Any need to add abalone shells to prism matrix?

[texasgal78]

Those of you that have done the prism matrix, do you need to add more abalone shells or does it already have enough in the mix? Does it sparkle a lot in the sunlight? Also, if you have used glass tile with it to border your tanning ledges/steps, did it turn out ok? One of the plaster companies said that they did not recommend it, but the one we are going with didn't say one way or the other. This is what we have picked out and I really want to keep the glass tiles. I'm a little worried that the tile doesn't go very well with everything else? What do you think??

 

[tommy1005]

I personally wouldn't do the toe tiles. I'd let the Prism matrix speak for itself. I don't think that combination looks bad, but at the end of the day it's your pool and you're money so nothing said here should really influence that.

I'm going to look at a deep blue sea pool Wednesday and will let you know if it has enough sparkle or pop for my wife and I. I have yet to actually see a prism matrix pool in person, so can't really say whether or not extra shells are needed or warranted.

 

[philboyj]

I have seen a Prism Matrix pool and it comes standard with the abalone shells. These shells sparkle so much that it's worth spending a few hundred dollars to get even more.. The sparkle is in certain angles only...so even if you have a lot, not all of them will sparkle from the same view.

I am going with Indigo blue in Prism matrix. We did not do the glass tiles on the steps. I did not want anything to take away from the look of this fabulous Prism Matrix finish.

Kim had a good idea of putting the tiles in a small diamond patterns using 4 tiles instead of an entire line.

 

[philboyj]

Is that a Deep Sea Blue sample?

 

[plasterguy]

Personally, and in my professional opinion. I would not use the glass tile to border the edges. The colors are too similar and it will look like some tiles are missing. I would have them cut your waterline tiles into four three by three pieces and turn them on a diagonal and place them about every 16 inches along the edges. I have personally plastered over 10,000 swimming pools and you really want a contrast between finish and accent tiles so they stand out.

 

[texasgal78]

Personally, and in my professional opinion. I would not use the glass tile to border the edges. The colors are too similar and it will look like some tiles are missing. I would have them cut your waterline tiles into four three by three pieces and turn them on a diagonal and place them about every 16 inches along the edges. I have personally plastered over 10,000 swimming pools and you really want a contrast between finish and accent tiles so they stand out.

Well, my husband called the tile guy this morning to see if we could get scheduled to put in that glass tile (this is BEFORE you all posted). He showed up today around 4 and put them in already. Now, I'm worried after reading everyone's comments! AND it looks quite a bit different now. The colors are really pretty, but not sure how well it goes together. Maybe now it won't blend in so much?? The colors look different at different angles.

I personally wouldn't do the toe tiles. I'd let the Prism matrix speak for itself. I don't think that combination looks bad, but at the end of the day it's your pool and you're money so nothing said here should really influence that.

I'm going to look at a deep blue sea pool Wednesday and will let you know if it has enough sparkle or pop for my wife and I. I have yet to actually see a prism matrix pool in person, so can't really say whether or not extra shells are needed or warranted.

I would love to hear about it after you see it!! Thanks!

I have seen a Prism Matrix pool and it comes standard with the abalone shells. These shells sparkle so much that it's worth spending a few hundred dollars to get even more.. The sparkle is in certain angles only...so even if you have a lot, not all of them will sparkle from the same view.

I am going with Indigo blue in Prism matrix. We did not do the glass tiles on the steps. I did not want anything to take away from the look of this fabulous Prism Matrix finish.

Kim had a good idea of putting the tiles in a small diamond patterns using 4 tiles instead of an entire line.

I wonder how much he will charge me for another bag, we've already gone way over budget!! My husband and I talked about doing the diamonds, but I wasn't too sure about it.

Is that a Deep Sea Blue sample?

Yes, it is deep blue sea.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[kimkats]

Pretty! It looks even more different outside! BLING! :sun:

Kim:cat:

 

[philboyj]

It's generally less than 3
400 bucks for a bag of shells...with probably a 300 dollar margin

Worst case scenario, The glass tile on the steps will be a functional safety feature...so it not like it does not have its place. Since deep sea blu is quite dark, it may actually become a good break from that uniformity. Time will tell...who knows after seeing yours, I may add glass tile step liner to mine too...lol

 

[sham]

Seeing the glass tile out in the sun makes a big difference! I think it looks great, there is more of a contrast between the finish and the tiles than it appeared in the other pic in the showroom.

 

[Nursenini]

Wow! The tile looks amazing!!! I think it will look great with your plaster and stand out nicely. It looks so different outside. The deep sea blue is going to be beautiful!!

 

[mooveebuff]

I don't have the same variety (I have Indigo Blue), but mine has way more abalone than I expected. To be honest, I didn't really care about abalone and I wouldn't have added it if it wasn't already included in the Prism Matrix, but I really love it. In my opinion, there's plenty of it....and a LOT more than I noticed in the samples I had from Wet Edge. Everybody's opinion will differ on how much is enough, but I think the blend of everything is just right. I'll try and get a good picture of the sparkle I get from mine or see if I have one somewhere already and post it.

I'm also a fan of the step tiles. I used them on mine and I love them. My only concern with your was that the color scheme looked too similar, but they look completely different now that they're installed. I think they'll be just fine. I actually think breaking up the solid surface with the tile really brings out the beauty of the finish even more.

 

[Kpag]

Looks great! We have a 1988 pool and it has the original "grouping of tiles" into a "diamond shape" step markers. So to my eye, and after looking at them for ten years, that look is dated. Of course, our pool is white plaster with Spanish tiles so anything would look dated, I Guess. I agree with adding more abalone shells if possible. I am the least "blingy", sparkly, glittery girl on the planet but I LOVE how the abalone shell looks. I was completely ignoring everyone's recommendations because I thought "that is SOOOOO not me". I was really surprised how much I liked it when I saw it in a pool.

ETA: A very crude mockup of your existing tile with the finish from different pics.

 

[philboyj]

I don't have the same variety (I have Indigo Blue), but mine has way more abalone than I expected. To be honest, I didn't really care about abalone and I wouldn't have added it if it wasn't already included in the Prism Matrix, but I really love it. In my opinion, there's plenty of it....and a LOT more than I noticed in the samples I had from Wet Edge. Everybody's opinion will differ on how much is enough, but I think the blend of everything is just right. I'll try and get a good picture of the sparkle I get from mine or see if I have one somewhere already and post it.

I'm also a fan of the step tiles. I used them on mine and I love them. My only concern with your was that the color scheme looked too similar, but they look completely different now that they're installed. I think they'll be just fine. I actually think breaking up the solid surface with the tile really brings out the beauty of the finish even more.

I would love to see pics of your Indigo Blue....please!!!!

 

[Kpag]

To me, the glass tile is there for looks NOT for the safety. The longer the line, the more tile, the more tile the more shine!

 

[Kpag]

Sorry to keep posting, just found this build with the Noble Sparkle Glass in black with a dark finish. Fabulous!
http://festivelymade.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMG_7373.jpg
http://festivelymade.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMG_7345.jpg
Welcome to our Backyard Swimming Pool Overhaul!

 

[mooveebuff]

I would love to see pics of your Indigo Blue....please!!!!

@philboy - there's a link in my signature to my renovation thread. There are some good pics of it on the last couple of pages as far as general shots. Hope you like 'em!


Here are some (admittedly crappy) cell phone photos to try and show the abalone. Harder to capture in a photo than I thought!

 

[RobbieH]

It is hard to catch the abalone. There is abalone in my finish also. But, you can see it when you are in the pool.

My PB states that using 1" tiles is why I am having tile issues but never have in the past with the 4x4 tiles. I have a third company coming out soon to try and repair my problems again this spring. Hopefully, we can eventually get them where they quit falling off.

 

[texasgal78]

Pretty! It looks even more different outside! BLING! :sun:

Kim:cat:

It does!! I was really surprised on how different it looks!!

It's generally less than 3
400 bucks for a bag of shells...with probably a 300 dollar margin

Worst case scenario, The glass tile on the steps will be a functional safety feature...so it not like it does not have its place. Since deep sea blu is quite dark, it may actually become a good break from that uniformity. Time will tell...who knows after seeing yours, I may add glass tile step liner to mine too...lol

HA! I really hope it will look ok!!

Seeing the glass tile out in the sun makes a big difference! I think it looks great, there is more of a contrast between the finish and the tiles than it appeared in the other pic in the showroom.

Ya, it's really weird! We liked it bc it blended in so well, but knowing now that there should be some contrast, I'm glad it looks different and it's so shiny! I'm crossing my fingers we didn't mess this up! It would really stink if we paid for the expensive finish and it ends up looking bad!!

Wow! The tile looks amazing!!! I think it will look great with your plaster and stand out nicely. It looks so different outside. The deep sea blue is going to be beautiful!!

Thank you!! I love it by itself, hoping for the best with the pebble!! The first time I saw someone's pool pics with deep sea blue posted here, I emailed it to my husband and he loved it too! Even though I wasn't too keen on the pebble (worried about kids feet), it was hard not to agree on that one! My husband has always wanted the pebble, so he's really excited about it!!

I don't have the same variety (I have Indigo Blue), but mine has way more abalone than I expected. To be honest, I didn't really care about abalone and I wouldn't have added it if it wasn't already included in the Prism Matrix, but I really love it. In my opinion, there's plenty of it....and a LOT more than I noticed in the samples I had from Wet Edge. Everybody's opinion will differ on how much is enough, but I think the blend of everything is just right. I'll try and get a good picture of the sparkle I get from mine or see if I have one somewhere already and post it.

I'm also a fan of the step tiles. I used them on mine and I love them. My only concern with your was that the color scheme looked too similar, but they look completely different now that they're installed. I think they'll be just fine. I actually think breaking up the solid surface with the tile really brings out the beauty of the finish even more.

I would LOVE to see some pics of yours. So, do they just have a bunch of different bags of all kinds of pebbles, shells, glass and then just mix them up?? How does that process work? And I wonder if they have a set amount of each bag. Do you happen to know how many bags of shells they used for yours? If there's enough sparkle, I don't want to overdo it! Is that even possible to overdo the beauty of those sparkly shells??

Looks great! We have a 1988 pool and it has the original "grouping of tiles" into a "diamond shape" step markers. So to my eye, and after looking at them for ten years, that look is dated. Of course, our pool is white plaster with Spanish tiles so anything would look dated, I Guess. I agree with adding more abalone shells if possible. I am the least "blingy", sparkly, glittery girl on the planet but I LOVE how the abalone shell looks. I was completely ignoring everyone's recommendations because I thought "that is SOOOOO not me". I was really surprised how much I liked it when I saw it in a pool.

ETA: A very crude mockup of your existing tile with the finish from different pics.

Sorry to keep posting, just found this build with the Noble Sparkle Glass in black with a dark finish. Fabulous!
http://festivelymade.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMG_7373.jpg
http://festivelymade.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMG_7345.jpg
Welcome to our Backyard Swimming Pool Overhaul!

THANK YOU so much for taking the time to do those pics and finding those pics of that tile!! How did you find those?? I spent hours googling glass tiles to find something similar, but I didn't find anything near similar and you found that exact tile!! Awesome!! I'm so visual and that makes it so much easier to see what it will look like!! I think maybe the browns in the pebbles might be throwing it off, but I'm glad there seems to be some purplish pebbles bc that glass tile is pulling a lot of purple!! We are scheduled for next Friday for our install!! YAY, I hope!!

 

[texasgal78]

@philboy - there's a link in my signature to my renovation thread. There are some good pics of it on the last couple of pages as far as general shots. Hope you like 'em!


Here are some (admittedly crappy) cell phone photos to try and show the abalone. Harder to capture in a photo than I thought!

WOW, your looks beautiful!! I can see the sparkle of the abalone, but I'm sure it looks even more sparkly in person!! Your glass tile looks perfect with it, nice combination!! Thanks for posting!!

It is hard to catch the abalone. There is abalone in my finish also. But, you can see it when you are in the pool.

My PB states that using 1" tiles is why I am having tile issues but never have in the past with the 4x4 tiles. I have a third company coming out soon to try and repair my problems again this spring. Hopefully, we can eventually get them where they quit falling off.

It is hard to see the abalone in yours, but I'm sure is gorgeous! Cool combination!! That stinks about your glass tile cracking like that!! I can only imagine how disappointing it is!! My husband told me straight up NO to 1x1's on the waterline. I wanted them really bad! He used to do work on pools in the summers during college and he said he saw a lot of that and buildup on the grout, I guess with more grout lines. So he didn't want to have to deal with that. I reluctantly went with it

 

[RobbieH]

No build-up on grout lines. Remember, we are TFP! Keep your pH, CH, and TA in line, and there's no build-up. The only build-up I get is on the coping grout, which is salt, not calcium. I just get in and brush all the tile when I swim with a little stainless steel brush and it easily goes away.

The sun is pretending to come out, I'll see if I can get a shot that shows the sparkle in the finish. Our house was built in 1954 and the pool in 1957, and our goal was to do something that was similar to '50's terrazzo.