Pool finishes...pebble vs plaster...opinions?

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I have had a pebble Tec pool since 1995 and its finish is almost as good as the day of installation. I previously owned a plaster finish pool (bought the home with the existing pool) and it was nothing but maintenance headaches since previous owner(s) did not properly take care of it. Finally got tired of emptying and pressure cleaning, so patched the missing plaster and painted it (obviously used the best rubber based pool paint available at that time). That took care of most of my maintenance issues. When I moved and built new pool in 1995, definitely did not go with plaster. I am a contractor and saw many stained Diamond Brite finishes (my partners for one) that either had stains that could not be removed etc and which the Diamond Brite reps would stand behind. With pebble Tec, the surface was initially rougher than our family was used to and took a few months to get used too, but it durability, ease in taking care of mineral stains from trees or lawn fertilizers has been easy to solve (generally muriatic acid poured thru pvc pipe directly onto stain handled most problems.) Final analysis, other than a ceramic tile finish, which can be costly, pebble Tec is the way to go.

14,000 gal
1.5 HP Pump
diametric filter
Inground Jandy Caretaker system
 
ErikU19 said:
regarding the builders experience - doesn't PebbleTec require the installation be done by it's own certified/licensed crew?
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Yes, and so does WetEdge. To my knowledge these are the only Two. And it's exactly the reason it wasn't a good option for me, although I would have preferred WE to be installed. No one in my area is certified.
 
QingGuy said:
Does anyone have an idea what percentage increase of cost (average of course) of pebble over plaster is? Anyone received a quote for both options?
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It may matter where you are. We (just north of Houston) were told level 1 PebbleTec or PebbleSheen was about a $3,500 option. Other pebble surfaces or quartz surfaces were about $1,500. Our pool is around 100 linear feet. We didn't have a direct quote for plaster so I can't really compare. The one non pebble company we got a quote from had it built into the base price.

I've heard resurfacing with plaster a pool about our size would run 6 - 8 thousand. Not sure how that compares to a fresh application.
 
QingGuy said:
Does anyone have an idea what percentage increase of cost (average of course) of pebble over plaster is? Anyone received a quote for both options?
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I paid $73 a linear foot for my Stonescape mini pebble. But my quotes for both pebble and plaster was all over the board. I had plaster quotes as low as $48 a linear foot all the way up to about $70 (not far off from my mini pebble quote that I went with). I've read that it's suppose to be about a 40-50% increase to go pebble over plaster, but it's just really hard to nail down a general rule of thumb for two reasons: competition creating wild swings in bids and secondly, the many different pricing levels for the myriad of different types of pebble finishes.

Most PB ps who come out to bid will usually give you pricing for both finishes. They charge by the linear foot of your pool and/or spa.
 
Our previous pool was plaster and we liked the cool light blue color that it gave the water. When it was time to design and build a pool for our new home, we looked at options and the pebbletec was our first choice. For a color we went with White Pearl. As far as it being rough, I don't see very much difference. The pebbles are smooth and rounded, and if the installer did his job right it's not a rough surface. Certainly, if you scrape your elbow it would hurt, but that was true of the plaster. You are much less likely to slip and fall on pebble though.
 
Eventually we will have to resurface. While I could patch one area of my plaster, to me I think it's pointless since most likely other areas will eventually present themselves. Personally, I'm just gonna save the patching money and use it for eventual resurfacing. For those that did resurface with pebble, have you noticed any changes to your brushing schedule (i.e. still weekly or different) or greater stability/less variation in your water chemistry?
 
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