Glass faceted waterline tile

[dmcconnell68]

Has anyone used or seen glass faceted waterline tile? Any drawbacks or issues to be aware of?



Thanks,
David

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Nice looking.

The only drawback to glass tile is to understand that, when you get calcium scale on it, you can not use conventional blasting techniques to remove the scale or else you will “frost” (scratch) the glass. Many tile cleaning outfits use simple glass bead blasting to remove scale from tiles and that will easily damage glass. Chemical treatments can remove scale but they are slow and labor intensive.

So, as waterline tile, I personally would not want to use glass because it’s going to get scale and then you’ve got an expensive clean up to do. However, for some, the aesthetics of glass will trump any technical issue so, to that end, it’s a personal choice.

 

[dmcconnell68]

Thanks for the reply Matt. Is there a type of tile that can be used for waterline that would not get scale, or has better options to remove it? Also, not sure if it matters or not, but this is a fiberglass pool.

David

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Any tile will develop scale, it doesn’t matter what type it is. That said, any standard ceramic pool tile (or porcelain tile) will be easier to clean than glass. Most tile glaze can handle glass bead blasting. The more glossy the tile finish, the harder it is to avoid “frosting”. I chose a blue ceramic tile in my pool that has a very matte finish to it and even I can tell where the blasting media cut too hard into it.

 

[chiefwej]

I chose a porcelain tile with a matte finish and a color to match the calcium deposits.