Anxiety Over...Replaster looks fabulous

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Jaimslaw

Jaimslaw

LifeTime Supporter
Jun 5, 2015
348
San Diego, CA
Finally got over the angst and anxiety of "Will I be happy with the pool finish I chose." Am very pleased with the Stonescape mini pebble in a modified Tropics Blue. My PB omitted from the formula, the tri color bag mix consisting of blue, red and green pebbles. That left the black, white, yellow/gold and abalone shells as the main mix. He then added 20% (ie 2 bags per batch) of the jewelscape glass, consisting of the three glass colors, dark blue, light blue and white. I also had him hand cast some abalone during the final application. The added glass was a fairly pricey upgrade at $800, but worth it IMO.

Total for the upgraded finish, waterline tile and really nice looking glass tile step trim came to about $9500 for this 13k, pool spa combo, with about 105 perimeter feet for pool and spa combined.

Water color is great. Actually looks bluer than my camera phone could capture. And up close, the finish looks just as I had hoped. Had plenty of anxiety about the shallow areas (spa and baja shelf) looking to drab of a grey. Not so. Lot of texture and sparkle that doesn't show in the pictures.

Here are some pics, taken around 2:00 pm with fall shadows putting a lot of the pool in the the shade:

Revised%20Pool%201_zps941xxaop.jpg


Revised%20Pool%202_zpso5fzvaqg.jpg


Revised%20Spa%204_zpskjsli0td.jpg


Revised%20Step%20Trim%201_zps9w6pyrlw.jpg


Revised%20Step%20trim%203_zpsmaqrqwtn.jpg


Also installed the Bulbwizard LED that you can get at Amazon for $169 (screw in replacement type):

Z-LED%20Lites_zps4pqqjezm.jpg
 
Last edited:
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Stunning!! Congratulations! See, all that worry helped! Wink wink...

Hats off to you for your detailed description of the recipe and costs of your fabulous finish. That's so helpful for people trying to decide on their pool finish.

And Bravo for being so courageous to go with such a personalized mix! I m not nearly so brave!

Suz.
 
Jaimslaw said:
Finally got over the angst and anxiety of "Will I be happy with the pool finish I chose." Am very pleased with the Stonescape mini pebble in a modified Tropics Blue. My PB omitted from the formula, the tri color bag mix consisting of blue, red and green pebbles. That left the black, white, yellow/gold and abalone shells as the main mix. He then added 20% (ie 2 bags per batch) of the jewelscape glass, consisting of the three glass colors, dark blue, light blue and white. I also had him hand cast some abalone during the final application. The added glass was a fairly pricey upgrade at $800, but worth it IMO.

Total for the upgraded finish, waterline tile and really nice looking glass tile step trim came to about $9500 for this 13k, pool spa combo, with about 105 perimeter feet for pool and spa combined.

Water color is great. Actually looks bluer than my camera phone could capture. And up close, the finish looks just as I had hoped. Had plenty of anxiety about the shallow areas (spa and baja shelf) looking to drab of a grey. Not so. Lot of texture and sparkle that doesn't show in the pictures.

Here are some pics, taken around 2:00 pm with fall shadows putting a lot of the pool in the the shade:

Revised%20Pool%201_zps941xxaop.jpg


Revised%20Pool%202_zpso5fzvaqg.jpg


Revised%20Spa%204_zpskjsli0td.jpg


Revised%20Step%20Trim%201_zps9w6pyrlw.jpg


Revised%20Step%20trim%203_zpsmaqrqwtn.jpg


Also installed the Bulbwizard LED that you can get at Amazon for $169 (screw in replacement type):

Z-LED%20Lites_zps4pqqjezm.jpg
Click to expand...

Looks amazing! I have been in the fence with stonescapes. I m going to discuss this type of modification with my contractor.
This door is exactly what I am looking for!!! Thanks for sharing . I also really love you landscape plants


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks all.

Here is some add'l information about my project that may help others in the boat I was in:

Step trim tile: I chose NPTs Rustic Jules glass 1x1 tiles for my trim. Nice iridescent effect. I was told it's their best seller so it must be well liked. My PB charged me $10 per linear ft (1x1, two rows). I had a total of 48 Linear ft, (8 sq ft). The was for labor and materials. Here is a pic of their sample of this tile:

image.jpg1_zps1tnodbfo.jpg


My waterline tile is NTPs Discovery Field tile in Teal. not much green in it. And it's a lighter blue than others in the lower cost Discovery tile category. I wanted to stay away from the dark or cobalt blues..too old fashion for me. I had hoped to find 3x3 tiles with some movement or pattern in them but alas, most all were of the darker background blue tile color. Mine is sort of an old fashion look, I have to say. More contemporary would be mosaic glass 1x1 sheets or 6x6 tiles. I would have gone for the 6x6 size but half of it would have been under my water line.

Cost of labor and materials for the waterline tile: $17 a linear ft. For me, that was $1,940 for two rows of this 3x3 tile...about 113 total linear feet - both spa and pool.

Mini pebble finish cost: including the demo and new drain covers, my PB charged me $7,690, which come to about $72-73 per linear ft. I believe most PBs charge by the linear foot perimeter of your pool. Per my first post, this was a modified and upgraded tropics blue mini pebble.

It it pays to shop around. I had bids that were $1500 higher. Get samples, put them your pool and work from there.

As far as texture goes, even the mini pebble will be a little rough on kids if they stay in the water long enough (softens the skin), and frankly I don't think there is that much of a texture difference between the regular pebble and the mini pebble. Also, the spa seats are a tad rougher than plain plaster would be, but not so much as to snag bathing suits.

Hope this info is useful to those going through what I went thru. Be sure to take your time. Look at other pools referred to you by your PB. Do not get rushed into choosing the finish. Finally, a lot of info and help is in this forum. Mine it for all the nuggets of information and pictures you can.

Cheers.
 

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Flounder32 said:
Looks beautiful! Do have any "before" pics to show the transformation?
Click to expand...


MY POOL BEFORE RENOVATION:

Before%20Picture_zpsvhfr6lor.jpg


IMG_20150816_150232_235_zpsmkvaagkr.jpg



The old finish was just a medium grey plaster that had a lot of white and yellow scale build up. This made the grey surface lighter than its original color and thus, caused a more greenish water tint/color. Also note the delimination issues on the spa benches - really looked bad. The old green waterline tile and matching green step trim never appealed to me. I did like those little porceline mosaic turtles that show up on the baja shelf. These days, they just don't make many true porcelien tile mosaic accents. The majority of so called mosaic accents are really just decals on a cement base - they look real enough but have no artisic decorative look to them whatsoever. What few true tile mosaic accents that are being sold are rather disappointing (e.g, being one color, poor design, etc). Wish I could replace the ones I had. As my daughter lamented in her text to me when she found out the old turtles would be removed and not repladed in the new pool: "RIP little turtles" (LOL).
 
WOWZER!!!!!!!!!!! That is a purrrrrrrfect color! I can see the bling! NICE Job!

Now.......do you have a good test kit? THAT is the biggest thing that will help you maintain this wonderful pool the proper way. Look in my siggy to find the test kits we use and love.

Poor little turtles.

Kim
 
You could have talked to Martin Kennedy about a mosaic source! Long term TFP'ers will know what I mean.
 
Helen203 said:
Quick question: did you use gray thinset and grout for the accent tiles, or white?
Click to expand...

The step trim tile grout was inserted during the application of the mini pebble finish...the PB just pressed the plaster cream of the mini pebble mix into the glass tile grout lines at the very end of the installation of the finish. So the trim tile grout color is close to the mini pebble finish color. (The step trim tile is installed days Before the mini pebble goes in).

The waterline grout is a dark grey.
 
Jaimslaw said:
The step trim tile grout was inserted during the application of the mini pebble finish...the PB just pressed the plaster cream of the mini pebble mix into the glass tile grout lines at the very end of the installation of the finish. So the trim tile grout color is close to the mini pebble finish color. (The step trim tile is installed days Before the mini pebble goes in).

The waterline grout is a dark grey.
Click to expand...

Thanks, it really looks nice!
 

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