i live in houston texas and have been told by my PB that heavier, nonporous stones like the quartzite flagstone that i love the look of is NOT good for hot climates due to expansion and contraction and it can delaminate and become loose. thus, the quartzite i was looking at on padrefan's pool may not be the best thing for my pool due to this fact.

comments anyone on alternatives, or anyone in texas/houston who has used a quartzite for some time without problems?

Umm. Well it gets pretty damn hot here (90's-100's most of the summer) and after three years we've had no problems. Our pool builder wouldn't use other types of flagstone but insisted quartzite was fine. I'm certainly not trying to talk you into it though if your PB says it's a no-no. Hope you find something you are comfortable with and gives you that natural look.

Hi, I was the one who posted about using flagstone quartzite instead of regular flagstone with salt water because it is much harder and won't dissolve or flake off.
I live in San Diego, CA and I've never heard of heat ever being an issue with using quartz flagstone. Ours turned out great (was finishing in July). I'll try to post some pics for you, but I'm not sure how.

I can't figure out how to insert a picture, but you can check out some on my website here:

http://cohnheads.blogspot.com/

These are not very current though, so if you'd like me to email you some others let me know.

I think quartzite is a fine choice due to its hardness and beauty. It's one of the few stones I would use in lieu of tile at the waterline.

I tested quartzite here in the desert in Las Vegas and it was frying pan hot, due to the metal in it. The samples were dark grey and black with metal flakes. Gorgeous but too hot for a pool deck here. Can't advise on salt water, good luck with your build. Barb

This is the South Bay quartzite coping around the sun shelf of our pool. (please excuse the unfinished concrete deck - it will eventually be flagstone too!) We used the quartzite for all the coping, the spillover from the spa, and the dry stack which is above and below the waterline.

Our pool builder is highly respected and has used this quartzite extensively for pools for the 'rich and famous' in our area and happily recommended it to us (though hardly rich or famous!!) We are in Florida so it has to withstand fierce sun and the salt water. It is very dense and hard, in fact almost indestructible, which makes it difficult to work. I can't imagine it flaking at all.

It is also fairly light colored so never gets uncomfortable underfoot.

sis3 thanks for the pic. i like that look a lot. what is the pool interior surface - what brand and color of pebble? i like it! south bay quartzite from what state, do you know?

This photo shows the two Pebblesheen colors we used for our pool. In the photos the in-floor cleaning system is causing the water to swirl on the sunshelf, which changes the color of the Desert Gold Pebblesheen. In real life it is much more of a sandy color. The blue pebble is Blue Granite.

I believe the South Bay quartzite is from New York State. I think Google will find it for you.

Here is ours. The first two pics are recent from a three year old pool. The quarzite is buckskin and ?. I can look it up if you want. We live in Sacramento and it is hot in the summer, up to 110. It really does not get hot. Our concrete is actually hotter.

Our only issue is we have a salt water pool. I never rinse it off since the hose bid is on the other end of the yard. We do get white spots on it and now it is starting to come apart. We will get the rock guy out to refinish this winter. I will be exploring using a stronger mortar on the surface or a nonslick sealant or ???. As far as the quarzite, it is great. Does not degrade at all and looks fantastic. We also have it as our waterline tile and it also works well.