Fiberglass Or Vinyl In High Water Table Area

[poolfan]

Please help. I want to install an inground pool and have two contractors working with me. One is a vinyl pool the other is fiberglass.

Can someone tell me what is a better pool for a high water table located in the pacific northwest?

Thanks.

[LinerMFGr]

poolfan,

Both pools are viable with a high water table, if everything is done properly and perfectly to remedy the problem. If it isn't done properly, you're going to run into problems.

If you go for a vinyl liner pool make sure they don't pour a solid concrete floor--vermiculite mix should be fine. With this type of pool the worst that can go wrong is the liner floats. Sometimes a floated liner will go back into place without a problem, but the more likely scenario is that it will go back into place with a ton of wrinkles which will require a diver to hopefully get it back into position. And the absolute worst case scenario is the liner will tear out at the fittings (main drain, return, skimmer) and need to be replaced.

Fiberglass pools, on the other hand, if something goes wrong, they can heave out of the ground destroying... well everything: deck, plumbing, pool shell.

Honestly, I hear about liners floating way more often than fiberglass pools popping out of the ground, but that may be because I'm more inclined to hear about vinyl issues (since I own a liner manufacturing company).

Good luck,

[poolfan]

poolfan,

Both pools are viable with a high water table, if everything is done properly and perfectly to remedy the problem. If it isn't done properly, you're going to run into problems.

If you go for a vinyl liner pool make sure they don't pour a solid concrete floor--vermiculite mix should be fine. With this type of pool the worst that can go wrong is the liner floats. Sometimes a floated liner will go back into place without a problem, but the more likely scenario is that it will go back into place with a ton of wrinkles which will require a diver to hopefully get it back into position. And the absolute worst case scenario is the liner will tear out at the fittings (main drain, return, skimmer) and need to be replaced.

Fiberglass pools, on the other hand, if something goes wrong, they can heave out of the ground destroying... well everything: deck, plumbing, pool shell.

Honestly, I hear about liners floating way more often than fiberglass pools popping out of the ground, but that may be because I'm more inclined to hear about vinyl issues (since I own a liner manufacturing company).

Good luck,

[poolfan]

Thank you for your reply linermfgr. I have been on your website while browsing the internet and like your webpage and product.

Poolfan

poolfan,

Both pools are viable with a high water table, if everything is done properly and perfectly to remedy the problem. If it isn't done properly, you're going to run into problems.

If you go for a vinyl liner pool make sure they don't pour a solid concrete floor--vermiculite mix should be fine. With this type of pool the worst that can go wrong is the liner floats. Sometimes a floated liner will go back into place without a problem, but the more likely scenario is that it will go back into place with a ton of wrinkles which will require a diver to hopefully get it back into position. And the absolute worst case scenario is the liner will tear out at the fittings (main drain, return, skimmer) and need to be replaced.

Fiberglass pools, on the other hand, if something goes wrong, they can heave out of the ground destroying... well everything: deck, plumbing, pool shell.

Honestly, I hear about liners floating way more often than fiberglass pools popping out of the ground, but that may be because I'm more inclined to hear about vinyl issues (since I own a liner manufacturing company).

Good luck,

[njpoolbuyer]

Poolfan,

We had a pool installed last year in a high water table area at the New Jersey shore (water depth 24 inches) and decided on stainless steel/vinyl liner for some of the reasons discussed above. Suggest you take at a post by Robert 1312, on sept 7 2008 titled Help! Water Table Issues, last response by jkusmier on 9/12/08 which has some discussion on the issue and also the following post by me. Hope this helps.

Agree with the above responses regarding water table and the need for well points. We had a liner pool installed this year (actually 2 pools after the first one was removed for not complying with local codes related to setback requirement - builders fault and nickel- not ours). The max depth on the pool is 6 feet and the builder hit water at 24 inches. Well points were used to keep the area dry and well point lines were installed for future use if necessary (i.e. liner changes, etc).

One other comment regarding a diving board and an 8'6" depth - seems to be too shallow to me so you should perhaps ask for other opinions. Also, you should check with your insurance carrier. Mine told me in no uncertain terms that a diving board or a slide would nullify coverage. In fact, she said that insurance companies sere sending letters to policy holders informing them that either had to be removed by certain dates or policies would be cancelled. This was in the New Jersey shore area.

[LinerMFGr]

One other comment regarding a diving board and an 8'6" depth - seems to be too shallow to me so you should perhaps ask for other opinions. Also, you should check with your insurance carrier. Mine told me in no uncertain terms that a diving board or a slide would nullify coverage. In fact, she said that insurance companies sere sending letters to policy holders informing them that either had to be removed by certain dates or policies would be cancelled. This was in the New Jersey shore area.

ANSI/Boca standard states a minimum of 7'-6" of water. The actual code is confusing, but basically you need an 8' deep pool (7'6" water + 6" waterline to top of pool wall). If you go deeper than 8' you will need a longer mid-slope (the long slope from the shallow end break to the hopper pad) to satisfy the 3 to 1 slope requirement.

njpoolbuyer, who did the work? You were lucky the builder didn't walk off the job after that disaster. Many would have.

[chapinSC]

We've had several pools over the past 25 years. Fiberglass and vinyl both included. Our last pool was in Savannah with an 11' water table, and the pool was installed inground, so bottom of the pool was substantially lower. We did a "well point" to relieve pressure (required in many states) or when water table is extremely high. Our pool was completely surrounded by concrete decking all the way to the house (installed in a courtyard). The pool has been there for 6 years now with absolutely no problem. I don't think I would have even considered a liner pool for a couple of reasons. Mostly I love fiberglass and the low maintenance, but also I wouldn't have felt completely confident that the ground pressure wouldn't have cracked the vinyl underlay.

For what it's worth I wouldn't hesitate to install a fiberglass pool.