Vinyl Swimming Pools
Vinyl pools are one of the cheapest and simplest options for in-ground pool installation.
What Is A Vinyl Swimming Pool?
Vinyl pools start like any other pool: a massive hole in your backyard. The excavation is packed with sand and the walls of the pool are created by placing pre-fabricated “panels” into the earth.
The vinyl liner is placed in on top of this and attached to the top of the pool walls, sealing the places where the panels join (obvious weak points in the war between water and container.) The contractor will cut holes to allow for the placement of skimmers, drains, and other plumbing/drainage features, and then the space between the vinyl lining and the pool walls is stuffed with “backfill” in order to ensure that the lining won’t shift too much.
Vinyl Pools Are Great For Cold Climate Areas
Vinyl has the distinct advantage of being very good for cold-weather climates since they make it very easy to winterize your pool by simply draining the water. Concrete and fiberglass pools are designed to hold water constantly, and they can suffer some major problems if allowed to drain for too long. A lot of extra work is needed to allow these pools to remain full over the cold months without letting the water freeze and damage the plumbing. Vinyl pools avoid these problems by simply letting you drain the whole thing easiely for the winter.
Durability Can Be An Issue For Vinyl Pools
But despite their basic simplicity, vinyl pools bring with them a host of maintenance issues. The vinyl covering is very sensitive to scratches, holes, and other such damage, which requires you to place some extra safety guidelines on kids or pets who use the pool, and eliminates certain kinds of sharp metal toys from use in a vinyl pool altogether. The vinyl covering will also need to be replaced from time to time due to age and wear.
The Biggest Disadvantage of Vinyl Swimming Pools
If you’re lucky, this will happen only once or twice over a multi-decade pool lifetime; if you’re unlucky you can expect to shell this out every year or two. The need to replace the vinyl lining of a pool adds an ongoing construction expense (to the tune of a few thousand dollars) and some measure of a headache to the whole situation. A failure to do this leads to serious leaks which can damage the underlying rock/soil behind the vinyl lining. If the leaks are serious enough they can actually cause damage to your entire house foundation.
Which Type Of Swimming Pool Is Right For Me?
In general, here’s a good rubric for making your decision:
- If you’ve never owned a pool before, you’re planning to move soon, or you simply don’t want to make a major financial commitment or house modification, go with above-ground but keep your options open for the future.
- If cost is your primary concern, OR if you live in an area with continually low/freezing temperatures, go with vinyl.
- If customizability is your primary concern, OR if you live in an area known for extreme summertime heat, go with concrete.
- If safety is your primary concern, OR if you live in an area known for weak soil or tectonic activity, go with fiberglass.
The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is a great place to live and work. It’s also home to some of the best swimming pools in Texas! If you’re looking for a new pool installation, we can help. We offer high-quality concrete pool installations throughout North Texas at competitive prices so give us a call today and let’s talk about your needs.
We can help you find the perfect pool for your backyard with our professional concrete pool installation service. Our team will consult with you to make sure that we are installing a custom-built, high-quality pool in order to meet all of your needs and desires. From choosing the right shape and size to selecting an appropriate color scheme or lining option, we’ll work closely with each individual customer to create their dream swimming area!