New pool/new plaster - Pebble Tec problems - bumps, trowel marks, uneven plaster

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prebekah

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Aug 8, 2018
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Lewisville, TX
IMG_3205.JPGIMG_3204.jpgNew pool just built. Everything went great until plaster/pebbletec was installed. The floor has trowel marks, maybe footprints (?), large bumps on bottom and sides. Very noticeable at night...looks horrible! Does this look right? Waiting for plaster people to come out but im being told this is "normal" from pool company.
 

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This looks perfectly within the range of normal for a hand applied plaster (which also includes pebble) finish. Shining a light at a low angle on any flat surface will do the best job of revealing the imperfections. Not being smart, but if it bothers you greatly, just run the pump on a low speed when by the pool with the lights on and the you will not see them.

My pool looks relatively identical.

In this case it's a matter of expectations. You were expecting a perfectly smooth finish when viewed by the pool lights. There was never a reality that this would look perfectly smooth under the lights.
 
It's on the sloppy side of the normal range. Relax and enjoy your new pool. If those are the only plaster problems you have after a few years you will be lucky.
 
Not sure I agree with the others. I recently had Pebble Fina done, and there are a few marks and imperfections, but you would have to be looking for them to see them. Overall the surfaces are very flat. Just a bit of mottling here and there which I understand is normal.

That being said, the only pebble tech installation I am familiar with is my own, and they tell me mine was an exceptionally good installation. But I would not be happy with what you have.

You should contact Pebble Tec, show them those pictures and ask them if it meets their standards. If it does, the not sure what you can do except post those photos everywhere you can do no one else ends up in the same spot.
 
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AZCharlie said:
I agree with scdaren. I would not accept that. I had Mini Pebble done in early July, and it is much smoother than the plaster in the pics.

I have a hard time believing that is within the "range of normal."
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Fair enough, but with all the night pool pics I've seen here over the years, and not those specifically posted to show the imperfections, these types of "shadows" are seen in most all of them in varying degrees. Based on that experience seeing it, it doesn't strike me as unusual. I wasn't a fan at first either in our pool, but you don't always get an A+ installer. Some do and that's great.

If there is one part of the process where installer skill is most evident when building a pool, it's on the plaster application. Tile application is the other from what I've seen.
 
Darin and Charlie,

Please go out tonight at midnight and take pictures of your pool with just one bright white light and post them... :cool: It will be interesting to see what they look like for comparison..

And don't pick the best ones, as I'm sure the OP posted the worse he could find.

I don't believe that it is possible to know what the OP's pool really looks like, based upon a couple night pics on your PC..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Darin and Charlie,

Please go out tonight at midnight and take pictures of your pool with just one bright white light and post them... :cool: It will be interesting to see what they look like for comparison..

And don't pick the best ones, as I'm sure the OP posted the worse he could find.

I don't believe that it is possible to know what the OP's pool really looks like, based upon a couple night pics on your PC..

Thanks,

Jim R.
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I will do that. Maybe I've just been wearing rose-colored lenses in love with my new pool :p.
 

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Jimrahbe said:
Darin and Charlie,

Please go out tonight at midnight and take pictures of your pool with just one bright white light and post them... :cool: It will be interesting to see what they look like for comparison..

And don't pick the best ones, as I'm sure the OP posted the worse he could find.

I don't believe that it is possible to know what the OP's pool really looks like, based upon a couple night pics on your PC..

Thanks,

Jim R.
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Here you go... There are a couple trowel marks on the sun step, the ripples you see on it are just ripples in the water. The rest of the pool is quite smooth. You can definitely see the mottling in this light though. 20180808_214900-756x1008.jpg

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Can you see it in the daytime or when there is motion in the water? If not, I wouldn't get too worried about it. I have all this mottling in my pool, but the only time I can see it is with lights on and calm water. It bothered me at first, but now I don't even notice or think about it.
 
Darin and Charlie,

Thanks for the pics... :goodjob:

It does appear that your pools have a better plaster job.

It will be interesting to see what the plaster company has to say when they see it in the daylight...

Jim R.
 
Unfortunately as others have said the finish is generally judged by its appearance during the day with the pump off. Having said that though I wouldn’t be happy if that was my finished product either. Hopefully for you it looks bumpy during the day too so you have some recourse. Being a handcrafted work no one expects perfection but a bit of skill and care doesn’t go astray. I can say lots of not so nice things about my recent pool build but the interior isn’t one of them. This is my pool tonight.
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