The DFW Pool Remodel Guide: Finishes, Tile, Color, and the Warranty Nobody Else Offers
We started as a pool remodel company 14 years ago. This is everything we tell homeowners before a remodel: which finish, which tile, which colors for which pool shape, and why our replasters carry a 3 year no leak guarantee when most companies offer none.
Call For a Remodel Estimate: 214-972-3330Pick your pool's shape identity before any colors or materials: freeform pools read natural and want earth tones, rectangle pools read modern and can carry high contrast. Then pick the finish, then the tile, then match the grout. And whoever remodels your pool, get a leak detection first. Our remodels include it free, seal every shell penetration point, and carry a 3 year no leak guarantee verified by a 24 to 48 hour no measurable water loss test.
We Are a Remodel Company That Learned Where Pools Fail
Mr. Pool Leak Repair started as a pool remodel company in DFW 14 years ago and grew into one of the leading remodel and leak detection companies in the region. Before we ever diagnosed a leak, we were taking pools completely apart and putting them back together. Every remodel and replaster we perform is logged in our field service records alongside more than 4,200 documented leak detection and repair jobs, which means our remodel advice comes from seeing exactly where remodels fail: at the penetration points, at the prep, and in the warranties companies refuse to write.
Several of DFW's biggest new construction, pool remodel, and weekly pool service companies send their leak detections to us. We remodel pools with the same standard those companies trust us to hold their work to.
Your Pool's Shape Decides Your Colors, Not the Other Way Around
The most common design mistake in pool remodeling is picking tile and plaster colors from samples on a table without looking at the pool they are going into. The shape of your pool is crucial and it comes first. It sets the design language, and the colors either work with it or fight it.
Freeform Pools: Natural
Curved, organic shapes read like ponds and lakes. They look best when the materials agree with that: earth tones, tans, browns, greens, blue-green pebble finishes, and natural stone coping. A freeform pool in stark white plaster with black tile fights its own shape. In most cases you would not put a high contrast modern palette on a freeform pool.
Rectangle & Geometric Pools: Modern
Straight lines and hard corners read architectural. These pools carry contrast beautifully: white plaster with black waterline tile, crisp gray finishes, clean porcelain coping. The same black and white palette that fights a freeform pool is exactly what makes a rectangle pool look intentional and modern.
Stand at your pool and answer one question first: is this shape natural or modern? Every decision after that, finish, tile size, tile color, grout color, coping, gets easier and more coherent. Skipping this step is how pools end up with beautiful materials that look wrong together.
Every Pool Finish, and Who Each One Is For
These are the finish categories we install. Water color comes from the finish more than anything else, so this is the biggest visual decision of the remodel.
White Plaster (Marcite)
The classic. Smooth, bright, and produces that iconic light blue water. The most budget friendly finish and the shortest lifespan of the group. Best on geometric pools going for a clean traditional or modern look.
Colored Plaster
Plaster with integrated pigment: grays for deeper blue water, tans for a warmer natural tone. Same smooth feel as white plaster with more design range. Color consistency depends heavily on application quality, which is where the plastering standard matters.
Quartz (Diamond Brite)
Plaster blended with crushed quartz aggregate. Noticeably harder and more stain resistant than standard plaster, with speckled color that holds up over time. The workhorse middle option: better durability than plaster, smoother than pebble.
Pebble (PebbleTec)
Exposed pebble aggregate finishes. The longest lasting interior finish available, with natural texture and depth that makes water look like a lake or lagoon. The natural look makes pebble the default recommendation for freeform pools.
Mini Pebble
Smaller aggregate than standard pebble: the same durability and depth of color with a smoother feel underfoot. The most popular compromise for families who want pebble longevity without the coarser texture.
Glass Bead
Glass beads blended into or broadcast over the finish for shimmer and sparkle in sunlight. Usually combined with pebble or quartz. The premium option when the pool is the centerpiece of the backyard.
Not sure which finish fits your pool shape and budget? We bring samples to the estimate and match them against your actual pool.
📞 214-972-33306x6 vs 1x1 Tile, and Why Grout Color Matters as Much as Tile
6x6 Tile: The Straight Line Choice
The traditional waterline size. Fewer grout lines, faster installation, and a clean continuous band on straight walls. 6x6 suits rectangle and geometric pools, where its scale matches the architecture. On tight freeform curves, 6x6 has to be cut and cheated to follow the radius, which shows.
1x1 Tile: The Curve Choice
Small format tile, usually on mosaic sheets, bends around curves cleanly. That makes 1x1 the better choice on freeform pools, spas, raised bond beams, tanning ledges, and curved steps. It also carries more color variation and shimmer per square foot, which adds depth at the waterline.
Grout color is the detail most remodels get wrong. Grout matched to the tile makes the waterline read as one continuous band of color, which is almost always what the homeowner pictured. Contrasting grout outlines every single tile and every grout line, and on 1x1 mosaic that means hundreds of visible lines. Unless a grid pattern is the deliberate design, match the grout to the dominant tile color. It is a small line item that changes the entire look of the pool.
How We Prep and Plaster a Pool So It Never Leaks
An excellent cosmetic outcome is the easy half of a remodel. The half most companies skip is making sure the pool stops leaking, 100%. This is our process, and every step of it is itemized in our written estimate.
Leak Detection Before Anything Else
Every remodel we book includes a full leak detection, free. We will not plaster over an undiagnosed pool. If the pool is leaking, we find it and repair it before prep begins, so the remodel starts from a documented baseline.
Chip Out for a Flush Finish
We chip out around every return fitting, around the light, and along the tile line so the new plaster sits flush with every fixture and the new tile. No plaster humps at the fittings, no lip at the waterline.
Seal Every Penetration Point
Everywhere there is a hole through the pool shell is a future leak: skimmer throats, return fittings, main drains, and light niches. We seal every one of them during prep, and every penetration point is specifically outlined in our estimate and in our 3 year no leak warranty. Other companies do not pay attention to this. It is the reason freshly remodeled pools leak.
Proprietary Waterproof Barrier on the Bond Beam and Shell
Before tile and plaster go on, we apply our proprietary waterproofing blend to the bond beam and shell. We developed it over years of remodels and it works every time. Plaster is a finish, not a waterproofing layer. The barrier underneath it is what ensures maximum waterproofing of the gunite shell.
Tile and Plaster to the ANSI Standard
We set every tile and plaster every pool in accordance with ANSI/PHTA/NPC/ICC-12, the American National Standard for the Plastering of Swimming Pools and Spas developed by the National Plasterers Council, the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance, and the International Code Council. Materials, application, weather conditions, and curing all follow the published standard.
Fill, Start Up, and Verify
Proper water chemistry startup per the plaster standard, then verification against our no leak test: the water level holds. Then we hand you the written warranty.
Our 3 Year No Leak Guarantee, and the 24 to 48 Hour Test Behind It
Most remodel companies will tell you a pool losing an eighth or a quarter of an inch of water per day after a replaster is normal and acceptable. We think that is a leak with a permission slip.
No measurable water loss over a 24 to 48 hour test period, pump running or not running. Water features and waterfalls excluded. If your pool loses water inside that window during the 3 year guarantee period, it is covered and we come back. The standard is written into our estimate and our warranty, so it is clear to us and to you. No second guessing whether the job was done right. The test answers it.
We can hold ourselves to this standard because of the process above: the leak detection baseline, the sealed penetration points, the waterproof barrier, and the ANSI standard plastering. Companies that skip those steps cannot offer this warranty. That is why almost none of them offer any.
Planning a remodel? Book it with us and the leak detection comes with it. Free.
📞 214-972-3330Never Remodel, Replaster, or Re-Tile Without a Leak Detection First
Before you get a pool remodel in DFW, call Mr. Pool Leak Repair for a leak detection first. Even if someone else does your remodel. Here is why.
1. A Leak Can Ruin New Plaster
If the pool is leaking and you replaster over it, water moving through the shell can damage the brand new plaster from behind. You end up paying for a remodel twice.
2. Remodel Prep Creates Leaks
Many remodel companies create leaks in the process of prepping a pool for plaster: chipping around fittings, disturbing old plumbing, stressing the tile line. Without a leak detection before the work, there is no way to prove the pool was not leaking when the remodel started, or to know why it is leaking after.
3. Nobody Else Guarantees the Result
We do not know of another DFW company that backs a plaster job or remodel with a 3 year no leak guarantee verified by a no measurable loss test. We diagnose first, repair what we find, then remodel, and we warranty our own pools in house.
And If Your Pool Is Cracked
Do not let anyone staple and replaster over a crack without diagnosing why the pool cracked. Our field data shows staple-only repairs on long cracks fail more than half the time, right through new plaster. Read the full data on our pool crack repair guide.
Services Involved in a Pool Remodel Done Right
Pool Remodel
Full remodels and replasters with leak detection included free and a 3 year no leak guarantee.
Pool Leak Detection
The mandatory first step of every remodel. Full diagnostic with same-day written report.
Pool Crack Repair Guide
Why staple-only crack repairs fail more than half the time, from 4,200+ documented jobs.
Pool Foundation Repair
Pier stabilization for sinking or lifting pools, backed by a Lifetime Warranty on Structural Pier Repairs.
Pool Tile Repair
Waterline tile and coping repair, often paired with a remodel or done standalone.
Concrete Pool Deck
Deck resurfacing and stamped concrete finishes to complete the remodel.
Pool Remodel: Common Questions
The main categories are white plaster (marcite), colored plaster, quartz finishes such as Diamond Brite, pebble finishes such as PebbleTec, mini pebble, and glass bead. White plaster is the classic budget option, quartz adds hardness and color durability, pebble lasts the longest and suits freeform pools, mini pebble smooths out the pebble texture, and glass bead adds shimmer as the premium option.
6x6 suits straight walls on rectangle and geometric pools: fewer grout lines and a clean continuous band. 1x1 mosaic bends around curves, making it the better choice for freeform pools, spas, raised bond beams, and curved steps. Whichever you choose, match the grout color to the dominant tile color unless a visible grid is the deliberate design. Grout changes the look of the waterline as much as the tile does.
Decide the shape identity first. Freeform pools read natural, like lakes, so earth tones work: tans, browns, greens, blue-green pebble, natural stone coping. Rectangle pools read modern and carry contrast, so white and black palettes that would fight a freeform pool look intentional on a geometric one.
From most companies, effectively no. Many consider losing an eighth to a quarter inch of water per day acceptable after a replaster. Every replaster we perform carries a 3 year no leak guarantee verified by our self imposed standard: no measurable water loss over a 24 to 48 hour test period, pump running or not running, water features and waterfalls excluded. It is written into the estimate and the warranty.
Because plaster is a finish, not a waterproofing layer, and because the penetration points through the shell (skimmer throats, return fittings, main drains, light niches) get plastered around instead of sealed. Our prep seals every penetration point and applies a proprietary waterproofing barrier to the bond beam and shell before tile and plaster, then we plaster to the ANSI/PHTA/NPC/ICC-12 standard.
Yes. Before you get a pool remodel in DFW, call Mr. Pool Leak Repair for a leak detection first, even if someone else does the remodel. Replastering over a leak can ruin the new plaster, remodel prep often creates new leaks, and without a pre-remodel leak detection there is no way to know why a freshly remodeled pool is losing water. Leak detection is included free with every remodel booked with us.
Remodel It Once. Warranty It in Writing.
Leak detection included free, every penetration point sealed, plastered to the ANSI standard, and backed by a 3 year no leak guarantee with a no measurable loss test.
Call 214-972-3330 Schedule OnlineLast reviewed: Septmeber 2026