don pool

My advice would be to call a professional fiberglass repair person. Regardless of what anyone may tell you, you do not have to remove the decking and shell to fix your pool. To state that "high water didn't cause your pool to crack, an improperly laid bed and low water did", might be a valid opinion, it is not a statement of fact. If the hydrostatic pressure under the pool shell became so great that it cracked the pool shell, I don't care how well you groomed the bottom of the shell before the pool was set in the hole, once the pool cracked, the hydrostatic pressure was relieved, and the excess water was removed from under the pool shell, the pool shell is not going to return to it's original resting place in perfect alignment.

Rico, In most cases the 4ft. deep pools are lap pools or small pools that serve a particular function for people with certain needs, such as too small of a yard to put an average size pool in, or soil conditions that would make a deeper pool to costly, or perhaps the client can't swim but still enjoys floating in the water or water aerobics. Pools like the one that you described as having "a sharp transition to a steep deep end pit" are ideal for those individuals that wish to dive into the deep end (although most 8ft. deep fiberglass pools do not meet industry standards for a "diving pool"), and in my opinion, are a waste of space. A pool that has a gradual transition from shallow to deep serves many peoples needs.

In my opinion, you would be happy with either product. Make sure you choose the best installer. Check out their work, and their references well

Carlos, To have a "custom made" fiberglass pool you would have to have a mold made for your specific needs. I won't begin to tell you how costly that would be. See if one of the manufacturers has an existing pool shell size and shape close to what you want, and have them custome cut the side down for your vanshing edge pool.

Leisure Pools is a good choice! In regards to staining issues with fiberglass pools, a fiberglass pool is no different than any other item that you purchase that requires maintenance, proper water chemistry is the key to a nice (almost) trouble free pool. Iron stains can cause discoloration in a plain,white,fiberglass pool, but there are products on the market today that you can use to remove the stains and you may need to use a maintenance dose a a metal free product to keep the stains from coming back.

Take 3 steps back and punt the ball

In my humble opinion, both a good product to install and the installer are of equal importance. If you were a good baker, using the best ingredients in proper measure would be of vital importance to the creation of the best final product. The end result would be something that would leave the customer with a sweet taste in their mouth, and of course they would brag to everyone that they met about the wonderful baker that they had discovered. Along these same lines, a good baker could use the skills that he has learned from years of baking experience to create something wonderful and sweet using the poorest of ingredients. On the other hand, a lousy baker could be given the best ingredients to use, but if he/she does not use them in proper measure or has no real interest in the quality of the end result, his or her customers would be left with a bitter taste in their mouths and as a result it would be more difficult for them to stay in the baking business." You don't give pearls to swines".

Nice commercial rx1rules.

Sandied, A fiberglass pool is flexible to some extent and thus it will give and take with soil conditions. Concrete on the other hand is rigid and although with proper reinforcement it can take a certain amount of ground movement, it could fail (crack) with minor ground shifting. It sounds like the acrylic walls your pool builder is referring to are the perimeter wall sections of a vinyl liner pool. These wall sections do not extend down to the concrete floor in most cases. What he is telling you about not being able to put in a fiberglass pool in your area is not the truth. I think his banjo is wound too tight. Find somebody else. If Leisure is your fiberglass pool of choice and you can get no response from your local dealer, call the manufacturer direct.

Dr. Spa, I can appreciate the time and effort that you put forth in your duties as a moderator on this forum to make an effort to be a voice of reason in this sea of insanity. Things have gotten a little too personal at times lately, but I believe that many pool professionals on this forum share a passion, and that passion is to "educate the consumer" and PROTECT the consumer from those unscrupulous, dishonest, liars and thieves that have always and will always be ready, willing and able, to prey upon the unsuspecting consumer. Whether they be manufacturers or installers of fiberglass pools, they are a blight on our industry and they have a profound and direct impact on the rest of us. Their lack of integrity shines on us all. Some of us choose to hold ourselves to a higher standard of morality and it is only natural for us to demand the same of others in this industry. You have given us a great deal of leeway in the past to express our views in regards to many issues which are of importance to the industry which in turn are of vital importance to the consumer. It is difficult, no, it is not just difficult, it is nearly impossible to not respond to some of the postings on this forum. Things like making a big announcement that a certain company has emerged from bankruptcy so the consumer and those of us in this industry should throw a big party and celebrate etc. etc. etc.. The consumer and the rest of humanity for that matter, need to be protected from this type of thinking, and this type of business practice. If you know that someone is about to be robbed at gunpoint, wouldn't you at least attempt to thwart the robbery? We make our living in this business, feed our families, send our kids to college and so on and so on, so please keep our passion and the need to have some honesty and integrity in this industry in your mind as you decide what content to keep and what content you will delete. Thanks, Don Pool

POOL FACTS I'm sure that being a Viking Pools dealer is difficult these days. To state that Viking is in the "best financial shape" doesn't make much sense to me. I would guess that Latham's creditors and maybe even the Stahls themselves might argue with you on that point. It is good to hear that Viking has a group of dedicated staff and dealers working hard in hopes of turning things around. No one in the fiberglass industry would benefit from their demise. Just like you said, a good installer/contractor is the key to a happy customer.

Sunray Engineering out of Florida manufactures and sells solar powered swimming pool pumps. A german company also makes the Badu top 12 solar powered swimming pool pump. I have used these my self on projects and they work quite well. You can buy everything that you need to make the system work for about $3600

No, he did not, I used the word gauge to refer to the ability of a person to determine if there is water present under or around the pool if a sump line is installed under a fiberglass pool

Jose, It is very important for the pool water to circulate. As long as it is moving the water in your pool the pipes won't freeze. I undertand that there is water leaking out of the pumps, but is there water coming out of the return lines in the pool? Also, most cleaner pumps draw their water from the filter pump, so I wouldn't try to run it all by itself.

Dreamscapes: Maybe you didn't pay attention to the original post date of 2005 which was 2 years prior to the passage of the VGB Act. It was common practice for many years to install a hydrostatic relief valve in the main drain of both fiberglass and gunite pools in many parts of the country when there was a presence of or a possibility of ground water. A sump line was also installed under the fiberglass pool shell to relieve the hydrostatic pressure as well as to gauge if there was any presence of water under the pool.

The hydrostatic relief valve is located by the main drain. What you are trying to tackle on your own might be out of your control. Do all the hard work first like removing your concrete and call a professional. If you are in an area that has no ground water present, there may not even be a relief valve in the pool. There might be a sump line that is supposed to relieve the hydro-static pressure. If you have one of those it would more than likely be a inch and a half piece of pipe located under a plastic cover on the deep end of your pool.

I have been installing fiberglass pools for 25 years. In order to give you a decent recommendation on who to choose for a manufacturer it all depends on what area you live in. I live in northern NJ. If you have any recommendations I would greatly appreciate it. Also, I am thinking of going "heat pump" rather then a gas heater. Do you recommend any manufacturer over another? Oh and as long as were talking pools - how about the salt water filters? The salt water chlorine generators work very well. The only down side to them is that once the water temperature gets below about 58 degrees they don't work. Heat pumps work out OK as long as you have a decent amount of humidity in the air. They are more expensive up front and I don't believe that they are as energy efficient as the natural gas or propane heaters. In regards to recommendations for manufacturers in your area:Aloha, Viking, Leisure, San Juan, CPC, and Waterworld are among the major manufacturers of quality fiberglass swimming pools in this country. Every one of them will tell you why their pool is better than others and how their gel coat, ultra granicote ceramic core etc. etc. is by far superior to anything else on the market. The truth of it is that they are all good quality products but the most important key to all is to have the right person install your pool. If the pool is not leveled correctly or back filled properly your going to have trouble. The manufacturer may say they warranty the pool for lifetime or for 25 years but the warranty only covers defects due to manufacturing and there is really no warranty on the installation of the shell. So a fiberglass pool is only as good as the person installing the pool. Don't get in a rush to make a decision, it's still a little cold in your part of the country. Ask every salesman that comes to your house to provide you with at least 10 local references from customers they built pools for during the last year. Call the people, go see their pools and get a feel for how they were treated and if they were happy with the final result. Take a good look at the person that comes out to sell you the pool. If you are real lucky the same guy that sells you the pool is the same guy that's going to put the pool in for you and he knows what he is talking about and gives you straight answers to your questions. Once again the most important thing that you can do to try and make the right decision is to talk to people that recently had these companies build their pool. I wish I would've read your post BEFORE I hired the hack that installed my San Juan pool. It's 1 1/2" off level and that irritates the heck out of me. He said he'd shoot a level on it before he back filled it. Apparently not. In the 'beach entry area" he didn't sufficiently back fill it and it sounds and feels hollow when you step into the pool. There's no backfill under it. Another irritation. THEN, the .5" distance between the bottom of the bullnose coping and the top of the tile line, he squirted grey silicone sealer. It's peeling off now. VERY ametuerish. I could've done a better job. I should've taken his suggestion that I do it myself when he suggessted it. Apparently he knew that this was his first pool....or so it seemed. I don't know what you could have done to cause the pool to fade. Is it white or blue? I am not making excuses for your installer but there are some things that you need to understand about leveling a fiberglass pool. The fiberglass lip on the pool is not even close to being level in most cases, and from an installer viewpoint there are some things that we can't fix. There may be 1 or 2 areas in the pool that the mold could be off by a half inch or so, but the pool should not be out of level from end to end or side to side. Your beach entry may sound hollow but it may not actually be hollow. In most cases that beach entry area is higher where it meets the pool than it is where it meets the outside lip of the pool. In other words it is very difficult to get sand to wash uphill in a case like that. All the steps in a fiberglass pool are reinforced for extra protection. Once again, I am not doubting your opinion on the hollowness of your beach entry. Im not sure why the mould would differenciate any of the pool levels the mould should not have an effect on this at all, sometimes the pool installers get slack and sometimes they just simply do not kno what they are doing! However as a customer it is always best to be on site on the day of installation to ensure the installer has taken the right datum point and ensure the pool is level. as for the beach entry, there is no area on a pool that is impossible to backfill and that would be a case of your installer either not knowing what he is doing or couldnt be bothered doing the right thing. be sure to check your main drain valve regularly and if you see any movement contact your installer as incorrect levels can lead to: A) twisting and cracking leaking and underfilling C) pools lifting and moving I hope you are not going to give us the speech that your fiberglass pools are far more superior than all the rest and that your pool shells and moulds are perfect and that the lips are perfectly level because the moulds are made with a laser level and how if there is ever a problem with a pool it is because the installer didn't put it in right and blah, blah blah. Who are you trying to fool? If you have put fiberglass pools in for a long time you will admit that I am right and that none of the products manufactured today are perfect.

Check with fiberglassswimmingpooltiling.com , the owner developed most of the tiling methods and materials used on fiberglass pools

Mike, I have found that sand filters work pretty good for the most part. DE filters in most cases filter the pool down to the smallest microns. The down side to the DE is having to clean and maintain them and the fact that you have to dispose of the DE that you backwash out. A cartridge filter would work ok for you but they don't filter the water near as good as the sand or DE and you have to dis-assemble and clean them on a regular basis. Considering your situation I would stick to the sand filter. As far as what size you need, you need to get a rough idea how many gallons you have and decide from there the size of your filter. P.S. How's the weather in Casper these days? I have a daughter in Cody.

Mike, Do you have a dedicated pool cleaner line in your pool or do you have to put the pool cleaner in the skimmer?

More than likely your spa jets are the Anzen #7 venturi tee. The jet orafice is removable with a socket and extention if it is. I can't recall what size of socket you need, it may be 1/2 inch or so. Google the venturi tee anzen #7 and you should be able to find a source for orafice.

The tube I have has two different phone numbers on it. R+R 619 621-9021 Flex-Tile 352 746-9485

There is no sense in pouring a new deck until you get the skimmer leak fixed. You may have some issues in regards to compaction so I would give the area some time to dry once the repair is made before you remove and replace the deck.

My advice would be to throw away the gasket. Silicone works much better. Put the silicone around the wall fitting, then around the outside of the hole where the jet body goes (a liberal amount) then install the it. After you tighten it up, take some paper towels and wipe the excess off the area around the wal fitting and spread the excess silicone around the jet body. You may even want to put some more silicone around the outside edge of the jet body where it meets the spa wall. We use R+R brand 100% silicone adhesive sealant (acetoxy cure).

Start with the large black valve in front of the pump. The handle direction is going to determine the flow. The other end of the handle should indicate OFF position. Turn the handle so that the off is pointing towards the two pipes that have the 2 way valves and try to determine where the water is being sucked from. My guess would be from the bottom drains. Next, turn the handle so that it points to the two 2 way valves like it is in your photograph. My guess is that this would be the position for the 2 skimmers. From your photograph both of the 2 way valves are on all the way. Turn one of them off and see which skimmer is off (if any) then turn that one back on and turn the other one off. Do not shut them both off at the same time or the pump will have no water to pump. Don't worry about the other 3 way valve after the filter until you determine the suction lines.