Your questions about fiberglass swimming pools

Wize Guy answers:

Seems like the single best reason to go concrete is the ability to size and shape it to your specifications. Here’s some information I dug up. Good luck.

Different structure of the walls & floor i.e. fibreglass has just a approx 20mm thick wall of fibreglass where as a concrete pool has a 150mm concrete section interlaced with steel reinforcing at least every 300mm apart. It then has an internal water proofing layer of either 20mm Pebblecrete (pebble & cement) or a layer of ceramic tiles.

The concrete pool can be constructed to almost any shape to suit your backyard or your imagination where as fibreglass pools are limited to set moulds.
Concrete pools are constructed in the ground on a solid base & finished to the level of the internal water. Fibreglass pools are a moulded shell with an uneven base that are placed on a prepared base & hopefully ends up level.

Concrete Pools when empty have strength of structure to support the surrounding ground pressures. Concrete pools have a hydrostatic valve in the base of the pool & have considerable weight to counter act any ground water pressure.

Concrete pools have a solid non-flexing surround to the pool which enables coping tiles to be successfully adhered to it.

Concrete Pools have an expected life of up to 15 years

http://www.poolfab.com.au/faqs.htm

Fibreglass pools have taken a great leap forward in popularity due to the application of space-age technology.
Today’s fibreglass pool not only offers an amazing range of shapes and sizes but an equally impressive selection of colours to suit personal preferences and the setting in which the pool will be installed.
Installation begins with excavation to suit the dimensions of the pool. Steps, swimouts and safety ledges can be built in to the fibreglass shell.
One of the real attractions of fibreglass pools is their short installation time.
Fibreglass pools are pre-manufactured to exacting conditions. This means you can shop around for the pool of your choice and know precisely what you’ll get in terms of size, shape and colour.

http://www.spasawa.com.au/choosingmain.html

Wize Guy answers:

i own a pool compay.a vinyl and fiberglass will have a completely different feel then a gunite pool.just run your hand on it and you will see.for care and maintaince e mail me at this e mail: jldailey2000@yahoo.com

Wize Guy answers:

The pool and hardware (filter, pump, heater, etc.) runs around 20K. INstallation will run another 5-10K depending on how elaborate your deck area will be and how accessible the site is.
Mortgage companies will loan you this money for a home improvement, if your credit is solid with them.

Fiberglass requires much less maintenance and your water chemistry is easier to maintain

Wize Guy answers:

Yes, there is an epoxy putty made just for that, you can do the repair under water. Check with a good pool supplier.

Wize Guy answers:

Now is the time to consider two options:
Sue them
Get a new pool

New pool
Consider that if you bring suit, you MIGHT not win and you are back to square one plus the cost of the suit.
Consider that if you bring suit, the elapse time during litigation can streach out for months and months. Meanwhile, you are still tending a pool that is deteriorating and probably at an excellerated rate the longer it goes without repair AND at the end, IF you win, what do you win? A new pool (that’s what I’d sue for) FROM the same company (whoa — you’ve just been through that).

I suggest this. Talk to a lawyer — what are your chances of winning and getting re-embursed for the inital cost of the pool to recoop your cost of that pool, so you can replace it FROM A DIFFERENT COMPANY?
Have the lawyer meet with them. He tells them what is going to happen if you go forward with the suit. Perhaps they will elect to negotiate. What will they offer? A new pool? A continuation of the shabby repairs to date? An attempt to repair a pool that MIGHT NOT BE REPAIRABLE? (I think that is the case — the pool CANN’T be repaired, and they know that by now.) That’s a point in your favor in negotiations with them.
Listen to what they will do and weight that against what has been going on AND what are your guarentees that the existing pool WILL finnaly be repaired?
MAYBE just MAYBE, they will be glad to get out of being suied and be glad to be free of the problem and YOU — and will pay you a lump sum. The sum COULD represent the original cost of the pool (and that’s what I would want) or less — but more would be unrealistic.

Hope for that. Then take that $$ (hopefully the original pool cost) and get a new pool.
A new pool will cost more now, but there are the spring specials (watch out — these may not be the top of the line packages).
The hole is already dug. That’s a plus.
The old pool must come out. I think the likelyhood that the ground under your present pool is saturated with water and that will have to be addressed before a new pool goes in. Pool removal is a cost (but not as much as new excavation). Fixing sub layment is a cost (but not as much as new excavation) AND if it exists, is testiment to factors addressing the presents pool’s problems. Nice to know and if so, document it by a professional photographer’s expertise. Just could be you could go back to the original pool’s people and say, “I told you so. We want you to pay for the old pool extraction and soil repair.” They might go for it. But your lawyer will have to pave the way for this come back before you accept any money in a settlement. This could also be more leverage on them to get a settlement BEFORE you remove the old pool. At this time no one knows if the subpool ground is wet; thus use that as a lever.
ANYWAY going on . . .
You end up with a new pool, new pool filtering system (or maybe you keep the old system —- BUT it’s an old system), and any of things that you have thought of adding or changing – that you have thought about since having the original pool i.e. different deck, bigger pool, smaller, shape, ammenities, color, surface treatment, non-clorine system that is now available, dah – dah – dah – etc. etc.

The present pool situation may be the best thing to happen.
Should be an interesting summer for you-all, Cheers.