Is mottling or streaks normal in new Diamond Brite?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
JenniferJuniper2

JenniferJuniper2

0
Mar 2, 2015
142
sacramento, ca
I am trying to choose a color of Diamond Brite. I have gone out to see two pools. One was white with blue quartz (I think it was the Diamond Brite "Blue" color). It looked perfect, very smooth and even. I viewed a darkish gray/blue mix Diamond Brite pool and the finish was rather streaky or mottled. Is this normal? Or does it mean the installer did a poor job? The mottled pool was only plastered a couple of weeks ago, wheras the light colored pool was plastered 6 months ago, if it matters. Does the streaking go away?
 
Some level of mottling is unavoidable, and tends to be more obvious on the darker colors. Whatever mottling occurs is also more obvious for the first few weeks, and tends to fade a little bit, but not go away, after that. It can also be worse than the base level if the install crew are not sufficiently experienced.
 
For me diamond bright French grey . I think its all about the final step. Read the website direction . some type of final wash Either water or acid wash . They told me brush it everyday .I did that faithfully and didn't help . It took 5 years to fade away
 
We got a quote for Pebble Tec from one company (the only Pebble Tec provider around here) and it is only like $200 more than their diamond brite quote. That being said, their diamond brite quote was like $700 more than some of the other companies we looked at. I am starting to lean toward pebble.
 
Jenifer, if you can get pebble for only 200 more, then you should considder that. I will tell you why.
It not because Pebble is better, but its the application of it.

Any plaster which is installed correctly will look awesome. The Pebble will be installed correctly because Pebble Tech allows ONLY Pebble Tech certified installers whom they trust to do a good job. the plaster company used wont be left up to the PB, the Pebble Tech company will dictate who install their product. The end result means everything to the Pebble Tech people.

This is not true of diamond brite. Your PB will use whoever he wants to use... and there is just no way that I know of, to know how good the PB plaster guys are.

The attractiveness and quality of the plaster lies in the application and startup ..... pure and simple.
 
Our current plan now is to skip replacing our incandescent light (thus saving $850) and put the $ toward pebble sheen in aqua blue. We were quoted aporoximately $5500 for DB, $5750 for pebble tec, and $6000 for pebble sheen. We really like the PT in Blue Lagoon, but apparently it is a "premium" color and it is cheaper to get the PS in Aqua Blue (very similar color)
 
FYI, The pebble tech will often show mottling too. Again especially with the darker colors.

We apparently got lucky. After the pool was done, the supervisor said it was one of the most uniform applications he had seen. That said, there are areas, especially around the steps that are much rougher than I would have expected ... although I am not sure what "normal" is.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
I don't know which brands you are referring too. Although it's popular, Diamond Brite wouldn't be at the top of my list of Brands. Maybe you mean NPT, or CLI? I would choose either of those with a quality install over just anyone throwing in some DB, although their names aren't known as well as PT and WetEdge. At least not NPT in terms of finishes.

Without knowing, I'll say that the skill and quality of the applicators work is paramount. WetEdge and PT are the only two that go to the trouble of making sure their applicators are a cut above the normal.
 
I guess you would call it generic? We are using a company called Adam's Pools, and it is called "Pebble Plus". Looks and feels almost exactly like Pebble Sheen. If you put the samples side by side, you can't tell the difference. The pebbles might be a smidge bigger, but they are basically the same. And they are applied in the same way with a 10 year warranty.
 
There are lots of "generic" versions of the major brands. If you have a top notch team doing the install the generics can look just as good as the premium brands. However the top installers normally go with the premium brands, since they can make more money that way, leaving the less experienced teams handling the generic brands. Sometimes you can find a good combination and get a great look for less money, and sometimes you get people with less experience and things don't look nearly as good.
 
I should add that these are licensed installers of Pebble Tec. I have been told both products are installed the same way. The store brand is actually "Pebble Plus." It is a few hundred cheaper than Pebble Sheen (about the same price as Pebble Tec), and they will add abalone and glass beads for free (wheras if you add them to PT or PS, they cost extra). I will post a pic of the sample later.

- - - Updated - - -

One other thing. The company says they will sandblast the old plaster and apply a bond coat. If the plaster is too damaged (?) and they have to "go deeper," it is an extra $1200. Is that normal? Nobody had told me that when I got the initial quote. I told the lady that no one had told me that and that I was upset, so she did knock a few hundred off the quote (lowered the extra charge from $1200 to $900, and knocked a couple hundred off the rest of the quote...so now it is only $500 extra). Our plaster is delaminating in a bunch of places so I am guessing they will need to "go deeper."
 
Charging extra if the old plaster needs more attention is fairly common, but hardly universal. Many companies will make an assumption about how much work will need to be done and then charge you for that regardless of what the actual situation turns out to be.
 
For a few hundred extra, I would go with PT. To me, it isn't worth the unknown, but I understand trying to save some $$.

I agree with Jason, that should have been covered up front. This same issue just came up with another OP here in Austin.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply