Smooth or textured surface?

[bwbski22]

what are the pros and cons of both smooth and textured surfaces?  do smooth surfaces scratch?  Dealers, which do you sell more of?

[Bill_Stevenson]

My spa is smooth and has not scratched at all in 1.5 years of daily adult use.  Of course this adult usually is in his birthday suit when soaking.  Maybe someone sharper than me would have a problem.  ;-)

[Mendocino101]

textures diffidently wear better but thats not to say the smooth will not be fine.....its not like people are getting into a spa with hard sharp objects....the "granite" like surfaces will be the best for wear but the lights are better with smooth lighter color finsihes....

[GoBlue]

My wife slipped and fell during the first wet test of a smooth surface spa.  She wasn't thrilled with the smooth ones after that, even though we both thought they looked better.  We bought a textured surface spa.

[Zep]

I have smoothe.....

I prefer the looks of smoothe.

IMO smoothe looks more
"up to date" and luxurious.

But I would think smoothe may be more slippery.

I have not slipped in mine yet.

[wmccall]

I have smoothe.....

I prefer the looks of smoothe.

IMO smoothe looks more
"up to date" and luxurious.

But I would think smoothe may be more slippery.

I have not slipped in mine yet.

I think it is affected by water quality, my textured spa can take on some slippery qualities toward the end of the water change.  Sometimes even when the water is good as it is now, I may have to wipe off the top of the tub, which can get slippery if not cleaned.  Under these bad conditions I think the smooth tub would be more slippery, but both are fine when well maintained.

[tony]

I have the textured surface and have been very happy with it, though the smooth surfaces sure look good.

[Vinny]

I have a smooth surface spa. This discussion came up around the time I was buying my spa and originally I wanted a black granite tub, I ended up with a platinum marble tub. I picked it because I bought the LED light.

With 2 boys I do see some scratches in it under the water line. Both surfaces are made the same way with the same material and I believe that the scratches would be there with the granite but will be a little more hidden.

[jim97219]

I had a smooth surface on my first tub.  I liked it but did find myself slipping a bit at times.  When I replaced the old tub, I didn't think I'd like the textured surface.  It looked too coarse and too rough-looking to be comfortable to sit on.  But when I did a wet test (yet another reason for doing one), I found I liked the textured surface better than the smooth when I was sitting in it.  The other plus with the textured surface came when I found I didn't slip at all.

Bottom line: wet test both!!!

Jim

[anne]

When I wet tested, I liked the look of smooth better in most brands, and it seemed in general like it was sort of considered premier compared to textured (like HS- their regular line vs "classic." The pearly shiny surface usually looks nicer/fancier. It was also slippery for me for getting in and out of the spas, and for staying in certain seats, but remember that how the seats feel will be different in your back yard if you go in au naturale.

I ended up with a textured surface, but it has a shine/luster to it that I think looks really nice, and feels secure, not slick. I did not like the flat matte look of a lot of textured tubs, but I ended up with a good compromise.

[stl-rex]

The smooth surfaces are gorgeous indeed, but the textured in my opinion are more practical because they are less slippery.  I bought the textured and have been very happy with it.  As other mentioned, I would try to wet test similar both to truly get a feel for it.

[NE-Phil]

My wife and I wet tested smooth and textured tubs and decided to go with the textured as we were concerned about safety. The textured allows our feet to get a better grip on the surface.
I have to admit a smooth surface does reflect better with the lights but we rarely use the lights.

Phil

[hawkman]

My smooth surface cracked by caldera. while it wa nice at first, it does scratch easily and shows water spots on the top edges.

[96SC]

Before reading this thread I never realized there were different textures for spas (We are in the early looking stages).  I looked through several of our spa catalogs (HS, Marquis, L.A. Spa, D1, etc) but none of them mentioned textured vs smooth surface.  Can you usually get a choice of textures in any  shell colors on any of a company's models?

Everytime I look in here I find out something new.

[Vinny]

Actually the acrylic will come in a color that is either smooth or textured but not both. A granite color will be textured and a pearl will be smooth.

It's sometimes hard to tell by the catalogs - and colors can be deceiving as well. My Artesian dealer had samples of the colors as well as tubs in the most "popular" colors and the samples were off on some of the colors due to the manufacturing process.