Well you could sent a notice / buzz to those that have done a pool build and ask them to post their tile selection both in and out of the water and the steps they went to acquire it. Most builds do have some info on their tile and coping selections. Maybe have a dual thread in the 'getting started' thread so they see it when they go to post their chemistry problems / questions. It shouldn't be hard to do, they've already shared the pictures and info. Oh and Kim, on the pool plaster water color selection thread, one poster submitted twice (two different sign in names). Or maybe you caught it. The pictures are identical.
My tile selection was a bit different. I knew I didn't want glass, no mosaics, no stone like rough types. I wanted glossy for ease of cleaning but was looking for something that would enhance the pool color instead of standing out. I cut and pasted various tiles on my desk top and it wasn't so much the color that made my final selections. It was the hue -- Not too light and not too dark. At first I wanted to do an alternating pattern of dark light dark medium but then I saw a few builds that had tiling problems. . . And I didn't want the tiler to mess up the pattern because he wasn't thinking. Or the order to be short in one color. So I just went with one tile on the waterline and one slightly darker in the same line on the columns in 2" tile. The nice part is the column tile has some brown in it to match our house brick, something I also wanted.
I couldn't just write for samples because I didn't know which ones to ask for!
My tile selection was a bit different. I knew I didn't want glass, no mosaics, no stone like rough types. I wanted glossy for ease of cleaning but was looking for something that would enhance the pool color instead of standing out. I cut and pasted various tiles on my desk top and it wasn't so much the color that made my final selections. It was the hue -- Not too light and not too dark. At first I wanted to do an alternating pattern of dark light dark medium but then I saw a few builds that had tiling problems. . . And I didn't want the tiler to mess up the pattern because he wasn't thinking. Or the order to be short in one color. So I just went with one tile on the waterline and one slightly darker in the same line on the columns in 2" tile. The nice part is the column tile has some brown in it to match our house brick, something I also wanted.
I couldn't just write for samples because I didn't know which ones to ask for!