Tiled pools in the UK are normally built in reinforced concrete, but the pool structure supporting a vinyl liner pools can be anything from a cheap kit to a long lasting PolyBloK pool.
Fibreglass pools are delivered in one piece. They are sized on overall dimensions so a fibreglass pool advertised as a 10 x 5 will only provide about 40 sq metres of pool area or about 20% less than a pool where the actual swimming area is 10 m long by 5 metres wide.
Feature |
Tiled Pools |
Vinyl Liner |
Fibreglass |
Installation period |
Normally 6 months because of concrete curing / drying periods. The structural complexity and the need for highly skilled labour can increase this period | 2 to 4 weeks for kit pools 3 months for masonry pools 6 weeks for PolyBlok pools |
One Week |
Typical Lead in time before Installation |
4 to 12 weeks | 4 weeks | 12 weeks unless pool is bought from stock |
Typical cost for a 10 x 5 metre Pool |
£80,000 + | £20 to 40,000 | £15 tp 20,000 |
Average life of pool structure |
40 years | Kit - 5 to 15 years Masonry - 10 to 20 years PolyBlok - 40 Years |
5 to 10 years (15 for a very high quality fibreglass pool) |
Periods between maintenance |
Annual cleaning of limescale from tile surfaces along the water line 5 to 7 years for regrouting joints and 15 years for tile renewal |
Monthly cleaning of liner along the water line 15 - 20 years for liner replacement depending on liner quality |
3 to 7 years before "Rust spots" require a new water proofing layer to be applied |
Maintenance required |
Rake out and replace grout in the tile joints | Replace Liner | One time re-waterproofing and then replace pool |
Time and Cost of maintenance |
Re-grout - 1 month - Costs £2 to 5,000 depending on tile type | £5 to 7,000 depending on the condition of the through the wall pool fittings | Removal of whole pool is required before a new one can be installed |