5 points to consider when choosing pool surrounds

Ceramic or natural stone? A pool surround that flows seamlessly into the patio, or do you prefer a special finish? Joren Verbruggen of ArtStone goes over the most important questions and concerns.

The visual aspect

"Most customers choose a pool surround that nicely matches the patio. This can be done by choosing the exact same stone and finish for both - an option in both natural stone and ceramic - or by continuing the color palette. So we like to encourage customers to bring samples of the existing patio or pool liner to the showroom so they can compare nicely."

"Which stone it ends up being depends mainly on the atmosphere being pursued. Belgian blue stone is a classic, and in sleek, modern gardens, for example, ceramics with a concrete or even metal look do well. Those who especially want to create a warm, southern atmosphere should reach for sand and beige tones, such as those of the Egyptian limestone Sinai Pearl."

Safety

"Safety is a major concern around the pool, and for tiles and edging, that mainly relates to slip resistance. Ceramics must meet certain standards for this. In Italy, those standards were recently even tightened, so safety is absolutely guaranteed. By the way, did you know that there are tiles that are smooth when dry, but become rough under the influence of water?"

"With natural stone, safety is determined not so much by the stone itself, but rather by the surface finish. For patio tiles and pool surrounds, we therefore only offer rough surface finishes."

Finish

"The edge can be finished with a bullnose on the one hand or a parrot beak on the other. In the former case, the edge of the stone is simply rounded; in the latter, it has an L-shaped finish, rounded or not, that overlaps the edge of the pool. This makes the border look a little thicker or more bombastic, but nicely conceals the edge of the pool."

"If you choose natural stone, then any nose finish is possible without question. With ceramics, in the past we limited ourselves mainly to the bullnose and the straight parrot nose, the latter being realized by gluing an additional edge to the tile in mitre. However, in order to offer the same versatility as with natural stone, we have recently expanded our ceramic production. This allows us not only to guarantee ourselves the already known nose finishes, but also to supply solid ceramic borders, and consequently a rounded parrot mouth, in both 2/3 and 3/5."

Dimensions

"As with patio tiles, we are seeing a clear trend toward larger sizes with pool edging. Dimensions of 100×30 centimeters or 120×40 centimeters are no longer an exception, and provided the right finishing, you can even perfectly use a terrace tile of 100×100 centimeters as a pool surround. That way, the distinction between border and terrace really becomes minimal."

"A classic mistake regarding dimensions, then again, is that orders are placed purely based on the interior dimensions of the pool. This way, however, you forget to take into account the corners of the pool, which will suddenly lead to a shortfall on site."

Delivery time

"Last year there was a huge demand for swimming pools and pool surrounds, but because of corona there were also supply problems from the east. Many natural stone stocks, such as Vietnamese bluestone or granite, are therefore as good as exhausted in Belgium, although we expect new deliveries in the course of August. Belgian blue stone and also the Sinai Pearl we still have extensive stocks today, as well as our total range of ceramics."