Glass tiles for waterline
- Thread starter SoonerWing
- Start date
Why would this be a bad idea? I love glass tile and plan on using for water line along with entire spa.
I'm going with glass against my builders advice. The cost is so much more it's crazy!!! But the look is sooooo great. I have heard it's much more upkeep.
Bad idea if you want to keep costs down. There are some beautiful glass tiles out there. We'll be doing glass tiles in the spa area, haven't decided about the rest of the pool due to cost. If I can't find a complimentary 6x6 tile, I may have to go all glass!
We bought a Hot Tub rather than doing a spa so really the only tile we will have is waterline. We love the look of the glass tiles but I have read that they are tougher to keep clean and the 1 x 1 's are tougher to keep attached to the pool. Was hoping that the latter was more of an issue with poor installation.
No, and anyone who says it is for technical reasons is wrong. I saw that post, so don't let it sway you. Opinions of taste here should have no bearing. Most people by far find it incredibly beautiful and appealing. Sadly, most can't afford much of it including myself. If I could, I'd have gobs and gobs of it. We have glass tile trims on our steps and swim outs. Everyone who's seen it says how beautiful it is. I tend to agree. :lol:
Get the glass and enjoy it.
Get the glass and enjoy it.
I think most people who have read my thread know how I feel about glass tile. So I've held back since I didn't see how words coming from me would be helpful.
But I hate to see you pass on something if you think you would enjoy it.
It may not seem like it with my pool, but I'm extremely frugal. In fact, my friends consider me to be very tight with money. I try not to be cheap. To me that means making decisions for only the short term when spending more now would save money in the long term - as long as you can do it financially.
My point being that I did a lot of research on glass tile, and weighed my decision carefully. I didn't find any consistent info about poor durability. I did read that the smaller the pieces, the less area there is on the tile to bond to the thinset. My tiles aren't much larger than 1x1s, but percentage wise, every bit helps. Another point is to use glass tiles that are not on a mesh backing again for the surface area of full contact between the tile and thinset. That made sense to me, but I'm not an expert.
Patrick covered very well the other points of scale in his response on the other thread. I don't consider scale an issue.
For me, there was no reason to keep me from using glass tile, except cost.
If I spent $2,000 on glass tile, and it lasts only 10 years, then it cost me about $16.50 a month. Not a bad return on my money for the enjoyment.
One more point on the durability... I consider that factor in connection to convenience. My car breaks down, and I have no transportation, maybe for weeks. My a/c goes out, and I'm miserable and can't sleep. My dryer breaks, and I'm slopping wet clothes to the laundromat. A glass tile or two cracks or pops off, I keep swimming until some person can replace it. I can live with that.
As usual, too much said here, but I couldn't keep quiet any longer. Take care! Suz.
But I hate to see you pass on something if you think you would enjoy it.
It may not seem like it with my pool, but I'm extremely frugal. In fact, my friends consider me to be very tight with money. I try not to be cheap. To me that means making decisions for only the short term when spending more now would save money in the long term - as long as you can do it financially.
My point being that I did a lot of research on glass tile, and weighed my decision carefully. I didn't find any consistent info about poor durability. I did read that the smaller the pieces, the less area there is on the tile to bond to the thinset. My tiles aren't much larger than 1x1s, but percentage wise, every bit helps. Another point is to use glass tiles that are not on a mesh backing again for the surface area of full contact between the tile and thinset. That made sense to me, but I'm not an expert.
Patrick covered very well the other points of scale in his response on the other thread. I don't consider scale an issue.
For me, there was no reason to keep me from using glass tile, except cost.
If I spent $2,000 on glass tile, and it lasts only 10 years, then it cost me about $16.50 a month. Not a bad return on my money for the enjoyment.
One more point on the durability... I consider that factor in connection to convenience. My car breaks down, and I have no transportation, maybe for weeks. My a/c goes out, and I'm miserable and can't sleep. My dryer breaks, and I'm slopping wet clothes to the laundromat. A glass tile or two cracks or pops off, I keep swimming until some person can replace it. I can live with that.
As usual, too much said here, but I couldn't keep quiet any longer. Take care! Suz.
Wow, wow, wow, wow! That is gorgeous!!! Your tile is some of the most elegant I've seen. And with your water color?! Stunning! Thanks for sharing! Suz.
There is a guy that just did his WHOLE pool in Glass tile! I will look for his posts.
Kim
Kim
Thanks. The glass tile really is no more work, provided you don't mind doing it. If you neglect it, it can get away from you, I suppose.
All glass tile pools = $$$$ X $$$$. If I could afford it...oh yea, no doubt I would have it. Classy stuff right there.
Sooner, I had to go back to your threads and find the picture you posted of the tile ya'll like. Trust me, I know that tile, because it was our first choice! It's Steel Blue by LightStreams which is the same as Paris's tile (I know Paris from another forum, and we have shared info about the LightStreams glass and staff). I tried to repost your photo to get it on this page, but it didn't work. They look different because Paris's picture is right after the installation. It still has the plastic tape covering on it, and it has not yet been grouted in the picture. That's the white thinset you see before the grout lines are scraped out and real grout for glass is put in. Thank goodness I had seen Paris's at this stage before our LightStreams had been installed, or I would have been crying buckets. It certainly does not look like your picture.
Also, if you do go with this tile, let me caution you. Even after the plastic tape covering is removed and the grout put in, my tile is taking a bit of time to clean up and brighten up like that of your picture. We've sponged it off once after the tile guys left, but there's so much tile and cutting dust around that it just flies back on the tile. With each rain we've had, the glass tile gets more and more sparkly!
Another thought: If you guys decide against it, will you be disappointed each time you see glass tile on another pool? That pretty much tipped the scales for me. Suz.
I agree with Suz. Don't let negative opinions or misinformation sway you if that's what you want. Follow your original instincts and get what turns you on.
No doubt the glass tile is an upgrade. You just have to decide if that look is worth it to you. Once we were hooked on the tile choice, we planned all of our other colors, materials to make the tile pop.
Suz, I think that we are definitely going to do the glass…now just which one. I love the Lightstreams stuff but that curing time is a bit of an issue as we want to get in our pool as quickly as possible. These are pretty similar but are made by a different company and I don’t believe that they have the 28 day curing time.
I prefer the larger tiles but my wife prefers the smaller ones. The smaller ones are a little cheaper so +1 for her.
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Those glass tiles are beautiful!! In fact, I think the top one is the same my son picked out the first time we went to look at tile. (Come to think of it, it's all HIS fault we got into glass!) My son also picked out the bottom one at another tile place. I mention this only because I believe my son has great taste when it comes to colors, etc. He's a quilter and quite good. He will pick out combinations of fabrics that look yucky to me, and then the quilt is stunning!
I agree with you about the cure time. I did research about glass tile, but I didn't look at the LightStreams installation instructions before I ordered. Sighhhhhhh. But with the rains, that cure time hasn't been a problem. Plus I want the deck put in before the plaster, so that also gives me some time. The worst for me with LightStreams was the production time. It took 4 weeks (was only to take 3) and then another week to ship. That's where I really lost time.
Would I do it again? Well, I don't think so. I think I would shop more around here for glass tile in stock that looked similar to what I bought. Then I would have saved money and time. So I'm with you. I think you will find just as good - you may have already found it!!!
I've said this before: set your tile contenders somewhere outside at a similar distance and height. Maybe tape it to a chair. Leave it there for a few days, and see how it looks at a distance and in different lighting. I was surprised how much darker mine looks at a distance. At night and in the shade, it almost looks black. But most of them do I think.
Wow, I love the coping samples you have! What color is it? (here goes 'Lucy' again, I wish I had yours! LOL!!!!). That coping is so rich looking, like a fabulous cup of Godiva hot chocolate! Yummmmm!!!
I'm sooo glad you guys haven't given up on the glass tile. You're pool is going to be fabulous! Take care. Suz.
I agree with you about the cure time. I did research about glass tile, but I didn't look at the LightStreams installation instructions before I ordered. Sighhhhhhh. But with the rains, that cure time hasn't been a problem. Plus I want the deck put in before the plaster, so that also gives me some time. The worst for me with LightStreams was the production time. It took 4 weeks (was only to take 3) and then another week to ship. That's where I really lost time.
Would I do it again? Well, I don't think so. I think I would shop more around here for glass tile in stock that looked similar to what I bought. Then I would have saved money and time. So I'm with you. I think you will find just as good - you may have already found it!!!
I've said this before: set your tile contenders somewhere outside at a similar distance and height. Maybe tape it to a chair. Leave it there for a few days, and see how it looks at a distance and in different lighting. I was surprised how much darker mine looks at a distance. At night and in the shade, it almost looks black. But most of them do I think.
Wow, I love the coping samples you have! What color is it? (here goes 'Lucy' again, I wish I had yours! LOL!!!!). That coping is so rich looking, like a fabulous cup of Godiva hot chocolate! Yummmmm!!!
I'm sooo glad you guys haven't given up on the glass tile. You're pool is going to be fabulous! Take care. Suz.
