Should I tile my pool?

For concrete pools, lining them with tiles has long been considered the premium finish.  Fully tiling a concrete pool has been highly regarded due to their appearance as well as their exceptional durability. 

Tiles are extremely durable as well as offering almost limitless design choices. They look fantastic, are easy to maintain and most importantly, are gentle on your feet due to their silky smoothness.

Depending on your budget, we generally recommending pool tiling because it is more durable, smoother, less chemically reactive and colourfast. This is when compared to the alternative finishes such as quartz renders, pebble linings and painted finishes.  That being said, there are plenty of options in between such as a waterline tile finish which also looks fantastic!

Types of tiles

In general there are two types of tiles used as pool mosaics – ceramic and glass.  Mosaic tiles are normally supplied with a mesh backing to form a sheet that is generally 300x300mm in size so each small tile isn’t actually laid individually.

Traditionally ceramic was the more popular options as they have been proven over centuries and they stick to pools really well.  

Glass tiles have become very popular in more recent times as tilers don’t need to add extra additives to make them stick. However the main drawcard of glass is their pearl and crystal shine as well as the huge range of colours they come in to make your pool stand out.

Waterline tiles

Waterline tiles provide the final finishing touch for your pool. They can technically be offered on both fibreglass and concrete pools and it’s a way of adding that premium touch without tiling the entire pool.  Waterline tiles site approximately 150-200mm above the ‘waterline’ of the pool so from a distance, it looks like the pool has been tiled but it may just be the concrete finish below the water.

For those that don’t want to spend the extra money on tiling the entire pool, we recommend a waterline tile.

If you have any questions at all about tiling your pool, we’d love to hear from you!