don pool

The stains could be caused by metals in your water. Fiberglass acts like a magnet to metals and as a result, you can get some brown or dark colored stains. Try using a product that removes metal from your pool water.

First of all find out who made the pool. Normaly there is a little indention right under the skimmer that will have a number and the manufacturer. Contact the manufacturer and see if they can either send a repair crew out, or help steer you in the right direction. There are a lot of companies in San Diego County that repair fiberglass tubs and showers, but you need the right gel coat to match the color up.

When they start making cars and boats and bathtubs out of concrete because it is so strong and so easy to repair, sign me up. When a concrete, gunite, or shotcrete pool cracks, a permanent fix will be both expensive and time consuming compared to a fiberglass pool. Both fiberglass and concrete pools have their advantages and disadvantages. I have worked on many projects that due to access problems, engineering challenges etc. in which the use of a fiberglass swimming pool met the challenges and surpassed the requirements of the job at a susbstantialy lower price for the customer. There are times that due to size and shape restrictions, only a custom concrete pool will do. Consider all of your options and talk to as many of the prospective pool builders clients as you can.

You are the perfect candidate for a fiberglass pool.

A few manufacturers use pea gravel to set and level their fiberglass pools. I believe it is because pea gravel is supposed to have close to 100% compaction rate. In all my years of fiberglass pool installations I have never used the pea gravel material for bacfill. I have always used sand. If you have any voids under the pool, you can wash sand into those voids. I have been involved in some jobs that flowable fill was used ( which is mostly a sand, water, and cement mixture), and I was less than impressed for a number of reasons. 1. The cost of flowable fill is often quite expensive compared to sand. 2. It is necessary to have enough water pressure on the jobsite to fill the pool up with water at the same rate the flowable fill is being pumped around the pool. 3. If you run into any problems with the level of the pool during this process it is difficult to remedy. I prefer to fill, level, and backfill the pool over a period of a few days rather than all at once to allow for some settlement of the pool shell during the process. If you have a qualified installer I'm sure that whatever backfill material he or she chooses to use will work.

I lived in an area of Nevada that had very expansive clay soil. Wherever we were going to pour our concrete decking around our pools we removed the clay soil down to a depth of about 12" and filled that over excavation with a good base material consisting of crushed rock and sand. We wet and compacted that material and then poured the concrete. We were also careful to make sure the homeowner did not put any landscaping or plants that required water within 10 feet of the pool deck area. When clay gets wet it expands in most cases. The precautions that we took minimized the chances that the ground underneath and around the pool decking would expand enough to cause problems with the decking. In some cases it did anyways, but once again, we took every precaution to prevent that from happening.

I lived in an area of Nevada that had very expansive clay soil. Wherever we were going to pour our concrete decking around our pools we removed the clay soil down to a depth of about 12" and filled that over excavation with a good base material consisting of crushed rock and sand. We wet and compacted that material and then poured the concrete. We were also careful to make sure the homeowner did not put any landscaping or plants that required water within 10 feet of the pool deck area. When clay gets wet it expands in most cases. The precautions that we took minimized the chances that the ground underneath and around the pool decking would expand enough to cause problems with the decking. In some cases it did anyways, but once again, we took every precaution to prevent that from happening.

I lived in an area of Nevada that had very expansive clay soil. Wherever we were going to pour our concrete decking around our pools we removed the clay soil down to a depth of about 12" and filled that over excavation with a good base material consisting of crushed rock and sand. We wet and compacted that material and then poured the concrete. We were also careful to make sure the homeowner did not put any landscaping or plants that required water within 10 feet of the pool deck area. When clay gets wet it expands in most cases. The precautions that we took minimized the chances that the ground underneath and around the pool decking would expand enough to cause problems with the decking. In some cases it did anyways, but once again, we took every precaution to prevent that from happening.

It seems to me that you have some issues that are due to lack of proper compaction prior to the placement of your concrete. Your pool builder is right that concrete is guaranteed to do two things; 1. It will get hard 2. It will crack Proper expansion joints will help to control the cracks and a good concrete crew will do a pretty good job in placing the joints in all the likely places. It's not an exact science but you shouldn't be having the major problems you are having. The deck is obviously moving, and it is hard to determine whether the ground around the pool is sinking due to improper compaction, a water leak or some other unseen factor. If you live in an area that has clay or adobe type soil, the ground could be expanding under your concrete instead of sinking. The concrete falling off of your cantilever face could be caused by these factors or: rock pockets in the concrete can develop behind the cantilever forms while they are pouring the concrete and they may not have "sacked" or patched those areas properly. Is your deck just plain concrete or do you have some sort of deck coating?

It seems to me that you have some issues that are due to lack of proper compaction prior to the placement of your concrete. Your pool builder is right that concrete is guaranteed to do two things; 1. It will get hard 2. It will crack Proper expansion joints will help to control the cracks and a good concrete crew will do a pretty good job in placing the joints in all the likely places. It's not an exact science but you shouldn't be having the major problems you are having. The deck is obviously moving, and it is hard to determine whether the ground around the pool is sinking due to improper compaction, a water leak or some other unseen factor. If you live in an area that has clay or adobe type soil, the ground could be expanding under your concrete instead of sinking. The concrete falling off of your cantilever face could be caused by these factors or: rock pockets in the concrete can develop behind the cantilever forms while they are pouring the concrete and they may not have "sacked" or patched those areas properly. Is your deck just plain concrete or do you have some sort of deck coating?

It seems to me that you have some issues that are due to lack of proper compaction prior to the placement of your concrete. Your pool builder is right that concrete is guaranteed to do two things; 1. It will get hard 2. It will crack Proper expansion joints will help to control the cracks and a good concrete crew will do a pretty good job in placing the joints in all the likely places. It's not an exact science but you shouldn't be having the major problems you are having. The deck is obviously moving, and it is hard to determine whether the ground around the pool is sinking due to improper compaction, a water leak or some other unseen factor. If you live in an area that has clay or adobe type soil, the ground could be expanding under your concrete instead of sinking. The concrete falling off of your cantilever face could be caused by these factors or: rock pockets in the concrete can develop behind the cantilever forms while they are pouring the concrete and they may not have "sacked" or patched those areas properly. Is your deck just plain concrete or do you have some sort of deck coating?

It is of vital importance that you pour a footing underneath the lip of the fiberglass pool before you add brick coping or any other type of coping for that matter. No offense intended to "coping help" but packing and compacting sand underneath the lip of the pool is not the proper way to do it. Every engineering plan I have ever seen for a fiberglass pool coping detail shows a concrete footing. Go to sanjuanpools.com and go to engineering. You will be able to see the detail.

If you want some info. on doing the gelcoat yourself go to fiberglass_pool_repair.com. In my opinion, I would pay the money to a reputable company to do the work. The materials are expensive no matter what, and if you don't know what you are doing you could really cost yourself some big money. If there is a sump line or stand pipe under your pool there should be a plastic deck lid somewhere in your concrete at the deep end of your pool. To find out if you have a hydrostatic relief valve you will have to take the main drain cover off and see.

Most fiberglass swimming pool manufacturers require a min. of 3' of concrete around the pool. If you pour more than 3' along the sides you are wasting your money, unless you are installing a slide ( which I would not do if I was you because of liability). You need to find out how long your diving board is going to be. Most require a min. of 18" of overhang into the pool. The company that manufactures the diving board is going to have their own guidelines in regards to how much concrete you need and the thickness of it.

If you are not yet using your solar cover, whatever heat you are creating is being lost. This may seem like a dumb question but, are you sure the heater is working? Put your hand over the pipe that is returning the water to the pool and see if you feel warm water coming out.

The electric heater you have for the pool is something that I would only consider for a spa. In my opinion heat pumps work the best in an area of high humidity. They cost more to purchase than a propane or natural gas heater and depending on your electricity rates they may end up costing you more to operate than gas pool heaters would. The only Eco-friendly solution to your heating problems would be to move to a warmer climate or increase by a substantial amount your solar panels. Whatever you choose, that solar cover will not only increase your water temperature, it will act as a heat cap for your pool so that your won't lose all of your heat overnight.

Licensing requirements aside, if the installers you are talking to avoid or put off the issue of letting you talk to their most recent customers and look at their most recent installs, cross them off your list. I have never had a client that said "please don't bring anyone by my house to look at my pool" if they are satisfied customers, quite the contrary, they can't wait to show off the job you did for them which also reaffirms their belief that they made the right choice by choosing the right contractor. also make sure they will be plumbing a min. 2" suction line.

You didn't say if you were using a solar cover or not.

I don't know of anyone that has completely insulated a fiberglass pool with foam. The fiberglass pool shell itself is insulated much better than a concrete or vinyl liner pool. Generally it stays 5 to 8 degrees warmer than any other type of pool. I would compare the cost of insulating the pool to the cost of some type of solar heating. The insulation will only work to help maintain the water temperature of your pool and will not, in my opinion raise the the water temperature in any way. A good solar cover for your pool is the least expensive way to raise your water temperature and help maintain it. There are many sources for solar heating alternatives on the Internet these days, and the effectiveness of solar is obviously going to be determined by the percentage of southern exposure they will get. If you have the room in your yard you could build racks to hold the solar panels as opposed to installing them on your roof.

Speaking as a professional, I have found Pentair/Sta-rite to be the best company around that makes quality pool equipment and backs up their warranty. Even if your pool builder flakes out. In regards to the different fiberglass pool manufacturers, most of them make a similar product it all boils down to the installation company you choose. Get plenty of recent references and go look at their pool installations. Stick with a min. of a 1 1/2 horsepower pump with 2" plumbing lines. A salt chlorine generator is well worth the investment. Compare their prices and the quality of their work.

Do you have a solar cover on your pool?

I do strictly fiberglass pools, but I did put in a couple of vinyl liners many years ago. I found them to be much more labor intensive to install, and I didn't like the idea of putting in a pool that I knew sooner or later the customer would have the expense of installing a new liner. I would have to say that at least half the people I have built pools for let their dogs swim in the pool as well, and that could be a real issue for a vinyl liner. If the vinyl liner is put in correctly it can be a trouble free pool for years, but you know that some day you will have to eat the cost of a liner replacement.

Consider it confirmed by me. The only thing that I noticed is that you didn't list any plumbing for a pool cleaner.

The main drain/or drains, normally go in a pre fixed molded area of the pool specially designed for the main drain. Some pools don't have an area built into them for the drain. It is OK for the drain to be in the side wall, which is where they are usually located. Years ago the main drains were located in the floor of the pool which caused a lot of problems such as those you described.

There are very few pumps or filters these days that are not set up to accommodate 2" plumbing. The Hayward super II normally can be purchased with either 2" or 1 1/2" on the pump suction and discharge. I'm not sure if it is set up to accept union fittings like most of the other pumps. It will not cause you any problems if you run 2" pipe to the pool fittings and then reduce down to 1 1/2". The difference in cost to plumb the pool in 2" as opposed to 1 1/2" in most cases would be less than a hundred dollars and no extra work. Hold your ground and it least make sure the suction lines are plumbed in 2".