Tahoe Blue Pebble

IzzyB

0
Jul 29, 2015
41
Orlando, FL
So we are trying to figure out what we want to do with our pool. Tahoe Blue looks grey when outside the pool and looks pretty dark when in the pool. We aren't sure how it will look at night with lights on. Does anyone have this in their pool?
 
In the same "looking for the right finsh" boat. If you are referring to the Stonsescape mini peeble finishes, the Tahoe Blue is quite grey on close up and swallow depths. The ever so slight greenish tinge will be less apparent the deeper the water depth (and time of day, etc); however, I have swallow depths and a spa so that overly greyish color of that finish is not for me. I do like the Tahoe Blue's textured look (not refering to the feel of the finish); if only it could have more of a greyish blue tone to it vs. a drab grey.

So I am leaning to the Tropics Blue; but my PB's recent tropics blue installs I have looked at were customized and a little to dark in the actual finish color - and as to the pool color as well. More posts than not have referred to the Tropics Blue as having a deeper, darker pool color look, and my in person look confirms this; however, I like the actual finish look for the up close shallow depths as the Stonescape mini pebble Tropics Blue does have a little more of the lighter, blueish grey over all color to it. Not quite as drabish grey as the Tahoe Blue.

Its a big investment...I'm taking my time choosing the right finish - meaning my pool (replaster) is standing prepped but empty while I pursue this quest. That finish is going to be with me for 15 years so I'm not about to hastily make a decision. My PB is cool with that, which is nice.

One final comment: Judging the pool water color from photos is going to be misleading. I have done a ton of seach online and seen Tahoe Blue pool pics with depper blues (and no hint of green); and I have seen Tropics Blue with a slight hint of green. (BTW, neither will have that green lagoon pool color that you get with a white laster finish). In one PB's web site that has a ton of the mini peeble pools he's done, he has 4 or 5 pools with the same fiinsh and they all vary in hues of blue. My point: If you can get to see the pool finish in person, that is the way to go. But not always feasible.
 
If you want to avoid any hint of green, go with Tropics Blue. We have Tahoe Blue and chose it because I prefer the way it looks on our baja shelf (looks more like sand) but it will go from a darker blue to hint of green during the later times of day.
 
I agree the StonescapesTahoe Blue mini pebble looks pretty neat up close. Its got a nice textured, stream/lake bottom natural look to it. This finish matched prefectly the Stonescape sample piece I took to the pool my PB had me take a look at. Still was slightly too cement grey over all for my liking - I'm looking for more blue-grey; the color of my old plaster finish which really gave off a nice look, both in shallow and deep water. But again, that Tahoe Blue has a very interesting, natural look to it - something that is somewhat less lacing in the Tropics Blue IMO. With Tropics Blue, more blue pebbles are introduced - and also slightly less contrasting pebble color which is what gives the Tahoe Blue finish a more interesting textured look (largely due to the Tahoe mix having cream colored mini pebbles not found in Tropics Blue - hence helping to give that nice sandy lake bottom look). Note also the slightly greenish tinge in the Tahoe Blue color, which I actually like. Some prefer more of a windex blue water color which will happen with Tropics Blue. But IMO, the deeper blue you get with Tropics Blue makes the overall water color a little darker - not darker blue but just darker overall which others have commented on. Because of this, the PB and I are talking about reducing the base plaster color by 1/4 to 1/2.


Tahoe Comparison Pic1 (Large).jpgIMG_20150815_103039_046 (Large).jpg
 
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Tahoe blue.. darker in shade.. fairly light in direct sun. Husband did want a bit darker but we didn't want it to get too hot. The aerators might have fixed that tho.
 
Nice pool Cristie.

Jaimslaw - I know when I was researching colors, I heard of some people adding more black to the Tahoe Blue mix so it had a deeper blue color. I probably would have gone that route if given another chance. I personally like the hint of green - seems more natural.
 
Thanks sdspencer.. I remember your thread now. I think yours looks great now! The color is like lake Tahoe really just not as dark as the NPT pics. We didnt want 'windex blue' so it is more natural looking than that. Maybe adding some blue and black stones would help it be just a little darker for those considering it.
 

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I'm not a big fan of the windex blue either and think both of your pools (Christie and SdSpencer's) have the ideal looking water color. (Christtied48's 2nd pic looks brochure quality with that sun effect). If I could, I'd have Tahoe Blue water color, but a Tropics Blue finish (for shallow areas appearance). My PB is suggesting a custom color...adding more of the lighter blue pebbles to the Taho Blue and removing some of the cream/yellowish pebbles to move from the grey overall to more of a blue-grey. This might remove a little of the grey look to the up close appearance of the Tahoe Blue (but which still has a very nice textured and interesting look to it that I seek).

Bottom line is I have to choose soon and go either with a stock finish (probably Tropics blue) or go the custom color route, sight unseen (ie modified Tahoe blue).

in any case, I'll be adding some iridescent 3mm glass beads that I got on the Internet at an eye popping 54 per lb... and I might also add a bag of the jewlel/colored glass for just the spa. Not that I can afford any of this ;)
 
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It may well get more toward the darker blue. I'd love to see a pic of your pool a week from now as a comparison. If no pic, maybe just post your observations. I sure like it though. I prefer that slight teal over the windex blue.

The pools I have seen with darker blue seem to look darker overall...as though some light has been taken away. Maybe that's because the deeper blue is often achieved by a darker finish. - hence less light reflected. As a general rule, Pools with more depth will show deeper, richer water color . With your depth maxing out at only 5 feet, you've got some real nice color there.

I've chosen to go with Stonescapes Tropics Blue, with a modification. The PB is going to leave out the bags with the tri color Quartz (light blue, red and green pebble/Quartz mix) that is part of the Tropics Blue recipe and substitute glass beads...what Stonewcape calls their "touch of glass" blend (light blue, dark blue and clear glass beads). I saw a sample pool,he did with that recipe and really liked it. Pricey to go this route - about a $800 bump. But it really looks nice in the shallow parts of my pool, where you see the finish up close (ie spa, baja shelf).
 
Well it has been a week, things have cleared up a bit and seems to be little to no green. Things overall seem to be a bit lighter in color, lighter than what we had hoped. The shades do change all day long. This is from just now in the afternoon sun.
20150912_151704.jpg

This is from this from late this afternoon.
2015-09-12 19.57.58.jpg
 
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It does have less teal blue to the water color than last week's picture.

i've seen a few tropics blue pools with a lighter than preferred tone to it. Not sure the depth of the blue color would change even with a darker color mix to the pebble finish. Seems this is the norm with pebble finishes in pools that are more shallow over all. The pebble texture reflects less light vs smooth plaster finish. That is my impression anyways.

Still, very nice looking pool.
 
I saw you posted in another tread between Tropics and Tahoe Blue. Can you tell me which you picked? We're trying to decide right now and we're being told Tropics is an upgrade. We liked Tahoe but we don't want any green tint to it. Thanks

Most PBs charge the same for both Stonescape mini pebble Tahoe and tropics blue because they leave out of the tropics blue mixing batch, the bag containing the tri color pebbles (blue, red, green). Actually, this is not a true tropics blue mix, but it allows the PB to bid the job with both finishes being the same price.

Without the tri color bag being added in, the overall color of the tropics blue does not change a whole lot, but the finish is a little more boring up close, and lacks "depth" to the finish which is provided by the adding of the tri color bag.

I opted for a modified upgrade of my tropics blue. Instead of paying extra for the tri color bag of pebbles that goes into an authentic tropics blue, I paid extra to have a 20% mix of their jewelsscape glass beads (colors of glass is lite blue, dark blue and clear). Looks great.

Should mention that the true tropics blue also has abalone bits as part of the standard mix...its not suppose to be an extra. And if you can get the PB to hand cast the abalone onto the finish, you'll get a nice sparkle.

Go to my posts to see pool pics that I posted.
 
Well it has been a week, things have cleared up a bit and seems to be little to no green. Things overall seem to be a bit lighter in color, lighter than what we had hoped. The shades do change all day long. This is from just now in the afternoon sun.]

I think it looks great! Although lighter than you had hoped, do you like it? I love how the color of your planters picks up some of the blue in your water line tiles, and everything ties in really nicely with the water color.

Just wondering, what kind of coping did you go with? It looks really clean and elegant.
 

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