Pool Interiors: Compare Vinyl, Render, Pebble and Paint
The pool interior is the surface your family actually touches. It sets the colour of the water, how the pool feels underfoot, how often you clean it and how long it lasts before it needs work. The pool interior of an Albatross swimming pool is an Aqualux swimming pool interior, a commercial pvc membrane constructed from 0.75mm virgin vinyl. It is the pool finish of choice in an estimated 20,000 plus inground pools across Australia and features in the biggest pool in the world, The Crystal Lagoon at San Alfonso del Mar resort, Chile. This page compares it against render, pebblecrete, tile, paint and fibreglass so you can see the trade-offs before you choose.
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What Is a Pool Interior?
The pool interior is the surface your family actually touches. It sets the colour of the water, how the pool feels underfoot, how often you clean it and how long it lasts before it needs work. The pool interior of an Albatross swimming pool is an Aqualux swimming pool interior, a commercial pvc membrane constructed from 0.75mm virgin vinyl. It is the pool finish of choice in an estimated 20,000 plus inground pools across Australia and features in the biggest pool in the world, The Crystal Lagoon at San Alfonso del Mar resort, Chile. This page compares it against render, pebblecrete, tile, paint and fibreglass so you can see the trade-offs before you choose.
Types of Pool Interior and Pool Finish Options
There is no single best pool finish. Each one behaves differently in Australian conditions, and each comes with a different maintenance load and warranty. Here is how the main options compare.
Vinyl Liner Pools
A vinyl liner pool uses a flexible pvc membrane fitted to the pool shell. Aqualux is a commercial grade version made from 0.75mm virgin vinyl, roughly equivalent to 15 plus layers of pool paint. It is non-porous, satin smooth and non-slip, so it will not snag swim wear or graze soft skin. Because vinyl flexes, it can stretch up to 300% and stay water tight, which makes it resistant to ground movement. Vinyl liner pools carry a 12 year pool interior warranty from Albatross, one of the longest offered on any pool interior.
Swimming Pool Render
Pool render is a cement based finish, usually quartz or glass bead, trowelled onto a concrete shell. It gives a hard, natural looking surface in a wide colour range, and it is a genuine option if you want a stone-like finish. The trade-offs are worth knowing. Render is porous, so algae can adhere to the surface and stain it. Calcium in the render affects pool water chemistry, and unstable pH can cause calcium to leach out of the finish. Warranty periods on render generally range from five to eight years depending on the brand, against 12 years on an Aqualux interior.
Pebblecrete Pool Interiors
Pebblecrete mixes small pebbles through cement for a textured, natural look. It holds colour well and suits a lagoon style pool. It is also porous, algae can adhere to the grout, and the texture that gives it character is the same texture that grazes feet and swim wear. It is not smooth to touch.
Fully Tiled Pool Interiors
Full tiling gives the most premium look and the widest design freedom. It is also the most expensive option and the most grout-dependent. Tiled interiors are often described as permanent, but the warranty is frequently as short as two years, which is worth checking before you commit.
Painted Pool Interiors
Pool paint is the cheapest way to finish or refresh a pool interior and it is smooth to touch. It is also the shortest lived. Paint stains easily and needs recoating on a regular cycle, which makes it the highest lifetime cost option once you count the repaints.
Fibreglass Pool Interiors
A fibreglass pool has its interior finish moulded into the shell, so the finish and the pool are the same thing. It is smooth and non-porous, but the gelcoat surface can get black spot algae, the water usually runs more acidic, and colour and warranty both depend heavily on the brand of pool.
Key Benefits of Aqualux
- Satin smooth non-slip pool interior – will not snag swim wear or graze soft skin (babies, children and the elderly) like other pool interiors
- Virtually no routine maintenance – non reactive pool interior that has no affect on water balance and does not need to be brushed daily for the first four weeks like some other pool interiors
- Extremely tough non-porous pool interior – will not chip, peel, crack, separate, leech chemicals or blister
- UV inhibitors and anti bacterial agent – naturally immune to ‘black spot’ algae unlike some other pool interiors
- Unbelievably strong pool interior – resistant to ground movement, can stretch up to 300% and still remaining water tight compared to some other pool interiors only stretching to 4% before breaking
- Durable and thick – equivalent to 15 plus layers of pool paint
- Colour consistency – the pool interior does not present colour consistency challenges like some other pool interiors
- Multitude of pool colours – available in 14 plus pool interior colours
- 12 year pool interior warranty – one of the longest warranties offered on a pool interior compared to some others, especially those viewed as more ‘permanent’ interiors such as tile (often only 2 years) and render (ranges from 5-8 years dependent on the brand)
- Purpose design pool interior - Aqualux is the only pool interior available which has been specifically designed and engineered for swimming pools
- Made in Australia for the Australian Climate - made to order by ABGAL in Brisbane, Queensland, Aqualux is engineered to withstand the Australian UV and will not crack or fracture like some other pool interiors exposed above the pool water line.
Compare Pool Interior Options
The added benefits of an Aqualux pool interior compared to other swimming pool surfaces can be viewed in the table below.
| Benefit | Aqualux | Paint | Pebble | Fibreglass | Render |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smooth to touch |  | | | ||
| Easily cleaned | | Easily stained | Algae can adhere to grout | Can get ‘black spot’ | Algae can adhere to porous surface & can be easily stained |
| Won’t crack peel, flake or leach | | Unstable pH causes calcium to leach |
|||
| No effect on pool water chemistry | | | Affected by the grout | pH usually more acidic | Affected by calcium in the render |
| 12 year warranty | | | Dependent on brand of pool | Dependent on brand of pool |
|
| UV treated | | | | Dependent on brand of pool |
|
| Resistant to algae | Inbuilt fungicide | | |||
| Large range of colours | Patterns available | | | |
|
| Cushioning step/seat options | |
Vinyl Liner Pools vs Swimming Pool Render
Render and vinyl are the two finishes buyers most often weigh against each other, usually because render looks like the more permanent choice. On paper it is a fair comparison. In practice they behave very differently once the pool is full of water.
Render is porous. Algae can adhere to the surface, it can be easily stained, and calcium in the render affects your pool water chemistry. When pH runs unstable, calcium leaches out of the finish. An Aqualux vinyl interior is non-porous with an inbuilt fungicide and an anti bacterial agent, so it has no effect on pool water balance and does not need to be brushed daily for the first four weeks the way some other interiors do.
The texture difference is just as noticeable. Render is a hard, mineral surface. Vinyl is satin smooth and non-slip, and Albatross can add cushioned step and seat options that a rendered shell cannot offer at all.
Then there is the warranty. Aqualux carries a 12 year pool interior warranty. Render typically sits in the five to eight year range depending on the brand. Over the life of a pool, that difference is the whole argument.
Pool Interior Colours
Colour changes the look of a pool more than any other decision you make. The same pool will read completely differently in a deep blue against a soft grey or a sand tone, and the water depth and the weather change it again.
Aqualux is available in 14 plus pool interior colours, including patterned and metallic designs, so the interior can be matched to your paving and landscaping rather than chosen in isolation. Colour swatches only tell you so much. The effect of water on a pool finish colour can be dramatic, and how a colour looks on a bright day against an overcast one may change your mind. Seeing a colour in a full pool is the only reliable way to choose.
Browse the full range on our pool interior colours page, then see them in water at a display centre.
Feel the difference of Aqualux
When you come across something unique which you may not have experienced before, it is difficult to visualise what it will look like and how will it feel. Perhaps you have swam in an Albatross Pool before featuring the Aqualux interior and couldn't tell the difference. We often find once you visit the display centres and at least stand in or swim in an Albatross display pool, you will be pleasantly surprised by the visual appeal, strength and textured grip yet satin smooth feel of the Aqualux interior. Open year round, feel the difference of Aqualux at one of the Albatross Pools Display Centres today.
Dandenong Display Centre: 157 Foster Street, Dandenong VIC 3175. Open Wednesday to Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm.
Warrandyte Display Centre: 226 Heidelberg-Warrandyte Road, Warrandyte VIC 3133. Open Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm.
* Closed public holidays. The Dandenong Display Centre is currently closed every Tuesday and Wednesday.
