Help with Wet Edge finishes

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aprillh

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Aug 8, 2013
94
Houston, Tx
Hi all,

We are talking with a pool builder who will most likely be building our pool soon. He uses Wet Edge finishes and my husband and I are trying to figure out the best one to select. We have three small kids and are sensitive to the roughness on their feet. Based on that, we have narrowed it down to Prism Matrix, Satin Matrix, or Primera Stone. I have searched the Wet Edge website as well as this forum but still don't have a good feel for the differences. Would love input from those who have been there!
 
We love our Satin Matrix finish. We put in our pool last summer, when the kids were 12,10,5, and 4 and have never had any problems with "tender feet" . We use it every day possible for hours, and from the beginning never suffered any problems with roughness that would cause sore feet.
 
We have Pearl Matrix (Chilean beach Tahoe) in our pool and love it. It's not rough underfoot at all and I wouldn't change it in the main pool at all. I will say that if I were doing it again, I would probably put Primera Stone in the spa and pearl/satin matrix in the main pool. In the hot tub, I'd prefer a smooth finish. It's not bothersome but being honest both the wife and I would have put a smoother finish in the hot tub.
 
April, have you had a chance to visit pools with the different finishes and put your feet in? Different people may differ in how sensitive their feet are and it might help your decision making if you can touch and feel for yourself.

Main differences is Satin matrix uses a smaller stone than the pearl matrix and there is a a cost difference between the two. Usually Satin is a little more than Pearl matrix. I was able to visit pools with both types of finishes and they both felt equally smooth. One thing to consider is your pool design if you have a geometric pool design with lots of corners
the smaller pebble (satin) will fill the corners better and be smoother. If you have a freeform design the pearl matrix will work out and it's pretty smooth.

I never visited a pool with the Primera stone finish but my understanding is that it is a polished pebble finish. They grind down the pebble until it is smooth like traditional white plaster. So you get the feel of white plaster but the durability of a pebble finish.

Prism matrix uses the smaller pebbles similar to the ones used in Satin Matrix with the addition of glass beads. I have a finish similar to the Prism matrix but with the addition of some Pearl matrix stones. The glass beads and smaller stones give a really smooth surface with a little traction. The glass beads in the finish really gives a nice effect to water in crystal clear pool using the BBB method. Simply stated, I think the glass finish is really beautiful but there is a cost associated with glass. The reason we wanted the glass finish is because of our modern pool design-we mainly wanted to highlight the glass and travertine in our design.

I would have to agree with Cbink on having a smoother finish in the spa...this is the reason we opted for an all glass bead finish on our spa. Since the skin on our bums tend to be thinner than our feet, sitting on a smoother finish for a length of time just feels better on the bum.

Who's doing your WetEdge finish? UNO did ours and they do the glass in spas. I did a lot of research on companies that do pool finishes and they do really good quality work. We've been very happy so far. Keep in mind no matter what type of finish you get it will only be as good as the applicator.

Hope this helps.
 
Very helpful info, thanks so much! We have looked at a few pools and stuck our feet in but I honestly can't remember what was what. We were looking mainly at pool styles then. But now that we are narrowing it down, the finish conundrum arises. Our pool will be geometric so CCisotope, that is good info about the smaller stones. Also didn't realize that Prism Matrix had glass beads. Pretty cool. Cbink, that is great advice on going with a smoother finish in the hot tub. Makes sense. Do you just try to get a similar color to match the pool?
 
aprillh said:
Very helpful info, thanks so much! We have looked at a few pools and stuck our feet in but I honestly can't remember what was what. We were looking mainly at pool styles then. But now that we are narrowing it down, the finish conundrum arises. Our pool will be geometric so CCisotope, that is good info about the smaller stones. Also didn't realize that Prism Matrix had glass beads. Pretty cool. Cbink, that is great advice on going with a smoother finish in the hot tub. Makes sense. Do you just try to get a similar color to match the pool?
Click to expand...

I know so much to absorb when you are going trying to build a pool and with all the different types of finishes...its a bit mind boggling. Back in the day when it was just plain white plaster it was so much easier, but with new materials and construction methods it's really cool to see all the new choices.

From what I have learned if you go with a different finish in the spa you can have the same base color for both the pool and spa and this will match very closely. Also some of the pearl martix, satin matrix and prism matrix finish have the same base color but they may be called a different color depending on the type of finish. The pool finishing guys will have an idea of which base color is the similar between the different WetEdge finishes.

For example on our pool we have 2 different finishes but the same base color which is Mediterranean blue. In the spa it is a little bit darker than the pool because the spa is an all glass bead finish with clear and irridescent glass so more of the blue tint from the cement/plaster mix shows through. Our pool is a custom mix of pebble and glass beads and there is a significant portion of white pebble that was used in the mix so the water color is a little bit lighter than the spa water....

Some pics of spa water next to pool water to give you a better idea:



A little wider view of of pool water color with spa water:


And also a pic of the glass bead finish in case you were interested:
Close up view of finish with water covering it. This is on the step.


A zoomed out view of finish on the step'
 
Wow. That is just gorgeous. I think I may have posted in your thread when your pool was being built. Our pool will be very similar to yours with the geometric shape, scuppers, spa, etc. I love the glass coping (is that what it's called) edge of your spa. I personally love the look of the small tiles. One of the pool guys said that the grout in between all those tiles will make it more challenging to clean though, so it made me reconsider. Have you heard that? I would hate to be swayed against it if it's a non issue. But your pool and spa are just dreamy... I know you are ready for summer.
 
The coping that we used was travertine. We've been very happy with the design and watercolor. I was a little worried with color choices in the beginning but it all worked out and wouldn't change a thing at this point.

I don't know if this is the proper thread to answer your tile question since the title has WetEdge in it. Maybe the mods might split off my answer into a new thread later.

When I did a search on this board regarding glass tile use on pools and problems, there were some issues with chipping and tiles falling off and cleaning. Our PB also tried to sway us from not using the glass tile because it was hard to clean. The majority of the glass tile is on our retaining wall and it doesn't come in contact with water so we have no issues with cleaning and deposit buildup. So far the glass on the spillway has no issues with cleaning or with tiles falling off or chipping. The one thing I have noticed with the grout on the spillway is the color is starting to fade in certain areas. We used a colored grout and I am assuming the chlorine is causing some of the fading to occur. We only see this when the tile and grout is completely dry. Once the water starts to flow over the tile it darkens up again and you don't notice it.

I intentionally decided not to use the glass tile along the waterline because I figured this is where deposits would accumulate the most and would be a pain to clean. Also from what I read it seems glass tile that was installed along the waterline seems to fall off more often and I didn't want to deal with this down the road. But the tiles could of been falling off due to poor installation too.
 
Hi CCIstope, your pool is so beautiful! We are using the same tiles for our pool too, on the spa, water wall with sheer descents, and the waterline. I hope that we do not regret using the glass tiles at the waterline later....
We are also trying to decide what pool finish to use. We were priced for Stonescape mini pebble for the entire pool, 72'x10', in our contract. Then I saw Jewelscape finish and really want it in the spa for the same reason as you....a very smooth finish and easier to sit on. The spa is 7'x7' and 3.5 ' deep. To upgrade to that, the PB is quoting us an additional of $3750 for the spa. Then he also gave me a quote for the entire pool with the mini pebble Stonescape with Glass blends in the mix, also a Jewelscape product for an additional of $4750. since you have similar finish but from a different manufacture, I know the pricing may not be in line. however, an you tell me if the quote that PB gave me are reasonable? I really appreciate you can shine some lights on this. Thank you.

- - - Updated - - -

Hi CCIstope, your pool is so beautiful! We are using the same tiles for our pool too, on the spa, water wall with sheer descents, and the waterline. I hope that we do not regret using the glass tiles at the waterline later....
We are also trying to decide what pool finish to use. We were priced for Stonescape mini pebble for the entire pool, 72'x10', in our contract. Then I saw Jewelscape finish and really want it in the spa for the same reason as you....a very smooth finish and easier to sit on. The spa is 7'x7' and 3.5 ' deep. To upgrade to that, the PB is quoting us an additional of $3750 for the spa. Then he also gave me a quote for the entire pool with the mini pebble Stonescape with Glass blends in the mix, also a Jewelscape product for an additional of $4750. since you have similar finish but from a different manufacture, I know the pricing may not be in line. however, an you tell me if the quote that PB gave me are reasonable? I really appreciate you can shine some lights on this. Thank you.
 

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Thanks for the compliment on our pool cchopkins. Wow I wish I had the yard space for a 72 foot long pool, I could then swim laps to my hearts content and not bother with the swim tether.

The 3k price for the jewelscape spa is pretty similar to what we were originally quoted and our spa is the same size as yours. For our area there are only 3 companies that have been trained to do this and NPT will only honor the warranty if the install has been done by the companies that have been trained. If you decide to go that route you might want to make sure the company that does the work has been trained. This info came directly from the NPT guy who looks at any warranty claims on products.
 
CCisotope said:
I know so much to absorb when you are going trying to build a pool and with all the different types of finishes...its a bit mind boggling. Back in the day when it was just plain white plaster it was so much easier, but with new materials and construction methods it's really cool to see all the new choices.

From what I have learned if you go with a different finish in the spa you can have the same base color for both the pool and spa and this will match very closely. Also some of the pearl martix, satin matrix and prism matrix finish have the same base color but they may be called a different color depending on the type of finish. The pool finishing guys will have an idea of which base color is the similar between the different WetEdge finishes.

For example on our pool we have 2 different finishes but the same base color which is Mediterranean blue. In the spa it is a little bit darker than the pool because the spa is an all glass bead finish with clear and irridescent glass so more of the blue tint from the cement/plaster mix shows through. Our pool is a custom mix of pebble and glass beads and there is a significant portion of white pebble that was used in the mix so the water color is a little bit lighter than the spa water....

Some pics of spa water next to pool water to give you a better idea:



A little wider view of of pool water color with spa water:


And also a pic of the glass bead finish in case you were interested:
Close up view of finish with water covering it. This is on the step.


A zoomed out view of finish on the step'
Click to expand...
Can you tell me what finish this is that you selected for your pool? Do you remember whether pool works or Uno Construction did the plaster work? We're in Cypress also, trying to decide on a color.
 
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