their business to pool builds as well later)he told me this which at the time didn't make sense but now I understand: "Because I would be plastering my pool over and over again because of two reasons: 1) I can and 2) I wouldn't be 100% happy with the finish or color choice"
 
jv92red said:
By the way, when I asked my pool builder why he didn't have a pool in his own yard (His company does their own plastering - that's their specialty when they started 30 years ago but expanded their business to pool builds as well later)he told me this which at the time didn't make sense but now I understand: "Because I would be plastering my pool over and over again because of two reasons: 1) I can and 2) I wouldn't be 100% happy with the finish or color choice"
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OMG!! I'm so glad you posted this! I really understand how your PB feels! And I don't feel so bad knowing someone else (especially a PB) feels that way, too. I knew I had not seen a pool finish in person that I 'was in love with' like some people say. I was hoping when I saw mine completed, it would be love at first sight. But it wasn't. I don't hate our finish, I'm just sometimes disappointed. I keep wondering what finish would have pleased me, and I came to the conclusion that none of them would have done it a 100%. Maybe out of the millions of colors and combinations, I would have found some. But how many finishes would I have had to go through to find one????

Everyone is so positive about their pool finish and seem to love it which is wonderful. I couldn't help but wonder what is wrong with me???? Thanks for helping me feel a little better.
Suz.
 
I always look at mine and say to myself: "Do I see some green in there? Not Algae green but actual finish tone in the colorant green..." Bugs me on some days and on other days depending on the light and chemicals it looks fine.
 
jv92red said:
I always look at mine and say to myself: "Do I see some green in there? Not Algae green but actual finish tone in the colorant green..." Bugs me on some days and on other days depending on the light and chemicals it looks fine.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I've been so pleased with the even-ness of the color finish. I've read a lot about mottling with the plaster of pebble finishes. I thought at least I didn't have that issue. I knew there were one or two places that if I looked real hard, I thought I saw a hint of something. Our finish is almost a month old. And yesterday was the first real day of rain during the daytime. We came home from errands, and I couldn't believe what I saw. Mottling all over the place and even what looked like scrapes and scratches. It wasn't raining right then, and the sky was in between a dark overcast and a bright overcast. I also thought the pool looked dirty in places, and that was right after the robot had been working for 3 hours. But by late afternoon and in the evening, everything looked the way it had. Man, I hope I don't see that often. So far that's been the only time it looked so bad during the last 3 1/2 weeks.
Suz.
 
jv92red: My tile guy putting in my waterline and trim tile has seen hundreds of pools over his career and says the mimi pebble aqua blue is by far his favorite. Says that the touch of green he sees in it puts his mind in some far off paradise where that color water is predominant. I would go with it in a second if I didn''t have so much shallow areas (spa / baja shelf) which would not give off as much water color (vs if I had a deeper average depth).

My anxiety is not so much the water color as it is the color of the mini pebble in the shallow depths (spa is front and center and fairly large baja shelf).

I'm thinking of asking my PB for the darker Tropics Blue for the spa and the baja shelf and maybe the Stonescape mini pebble Tahoe for the rest of the pool.

My anxiety stems from the blue grey plaster that I am replacing with a min pebble finish. I really liked that blue grey plaster color. I now realize that the smoother plaster fiinish does reflect the light a lot differently than a textured pebble surface. My belief is that the smoother plaster finish will give off a richer water color in shallow water than will a textured finish.

But alas, that blue-grey plaster has to go because of age issues even though it gave off a nice water color even in the shallow areas. I can't seem to get that with any mini peblle finishes.

Wish there was a way I could pay to have a small batch completely made up so I could decide from that (say $300 or so for piece of mind). Wonder if anyone has ever done that with their custom recipe.

Anyways, thanls for the posting of pics and sharing of anxiety as I go through the mental grind of choosing a finish/color.
 
This is stonescape aqua blue mini as well at full sun overhead and 4-5ft deep with Baka shelf 6". Now it's only right at 4 weeks past being new so maybe more change coming but I don't see any green hue..?
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Daxton said:
This is stonescape aqua blue mini as well at full sun overhead and 4-5ft deep with Baka shelf 6". Now it's only right at 4 weeks past being new so maybe more change coming but I don't see any green hue..?
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Looks good and looks like mine! Well most of the time mine looks like that.:-?

I remember when mine was new it had a very strong green hue. Then a few weeks went by and it went away it seemed after it cured. But sometimes now when the light hits it from a certain angle I see it just slightly with a green hue. Then I just walk to the other side of the pool and it changes back to just blue. It's like maybe my eyes aren't white balanced sometimes.... :D
 
Call me crazy but I'm scrolling back and forth on this thread and I can see it compared to yours. Mine has 'slightly' more green hue to it. So if to anyone else the two pics attached in this thread look the same then it proves it - my eyes are shot!:colors:
 
Helen203 said:
hmmm, how large is it wrt the rest of your pool? This is an area where I am not sure what I want...

- - - Updated - - -

jv92red, beautiful details in your pool, fencing, etc.
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Actually, my Baja shelf is not as big as I might have stated...about 4 to 5 ft to the fatep down. Bought the house that way. Would have not had one if I had built the pool...cuts down on what little I have for swimming laps. Also, the depth is about 18 inches so a little deep to sit in it with a beach (not patio) chair. The original owner had small kids so I guess that's why he put it in. But when kids grow (and they do this too quickly for my liking), the Baja shelf takes away from the pool playing area. It will also lessen the amount of deeper water pool color effect.
 
jv92red said:
I went with NPT Mini-Pebble as well. I like both Tahoe Blue and Tropics Blue. We wanted a very deep blue but not too dark but not too light and as least amount of green as possible. Basically, I tried to get as close as I could to a Windex blue but a shade or so lighter but with ever so slight green so that it would look more natural than Windex. So I tweaked the Aqua blue color formula by paying for double pigment and also added the abalone shell sprinkle for a added layer of interest as well.
Click to expand...

Gutsy move to go with your own custom color tweak without a sample to go by. I always wondered that with so much pebble in the final mix making most of what you see, just how much the plaster dye color affects the overall finish. Don't know if I have the guts to do a tweak. But your pool color looks great to me, both shallow and deep. My SAn Diego PB doesn't have a lot of custom pools for me to look at so probably will go for my first choice, Stonescaoe mini Tropics Blue. Whatever I go with, I bought 5 lbs of clear/iridescent 3mm glass beads at a whopping $54 per pound from an glass art supply store back east. That and the abalone shell being hand cast will sparkle up whatever I end up with.
 
Jaimslaw,

If your interested you are welcome to drive up to Brea (North OC) to take a look at my pool. Depending on where in SD you are it's about a 1 1/2 hour drive up from SD on the 5 freeway. When my pool was being plastered the crew also did up a sample during the job so I would have a sample. They troweled the sample and even did a little MA wash on it so it looks spot on to the same finish in the pool. Your welcome to come up and check out my pool to get a visual then take the sample with you then you can compare my sample against other samples or even dropping the sample on the first step of another pool to compare. As long as you promise to pay for shipping the sample back to me when your done I would be happy to loan it out to you. Or if your not up for the drive, pay for shipping both ways and I can loan out the sample to you. See below. I wet the left side of it, the right side is dry:

P1030836.jpg
 
Funny you took the pic of your sample on the TF-100 kit...got mine in the mail just a few hours before your post. Thanks for the offer. I'll probably stick it out with the Tropics Blue. Do I see some glass or jewel aspects in that sample (the ruby red speck to the left for example)?
 
No glass in there. There are a few pieces of Abalone shell on it but if the camera flash doesn't hit it just right to where the light doesn't shine back into the cam you won't notice it. Any of the pebble colors in the sample are all standard for the mix. Nothing done differently there. Just the Abalone shell broadcast and the double pigment change is the only change from the standard Aqua Blue formula.
 

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