Pebble Tec is not rough because, as the OP stated, the stones are tumbled. The stones in Pebble Sheen are much smaller, also tumbled, but in addition the Pebble Sheen is buffed before the pool is filled with water. We have Black Onyx Pebble Sheen and love it. The texture of the Pebble Sheen is very much like a basketball or football. To really choose between larger/smaller stones, you absolutely should have your pool builder or plaster company take you to at least one pool with the larger stones and at least one pool with the smaller stones. Be prepared to take your shoes off and step into the pools, so you can tell what it feels like underfoot.

Docpops, we put our pool in primarily for our kids also. It has been really nice seeing them use it so much over the last year. There are a few different in-floor cleaning system makers, namely Paramount (various systems) and Polaris (Caretaker). After quite a bit of research, I liked Paramounts systems and approach better. Their web site is paramountpoolproducts.com. They have a lot of different systems and I tried to understand the pro and cons of each. Ultimately, I decided that there really is not much of a difference, they are more for marketing. I believe that Paramount only allows a few builders in each area to install each system. To allow more builders to put in their products, they have different lines. In our case, we went with the PCC2000. A friend of mine as the PV3 system and he loves it also. I would suggest going to their web site and watching some of their demo's of how the system works. Like I said before, all demo's make it seem like the system works great but you never know how it works in the real world. We've got a lot of trees around our pool and it does a remarkable job. I'm still actually surprised it works as well as it does. We also added their leaf catcher system. Basically, all debris in the pool either ends up in a skimmer basket or going down the main drain and in to the leaf catcher. Its really nice this time of year, when the water is cold and I can empty out the leaves from the pool deck. The nice part is that with the kids swimming, there is no polaris in the pool that either needs to be moved or just left in to swim around.

Unless the eyeball fittings are the glue on type on the inside of the pipe. That would be the only way to correct that, I'm not sure if those type have a 1" size. I use Kerber Brothers for my pebble. I do not use the pebble tech brand. I know other people and builders will disagree with me, but the pebbletech brand pebbles are no different than any other pebble. There are only so many stones in the colors that all the brands use, they all don't come from different rivers, quarries whatever. I can get any pebbletech color that I want with the exception of a couple that pebbletech has the rights to until there trademark on that pebble goes out. It's kind of like a Ford Ranger and a Mazda truck.Same truck just different branding. The Pebbletech installers are all franchise, which mean they can buy and sell their franchise as they please. I put more trust in an installer that has been doing it for 20+ years who have employees that have been working for them for 30+ years than I do the latest pebbletech franchisee. I think Gardener has had the pebbletech name for a while, but I've seen problems with their installers for the last couple of years.

Eskimopie, we just finished our pool in Tucson! Just found the forum though, wish I would have found it sooner. ItÂs been a bumpy 5 months. Anyways, our take on the SWG here in Tucson- we opted not to install. Too expensive and from our neighbors accounts more maintenance than they were sold on. SWG will have major PH and alkalinity issues and need to run the pumps for extended times due to our summer heat. Chlorine pucks for us, IÂve added 2 to the skimmer, easy compared to pouring acid every couple days. Our PB said red eyes are a PH issue not a chlorine issue. HavenÂt heard of the FROG. Good Luck