Sorry about the delay, my pool remodel took twice as long as it was supposed too, I know annoying that can be.

I don't have plaster or quartz, but pebble. The pebble was done on a Mon, acid washed on Tuesday & the fill started Tuesday late afternoon. So it went 1 day without water & in AZ that's 100+ degree temps too.

I am sure the experts will chime in, but I don't think one day will hurt.

I would put a soaker hose around the perimeter.

Hopefully your pool was filled today, incase it wasnt I responded since we had the same worries. We recently under went a remodel with pebble tec. They drained the pool on a Tuesday, prepped for 2 days and installed pebble tec on a Friday, it poured over night and into Saturday....because of thunder they could not acid wash on Saturday. The pool remained empty until Monday around noon. I posted a similar question because we were so nervous about the pool popping. We were assured that since the main drain was unplugged we were fine. To keep the ground water from rising into the pool they added a submersable pump at the main drain...which was great...it kept the nasty orange smelly ground water out of our newly finished pool so it could dry. The pump ran non-stop and the pool never filled up but the pressure was relieved from underneath the pool.

The "plaster" (matrix) that is used with the pebbles in Pebble Tec® and Pebble Sheen® is very different than regular plaster. The 3M Colorquartz finishes are regular plaster, but some of the crushed marble that would normally be used is replaced by the colored quartz crystals.

The matrix used with the pebble products is probably closer to cement/concrete. It is supposed to dry for 24 hours before it is acid washed (and, in the case of Pebble Sheen®, buffed), and once that is done the filling process begins.

Plaster, on the other hand, is still wet when the application process has been completed and when the filling process begins. Plaster cures under water.

I know that I wouldn't want a plaster finish to sit, drying out, for 24 hours before the filling process started.

Can you at least use a hose hooked up to a garden spigot until the water truck gets there?

I will be able to put two hoses in it until early Monday morning. I heard that I should not 'water' it down like I did the gunite but fill from the bottom up., but I do not know, and of course they haven't told me a thing.

If you can use 2 garden hoses you should be fine. That's how we filled our entire pool when it was finished with the 3M colorquartz last season. Took about 18 hours and one year later, everything is great!!! Why can't the plaster people put the hoses in for you and turn them on just before they leave???

Yes, you definitely need to fill from the bottom up. The moment they are done plastering, the hose should go in. And, as the previous poster has stated, the plaster crew should do this for you - they should be very used to it.

The end of the hose should be wrapped in a white towel or white socks -- something that will help to diffuse the water, as well as protect the plaster from dings caused by a metal end.

One of the most important things about filling a plastered pool is that once you start the fill process, you should NOT stop the water flow until the pool water has reached the appropriate level (which is halfway up the opening to the skimmer). If you stop the water flow you will end up with what will look like a bathtub ring around the interior perimeter of your pool, and you will never be able to get rid of it. If you get to the point that you are concerned that the water will reach the fill level while you are asleep or gone from the house, you can turn the waterflow down, just do not turn it off.

Start out with one hose only. This should be gently placed in the deep end. Do not allow the hose to touch the sides of the pool -- that is, don't let the hose rest against the plaster. Then, when the water level reaches about 3' depth, you can add a second hose, also to the deep end, also making sure that the end is covered and that the hose doesn't touch the plaster.

If you have a spa, do not allow the water from the spa to overflow into the pool until the pool is finished filling. Any water that would flow down the plaster would, again, leave permanent marks.

Since our pool would take at least 48 hours to fill, we carefully wet down the sides of our 3M and didn't have any problem with marks.