We are resurfacing our gunite pool. I'm curious about the range in prices on ceramic (or is it porcelain?) waterline tile? I ask because our contract was quoted with 6x6 but (given the curves or our kidney-shaped pool) I think 3x3 is better. This is raising the basic installed tile price by 40%. Also, does it seem reasonable that an upgrade tile would be $40 / ft2 more than a basic blue? The tile company is not able to give me any price information since they only deal wholesale to pool companies. Thanks for any insight you can share.
waterline tile price question
- Thread starter pcustode
- Start date
There's nothing "special" about pool tile. Go to a warehouse tile outlet and price the tile you want there. They can tell you which tile is compatible with exterior conditions. Also, unless you have really tight curves, I can't imagine 6x6 tiles being an installation issue. Less grout to clean as well.
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Using a 3" tile will put the waterline in the horizontal grout line. I agree that 6" should be fine. Our pool is free form with 6" tile, pics in sig. The price of pool tile is very wide ranging. Porcelain, ceramic or glass tile can be used. Unglazed porcelain is most durable. Especially in an area that freezes. Does it freeze much in CT? :-D
Using a 3" tile will put the waterline in the horizontal grout line. I agree that 6" should be fine. Our pool is free form with 6" tile, pics in sig. The price of pool tile is very wide ranging. Porcelain, ceramic or glass tile can be used. Unglazed porcelain is most durable. Especially in an area that freezes. Does it freeze much in CT? :-D
We went with 1" glass mosaic which should actually lower the installation cost because it comes in 12" sheets. We ended up doing it ourselves because the prices the installers were quoting ended up being ridiculous. Took less than 8 hours (2 weekend mornings) on our kidney shaped pool.
Thank you, all, for your quick response. I appreciate your advice about 3x3 vs 6x6. I'm concerned with the curves on the bench (4 really tight circumferences), skimmer intakes and spa (16 foot circumference half circle). I guess I wanted to get input because I was surprised that one ceramic/porcelain tile could cost almost 5 times the cost of the basic option ($40 more / square foot). I believe, since I'm in Connecticut, I have to have a specific "frost-proof" tile. Your pool is very nice, pooldv, with it's graceful curves. Mine has a few tighter curves I think. Thanks again for all of your input.
Tiles are like cars and purses, you can spend as much money as you want to on them for basically the same thing only prettier.
- Jul 16, 2012
- 7,279
- Pool Size
- 27000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
On any particularly sharp curves, if 6x6 tiles are used, they can cut the tiles in half vertically to round he sharp corners.
Using 3x3 requires about 4x more tiles to be installed ... that is more labor costs. They will just cut the 6x6 when needed to make any sharper bends.
Depending on the market price is around $10-$15 a linear ft including all materials and labor. That would normally give a choice of about 30 tiles from a major distributor such as NPT. Size if tile (6x6, 3x3, 2x2) normally doesn't change price for most contractors.
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