Built ours in 2008 and to this day, I am unhappy about only two things - the size of the tanning ledge and the tile.

Our plans called for a 6x8 tanning ledge. On the drawings, it looked fine and I trusted our PB that it would suffice. I told him I wanted to be able to put two lounge chairs on the ledge. What was dug out was not what I had agreed to in the contract. They made it as big as they could with the rebar/gunite but they could only do so much. I now have a 4 foot deep and 8 foot long eyelid shaped ledge that is a glorified dog shelf that the dog lays on and that is about all it is good for. Make sure your shelf is designed for exactly what you want to use it for. Don't trust your PB/designer to just do something with a certain measurement.

This is what they dug out and once done, couldn't add it back to extend it in any direction.

As for the tile, don't go with a brand new product that has any type of special process to produce the desired affects. I didn't like a lot of the standard tiles in the show room and our PB told us about a line of new tiles they were carrying. We went and visited two pools they had just installed it on and really liked it. It was one of the more expensive tiles. Some chemical reaction during the firing process took place and the tile had big veins of what looked like copper and cobalt blue. and had depth.

Then one day I came home at lunch and the tile was halfway around the pool and I hated it. The reaction in the firing process did not take place and what was supposed to turn cobalt blue was now dark brown and the copper was now yellow. I put a halt to the work and went into the PB store. I was so upset. The tile was NOTHING like the sample or what we saw on the two installs. They called whoever and the only stock available was this. It could be months before they got more and who knew what it would be. I could either stop my build process and wait, chose something else, or go with it. I chose to go with it in the end and while it doesn't look bad, I don't like it at all and could have chosen something a lot cheaper for the all brown look.

zookeeper93....thank you for your information and pics. That is exactly what I needed to see. I think I will defintely go with 6 ft and they told me I could be part of the dig. I'm sorry this happened to you and it scares me a bit but your info really helped. Thanks!

@Emma Camarillo We also went with Oklahoma Flagstone for the coping. It was the "thing" at the time. That was a mistake. Flagstone is just sandstone and some types are harder than others, even in the same "variety". We have terrible spalling on our flagstone from where the kids hands grasped the coping, holding onto the sides of the pool. They are sandy pits now, with the top layer of the stone now worn off.

The nearer spot you can see how the stone is cupped from the erosion made by hands.

You can see the finger indention here. There are other places around the pool but you get the idea. Other stones were grabbed and held on to but these were softer ones and didn't hold up and with splashing, rain, etc, have eroded more. The erosion also made for better gripping so they became the go to holds.

Here is my tanning ledge. It is 12x6ft. We just finished the pool in April, but so far so good. I don' know that I would change anything about the ledge necessarily but if I did, it would be 7ft instead of 6 and also make the water depth deeper. I didn't even ask about the water depth even though it was something I researched. Just forgot! I'd say it's only about 6-8 inches deep and a few more would be nice when sitting in a lounge chair, but it's perfect as-is to just lay in it without. We don't keep a lounge chair in it currently bc we have 2 young kids who play on it with dolls, etc.

The ledge surface is the same pebble finish as the rest of the pool. At first I thought it was a little rough but I don't notice it anymore. We used a limestone paver for the coping and pool pavers and I LOVE it. It does not get hot at all, even in full Houston sun. And it is not slippery.

We also have 2 bubblers that we rarely use and an umbrella holder in the ledge.

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zookeeper93....great info I would have never even thought about that. I believe ours is travertine coping.

poollivingthedreamnow....thank you for your pic, measurements and info on your coping. Your limestone is beautiful and great to know it doesn't get hot or slippery. Something to think about!