I was told $150. I asked for these outside of my contract (I was going to pay the extra) and they forgot them. Instead of putting off the Pebble Tec, I just nixed the shells. :-(

Thanks for the info, ladies!

stonesmama: I LOVE your blue lagoon water color! Was that an upgraded color? Also, I don't quite know how pebble tec works--does it come premixed--or can they add the shells to the mixture when they arrive at your house? I want your PB--"free" is a great price!

smbnobles: Your pool is just beautiful even without the shells! How did you go about asking for it outside of your contract? Did you deal directly with the pebble company? I'm like you, I would have forgone the shells instead of holding up the pool.

Thanks!

I just told my pool designer I wanted them. We both forgot about them until it was too late.

We added the abalone shells to our Tahoe Blue, and I think the price was somewhere around what you were quoted.

I love the way the shells sparkle in the sunlight!

Last year we refinished our 17,000 gallon pool in Tahoe Blue. I didnt think to add the shells (wish I had thought of it). It was $500 to upgrade to the next level of Pebble tec, which was the darker colors. We were also considering Tropical Breeze, which has the shells, so thats how I remember the price difference. So $400 sounds out of line for just adding shells. That sounds more like upgrading to another more expensive color...but you never know....

We just finished our pool (under 15,000 gal. too) - with Tahoe Blue and added the shells. The abalone shell was an additional $500.00.

We just finished our pool and chose Tropical Breeze. It is the only Pebbletec color with the shells already added.

I really like it a lot, but I am not sure if I would have paid an additional $400 just for the shells. I'd say $100-200 is more like what it should be.

Thanks for the compliment on the color. It looks even more beautiful now that the water is balanced. (See below) Anyway, from what I was told, there are three price levels of PebbleTec. Tahoe Blue was in the "base" level, Blue Lagoon was the second tier (+$700), and Tropical Breeze was the third tier (+1400 from base). We were originally going to go with the Tropical Breeze, but I was a little disappointed when I saw a pool with it in person. When I asked my designer how much it would be to add the shell to Blue Lagoon, he said, "Oh it's no problem. All they do is throw in a bag of those shells". Maybe I paid so much for everything else, they threw it in for free. LOL Anyway, I fell in love with the Blue Lagoon and I couldn't be happier.

As for the process itself, I don't know if they added it directly to the mix itself. I did see a guy with a bag of it in the pool. It looked like he was sprinkling it around while they were smoothing and rolling the plaster. They mixed the PebbleTec in a mixer on the back of the truck. I could see all the bags of it loaded up when they arrived.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Pool Build

Thanks to all of you! From seeing that the prices are all over the place, I guess the PB can charge anything he wants :) Thanks, Stonesmama for explaining how the process works--I may see if I can just get it added on the day of pebble for a cheaper price. Maybe they'll have some on their truck : )

quote " Maybe I paid so much for everything else, they threw it in for free. LOL "quote

This may well be true.

The truth of the matter is that the shells will cost the builder from 150 to 250 extra for the average pools. I pass them on to my buyers at the true additional cost, however many builders will use this upgrade as an effort to increase profitability on a change order. I'm not going to call it wrong, it's just the way they choose to conduct their business.

See ya,
Kelly