Pool renovation shows and magazine feature trendy (and beautiful) dark finish pools. These pools can create intrigue and set the tone for your outdoor area. Most often, these shows and photos feature pools that have just been completed or resurfaced with their new, deeply pigmented dark (or colored) pool finish: they don’t show you the additional care, chemicals, and work that almost always accompany these surfaces.

Dark finishes, while beautiful, may not be the best choice for every pool or every pool owner, for a variety of reasons. Often, homeowners are not notified ahead of time that these finishes require special care and attention and are later disappointed when the color becomes streaky or doesn’t seem to remain picturesque for very long.

We’ve put together a list of a few things to keep in mind if you are considering a dark or colored plaster (interior finish) for your swimming pool.Pool renovation shows and magazine feature trendy (and beautiful) dark finish pools. These pools can create intrigue and set the tone for your outdoor area. Most often, these shows and photos feature pools that have just been completed or resurfaced with their new, deeply pigmented dark (or colored) pool finish: they don’t show you the additional care, chemicals, and work that almost always accompany these surfaces.
Dark finishes, while beautiful, may not be the best choice for every pool or every pool owner, for a variety of reasons. Often, homeowners are not notified ahead of time that these finishes require special care and attention and are later disappointed when the color becomes streaky or doesn’t seem to remain picturesque for very long.
We’ve put together a list of a few things to keep in mind if you are considering a dark or colored plaster (interior finish) for your swimming pool.

Applying a dyed interior plaster is more labor intensive than an undyed surface. Each batch of the material used is a custom-mixed combination of cement product, aggregate, and dye. The dyes are expensive and require precision mixing. Additionally, when the surface is put on the pool—just like other pool finishes, it is hand troweled, but often, the process used to expose the aggregate and to even out the color is more intensive and can require additional steps (depending on the color and material type) such as pressure washing, hand washing, acid washing, to properly bring out the color. Even still, the pool may require additional chemicals or procedures to make the color look more even and uniform, but sometimes, due to the nature of the material, color uniformity may not be achievable.
The cost of the dyes and additional steps and chemicals involved cause dark finishes to be much more expensive than undyed finishes.

Cement products inherently have high levels of calcium. Hard water is prevalent in Florida. Some neighborhoods have a lot of iron in their water. These are just a few factors that homeowners should consider prior to selecting a dark finish.
Your water quality will be a major factor in how easy or how difficult it is to keep your new dark surface looking fresh. There are a multitude of different factors that can play into water chemistry, so we will stick to the number one issue we see with dark surfaces: calcium.
A good analogy to think of is if you have dark tile in your bathroom shower or a glass shower door—have you ever noticed the light-colored water spots in these areas? They are the result of hard water and calcium accumulation.
Pool finishes are cement based and calcium is a component of cement. This means, before the pool is even filled, there is calcium in the pool. Calcium is present in all pools; however, on a white or undyed pool finish, the calcium buildup also known as scale, is not visible so it often goes unnoticed because scale is white or very pale yellow in color. On a dark surface, the scale is highly visible because of the contrast between the colors. The scale will often appear as streaks. It can accumulate on all parts of the pool, but most often is visible on the floor, steps, benches, or other flat surfaces. It can also highlight otherwise unnoticeable trowel marks (which are inevitable in a hand-troweled surface). Preventing or limiting scale is possible, but in most cases, it requires precision chemistry and more expensive chemicals. Some factors, such as hard water, use of a salt-chlorine generator, can make it even more difficult to maintain proper chemical balance and prevent scale.
Some homeowners are also shocked to find out that their pool service company may no longer service their pool if the opt for a dark finish.
Scale is such an issue that we send all our customers who select a dark finish a Dark Finish Letter to review and understand some of the factors they must be aware of before taking on a dark surface.