Pebble finishes
The inside of the pool — what the water actually sits on.
The interior finish is applied over the shell and is the surface that decides both what colour the water looks and how the pool feels on your feet. It is also the one material on this list with a service life short enough that you should ask about it before you sign: interior finishes are replaced, not repaired, and the interval is a real number your builder should be willing to say out loud.
On photographyInterior finishes are under water in every photograph we own, and water changes the colour of all of them. Rather than show you a picture that flatters a finish it is not honestly showing, this category runs on written description and swatch families only — and the right way to choose one is a wet sample in sunlight.
6 of 6 pebble finishes in this category
- PlasterColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
White marble plaster
The traditional interior: white cement and marble dust, troweled on. Smoothest surface of any option here and the cheapest to install, with the shortest service life of the four families.
- PlasterColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
Coloured plaster
The same material with pigment in it. A grey or black plaster reads as much deeper water and a much darker pool; it also shows chemistry problems and trowel marks more plainly than white does.
- Quartz aggregateColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
Quartz-aggregate finish
Plaster with graded quartz in it. Harder and more stain-resistant than plain plaster, still fairly smooth, and the usual middle answer when someone wants longer life without a pebble texture.
- Pebble aggregateColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
Standard pebble aggregate
Small natural pebbles broadcast into the plaster and washed back to expose them. Longest-lived family here and the one that makes water look like a lake instead of a bathtub. Also the most textured, which some feet mind.
- Pebble aggregateColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
Polished mini-pebble
Smaller pebble, mechanically polished after it cures. Keeps most of the durability argument for pebble while losing most of the texture complaint — at a higher installed cost than either.
- Glass beadColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
Glass-bead finish
Crushed or beaded glass in place of stone aggregate. Non-porous by nature, visually the most reflective interior available, and the most expensive way to line a pool on this list.
Nobody should pick pebble finishes off a screen
Colour on a monitor is a guess, and a surface you will walk on barefoot for fifteen years is not a guess worth making. We put real samples in front of you at the design consultation, in daylight, next to each other — including the ones we would talk you out of.