I had the same decision when I built my pool and decided on plaster because of cost and texture. At the time, Pebble Tec was close to twice the cost of plaster and many folks were complaining about the rough texture and kids coming out of the pool with scrapped feet. However, Pebble Fina is a pretty smooth product so I don’t think that is an issue anymore but it is also very expensive.

One of the other attractions to the pebble products is their long life but if a pool’s chemistry is taken care of, it is my belief that plaster can last pretty long as well.