Gunite -vs- Vinyl lined

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Originally Posted by MaryLee

I LOVE the look of a gunite pool. However, the pool we put in is an 18 X40 vinyl. We chose that because I wanted a pool I could swim laps in and the pool is really just a "play" pool for my 2 young kids. We could have spent the same money and gone with a gunite, but we would have had to settle with a much smaller pool.

For now, vinyl is right for us. After the kids move out and we "downsize", I will put in the gunite pool of my dreams!!:D

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This is same reason for me. 2 kids 8 & 3. They said that they can put everything that the gunite offered me and be ruffly about 7K- 10K less then the pool quote I got.

I love to do gunite and did some reading on pool & Spa website and there was nothing negitve really about vinyl.

Since here in Austin, TX we do get heavy rains and flash floods... I am just wondering if the pool becomes over-flooded and the liner will not hold it. What is your take along that issue?

I really didnt give it much though on considering which to get vinyl or gunite.
Gunite is definity the only way to go. I had special engineering plans for my pool because of a big slop in my backyard. The backend of my pool and 4' raised spa acted as a retaining wall. something you couldnt do with a plastic pool. Vinyl lined pools are cheap looking and don't give you that "swimming pool" feel.

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Originally Posted by y0manda

Vinyl lined pools are cheap looking and don't give you that "swimming pool" feel.

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That's a little harsh....:(

I even have a gunite pool and I agree that last comment was harsh!!! ;-)

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Originally Posted by Pool_Mike

Since here in Austin, TX we do get heavy rains and flash floods... I am just wondering if the pool becomes over-flooded and the liner will not hold it. What is your take along that issue?

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Well, here in NH, we've had some major flooding the last few weeks. My pool was filling up to the coping faster than I could drain it.......no problems whatsoever with the liner holding up.

There are overflow drains built-in that you can get. Looking back, I wish I had one put in....I can't tell you how many times I've had to drain my over-flowing pool the last few years ....it would have been well worth it.

Building a new pool today I would seriously consider vinyl. 30 years ago when a concrete pool was not highway robbery I think it would have been a no-brainer.

I like vinyl pools because after adding a new liner for $2,000 dollars you basically have a new looking pool. After 10 to 12 years your ready for a new pattern or color. Easy to keep up with the current "trends". You can also buy complete kits for under $7500 and if you know (or hire) the right people you can install them very cheaply :)

All swimming pools are a luxury. Spend what you are willing to and enjoy your back yard and pool with family and friends. Swimming Pools are all about enjoying life so enjoy.

If some one has a house for sale in the Del Mar CA. area for the same price it was offered at 30 years ago I would like to buy, if your offering it for any more then it would be highway robbery.

ENJOY YOUR POOL WITH FAMILY AND FREINDS

One downside the vinyl liners is you can't go to very high chlorine levels without damaging your liner. If you keep your water balanced this should not be a problem though. I did have a problem when I added dry acid to a vinyl liner pool once and it left an area where the acid sat that looked wrinkled. I have 2 dogs that swim daily so I went with concrete. My concrete pool builder was actually cheaper than the vinyl guy we had out. Only $18,000 5 years ago.

Waiting for a house to sell, we have been shopping for a pool for six months thinking vinyl liner petty much the whole time. You can build some really nice looking vinyl pools now, but when we got down to details, we found vinyl pools haven't progress to beach entries or custom changes in shapes at reasonable prices. You can customize the shape, but the cost shoots up because shape changes require the pool manufacture to design than build the steel to the shape. Even worse is after you spend the extra money for the change, the liner still may not fit perfectly. Just about every contractor we interviewed told us that it is next to impossible to get those complicated liners to fit perfect and look good.

Our price for the pool we designed with everything we wanted was within just a couple thousand of the Gunite, so we switched. If you like the basic shapes of the vinyl pools presented in the brochures, than vinyl is a good option. If you want more freedom to build the pool with the shape of your dreams using beach entries, custom swimouts, and suntan ledges, then you probably want gunite.

beary