The cove is about the last place that plaster, or pebble will delaminate. They finishers have to spend extra time forcing and working the material in this area, so delamination is less likely.

I hope so, my guy is back this morning working on the stack stone and I told him I was in the pool last night trying to determine if I felt the same thing that he did. He said one of them stood on the area and the other jumped...they thought they could feel movement. He said you really couldnt tell by just tapping. I am going to go into the pool with them later to feel the same thing they felt. He said you really need two people. My stomach is in knots over this.

I just went in the pool again to actually feel what they felt. If someone stomps fairly close to you, you can feel the vibrations. Is this normal. It seems like its almost everywhere around the bottom edges....about a foot and a half out from around the walls. If you can please go in your pool and have someone stomp around you and tell me if you feel like the shell of the pool is moving? I hope we are just crazy, but I feel what he is talking about.

Unless you feel there are trust issues with your contractor, I would call them directly about your concerns and let your tile guy finish the job he is being paid to do. I don't mean to sound harsh, but I definitely wouldn't be spending this much time with an unqualified individual trying to determine if you have a problem or not. As long as your contractor is reputable, they will have no problem listening to and observing your concerns.

There are no trust issues, we head out of town in 2 days and I didnt want to call pebble tec to let them know I was going to be "out of town". In the mean time, I wanted to ease my mind, post the question and see if there was any way to tell if the pebble tec could have not bonded to the existing finish. Would you be able to tell with the pool filled with water, or was this all in our mind??? As I posted in the first post, my tile guy did not tell me this because he feels he is a pool expert, he was concerned.

When the pool is empty you can use a golf ball and bounce it around to find delamination spots they sound distintcly different. You should be able to tap on the pebble under water and you will hear if it. I use a long extension for a watchet and just dragging it across the coping you can hear the hollow spots.
Pebbletec guarntees the quality of the materials not the application. They can advise you since they train the licensee how to apply their product and what should be done at this point document what ever happens.

Our pool is 15 years old and we have a spot in the 3' end on the wall and floor which has always sounded a bit different when we tap our feet on it. It was resurfaced 2+ years ago with pebble sheen and we have the same sound/vibration there. We don't have it anywhere else that we know of and it has not been any problem. Its below the skimmer, but there are no pipes that low. It sounds/"feels" like it is hollow. No problems tho. Barb

Poolexpert, thanks for your post.....I didnt want to drain the pool to determine IF there is a problem. I know pebble tec guarantees there product, thats not my issue, I am just hoping what we feel is just "normal". But you made me a little nervous when you said they guarantee the quality not application....they prepped and applied, I would think this would be covered, if there is a problem. I have to address the issue when we return from vacation. Its not the sides of the pool but the bottom where it meets the side....its a very rounded area, not a 45...so it feels like the problem (if there is one, extends from that edge out into the pool....about 1 to 2 feet. I noticed this odd vibration/feeling all over, but not everywhere and of course I cant really check the deep end, thats why I am hoping its normal, not the finish. If it didnt adhere...what will eventually happen. Wont the water pressure keep the pebble tec in place. They put a dark gray bonding agent all over the pool 2 days before they installed. Doesnt a bonding agent go on just before you adhere cement? Maybe this was a different product. It was a question my husband had when he came home the night after they prepped. Do you install pebble tec? If so, is this a very rare problem, so I am probably imagining it.

It's pretty difficult to confirm a hollow spot with water in the pool. In many of the pools we resurface we discover "delamination" when the pool is empty that the owners never suspected. You are correct that these spots are rarely an issue when the pool is full.
When we replaster we apply a "scratch coat" a day or two before. This is made up of acrylic, water, sand and cement and is applied with a broom to ensure a rough surface. This allows a good mechanical bond for the new plaster. Depending on the situation we sometimes apply a slurry of acrylic and cement right before plaster but these two processes are separate.

I thought it would be difficult to determine a hollow spot with the pool filled. Half of our walls were hollow when they emptied it. We knew it needed to be resurfaced but didnt know how many bad areas there were until they started hammering. They only found 2 hollow spots in the middle of the pool. We will call our pebble tec company when we return. I thought I could post a question and reassure myself it is nothing. We spent so much $$ on the remodel and its almost complete....hate to empty the pool, and have it repaired...I thought that part of the project was behind us. I almost need to get into a neighbors pebble tec and see if I get the same feelings. Wish I knew it was my imagination playing tricks on me. They applied something with a big roller....must have been the scratch coat...good to know it didnt need to be tacky when the pebble tec was applied. Thanks again for your post.