I’m resurfacing my pool and choosing between traditional plaster and micro-pebbles. The micro-pebble surface looks really nice and is supposed to last longer, but I’m worried about it being rough. Opinions I’ve read online range from “it’s fine” to “it will flay the skin off your body”, so not a lot of help there.
I think the “flay” issues would be more of a concern for kids who have the energy to run around on their bare wet feet for hours on end.
I don’t see it as a problem for adults who will be mostly laying down soaking up the Sun and maybe enjoying a drink.
Ah, I should clarify. I’m not talking about the deck, but the surface inside the pool, i.e., the underwater part. The “flayed” guy seemed like he was an adult, but he didn’t provide a lot of detail, like does he currently have leprosy?
I think you have to try it for yourself. Find somebody with a pool with micro-pebbles and see if it bothers you. I don’t think I have ever been in a pool with a non-smooth surface, so I can’t help you either.
Look up micro-pebble shower floors and their disadvantages.
It’s a similar usage, and there’s a lot of information online about them. There seem to be a number of disadvantages.
We had micropebble edgings but not inner pool surface, when I was a kid. Our micropebbles were well rounded and I can’t imagine them flaying anything.
I would however wonder about algae - I haven’t looked after a pool since I was a kid but every now and again even with good management we’d occasionally get an algae outbreak. Of course to deal with it you up the chlorine - but brushing down the pool walls and bottom sped up its demise. I’d wonder about a surface with such lovely cracks and crevices for algae to survive?
I think the condition of the user’s feet may be a factor. Some people have very tender feet. Others, such as myself, have to apply pumice stones on a regular basis to our leather-like soles. In summer I occasionally walk around on the rough concrete of my apartment’s balcony for some exfoliation of my foot soles. I’d probably love the texture of a pebble surface on my bare feet, other people not so much. Definitely an area where mileage varies.
I couldn’t say when or where, but I’ve definitely had the experience of the inner surface of a pool being painful to rub against. I know exactly what the “Flay Your Skin” people are talking about. For the average adult, the amount of time spent in contact with the inside of a pool is probably minimal, so it may not matter much, but on the other hand if you’re not touching it what’s the point?