Building A Pool Day By Day: Pool Finishes

Aggregate Finishes seem to dominate the pool finish market today. If you built a pool about 20 years ago, the common finish was Marcite, essentially a calcium based plaster finish that was smooth to the touch. It's smoothness proved to be it's downfall, however, as defects such as color variation, stains and crystaline precipitate made these surfaces a challenge. For more info or if you have an existing Marcite Pool visit PoolCenter.com

The common solution these days is an aggregate finish, essentially tumbled rocks or pebbles that are uniform in size and color. There are a number of brands, but the most commonly known is PebbleTec , so I will use that as the standard. Aggregates have a rougher finish and can cause abrasions if you rub your extremities really, really, really hard against them, but a neat feature is that you can change the color of the water based on the stone color combinations you choose. Smoother textures can be obtained by using a finer grade of stone (PebbleSheen or PebbleFina), which are actually LESS expensive than the original PebbleTec product. The reason is that the alternate 2 surfaces are created from the waste product (stones that are too small) that are formed from the PebbleTec creation process (think "Panning for Gold").

These guys will get you for upgrades for the more popular colors, but in the end, the finished product will have a consistent finish that can hide defects and make your new (or refinished) pool like dynamite and make you want to jump right in!!!