Actually fiberglassing your own new pool?

[tybeeware]

Has anyone actually made their own fiberglass pool? I mean if you wanted something not too big but bigger than a spa, couldn't you slowly make your own shell with wood and fiberglass?

I'm sure it sounds crazy but thats just me...

[DavidD]

I am a believer in the "You can do anything" philosophy, yet here it is....... HOWEVER,
1. I've built a small fiberglass dingy once (a small boat used for rowing for you land lubbers). It now occupies a land fill and will be there for eternity. Maybe one day in a thousand years some archeologist will uncover it and wonder if the landfill was once a wetland or.... I digress. Later I went out and spent $400 for a real one.
2. You have got to do the research and find out if it is feasible and or cost effective. It is allot of work and the materials will be very expensive due to the fact that you will have to buy in "consumer" quantities.

If you were going to do this, you must build a mold and the shell/pool must not contain any wood as it would rot. Believe it or not, this is the hard part. Then there are the issues of resin to glass mixture, curing times, volatile fumes, and the neighbors who think you have started a meth lab....
Check around, fiberglass pools seem to be growing in popularity and the prices vary from around $3k to $14k for the "shells" in my area. You would be better off IMO to buy one of these and dig the hole and install yourself than to attempt to do it all.

DavidD
16K gallon Fiberglass Figure 8

[tybeeware]

I figured it would cost more than just buying one. Everywhere I look for even just a shell its costing atleast 7 - 8K. I wish I could find one for 3K! I'm not looking for a big one either - probably about 18 ft long and no deeper than 5ft in the deep end.

Speaking of wetlands, behind my immediate back yard I have 1/4 acre of wetlands as part of my property and it does flood some in a really bad rain. So I'm conserned with the water level table. I was thinking of building the pool up some where its not fully burried in the original ground. And have it stick out about 2 ft. Then at the end of where I want my concrete patio around the pool I would build up a wall with concrete blocks, add some support braces on the sides of the pool and then fill with dirt and conrete the top. This way it will be raised and even with my back door also. I'm in Savannah, GA if this helps on info.

Thanks!

Warren

[DavidD]

I figured it would cost more than just buying one.

I suspected you might come that conclusion. Since you have a high water table, be sure you put in a "drywell" at the deepest point. My contractor simply ran a 8" corrugated pipe down and capped it with a standard skimmer cover, screwed shut. This allows you to inspect or pump out water if the need ever arises.