Not happy with tile choice-advice please! UPDATE: Pool is finished!

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Re: Not happy with tile choice-advice please! UPDATE: Tile is not the right color

Is anyone knowledgeable about grout for waterline tile? As I mentioned we are going with a gray grout. It is Mapei Keracolor sanded grout and the color is called silver. I was told by our sales girl that you should only use white grout or a gray that is VERY light so light that it is almost white because any grout that is in the water will eventually loose its color and turn white. The color gray that they left here is a medium-light shade I would say. Will we have issues with that turning white over time in the water?

They are coming back either later today or tomorrow to do the grout and I just want to make sure this will be a good color to use.
 
Re: Not happy with tile choice-advice please! UPDATE: Tile is not the right color

My waterline grout is six or seven years old now. Above and below the water are now different, but both a med-dark color. Underwater did take on a different hue, but didn't turn white. The difference is only noticeable if I look for it, it doesn't stand out in any way.

You can just make out the color difference in the pic I posted here:

New OB Construction in Las Vegas
 
Re: Not happy with tile choice-advice please! UPDATE: Tile is not the right color

Tile looks great! We went matchy-matchy with the tile/coping. I've never been a big fan of it. I'm still not. In hindsight I'd have gone with a contrast of some type. No biggie, we are blessed. Oh, and I didn't think our tile looked like the sample either. I also paint the wrong color first.
 
Re: Not happy with tile choice-advice please! UPDATE: Tile is not the right color

We almost went Mapai silver. I think it’s a beautiful grout colour. The other one I considered was the Manhattan I think. I agonised over my my grout colour in my build thread. Keep in mind our waterline tiles are neutral though. In the end the tiler turned up and asked which colour we were going with. I said I didn’t know lol and he said suggested we go with the jasmine, which was the colour they were using on the travertine. So we did! Many hours wasted searching for the perfect colour! My pool couldn’t be any more matchy matchy if it tried [emoji23] I love it but if I had more choice I may have gone contrast and if I did it would be like yours. Our Pb is good mates with the owner of the pool tile shop (yes, that’s it’s name). I could pick any paver and any waterline tile with no additional cost. Didn’t like any other waterline tile in the entire shop except the one we went went and I immediately made a beeline to it. Can’t really complain since the travertine paving was standard for us.
 
Re: Not happy with tile choice-advice please! UPDATE: Tile is not the right color

Here it is with the gray grout. I am in LOVE with this tile!

Dirk I know you said to make sure spill way was level. We thought we had a 3 ft leveler at home and it turned out we only had a 4 ft one and a 1 ft. Asked a neighbor and he only had a 4 ft as well. It was sunday night so we weren't able to get to the store and tried to check with the little one but I know that probably wasn't accurate. Does the spill way look uneven to anyone? It looks like it is a little higher in the middle. I do not want to be super fussy about it and if the water spills over ok I do not mind it not being perfect but now I am a little worried about it not being even.

20181106_120559.jpg20181106_120857.jpg
 
Re: Not happy with tile choice-advice please! UPDATE: Tile is not the right color

We're not going to be able to tell from the pic's, as your camera lens could be playing tricks. I take it your 4' level was too long? You can still use it. Instead of placing it on top of the spill way, hold it up against the wall, inside and outside, and bring it right up to the edge. You can check the level of the spillway, and how straight it is.

Here's a trick to make sure your level is accurate. Note the exact position of the bubble when held up to the edge of the spillway. Then flip the level over (vertically), check again. Then rotate the level (horizontally, parallel to the earth), check again. The flip the level over (vertically) again. If the bubble is in the same exact spot every time, even if not centered, you have an accurate level. If the bubble settles in a different place each time, then your level is not calibrated correctly. This is how you check a level when you don't have a known perfectly level surface to test it on.
 

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Re: Not happy with tile choice-advice please! UPDATE: Tile is not the right color

Dirk said:
We're not going to be able to tell from the pic's, as your camera lens could be playing tricks. I take it your 4' level was too long? You can still use it. Instead of placing it on top of the spill way, hold it up against the wall, inside and outside, and bring it right up to the edge. You can check the level of the spillway, and how straight it is.

Here's a trick to make sure your level is accurate. Note the exact position of the bubble when held up to the edge of the spillway. Then flip the level over (vertically), check again. Then rotate the level (horizontally, parallel to the earth), check again. The flip the level over (vertically) again. If the bubble is in the same exact spot every time, even if not centered, you have an accurate level. If the bubble settles in a different place each time, then your level is not calibrated correctly. This is how you check a level when you don't have a known perfectly level surface to test it on.
Click to expand...


Yes it was too long as our spillway is 3 ft. When my husband gets back tomorrow I will have him take another look and try your suggestion. In person it does look like the middle is a little higher but I don't know if that is enough to affect how the water flows over it. Thanks for your help!
 
Re: Not happy with tile choice-advice please! UPDATE: Tile is not the right color

Rachelmarie said:
Yes it was too long as our spillway is 3 ft. When my husband gets back tomorrow I will have him take another look and try your suggestion. In person it does look like the middle is a little higher but I don't know if that is enough to affect how the water flows over it. Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

Any amount of unevenness or out of level will affect the flow over it. But by what amount is what's in question. Your spillway could be seriously out of whack, and with enough water running over it still look fine. It's when you turn it down that this becomes an issue.

If you know you're only going to be running your waterfall at full speed, then it can be off by quite a bit and still look fine. I just know, if I had one, I'd want at least a few settings:

- Off, to heat the spa,
- high for maximum waterfall affect,
- medium for normal circulation, and
- low for a little background ambiance while snoozing at the pool, or while sitting around chatting with someone when I don't need Niagra Falls roaring a few feet away.

I'd want my spillway to look perfect in all modes, and not be forced to keep it on high just to mask some poor workmanship. I'm sure every builder can site a different tolerance for what is considered acceptable. But, IMO, since it can be just about perfect, it should be just about perfect, as it is just a matter of skill and effort applied during installation.

Since I don't have one, I can't give you what I would consider an acceptable tolerance range. Maybe someone else here, with a spillway, can weigh in on this subject...
 
Re: Not happy with tile choice-advice please! UPDATE: Tile is not the right color

Dirk said:
Any amount of unevenness or out of level will affect the flow over it. But by what amount is what's in question. Your spillway could be seriously out of whack, and with enough water running over it still look fine. It's when you turn it down that this becomes an issue.

If you know you're only going to be running your waterfall at full speed, then it can be off by quite a bit and still look fine. I just know, if I had one, I'd want at least a few settings:

- Off, to heat the spa,
- high for maximum waterfall affect,
- medium for normal circulation, and
- low for a little background ambiance while snoozing at the pool, or while sitting around chatting with someone when I don't need Niagra Falls roaring a few feet away.

I'd want my spillway to look perfect in all modes, and not be forced to keep it on high just to mask some poor workmanship. I'm sure every builder can site a different tolerance for what is considered acceptable. But, IMO, since it can be just about perfect, it should be just about perfect, as it is just a matter of skill and effort applied during installation.

Since I don't have one, I can't give you what I would consider an acceptable tolerance range. Maybe someone else here, with a spillway, can weigh in on this subject...
Click to expand...

I agree with you on the different levels of flow. I would not want to be forced to have it on full speed the whole time. If it seems to be off I will demand it needs to be corrected.
 
Re: Not happy with tile choice-advice please! UPDATE: Tile is not the right color

I almost forgot to update this thread with pictures of the finished pool. I am overall very happy with it and can't wait to get past the 2 week mark so we can heat it and actually swim in it.

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Most of the issues we have are minor and easy fixes but there is one that is bothering us and I do not know what the solution is (we are having pool school tomorrow and will address it with them then). On our sun shelf there are two footprints that are only visible at night when the pool light is on, but to me its very obvious and I hate it. Anyone know if there is an easy fix that does not involve replastering or compromising the plaster? It is pebble sheen. Here is a picture of one of the footprints. It looks more obvious in person than the picture.

20181210_201526.jpg
 
I'm sorry for your foot print issue. You don't want to hear my answer. There isn't a good solution to a footprint in plaster. The workaround is to have the pump running at night when you look at the pool so there is water movement and the footprint is less obvious. Also, don't look at it.

You could get a vinyl sticker like this to place over it.

http://www.aqua-art.com/mini-7-poolart/

Any type of patch will likely be more obvious than the foot print itself. But maybe a discoloration (which could be the result of repair) will be more pleasing to your eye that the unevenness.
 
Thanks for the feedback about the foot print. That is very disappointing that there is not an easy fix for it. I wouldn't mind if it was in the deep end but being that is in an obvious area (sun shelf) it is hard to not notice it. It sounds like the only option to really fix it is to re plaster the whole pool? We plan to live in this house for a long time and spent a lot of money on the pool so it is a hard thing for me to just accept and I feel like they should fix it for us no matter what the cost is but I have a feeling they will refuse to do that.
 

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