What type of Pool???

[Euromotorshop]

I am confused. Trying to find honest answers / information on the right pool type is pas evident!!

I am quickly drawing the conclusion the industry is full of ex double glazing salesman (not you pool guy, or are you an ex double glazing salesman  :-)). Given the following scenario what would you suggest?

We have 4 young children ranging from 6 weeks to 7 years old. Obviously the main users of the pool will be the children (and rightly so) and her indoors. Daddy would like to play with kids and also do a bit of adult swimming from time to time. The kids also like to dive and having the habitude of pools are all strong swimmers. All things considered, I think a pool with a shallow end for kids (really a shallow end not 4 ft) with a bit in the middle deeper for general messing around in (4-5ft?) with a deeper end for diving.

Thats the spec, now for the difficult part - Finding a pool to match!

From my research I have identified:

Pool kits - They seem ok but I somehow have the opinion that they are not high quality (will probably be ok for 2/3years?) and a cheap way to have a pool when otherwise it might be too expensive. Is this correct? Or are they on a par with fibreglass and concrete pools? Other concerns I have about this type of pool is they are not flexible in design (i.e. you basically get what you given (depth) and the extras (Roman steps etc..) really start to push the price up. Also having the pool filter system built into the steps/structure seems strange, perhaps dangerous (electricity). What are peoples opinions? Am I way of the mark here? If I can have my spec (as above) in a kit form for a reasonable price but good quality, I would buy it now. But must pool salesman just try and force what they have on to you and not what you want.

Fibreglass - These I think are pre-formed to a spec. I assume there must be off the shelf solutions which might be cheaper that having it made? This is an assumption, perhaps it is wrong? The advantage seems to be you just dig the hole and volia, it pops in without too much of a problem. I am not sure the comfort is the same as a liner based pool but perhaps I am wrong? Are there any disadvantages? What is a typical cost?

Concrete - Similar to above, you just dig the hole, add the concrete, perhaps some tiles, et volia. Complete flexibility with design. I am not sure of the cost and I would think (as above) the comfort is not the same as with  liner pool?

Obviously I want to do this as cheaply as possible. I would also add I have my own tractor complete with digger. Given the requirements and the equipment I have (digger) what solution would you go for? If you are a builder, competent enough to help and with some free time, I would consider employing you come and install it.

Thanks for any advice.

 

 

[David_Janet]

Hi,

I don't know if you are able to get hold of a copy of this months 'French Property News', but there are a couple of very informative articles in there about your very questions.

Regards

David

[Poolguy]

Hi again Euromotorshop

In addition to the points I have already made to your question on another forum,

I might offer the following:

As far as a kit pool is concerned, most of the Kits on the market today carry a

10 year guarantee on the structure and some offer 15-25 years on the liner.

These guarantees however mostly cover installations by authorised installers, for DIY

installations some providers offer the same guarantee providing that the

installation can be shown to be in accordance to the manufactures recommendation. The quality

of materials is generally equal to or exceeding that of once off pools for the

reason that the number produced allow for economies of scale. As for systems where the filtration

in the steps is concerned, the cartouche systems is very well tried and works

very well offering down to 10 micron filtration which is better then sand

filtration at 35 micron but exceeded only by DE or Zelbrite systems at 1 micron.

I

share, however your concerns about the systems where the electrical connection for the

pump is beside the pool, there is just something about 240v close to water that I

don't like - but that's a personal opinion as the systems have CE approval.

Resin pools are all made from formwork rather than once off. That means that

even though you can buy many options, you cannot 'mix and match'. They are restricted I

believe to a maximum width of 4 meters or so which is to do with transportation

more than anything. These are very quick to install but are more expensive

solution than a kit because of plant cost. They are ‘a no-no’ for areas of geological

activity as they tend to crack if the ground moves around them but are very good thermally.

Full concrete suffers the same problem as the above, as they are very stiff and

cannot tolerate any movement. However, they are the norm in Spain were this

technique amounts for nearly 80% of new builds. They do take longer and are

more expensive than a kit but you can enjoy the maximum in flexibility of

design.

As an overall comment I would have to say that, from the statistics, the

relative price of a pool as come down considerably compared to 20 years ago providing

a great access to swimming pool ownership from wage earners. Also the quality

of the systems particularly filtration and sanatization are much improved..

However I believe that the general quality of installation has some room for improvement

amongst installers in France. 

With over 1 million pools in France and

760,000 in Spain there is a great incentive for Local providers to be not only competitive

but efficient. Looking globally, whereas the French market is large,

technologically it is still not sophisticated, so as to allow for imports of

technology from exemplar countries such as Australia and US.

In not sure if this has been of help but it’s

a big topic to cover out of context.

Andrew