Get pool resurfacing quotes
Step 1 of 2
The cheapest pool finish is rarely the cheapest pool finish
Pool resurfacing and replastering (US), covering plaster, quartz, pebble and tile interior finishes, resurfacing cost, and when a pool needs redoing
An independent guide to pool resurfacing in the United States. What each interior finish costs per square foot, how long each one lasts, what that works out to per year of service, and how to tell when a pool actually needs redoing.
Explore the topics
Guides and explainers across the subject.
Plaster is the budget option only until you divide by its lifespan
Resurfacing a pool costs a national average of about $11,000, with most jobs landing between $6,000 and $15,000. The single biggest lever on that number is which interior finish you choose, and finishes are almost always compared on upfront price per square foot.
That comparison is misleading, because the finishes do not last the same length of time. Standard plaster is published at $6 to $8 per square foot and lasts 7 to 12 years. Pebble is published at $7 to $15 and lasts 15 to 20 years or more. Divide one by the other and pebble, the expensive option, works out cheaper per year of service than plaster across most of both ranges.
Paint is the genuine budget option at $1 to $2 per square foot, but it lasts only 5 to 7 years, so choosing it means committing to draining, prepping and refilling the pool roughly twice as often. The useful question is not what a finish costs. It is what it costs per year, and how many disruptions you are signing up for.
Cost per year by finish
Every published comparison ranks pool finishes by upfront price. That ranking flips once you divide by how long each finish lasts. We combined the published cost ranges with the published lifespans to show what each finish actually costs per square foot per year of service.