n the past three years, Hal Hampton has not finished a single pool with traditional white plaster. The owner of Vacation Pools, LLC, in Lucerne Valley, Calif., includes an upgrade to a quartz-based finish in his base price, and the results speak for themselves.
“We have 95 percent fewer repairs, complaints and callbacks since we started using specialty interiors instead of traditional plaster,” says the builder, who sells between 500 and 700 pools each year. “When the asbestos was taken out of cement, longevity became a problem. But with the [aggregates], they’re bringing back longer life spans for the products … and that’s something we like.”
Hampton is not alone. Roughly 70 percent of builders nationwide offer specialty finishes, according to a Pool & Spa News survey conducted earlier this year. In fact, awareness of the specialty pool finishes, which include everything from pebble aggregates and quartz-based mixes to fiberglass gel coats and ceramic tile murals, has become more widespread. Some speculate that the interest has led to a decline in white plaster.
A nationwide consumer trend
Approximately 40 percent of inground concrete pools nationwide feature a specialty finish, according to manufacturers. This growth resulted primarily from an increased availability of specialty finish products and a surge in consumer demand.
Increased distribution channels in the past five years, for example, have helped boost the market in places along the Atlantic Coast. Some experts speculate that in the next 10 years, specialty finishes will be the preferred finish nationwide.
“The Northeast has been way behind the curve — sort of a stepchild to alternative finishes — due to the high cost of transportation and shipping to get it here,” says John C. Romano, chairman and CEO of All American Custom Pools & Spas Inc., a Pool & Spa News Top Builder based in Norwalk, Conn. “There’s a growing demand among consumers, and it’s lagged because of the cost-effectiveness of using the products. That’s starting to change.
“Manufacturers are opening plants and distribution centers here,” Romano notes. “Three years ago, I would say only 5- to 10 percent of our projects had specialty finishes. Now, 40- to 50 percent have them.”
Still, many say the biggest sales driver has been the consumer. In fact, 22 percent of homeowners specifically requested specialty finishes for their pools, according to our survey. Despite the fact that specialty finishes can cost consumers from 25- to 90 percent more than traditional marcite, builders say their popularity is growing.
“Many [people] are aware of the products, especially the aggregates,” says Bill Gullekson, sales manager at Shasta Pools & Spas in Phoenix, a Pool & Spa News Top Builder. “There are a lot of people who have seen it, swam in it, perhaps already own it. Word-of-mouth [reputation] is so much more important with these finishes.”
This may explain why builders say an increase in repeat pool buyers is changing the way they sell specialty finishes. “If you go back 15 or 20 years ago, the pool was still mostly for the elite,” explains Joe Vassallo, CBP and owner/president of Paragon Pools in Las Vegas. “Today, pools are for the average, middle-class family. And what that has now started is that people will buy two or three, or even four, swimming pools in their lifetimes.
“They’re already knowledgeable — they know what they want and what they don’t want,” he adds. “The Internet is also helping, but customers are coming in with a grocery list of options.”
Whether it’s building their second pool or renovating an existing one, these customers have generated a new sales niche for builders: the savvy pool buyer. That’s why companies such as Fibre Tech Inc., a manufacturer of fiberglass resin finishes in Largo, Fla., say around 95 percent of their sales are in renovation.
These consumers might come in knowing exactly what they want in terms of options and personal preferences, but pool salespeople still must take special care to ask about the buyers’ needs. For example, does the client envision a play pool with a smooth, easy-on-the-feet finish? Or do they want a lagoon with a dark, natural look? How important is water clarity and reflectivity?
Builders take ownership
Many experts liken the growth of specialty finishes to any maturing market. As the affordability and prevalence of the product grew, so did the number of skilled plasterers, sales and distribution channels, and methods of education. The boom is motivating individual companies to customize the products for their own purposes.
This customization can include creating proprietary mixtures of aggregates. Such on-site blending has become popular in markets such as Southern California and Phoenix. Customization also can take the form of branding generic products with company logos, or combining plasters and cements with additives such as pozzolans and fibers to enhance their durability. (For more on the trend toward customization, see “All Mixed Up.”)
Manufacturers are joining in, selling individual product lines with unique additive blends to facilitate the individualization. “You can buy the components or premixed bags. We may sell a company a load of pebble, but they’ll also buy a load of color to go with the pebble so they’re able to customize the finish of the pool, and that’s the big advantage,” says Mike Yon, president of Pyramid Cement Products Inc. in Charlotte, N.C.
Of course, builders need to be aware of possible problems with customization, whether mixing in color or strengthening additives. “Any time you mix something with four or five components together vs. mixing two components, there will be more problems. The more ingredients, the more room there is for error,” Yon says.
Eye on the future
The fate of specialty finish products is uncertain. Some argue that white plaster is obsolete. Others say it will always have a place where cost or safety are critical factors. The reality bodes poorly for old-fashioned plaster.
Take the commercial industry. For years, builders and plasterers were told that traditional marcite was the only option for public pool facilities. Now many communities and cities have permitted the use of alternative white finishes, including aggregate mixes, marble sheens and fiberglass.
However, when it comes to determining what the finish of the future will look like, builders are torn. Vassallo of Paragon Pools believes that using natural elements in finishes, such as lining pools, shelves and steps with flagstone, will become more prevalent as the costs become more reasonable.
Others suggest that opalescent glass tiles will be the wave of the future.
“In Australia, all-tile pools are more popular than the aggregates, and I think that’s going to be the future of pools, at least in Arizona,” says Mike Aprati, president of Coral Pools Inc. in Tempe, Ariz. “I think that’s the next step.”
Vassallo and Aprati may be right — but not for another 10 years, at least. Meanwhile, watch for the appearance of aggregates with glow-in-the-dark, iridescent materials, says Don McChesney, Western regional manager of National Pool Tile Group in Tempe, Ariz. He believes that over time, consumers will find their way to a middle-of-the-road finish such as quartz or a small-stone pebble finish.
Gullekson of Shasta Pools & Spas agrees. “The more contemporary look is coming back into favor,” he says. “We’ll see a greater number of clear interior pools with a simple white stone or quartz finish.”
