White plaster
The most affordable and the least forgiving. It is a cement product, and aggressive water pulls calcium straight out of it.
Shows everything: etching, mottling, staining, and the outline of every acorn that sat on it. The shortest expected life of the three when water is not managed well.
It also looks the brightest and reads the bluest, which is why people keep choosing it.
Quartz finishes
Plaster with quartz aggregate blended in. More durable and more stain-resistant than plain plaster, holds color better, and costs moderately more.
A reasonable middle option for Central Texas — noticeably tougher against hard-water wear without the price of pebble.
Pebble finishes
The most durable and longest-lived, and the best choice if you plan to keep the house a long time. Hides scale and staining far better because the surface is already textured and varied.
Downsides are cost, a rougher feel underfoot that some families dislike, and the fact that rough texture gives black algae somewhere to root if chemistry slips.
What actually determines lifespan
Water balance, by a wide margin. A pebble surface in chronically aggressive water can lose calcium and expose pebbles early; a plaster surface in genuinely LSI-satisfied water can outlast expectations.
The startup. The first thirty days after a new surface goes in set its durability for its whole life. Brushing schedule, fill chemistry, and how quickly balance is established matter enormously.
Scale and etching are two sides of the same failure — one deposits, one dissolves, and both come from the same neglected index.
