Swimming Pool Plaster New Pool and Resurface Choices Explained
I want to explain a little about the interior surface choices available for in ground swimming pool restoration . (pool Plaster). Our company likes to offer all choices of pool surfaces available rather than just assume you want the less expensive choice. When we offer you the choice we do not care which one you choose but want you to make an informed decision.
The first choice we offer is the standard exposed aggregate line. This product line includes the brand names such as Diamond Brite, Florida Stucco(Florida Gem), Premix Marbletite Marquis Series and CLI Krystalkrete. This series is exposed after steel trowel with a brush wash then final acid wash before filling and is a one day installation for the plaster application. This type of surface has the 10 year Material warranty from the manufacture for residential pool applications and 5 year warranty for commercial swimming pool application. It is a great swimming pool surface and is widely accepted. It is compromised from silica sand and white portland cement . Some of the sand is dyed and fired with ceramic tile dye for color. (Color Quartz) This surface is a great starting point. The surface is roughly 20 percent cement on the surface and 80 percent sand.
The second options we offer are pebble surfaces. The brand names you see in the industry are Wet-Edge Technology, Pebbletec, River Rock, Sun Stone, Hydrazzo, and Stonescapes. We primarily use the Wet-Edge product line for our pebble line. The line has colors that are mixes with glass ( Prism Matrix ) for bling , large pebble mixes (Serenity Stone ) , Pebble mixtures ( Signature Matrix ) , and polished pebble ( Primera Stone ). This option comes with a full warranty of 15 years that includes material and labor for the failure unlike the prior option that has up to 2 year workmanship.The installation of this product is different from the prior selection because it is spray barred and compacted over 2 times during the installation . This allows the rock to be compacted tightly. The key benefit of this type of installation is a 3 – 5 % of cement on the surface vrs the 20 percent of standard exposed aggregate interiors surface. The cement is what is porous and can take on the unwanted colors and stains you see in swimming pools. The Wet_Edge Pebble we install is installed by factory trained crews. We have the top in ground pool plaster installation crew in the state of Florida .
There are a few choices we do not offer and I will l explain why. We will not install a color background interior standard exposed aggregate finish. These are contractor grade dye lots and are not color fast no matter what the sales guy tells you. If you want a color interior go with a high quality pebble like Wet-Edge. The dye is color fast and remember what I said above there is not much cement showing because of compaction and these do not streak.Cheaper over the counter pebble interiors are typically installed by crews that brush wash and do not compact . They also have cheap dye made of carbon and thallow that will streak and fade. We do not typically install Marcite in our area. Although Marcite still is predominantly the biggest seller in the United States it is not here. In the early 80’s the FDA made us remove asbestos from the product and it just has not been as strong. It was not uncommon for a customer to say my marcite pool interior lasted 20 years . I knew it was asbestos reinforced. Please do not hesitate to call or email us with questions. I have been in the pool plaster industry for 30 years.
Frank Russo
President Family Pools Inc
