Sealing rebar sounds a lot like undercoating a new car, might be a small benefit but then gain probably not. If they want to do it for free go for it, but coting the rebar is no substitute for proper gunite and plaster installation making sure there are no air pockets and correct thickness is maintained. The only time I have seen rebar coted was during a replaster chip out where a poor gunite job was uncovered so the plaster company epoxied the bar that got exposed. I have no idea if the epoxy did the job long term but what else could they do? If you were in a costal area where the soil might have a bit of salt in it I guess it might be a consideration but for 99% of us sounds like a sales pitch. The main comment you will see about SWG systems is GO BIG no such thing as an over sized system general guide line is a cell that can handle 2X your pool size the bigger the cell the longer it will last and the less you will have to run your pump, avoid natural stoned decking or if you are going to use stone be prepared to seal it at least annually.
+1 on the Quartz lasting longer, even if you prefer a traditional look you can go with a light color fine aggregate get the same look as traditional plaster but the little bit of extra cost will pay for it's self over time. Keep in mind what ever the cost of a replaster is today it could be double by the time you need to do it. That being said I did a ton of research before we built and for the most part what you will find is most people like what they have or decided to have. Plaster people are plaster people for life, those with Quartz are the same, getting a good installer and taking care of the water is much more important that what surface you choose.
We looked into in floor again a bunch of research, the pattern I noticed is they are more in favor in areas where a lot of dirt or sand can enter the pool they were popular in ranch/farm, windy, arid areas. For suburb builds with a normal amount of concrete deck and landscape a robot or traditional cleaner seems to be the preference.
When you get bids try to get each builder to spec similar equipment and features, try to get apples to apples quotes. The problem we ran into was that many of the builders had packages like we were ordering a value meal they had a hard time breaking out of that mode and quoting the features we wanted. The PBs that were most resistant or tried to convince us another builder or piece of equipment was junk were not even in the running when we got down to the final decision.
Ask the builders for a list of their subcontractors they use and try to do some research on them too. Any list of references you get form a builder for past builds are of course going to be happy customers, but subcontractors are only happy if they get paid. Do Yelp, Google, BBB searches on all of them. Talk to your city permit office about builders they are typically not able to give any kind of references but if a builder is problematic many can't help letting a negative comment or tow slip at a minimum they will often tell you how frequently a builder pulls a permits this can be an indication of the financial strength and popularity of a builder. While at the permit office it's a good time to get a plot map of your property and find out about set backs and any special provisions. Builders should know about any regulations, but the more informed you sound the less likely they will be to try to make build sound like rocket science and by extension up the price.
Get a 2 speed or Variable speed pump I doubt any builder will try to sell you a single speed but you never know. If your equipment pad is near the house the variable speed might be the better choice because they are so quiet albeit a bit more expensive.
Do you want an overflow drain or auto fill? I have seen a lot a threads about Texas getting a lot of rain in the last year if you won't be around to dump water might be a good idea.
Think about the future and beyond the pool. If you think you might want solar water heating in the future get them to stub it out now and think about a control panel that is ready for it. While they have your yard destroyed do you want any electrical, water, gas out to a remote part of the yard? We were able to utilize many of the trenches for future for just the cost of the conduit. Budget for irrigation landscape and fence repair or get them to put it in the quote.
