Fiberglass pools???

[Wampuscat]

At my last house I had a gunnite pool installed and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now that we've gotten moved into the new house and installed the "temporary above-ground 32'x16' pool" complete with 12'wide L-shaped deck, we are looking to start saving to get an in-ground pooled installed. I've heard a little about fiberglass pools from radio shows but haven't seen any yet. There is a seller/installer for Kanga Pools in Katy I may go see. Have any of you had any experience, or know anyone with them? Good or bad?

[staplehawk]

In for answers on this.

[sasquatch]

I have one at my house was built in the late 80. I had a company come in and fix a bulge and put a new then fiberclass coating to sure it up and it is still going strong. Very little maintenance and would go with anything else after this exp[erience. A couple things I have learned through experience. No effective crawler so need to manually vacuum the old fashioned way. They probably need to be painted every 7 or 8 years though I have only done mine once in he last 14 lol. Mine has small iron deposits all over it that kind of annoy me but overall still looks and performs like a champ. Again this is my experience and If I ever do another one it will be fiberglass

[rockyraider]

I've read about them quiet a bit. To me the argument seems to go, those that have them love them and that's all they own, those that have gunnite pools are more traditionalist and feel that its the superior product and will downplay fiberglass. Overall in my reading and research, the general consensus is that fiberglass seems easier to keep clean, maintain, and will be very durable and long lasting if installed properly by a reputable company. The big downside that folks seem to have is the lack of customization and having to choose from pre-existing sizes and shapes. Gunnite obviously allows the purchaser to go the custom route with more sizes/shapes/features to choose from.

[ColinR]

IN for more details.

[Mayhem]

whats the cost difference between a fiberglass pool and traditional?

[Pullersboy]

We have some friends down the street who had a fiberglass pool installed after much research and toiling over whether to go with gunite or fiberglass. They've had it for 2 years now and are extremely pleased with it. It really is a nice pool and is easy on your feet when you're in it.

[mjhaverkamp]

I don't mean to be a smart arse but comparing a fiberglass pool to a gunite pool is about like comparing a travel trailer to a house, the gunite pool will last a lifetime, plus you can design any shape or size that meets your imagination, you can put any number of finishes on the inside, you can have tile and rock or brick coping along with a raised spa, you can have an in floor cleaning system, custom fiber optic lighting, I can go on and on. A fiberglass pool is much cheaper than a gunite pool, if it fits your budget then it is probably a good choice, actually i think a vinyl liner pool is a better option, probably a little more than a fiberglass pool.

[CWaller30]

We put one in at our last 2 houses. Opted for gunnite both times. Was just my personal preference and can be more creative with the design.

[laredoarcher]

Go gunite.

[LFD2037]

I don't mean to be a smart arse but comparing a fiberglass pool to a gunite pool is about like comparing a travel trailer to a house, the gunite pool will last a lifetime, plus you can design any shape or size that meets your imagination, you can put any number of finishes on the inside, you can have tile and rock or brick coping along with a raised spa, you can have an in floor cleaning system, custom fiber optic lighting, I can go on and on. A fiberglass pool is much cheaper than a gunite pool, if it fits your budget then it is probably a good choice, actually i think a vinyl liner pool is a better option, probably a little more than a fiberglass pool.

How many fiberglass pools have you owned or seen that were trashed? I ask because I was interested in the pros/cons as well. All the people I've read that owned one had no issues. All the people that owned gunite that commented about fiberglass said the fiberglass was junk but none had ever owned one & most had never even been in one yet they were very quick to put them down, having zero true knowledge of them.

I'd be interested to hear from actual owners of fiberglass pools & their horror stories, as opposed to people's horror stories that are just regurgitated wives tales they heard about. (not saying you did this by any means ).

[sooner6969]

How many fiberglass pools have you owned or seen that were trashed? I ask because I was interested in the pros/cons as well. All the people I've read that owned one had no issues. All the people that owned gunite that commented about fiberglass said the fiberglass was junk but none had ever owned one & most had never even been in one yet they were very quick to put them down, having zero true knowledge of them.

I'd be interested to hear from actual owners of fiberglass pools & their horror stories, as opposed to people's horror stories that are just regurgitated wives tales they heard about. (not saying you did this by any means ).

I like this. The cost of re-coping, re-tiling and re-plastering is very expensive and will need to be done on a gunite pool at some point rest assured. I have a gunite pool as reference.

[tps7742]

I have had three gunite pools over the last 35 plus years and at each home I had them they will need to be replastered at a minimum. Then there is the coping and deck that will need attention eventually if you want to keep it looking pristine. So a gunite pool isn't maintenance free and once it's built you are not done with the expense from my experiences.
I can't comment on the pros or cons on a fiberglass pool.

[Mike]

I've read about them quiet a bit. To me the argument seems to go, those that have them love them and that's all they own, those that have gunnite pools are more traditionalist and feel that its the superior product and will downplay fiberglass. Overall in my reading and research, the general consensus is that fiberglass seems easier to keep clean, maintain, and will be very durable and long lasting if installed properly by a reputable company. The big downside that folks seem to have is the lack of customization and having to choose from pre-existing sizes and shapes. Gunnite obviously allows the purchaser to go the custom route with more sizes/shapes/features to choose from.

This about sums it up. Gunite offers more options and customization. I cleaned pools through high school and college and it was far less work on the fiberglass pools, however, when they stain, they are stained.

I have a gunite pool at my house and had it installed. We toiled long and hard and the custom features that gunite offered is what made the difference.

Secondly, regarding mjhaverkamp's comments, he deals with more pools in a week than we will in a lifetime, that is his business of going in an repairing decks, coping, spas and the like. He knows the business and helped me a lot in our decision making process. After seeing pictures, he led me away from the salt system. He knows pools.

Thirdly, for the record, people state that fiberglass pools will pop out of the ground. They will if they are not installed right without proper drainage. However, the only 2 pools I have ever seen pop out of the ground were gunite pools. When I say pop out, I mean the coping edge is 3' out of the ground, waist high. It was a demo job after that happened.

[mjhaverkamp]

How many fiberglass pools have you owned or seen that were trashed? I ask because I was interested in the pros/cons as well. All the people I've read that owned one had no issues. All the people that owned gunite that commented about fiberglass said the fiberglass was junk but none had ever owned one & most had never even been in one yet they were very quick to put them down, having zero true knowledge of them.

I'd be interested to hear from actual owners of fiberglass pools & their horror stories, as opposed to people's horror stories that are just regurgitated wives tales they heard about. (not saying you did this by any means ).

I have removed and or replaced several over the years, mostly due to cracking and being out of level due to ground movement. I just know that if I had a nice home and planned on staying there for a long time I would go with a gunite pool. If it is a budget thing then go with what you can afford.