Fiberglass or Vinyl liner

[Beesmom]

Greetings:

My husband and I previously owned a house with a vinyl liner pool and were pretty happy with it. We are in a new house with lots of space and no pool (and a 6 year old who loves swimming). We both agree we want to have a pool but are in the process of hashing out the details.

We both agree: sand filter system and a salt water chlorinator system. Our previous pool was 20' x 40' (19,000 gallons) and we want something similar or maybe a little smaller. Like I said we were happy with our previous pool but the liner was getting old and we repaired a few holes over those 7 years. It seems the big negative concerning fiberglass is the upfront price.

We are still debating fiberglass vs. vinyl liner (leaning towards fiberglass) and would love to hear from anyone who has owned both or worked on both.

Thanks!

-Sandy

[aylad]

Hi Sandy, and welcome to the forum!!
I can't give you any insights--my pool is vinyl liner and I have zero experience with fiberglass pools, but there are some folks around the forum that should be able to discuss the pros and cons with you.

Just wanted to welcome you to the group

[PoolDoc]

There are a lot of people here who have had one or the other . . . and thanks to the unusually warm weather, people are coming back to the PoolForum earlier than usual. I'll let them respond to your question, since virtually all my experience is with large commercial concrete pools.

But . . . I'm going to suggest an alternative.

The dirty little fact of the pool business (or one of them!) is that pools purchased in April are frequently not ready for swimming till August! An important related fact is that spring time is a pool BUILDER's market, but late summer is a pool BUYER's market.

So, here's a suggestion you might want to consider: get an Intex Ultra, use it this summer, and use the spring and summer to pick a builder AND options.

Something like this 18' x 52" round AG pool:

Link to Amazon
Link to Intex specifications page



or this 12ft x 24ft


Link to Amazon
Link to Intex specifications page


You may need to add a larger sand filter:


Link to Amazon
Link to Intex specifications page

You may be able to find a better deal locally at Sams or Costco. But, if you go this route, you
+ WILL swim this summer;
+ WILL have time to carefully pick your in-ground pool;
+ MAY save more money, by building in the fall, than the Intex system costs;
+ WILL reduce your odds of weather problems by starting in September instead of April (but, we've had weird weather . . . so no guarantees!)
+ CAN even -- if you like -- go ahead and get a high efficiency pump and filter set up for your in-ground pool . . . and use it THIS summer on the Intex. (This will require some handyman skills, but we can walk you through the process. A system like this will cost ~$1500 however, and it wouldn't be covered in your construction loan.)

[Beesmom]

Thanks for the replies! If ours won't be ready until August, I'll just get a family pass to the local community pool.

-Sandy

[PoolDoc]

That works, too.

But, please understand, I did NOT say "your pool won't be ready till August". What I said was, that's what often happens.

In South Florida, where they crank out pools like crazy, they put pools in in 3 weeks, start to finish. But, I'm guessing North Alabama pool pacing is more like Chattanooga -- you don't have the skilled year round work teams you do in Florida, and you have much worse soil and rock conditions.

Also, a community pool is a very different experience than a home pool. I actually don't like small pools myself -- if I could build what I wanted, it would be a 2-lane 75' 6' deep pool with a 20' swim out for grandchildren. But a community pool is usually a social zoo, which is completely different than having your home pool -- not better or worse, just very different.

If you and your children like that, then I think that's a great option!

[CarlD]

Hi Beesmom!

I have NEVER heard of a 20x40 fiberglass pool. Remember: They are built in a factory and have to be transported and installed at the site. Vinyl and concrete are constructed at the site.

[Beesmom]

After looking at dozens of brochures - you're right, CarlD, there's no such thing as a fiberglass pool that big. Score 1 for the vinyl liner.

By the way, I just realized I never said whether the pool we're looking for is inground or aboveground. It's inground so this thread is in the wrong place.

You're right, PoolDoc, community pools can be zoos; that's why we're getting our own despite the community pool being only 2 miles away. It's pretty nice though (or will be - it is in the process of getting rebuilt they're pretty close to being done) but we got spoiled by having our own (I can't float around in a tube with a beer at the town pool without getting arrested).

My original question was if any one out there has worked on or owned both a fiberglass and a vinyl liner which do they prefer?

-Sandy

[waterbear]

San Juan does have about 8 models of pools that are 15'-16' wide x 40'-45' long so it's pretty close. It used to be that fiberglass was the most expensive pool you could get but the price of concrete has gone up so a fiberglass pool, even with trucking in, is competitive with shotcrete and gunite in many markets. Part of the cost of fiberglass is how far it needs to be trucked to the site so if you are not to far from a manufacturer then fiberglass is a viable option. If it needs to be trucked a long distance then it might not be the most cost effective pool. It is a much more resilient surface than vinyl and just as inert chemically, and next to a completely tiled pool surface (expensive!!!) it is my personal first choice.