Did the PB seal the gunite above the water line with Throseal or some such before the Pebble Tec ? It's my understanding that that is an important detail. I'd planned on Pebble Tec without tile but am beginning to wonder.

fyton2v,
As a PB, Peb-tec has never recommended the use of their product out of the water. They have said it can be done and it does work well in certain applications. Rolled beams, negative or vanishing edge pools are examples.

Using peb-tec in place of tile has always been a no-no in my mind although I have used it in this manner. I do not use cantilever decks when I use peb-tec. I use brick or stone coping. The coping adheres to the gunite beam and provides a solid surface as opposed to the cantilever deck that requires a slip joint between the top of the beam and the bottom of the deck. As movement of the deck will occur it would be common to see a crack where the deck and peb-tec meet. If mortar has been used to level the beam, it's probable that cracks may appear 1-2" from the top of the peb-tec. This is normally not a peb-tec problem. It will only hold up as well as the surface it's installed on.

Hope this helps explain why you may see some problems with this type of installation. IMO tile is a lot easier to keep clean. You may also have a freeze/thaw problem depending on the climate in your area.

I'm going to end up replacing it with a tile border during this winter. All in all, it is too difficult to keep clean as you mentioned.