Hello!! I’ve been getting lots of questions on instagram about our new pool so I thought I would get a blog post together with all of the information that I have so far! We are installing a fiberglass pool which we did with Fairfield Pool. The model of the pool we chose is the Ultimate by Leisure Pools. It will be 35′ long by 15.5′ wide and we placed it in the center of our backyard. The lot we are on is pretty small, .2 acres, but it seems to be fitting back there perfectly! I loved this pool after having experienced it this past summer with my friend Brooke! I watched her whole process and thought it was a great solution for us.
We chose to go with the fiberglass pool over installing a concrete, or gunite, pool for several personal reasons.
- Cost. A fiberglass pool is about 50% less than a concrete pool. For reference, our pool was about 57k. That price included the pool, the excavating, the installation, and all of the equipment to run the pool. We are doing a salt pool over a chlorine pool which was a small upgrade of about 2k. This cost does not include the coping and surrounding stone work. That is through a separate company, but usually the pool companies have people they like to work with and those prices can vary greatly on your preference of stone, area coverage, etc…
- Timing. The fiberglass pools are QUICK! The pool was ordered back in October, and because of Covid and high demand for these pools, we were just able to get it now (early May). The pools are usually ready to be enjoyed within 3 weeks time! This is crazy short compared to installing a gunite pool. I’m not sure how long that process is but I know it’s more like months than weeks. I’m impatient so this fits my timing better!
- Maintenance. We have heard that maintaining a fiberglass pool is much easier than a gunite pool. We have no experience so I can’t give you a definite answer here. I do know that the fiberglass works very well with salt, better than the gunite pools.
Safety
For safety we are installing an automatic pool cover. We’ve seen them in action at friends houses and it really is a no brainer. You can control it from your phone or a button installed on the house. When the pool is not in use we’ll put the cover on, and always at night. There is also an alarm you can put into the pool and if it senses splashes, it goes off. We’ll be trying this out as well. Our back yard is enclosed with a fence, so to start, we won’t be adding an additional fence around the pool.
Color
The color of our pool is Graphite Gray which mimics the look of a classic cement pool. They have a bunch of color here.
Process
We ordered the pool back in October and it was delivered this May. There is a crazy long backorder for pools because of Covid. Within a day of having the pool here, the excavator came to dig the hole and we had to drain the ground water for two days. We live close to the beach so the water table is very high. Next we backfilled with gravel and graded it based on the size and shape of the pool, and placed the pool in the hole with a very large machine. We are right now waiting for the town to inspect the placement and security of the pool in the ground, and next we will pour the cement. After the cement surround, we’ll do one layer of blue stone coping, install the automatic pool cover, and then an additional layer of coping on top of the cover. Once all of the electrical and gas equipment is installed, the surround is complete and pool is up and running, we can schedule a final inspection from the town.
Pool Surround
We will be doing a classic style of blue stone for our pool surround. I love the look of it, and I know it does get hot in the sun but I like the look too much to do anything else 🙂 We will also be installing a new fence around our yard.
To give you an idea of a classic bluestone surround, here are some images from google:
Overall Cost Estimate
This was the most popular question. The price of the pool is set as mentioned above, and then there are the variables of what you do it the surround. The automatic pool cover is expensive (about 25k installed) but worth it for us for the extra measure of safety it provides. The stone work varies on your contractor and where you live.
It’s always been a dream of mine to have a pool, I LOVE being in the water, around the water and having our backyard be a place of FUN for our family and friends. Even now, in the midst of the construction going on outside our home, seeing the water in the pool gives me a sense of calm and pleasure. WE CAN’T WAIT!
PICTURES OF THE DELIVERY AND INSTALL