Blog | What are swimming pool interior finishes?

The finish of gunite swimming pools is typically plaster. It is a mixture of water, marble dust, and portland cement. Dye is often used when a color other than white is desired. Although plaster is the most common it is not the best finish. The reason it is usually chose is due to economics (cost). Some of the other options for interior finishes would be pebble, quartz or tiled.

Pebble finishes have been around for almost 40 years and tile interiors have been around for hundreds of years. You can still see pools in Rome that were tiled hundreds of years ago. Another great example of all tiled pool interiors is Hurst castle.

http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/cahearstcastle/ig/Hearst-Castle/Picture059-a.htm

All tiled pools are also the most comfortable to walk on due to the smoothness of the tile. Although pebble finishes are more durable than plaster they tend to be rougher on the feet. This is due to the irregular sizes and shapes of the pebbles.

This is close up picture of a pool with a pebble finish. The small round things are in-floor heads that are retracted.

Plaster finishes are very smooth when first applied but can get very rough over time. What happens is as the pool PH gets out of balance, either to high or to low. The out of balance PH will either form scale or etch the plaster exposing the marble. That is why peoples toes bleed after being in a plastered pool for extended periods. The out of balance PH has eaten away the portland cement and exposed the marble which is like sand paper.

So when choosing a pool interior you may want to look at other options.