Vinyl Pool Construction Choice Of Walls

[StuartHB]

I am in the process of getting estimates from various pool builders for the construction of an inground vinyl pool in the fall. (I live in New York)
The choices of pool wall are either Steel (Fox Pools) or Sterling (Fort Wayne) or Permecrete cement.

With the cost of steel being so high, the price difference between steel and cement has narrowed. The pool in question would be either a 16/17 X 33 lagoon or kidney.

Any Pros or Cons for Permecrete vs Steel. Both have lifetime warranties. For the Fox Steel and Permecrete, you can back fill and pave the deck without filling the pool because of the strength.

The builder who uses Permecrete cement showed me the molds they use to pour the cement into. Have an interesting decision to make.

[georgiapoollover]

We live in Georgia and we are doing a steel wall pool. Had one before. I didn't even know they could do cement walls on a vinyl pool? I would suggest calling refrences and ask them what they used and how they like what they got.

[PhantomAndy]

Not sure when it comes to your region - I'm in KY, and we went with steel. Here you can choose between a full gunnite pool (no liner), steel walls (vinyl liner), plastic composite walls (vinyl liner), stainless steel walls (concrete bottom - no liner), or fiberglass walls (liner or concrete bottom).

Whatever you choose, don't let the warranty play much into the decision. The warranty will typically only cover the wall itself, and not any labor associated with actually replacing it. You can buy an entire set of steel walls for my pool (18x38 grecian) for less than $2000 at the time we built the pool. I'd say a single replacement wall would be in the hundreds. The labor on the other hand would run in the thousands, with the very likely need to replace the liner after the repair - adding another $3000 or so.

I'd go with steel (galvanized of course) and you'd probably be fine.