Diamond Brite Plaster Choice

[Species 8472]

We are having our pool plastered with Diamond Brite. Our PB indicated that that there would be an upcharge of $4 per SF to go with Watercolors (i.e., Midnight Blue or French Gray) instead of the typical colors (i.e., Super Blue or Blue). This would mean about a $3000 additional charge. He suggested that the difference is not that dramatic and that we save our $$ and put that toward a paver patio instead. What are your thoughts on going with Midnight blue or french gray over say super blue (regular diamond brite).

Thank you!

 

[Casey]

I think this comes down to being strictly a personal opinion/decision and what you like and want to see in your pool.

 

[Plops]

Go on Houzz and google images and look at all the photos. See if the color makes a difference to you. We're springing an extra $4K or so on a pebble finish, because it will add many years over regular plaster. But I can't see spending more just on a color finish...

 

[36racin]

Someone correct me if I am wrong but Watercolors (i.e., Midnight Blue or French Gray) is a mix to two other diamond brite colors mixed together. I would not think the custom color would cost an additional $4 per sq ft. My brother used the French Gray color and it cost according to him a $700 upgrade to DB French Gray over regular plaster.

 

[Species 8472]

Someone correct me if I am wrong but Watercolors (i.e., Midnight Blue or French Gray) is a mix to two other diamond brite colors mixed together. I would not think the custom color would cost an additional $4 per sq ft. My brother used the French Gray color and it cost according to him a $700 upgrade to DB French Gray over regular plaster.

Interesting. I am curious whether this is accurate?

 

[andyoi630]

I don't believe Midnight Blue or French Gray are Watercolors. French Gray is a standard color for sure, as I am having it done. Watercolors are mixes of color certified by SGM from what I understand. Ocean Blue is an example. I was quoted about $1000 extra (on 750 sq ft) to go to watercolors. The added cost was explained to me because their bags were sold in pallets, and some of these obscure colors are hard to resell to others, so essentially I had to buy an extra pallet just for my pool to be able to mix the colors.

I'm having a real hard time finding pictures of DB colors to make my final choices. I would not pay 3k more for Watercolors, for that you could upgrade to the higher end Wet Edge line (Almost Wet Edge Primera).

 

[HouTex]

We used the Wet Edge product and chose French Gray, but it didn't cost extra vs. other colors. I recall getting bids for the Diamond Bright product and I don't recall that it was substantially less than the Wet Edge.

When I finished my pool after my PB quit the job, I shopped around and the Pebbletec products were the highest and then everyone else was pretty much in the same ballpark.

 

[andyoi630]

We used the Wet Edge product and chose French Gray, but it didn't cost extra vs. other colors. I recall getting bids for the Diamond Bright product and I don't recall that it was substantially less than the Wet Edge.

When I finished my pool after my PB quit the job, I shopped around and the Pebbletec products were the highest and then everyone else was pretty much in the same ballpark.

Diamondbrite and Wet Edge Luna Quartz were quoted at the same to me ($7200). Wet edge pebble type finishes were 50% more ($10000). Wet Edge Primera was 75% more ($12500).

 

[Species 8472]

I don't believe Midnight Blue or French Gray are Watercolors. French Gray is a standard color for sure, as I am having it done. Watercolors are mixes of color certified by SGM from what I understand. Ocean Blue is an example. I was quoted about $1000 extra (on 750 sq ft) to go to watercolors. The added cost was explained to me because their bags were sold in pallets, and some of these obscure colors are hard to resell to others, so essentially I had to buy an extra pallet just for my pool to be able to mix the colors.

I'm having a real hard time finding pictures of DB colors to make my final choices. I would not pay 3k more for Watercolors, for that you could upgrade to the higher end Wet Edge line (Almost Wet Edge Primera).

Thanks for this information. You are correct. Neither French Grey nor Midnight Blue are watercolors. I tried calling SGM to find out the cost per bag. Apparently, each bag covers 22 SF. However, SGM and their distributors would not reveal the cost for the various bags. Oddly enough, I contacted one of the distributors in my area who asked who my PB is and the distributor stated that they no longer deal with my PB. When I asked why, the person indicated I need to speak with my PB.

So, this gets stranger by the minute. I'm not interested in the bad blood between my PB and the Diamond Brite local distributor....I just want to know the cost per bag for the various types of plaster.

 

[bmoreswim]

My PB told me that Diamond Brite was $30 per bag versus $5 per bag for the plain marble dust. Our pool took a total of 42 bags combined of cement, DB and marble dust. Ours used DB Onyx to tint our white plaster gray. I call ours poor man's French Gray.

 

[jtech1]

I don't know the costs per bag, but I do know that I found out from SGM that there are basically three price levels, based on cost to produce. The basic white/offwhite solids are cheapest, the blue tinted and onyx are most expensive. Others in between. Combination products are priced based on the price of base products used in the mix.

 

[andyoi630]

I believe $30 a bag is about right. On a side note, SGM has a beautiful new product line called Diamond brilliance my plaster guy showed me as soon as he got samples. Then we asked for a quote. $90 a bag. Plaster guy told them that's nonsense. It would be $18000 to do my pool with that...

 

[36racin]

Someone correct me if I am wrong but Watercolors (i.e., Midnight Blue or French Gray) is a mix to two other diamond brite colors mixed together. I would not think the custom color would cost an additional $4 per sq ft. My brother used the French Gray color and it cost according to him a $700 upgrade to DB French Gray over regular plaster.

Sorry I was wrong on my brothers color. His color is Bahama Breeze Diamond Brite. After getting the waterline tile and St Louis brick coping installed a few days ago we decided to go with the same color over Tahoe Blue we had originally choose. Or plaster quote came in at $5500 which includes material, prep for plaster, will fittings and returns and main drain covers. And acid washing.