If the pool shifts, there would be bigger problems than tiles popping or cracking due to being flexed and popping or cracking. Problems like the shell cracking, plumbing breaks, etc...

Tile away if that is what you want. I do recommend it since the finish will look different above the water if you don't.

If you winterize your pool, lowering the water below the tile is strongly suggested. When ice forms, it expands. This expansion can cause tiles to crack or pop off.

Scott

Chevy,
First pebble surfaces are not warrantied out of water.

Pebble will wick water up the side of the pool. It will always look as though the pool dropped 2". If you are in a area of hard water at all this will make a mess quickly and require glass beading to remove, also not cheap.

The last problem is if your are pouring a deck with a cantelever, the pebble can stick to this, and when the deck moves a little it will cause a crack around the top of the pebble, once it cracks water can get in behind and cause it to delaminate.

In general tile is easier to clean then pebble, so unless you hate the look of tile, its not worth it.

During our pool build, one of the pools we looked at had pebble tec all the way to the top. Looked horrible. Pool was 6 mos old. The haze of the calcium dulls the finish.

Everybodys an expert! It is hard to imagine that anyone would consider putting in a pool without a tile line and especially someone that works on pools.

That's the kind of feedback I needed. Time to pick out a tile.

Thanks!

I have a Pebble Tec coating (Black with specks of crushed shell) with no tile at the water line and no calcitic build-up or noticeable difference between above and below the waterline in look or color. This finish was installed 27 years ago and is only now showing some wear, but in the bottom of the pool and not where the Pebble Tec meets the bottom of the coping. When you combine the wicking effect that draws moisture up into and on the three inches above the water with the natural resistance that real stone has to calcium deposits, eliminating the tile is a totally valid option and a great was to enhance a "Lagoon" effect. The variables beyond this are the material used for the matrix that the pebbles are mixed in and the relative hardness of your water. Kn my area just north of San Diego we have slightly hard water, and I've learning from talking to companies about re-doing my pool that there are many different cementitious products that can be used for a pebble finish in a pool (obviously the one used for my pool repels calcium better than most - wish I knew what it was!).

100% put in a waterline tile. Running the pebble tec at the water line will absolutely result in a calcium stain at the waterline which is expensive and almost impossible to clean off even with glass beading. I live in the Phoenix area too and have seen several pools with this problem. Waterline tile for sure!

The tile border at the water line is simply in place to allow for easier cleanup of debris at the water line. Plaster finishes are meant to stay wet at all times. Exposure will dry it and cracks may occur.

Tile is in no way acting as a way to water proof your pool. In fact, there are no products that water proof a pool. Companies have gotten away from using that term and will now say products can make a pool water tight.

Saying something is water proof, guarantees it will be water proof.

There are additives that can be administered directly into concrete or applied to surfaces afterwards to make them water tight.

Pools are subjected to constant wet conditions and chemical exposure therefore having an effect on all pool components and surfaces in contact with the water.

In climates exposed to freeze-thaw conditions, considerations have to made on material choices and designs aspects.

Tile, coping and plaster finishes must installed/applied properly with ideal conditions to get the best possible results.

I am about to build a pool with a large vanishing edge. I have a neighbor with a pool like that and he tells me that the freeze/thaw cycle caused him tile issues, they kept popping off and he finally pulled them all off and used trowled concrete. It seems to look well enough.....are there any issues I should be aware of for that approach?