Personally, I love the look of stone coping. Look at as many pictures as you can, and go with the look that you like the best.

I was told that cantilvered concrete will reduce (not eliminate) the chances of cracks in the concrete decking. A cantilevered edge will rest on the top of the pool wall and provide better support. With stone or brick coping, the concrete deck is primarily supported by the ground beneath it (unless you have piers/footers installed underneath the concrete). Even if the ground has been compacted, there will be some settling and the risk of cracks increases.

nctal,
Cantilever concrete is usually cheaper to install than brick or stone because the deck can be all be poured at the same time. All brick/stone coping need to have an expansion joint installed between it and any concrete poured behind it. Typically, deck-o-seal is used to fill and finish this joint.
Either method of construction done properly should provide years of pleasure.
Sometimes the soil conditions may dictate the method a PB uses for construction.

Thanks for the info - it has me wondering what role coping actually serves, then, other than appearance. I'm still leaning toward going with stone or possibly brick coping ... but now I've got to figure out where coping got its start in the first place.

If it was a paver decking, you could do pavers all the way to the pool edge. Same with stone slab, etc. I have piqued my own curiosity.

In my area, SE Texas, cantilevered concrete coping in regular redi-mix is the same price as 9" brick or flagstone coping.
Normally, I'll use an acrylic knockdown on top of the concrete, or colors and stamps during pouring for a patterned concrete finish. These both come in more than regular brick or stone coping.
Coping is there for just the reason you mentioned, cosmetics. You could leave the gunite or shotcrete showing but it's ugly and not usually perfectly level. We use 6" strips of masonite, leveled, and nailed slightly above the gunite to set our mortar bed for the top of the tile line. This ensures that the waterline tile is level. Now the coping brick, stone, or cantilevered coping will be too.
I hope this helps.

See ya,
Kelly

Kelly,

With it being the same price as brick or flagstone - any rough estimate of what percent of your builds elect to go with cantilevered concrete coping (CCC)?

Based on some of the responses here as well as comments from one of the pool builders bidding on my job, CCC appears like it is lower maintenance and may hold up better over time. I've been told, and it makes sense, that you should seal the mortor in brick and/or stone coping ever couple of years to keep it water tight and that over time individual bricks and/or stones may come loose.

So ... my initial thought was that CCC was initially an up front cost savings measure that might feel like I "skimped" in the long run. I'm wondering if that's truly the case now.

Thanks!

About one out of every 15 to 20 pools I build have cantilevered coping. I like my designers to utilize the look on contemporary designs. It's a very clean seamless look. Here's a couple of pic's.

with acrylic knockdown

with regular redimix

See ya,
Kelly

We are currently building a pool and we were blessed to be able to do travertine (thanks to a friend that could get it for us at nearly 1/2 the cost). They did the travertine coping this week and it is breathtaking. I'm not sure about upkeep, sealing, etching or any other issues we may have to deal with....but I'm thinking it will all be worth it. Here are some pics. of ours currently...

Good luck in your decision,
Annie

I just did travertine coping - it is by far my favorite. Ordered it from a place in Tampa - had it delivered to my door in Texas - cost $2700 total - enough to do 116 feet of pool (12" square bullnose) and a 7 ft raised spa (4"x9" bullnose - two rows back to back.)

I installed it myself - which I don't recommend unless you are pretty skilled - but after a color enhancer, it looks fantastic. I'll try to post a pic later.

tfons...which color enhancer did you use? We are just a week or so away from completion and are looking to seal/enhance our deck and coping.

Thanks
Annie205

As for needing to use a water sealer every few years on the grout especially - is this recommended or required? It would sure seem like it ought to be.

Annie

Not sure of the brand - threw away empty bottle...but it was called "color enhancer" - NOT sealant. Small blue bottle at Home Depot - cost about $32 for a quart. But one quart did about 172 total feet of coping around pool and spa. It has been on about 3 weeks now and still looks perfect. Water does bead up a bit - may be slightly more slippery than without, but not enough for me to worry.

tfons1219,
Did you use a PB at all? If so, who? Love it.