DIY Glass Mosaic Tile

[Yeshelloo]

Good afternoon everyone,

I purchased my home a year and a half ago with an inground pool that currently has a Pebble Tec finish. The finish isn't completely shot, but is definitely in worse shape than I was led to believe by the sellers. There are pebbles beginning to chip off individually and I also have a couple of areas where I can see the gunite due to the Pebble Tec wearing off. I have been told how much it is to resurface a pool by professionals. I am an advanced DIYer and am very good at tiling so I have been thinking that I may want to just pursue removing the Pebble Tec when the time comes and do this project on my own because I think glass tiles in pools just looks so nice. Also, with how much it would cost to have someone come in and do the Pebble Tec over, I have to imagine I could keep the cost of buying all the materials somewhat close to what it'd be to hire someone to come in and redo the plaster for me. From my quick search on doing glass tile ina pool, my understanding is that I'd need to use epoxy thinset and grout for the tile in order to ensure it has a strong water tight seal.

Has anyone here ever under taken a project like this on their own, and if so, what kind of materials did you and how were the results? Also, what would be some things I should take into consideration?

Thanks for any and all input!

 

[kimkats]

Matt lets make this happen!! Here is what I know to ask you to see if you can even do it!!! How high is your water table in your yard/area? There are many ways to find out but the one I know that is very effective is to dig a hole as deep as your pool will be. Do you hit water? Does water seep in over time? If so how fast and how much?

If your water table is high your pool could "pop" when the water is removed NOT a good thing!

Once you have figured that part out we can get to work on how to get your pool tiled and making it oh so pretty!!!

Kim

 

[Yeshelloo]

Matt lets make this happen!! Here is what I know to ask you to see if you can even do it!!! How high is your water table in your yard/area? There are many ways to find out but the one I know that is very effective is to dig a hole as deep as your pool will be. Do you hit water? Does water seep in over time? If so how fast and how much?

If your water table is high your pool could "pop" when the water is removed NOT a good thing!

Once you have figured that part out we can get to work on how to get your pool tiled and making it oh so pretty!!! Water has never risen in the pool, it always goes down over time.

Kim

Hi Kim, thanks for the reply! We are up on a hill, we’re 55 feet above sea level but not exactly sure what the exact water table is. Other than digging down, is there any other way to determine what the water table is?

I’ve heard about pools popping, but haven’t heard of it happening to anyone here. My next door neighbor had their pool resurfaced and I don’t think they had any issues.

 

[janinee]

Good afternoon everyone,

I purchased my home a year and a half ago with an inground pool that currently has a Pebble Tec finish. The finish isn't completely shot, but is definitely in worse shape than I was led to believe by the sellers. There are pebbles beginning to chip off individually and I also have a couple of areas where I can see the gunite due to the Pebble Tec wearing off. I have been told how much it is to resurface a pool by professionals. I am an advanced DIYer and am very good at tiling so I have been thinking that I may want to just pursue removing the Pebble Tec when the time comes and do this project on my own because I think glass tiles in pools just looks so nice. Also, with how much it would cost to have someone come in and do the Pebble Tec over, I have to imagine I could keep the cost of buying all the materials somewhat close to what it'd be to hire someone to come in and redo the plaster for me. From my quick search on doing glass tile ina pool, my understanding is that I'd need to use epoxy thinset and grout for the tile in order to ensure it has a strong water tight seal.

Has anyone here ever under taken a project like this on their own, and if so, what kind of materials did you and how were the results? Also, what would be some things I should take into consideration?

Thanks for any and all input!

Just a few pointers ...
If you do glass tile, you will need to research the materials thoroughly.
You will need to seal the entire pool with something such as Hydroban.
The tile itself must be specifically for pools, not for splashbacks.
Special thinset is Laticrete for glass tile.
Do not think you have to use epoxy but if you do, that in itself is ultra-expensive
and difficult to use.

 

[kimkats]

Here is a link I found. Make sure to read down to where it talks about data with the USGS. How can you find out how deep the water table is in a specific location?

Ask your neighbor if he has hydrostatic pressure relief plugs in his pool. In fact look to see if YOU do. I will leave it up to you to do some looking around to see what you are looking for as there are many different ones so best you do the looking so you know what you are going to look for.

When you find this out I have a couple of people that can help out with material ideas. I will say that @janinee has some good points up there! THANKS!

Kim

 

[duraleigh]

I think you would be well served to talk at length to a professional tile installer who works with glass tile.

I don't see any reason to waterproof the shell.
I am not convinced that "pool" tile is a requirement
The epoxy substrate and grout is to gain the adherence you need for glass......I think it is mandatory.

I have never installed glass tile but have done many, many tile jobs and watched a glass tile installation very carefully. What I saw was how slow the process was because the epoxy had to be worked very carefully and, unlike normal thinset, is not water soluble. You can make a big mess without careful planning.

Again, talk with someone who does this for a living.

 

[Yeshelloo]

I think you would be well served to talk at length to a professional tile installer who works with glass tile.

I don't see any reason to waterproof the shell.
I am not convinced that "pool" tile is a requirement
The epoxy substrate and grout is to gain the adherence you need for glass......I think it is mandatory.

I have never installed glass tile but have done many, many tile jobs and watched a glass tile installation very carefully. What I saw was how slow the process was because the epoxy had to be worked very carefully and, unlike normal thinset, is not water soluble. You can make a big mess without careful planning.

Again, talk with someone who does this for a living.

Thank you for your reply!

 

[Yeshelloo]

Here is a link I found. Make sure to read down to where it talks about data with the USGS. How can you find out how deep the water table is in a specific location?

Ask your neighbor if he has hydrostatic pressure relief plugs in his pool. In fact look to see if YOU do. I will leave it up to you to do some looking around to see what you are looking for as there are many different ones so best you do the looking so you know what you are going to look for.

When you find this out I have a couple of people that can help out with material ideas. I will say that @janinee has some good points up there! THANKS!

Kim

Hi Kim, thanks for getting back to me. I believe that I do have a hydrostatic pressure relief plug. Would it be in my main drain because there is definitely on in there. I'm assuming that is used to allow the water to fill into the pool and be balanced rather than sitting around the outside of the pool if it were to rain and the water table rises? From the USGS site, for a well somewhat near my house, it is showing current water table levels are about 26-27 feet below ground level.

 

[kimkats]

I THINK they are in the main drain but don't really know and don't feel comfortable saying much else about it due to not really knowing. I will see if I can call in a couple of people who might be able to help @ajw22 @Pool Clown Guys? Any help with this?

 

[ajw22]

 

[Pool Clown]

Glass tiling is EXTREMELY labor intensive. If you don't lay tile for a living, i would advise against it. It's REALLY expensive to have it done. Not to pass any judgement, financial or otherwise, but you may want to reconsider re-plaster. In MY area, you can expect to pay 8 to 10, or even 12 thousand depending on the type of plaster finish. Dont get me wrong, any refinishing is an expensive proposition.

Now given that you are in Florida you could very well have some good resources for tiling that could come in significantly lower than in my area, meaning that if there are more companies doing that sort of finish, prices may be a bit more competitive.

On another note, Pebble-Tec finishes are inherently rough from the start, and black algae loves a rough finish to get a stronghold on. Once it warms up, if you haven't already, go down and confirm that you have lost so much that you have exposed gunite. It is not uncommon to get stones coming loose with age, and doesn't necessarily mean you are loosing the finish.

 

[Yeshelloo]

Glass tiling is EXTREMELY labor intensive. If you don't lay tile for a living, i would advise against it. It's REALLY expensive to have it done. Not to pass any judgement, financial or otherwise, but you may want to reconsider re-plaster. In MY area, you can expect to pay 8 to 10, or even 12 thousand depending on the type of plaster finish. Dont get me wrong, any refinishing is a expensive proposition.

Now given that you are in Florida you could very well have some good resources for tiling that could come in significantly lower than in my area, meaning that if there is more companies doing that sort of finish, prices may be a bit more competitive.

On another note, Pebble-Tec finishes are inherently rough from the start, and black algae loves a rough finish to get a stronghold on. Once it warms up, if you haven't already, go down and confirm that you have lost so much that you have exposed gunite. It is not uncommon to get stones coming loose with age, and doesn't necessarily mean you are loosing the finish.

I’ll get in tomorrow and take some pictures of the areas I’m talking about that have the gunite showing. As a reference for my tiling, here are the last couple jobs I’ve done.

 

[kimkats]

You knock that one out of the park!! THANKS!

Kim

 

[Yeshelloo]

Hey, thanks so much for your reply and the videos, very informative!