fiberglass vs. concrete pool?

[janey99]

When others got their pools, which way did they go? Why? Does your area of the country make a difference (winters/freezing v none)?

TIA!

Jane

 

[Danemom]

We were told that a fiberglass pool might float up out of the ground in our yard, as it can hold a little water during rainy seasons. We didn't check on concrete, just went with an aboveground. HTH a little.

 

[Mono~rail]

We have a vinyl liner inground pool that was already installed when we bought our house.

A few years ago, we were looking into having a pool built at our old house, and we researched the 4 different kinds of inground pools - fiberglass, vinyl liner, gunite, and concrete. We knocked gunite and concrete out immediately because of cost to install.

Our two choices were fiberglass or vinyl liner, and we were planning to have a vinyl liner built because of the size we wanted, and fiberglass pools just aren't made as big or as deep as we wanted.

The contractor that we talked to about a fiberglass pool told us that a sump pump would have to be installed to suck the water out of the ground around the pool. I remember something about never being able to completely drain a fiberglass pool because it could "pop up" out of the ground.

I think we were going to need a sump pump installed with a vinyl liner pool also.

Contractors can answer most of your questions, and they will let you know the needs for your location.

 

[MouseLover]

My parents have had 3 different swimming pools built. (Kept moving & missing the pool!).

The first one was concrete bottom with fiberglass walls, the second one was the same, and the third one was with a vinyl liner. Although the fiberglass ones were the most attractive, in my opinion, the vinyl pool definitely felt the best to our feet! The concrete-bottom pools can scrape the bottoms of your feet, and cause stone-bruises on your heels too. Also, the vinyl pools have a layer of sand underneath, so the bottom gives slightly if jumping up & down, etc.

The current pool was built ~1993 I think. They had to replace the vinyl liner once, about 2-3 years ago.

 

[jessica52877]

We have concrete with pebbletec. It was much costlier then any other option but well worth it. I remember as a kid the pools cutting the bottom of my feet (concrete) and fiberglass after a while feels slimey to me (although it isn't, all in my head). We didn't want vinyl as I was going all out.

 

[tinatark]

We have a fiberglass www.vikingpools.com and love it! The pool doesn't require maintenance (painting), feet aren't scraped and the pool stays super clean. Some FG pools can be very plain (the first pool pic is a plain surface, without tile, etc, IMO it is pretty plain) - we have a pebbled blue (instead of the more slippery smooth) surface, tile edging, cascades and cantilevered brick on the pool deck. Here is a Viking Pools picture of the design we have :

We live in TN - it does freeze here - we leave our pump on in the winter (makes opening it in the summer easier, as we don't have to go through the shock process with it). Here's a picture of our pool. We have a turtle inlay - we have a pond, with (real) turtles, so we decided we'd have a "turtle in the pool" as well!

 

[janey99]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I've heard the "popping out of the ground" thing as well, but DH says it would not be a problem here, because of out soil/water table (he's a LA).

I always thought vinyl was cheaper than concrete, but I went to one manufacturer's website that said it's MORE expensive (I'm scratching my head on that one).

Tinatark - your pool is beautiful! I've been to the Viking website and they do have some lovely products!

 

[CFFA Inc.]

My parents have had 3 different swimming pools built. (Kept moving & missing the pool!).

The first one was concrete bottom with fiberglass walls, the second one was the same, and the third one was with a vinyl liner. Although the fiberglass ones were the most attractive, in my opinion, the vinyl pool definitely felt the best to our feet! The concrete-bottom pools can scrape the bottoms of your feet, and cause stone-bruises on your heels too. Also, the vinyl pools have a layer of sand underneath, so the bottom gives slightly if jumping up & down, etc.

The current pool was built ~1993 I think. They had to replace the vinyl liner once, about 2-3 years ago.

Hi there! We love seeing your positive experience with a vinyl liner pool. Would it be okay if we shared your review on our social channels to promote the benefits of vinyl pools?

 

[_19disnA]

LOL..........well this thread is from 17 yrs ago and likely most of those posting don't even participate here anymore. If you are trying to advertise your product, I would look around online and try to find comments that are more recent.

 

[MrsPete]

Note: A fiberglass pool can be installed in a single day, whereas other types take considerably longer.