Help with tile choice and Quartz vs. Pebbletec finish for new pool--New to site! Thx!

[happyprinces]

Hi! We are in the middle of our installation of an inground pool and raised spa in Southeastern PA. I am seeking advice on the tile selection and the inside finish of the pool. We have a stone chimney and stone patio walls that are very close to the pool. I struggled with doing a blue tile since it will be very prevalent on the spa and raised bond beam. While I think the blue tile looks beautiful on the pools I have seen, I keep getting drawn back to letting the water be the thing that is blue and going with a natural looking tile that coordinates with the stone that we already have. To give you a little background, we were first planning to do matching stone, but our PB doesn't like to use manufactured stone (only uses real stone) because they aren't sure how it will hold up long-term. Since we didn't want to introduce a stone that was different from what we already have, we opted to do tile. The fact that it would save us $7K to do tile rather than stone was also a bonus! I really struggled with the tile choice and only found one that I felt really picked up the colors in our existing stone. It is called Eternity Multicolor and is sold by US Pool tile: http://uspooltile.com/eternity-6x6-series/. The picture doesn't really do it justice--much prettier in person. My thought is to play it safe on the tile and add color through the landscape around the pool by planting hydrangas in various colors. That said, I don't want to have regrets about the tile choice so I keep looking at other tile and wondering if I should do something more daring and colorful. Thoughts??

Here is a link showing the gunite shell and our existing stone and pavers. Pool pictures - Google Photos
We are doing a stamped concrete cantilevered deck in a light gray or light brown/tan--still to be determined. The wall cap and spa cap will also be poured concrete made to look like stone by using a rough-edged form. We are hoping this will tie into to our brownstone caps on our patio walls. We are going to see what the cost for two separate pours would be so we can possibly make the caps and the deck different colors. So many decisions to make!

The other question that I have is about the inside finish. Our PB uses Finest Finish MicroFusion
http://finestfinishpools.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/web_FF_Micro_10.14.14.pdf

We are thinking of using the one below which is French Gray because I like the water color it produces, and I love the lavendar and gold flecks that will be visible in the sunshelf and spa because they are closer to the color in the tile. That said, I have not been able to to see this finish in person yet as our PB hasn't done this particular one yet since they recently switched to this quartz company and most people choose the ones with blue. I would love to hear from anyone who has this finish.

I was also considering Pebble Sheen in Bordeaux, but there are none near me to go look at, and it is a significant upgrade in cost (probably at least $8K). Our PB doesn't think it is worth doing it.
Pebble Sheen with Bordeaux Finish

Any input about either the tile or the inside finish would be greatly appreciated. Tile is going in very soon and the finish not far behind so the sooner the better on the advice because I don't have much time left.

I have pictures of the gunite shell and the Eternity multcolor tile with our stone, but I'm not sure how to post them!I think I attached them, but not sure. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you in advance!

 

[kimkats]

HI! Welcome to TFP where we LOVE to help others spend their money building pools then save them money with caring for them LOL

I think you are on the right track with your pics. That french gray looks nice in the pics and someone last summer did a gray vinyl liner and the water was SO pretty! I had no idea it would turn out that pretty.

Now I LOVE bling and love glass tiles so I will let others talk to you about the water line tile LOL

Kim

 

[happyprinces]

Thanks for the response, Kim! I actually like bling a lot, too, but I feel like I already have a lot going on to blend together. I did find a tile that was a bit "blingy" but then I saw the wide shade variation which scared me away from it. I uploaded my photos to Google drive so hopefully this link will work. Pool pictures - Google Photos

 

[Mcow]

If you haven't seen this build check it out What's One More Pool in Central Texas They used a natural stone looking tile to match the flagstone and I think it looks awesome. I went with a blue tile with lots of brown in an attempt to blend the plaster and stone coping on mine but if I had seen this thread earlier I would have probably done this instead. I really like how it looks almost seamless stone all the way to the water with all the blue coming from the plaster/water which is what I think you have in mind.

 

[Gorilla83]

I really do like the brown tiles as well and blue pebble finish combo. It's also nice to see another "local" on here! Who are you using for your build?

 

[happyprinces]

If you haven't seen this build check it out What's One More Pool in Central Texas They used a natural stone looking tile to match the flagstone and I think it looks awesome. I went with a blue tile with lots of brown in an attempt to blend the plaster and stone coping on mine but if I had seen this thread earlier I would have probably done this instead. I really like how it looks almost seamless stone all the way to the water with all the blue coming from the plaster/water which is what I think you have in mind.

Thanks so much for sharing that thread. What a beautiful pool! It did make me feel better about going with a natural looking tile. Now I am thinking that I might want to do aggregate for the decking and stamped concrete for the coping and caps. Hoping that having them come out to do two separate pours won't be cost prohibitive.

 

[happyprinces]

I really do like the brown tiles as well and blue pebble finish combo. It's also nice to see another "local" on here! Who are you using for your build?

Yes, I do love the brown/blue combo. Our tile will be more of a gray base with brown, orange, and burgundy mixed in (I did revise my first post and think I successfully added pictures of the tile.) which is why I am leaning toward the French Gray quartz finish. We have gray siding and paver walk so I wanted to tie in the gray. I am now wondering if aggregate would work better for the decking since it has all the colors mixed in. I was leaning toward textured stamped concrete because it is a little easier on the feet, but I am concerned about picking the right color.

Our PB is Arista in Collegeville. We are very happy with them. They are quick and very easy to work with. Our build started on July 5th so they are moving right along. They probably would have done our tile last week, but I was being indecisive.

 

[Mcow]

Yes, I do love the brown/blue combo. Our tile will be more of a gray base with brown, orange, and burgundy mixed in (I did revise my first post and think I successfully added pictures of the tile.) which is why I am leaning toward the French Gray quartz finish. We have gray siding and paver walk so I wanted to tie in the gray. I am now wondering if aggregate would work better for the decking since it has all the colors mixed in. I was leaning toward textured stamped concrete because it is a little easier on the feet, but I am concerned about picking the right color.

Our PB is Arista in Collegeville. We are very happy with them. They are quick and very easy to work with. Our build started on July 5th so they are moving right along. They probably would have done our tile last week, but I was being indecisive.

We considered aggregate concrete because it was substantially less than stamped concrete or pavers but I read a lot about how hot it gets. Might not be a as big of a deal for you in PA. The other issue is when aggregate cracks it sticks out like a sore thumb. I think cracks can be a little less noticeable on stamped concrete. Have you considered a gray salt finish? Check out this thread (scroll to the bottom) to see what it looks like New Build in Tulsa, OK (Photo-heavy))

 

[happyprinces]

We considered aggregate concrete because it was substantially less than stamped concrete or pavers but I read a lot about how hot it gets. Might not be a as big of a deal for you in PA. The other issue is when aggregate cracks it sticks out like a sore thumb. I think cracks can be a little less noticeable on stamped concrete. Have you considered a gray salt finish? Check out this thread (scroll to the bottom) to see what it looks like New Build in Tulsa, OK (Photo-heavy))

That is a good point about cracks in the aggregate. I didn't think about that. I believe that in PA, they do put expansion joints in the aggregate as well, but they are usually covered with a plastic cover. They put saw cuts in the the stamped concrete to decrease the cracking. Hopefully it will work!.Thanks for the sharing the gray salt finish. I have never heard of that one!

 

[bmoreswim]

I was on a 10 year old aggregate finish pool deck the other week at a party. All of the adults were commenting/complaining about how it was painful the longer we stood on it.

Salt finish is not good for freeze/thaw areas. The cavities hold water which expands and cracks it.

 

[bmoreswim]

Brushed concrete done well is quite nice looking. And it won't be slippery. That or pavers or bluestone for your area. Stamped looked nice. But many comment on the slickness.

 

[happyprinces]

If you haven't seen this build check it out What's One More Pool in Central Texas They used a natural stone looking tile to match the flagstone and I think it looks awesome. I went with a blue tile with lots of brown in an attempt to blend the plaster and stone coping on mine but if I had seen this thread earlier I would have probably done this instead. I really like how it looks almost seamless stone all the way to the water with all the blue coming from the plaster/water which is what I think you have in mind.

They are starting the tile today. I am feeling better about my selection because it is apparently the same one that the tile installer put in his own pool. I figure he sees a lot of tile and chose the same one. My PB dropped the boxes of tile off a few days ago so I could take a look at it and make sure I liked it. I propped up as much of it as I could in the pool to get a visual. I think it is going to look nice--Fingers crossed! No turning back at this point!

 

[happyprinces]

I was on a 10 year old aggregate finish pool deck the other week at a party. All of the adults were commenting/complaining about how it was painful the longer we stood on it.

Salt finish is not good for freeze/thaw areas. The cavities hold water which expands and cracks it.

Good to know that about the salt finish! PA is a brutal state for concrete because of freezing and thawing--that's why we have so many potholes! That is a great point about the aggregate! It is very bumpy. We are leaning toward the textured stamped concrete. We are meeting with that company on Monday. Our PB took us to look at some in our area. Apparently they add a sand finish to it because it wasn't slippery. I think the older stamped concrete was though. They will put in decent size saw cuts to prevent cracking. He showed us one that was done 8 years ago, and it doesn't have any noticeable cracking so that was encouraging! We already have a lot of pavers with our patio and sidewalk. They are 7ish years old so even if we tried to match them, it wouldn't be exact due to weathering--another reason we are thinking textured concrete might be our best option. Thanks for responding!

 

[Mcow]

I was on a 10 year old aggregate finish pool deck the other week at a party. All of the adults were commenting/complaining about how it was painful the longer we stood on it.

Salt finish is not good for freeze/thaw areas. The cavities hold water which expands and cracks it.

Ah that makes sense on the salt finish. Being from Texas I forget to consider your northern miserable winters