Review of Pool Construction Types in the UK

The Installation Cost and Maintenance Features of Tiled, Vinyl Liner and Fibreglass (monocoque) Swimming Pools

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