Swimming Pool Renovation using a Vinyl Liner

The development of vinyl liners has provided the modern pool industry with a method to renovate old concrete pools to make them look exactly like a new pool at an economic cost.

The work involved in a typical renovation of an old concrete pool will usually be as described below.

In most circumstances, a thin factory made liner would be the cheapest and best way to renovate an old pool.

I. Renovation Steps for Concrete Pools

This approach to the renovation of an existing pool might involve the following:

1. Pumping the water out of the existing pool and cleaning the walls and floor for inspection.
2. Cutting a sump at the deep end of the pool that will allow the complete emptying of the pool after ground water entry and/or rainfall.
3. Inspection and repair of any surface defects in the walls or floor.
4. Removal of the existing skimmers and renovation of the tops of the existing walls for connection to a new reinforced concrete slab/ringbeam that will run around the entire perimeter of the pool. This may be required to strengthen the top of the old walls.
5. The installation of new skimmers.
6. The installation of the new pool steps.
7. The installation of a new main drain, and new water inlets, vacuum point and pool lights.
8. The excavation of the trenches and installation of new buried flexible pressure pipework between the pool through the wall fittings and the existing pool plant room.
9. The removal of the old pool plant and installation of the new plant in the existing plant room that will provide a full pool water volume change in 6 hours.
10. The construction of the concrete slab / ring beam around the pool perimeter in a 1000mm wide, 150mm thick mesh reinforced concrete that provides a base for the pool paving and resists ice expansion pressures in the winter.
11. Re-cleaning of the pool interior surfaces and the glueing of the mineral “carpet” to the walls and floor of the pool.
12. The installation of the liner lock on the top of the new slab / ring beam.
13. The installation of the new thin factory made liner, filling the pool and cutting in the skimmers, inlets, drain and vacuum point
14. The installation of the coping stones and the paving on top of the slab / ring beam.

The liner installation process can be seen in the images below (click on images for a bigger image). Note the vacuum sucking the air out from behind the liner in the image on the right - the pool printed pattern is a blue mosaic print on a white liner.

II. Liner Renewal Costs

If the pool is generally in good condition and the work involved is limited to the renewal of gaskets on the skimmmers, drains, submerged lights and water inlets the cost can be as low as £100/m2 of floor area for a large pool (> 70 m2) and £125/m2 of floor area for a small pool (< 35 m2).

The colours and patterns available look like this (Click for large image):

III. Who Can Carry Out The Work?

All the work described in the method statement above can be carried out on an Owner-Builder basis by a Local Builder, Plumber and Electrician with Bluepools help and advice.

This will reduce the cost by at least 50% from the amount that a Pool Installation Contractor would charge.

IV. The Costs

Total renovation costs will depend of course on the size of the pool that is being refurbished and the Scope of the Work involved.

For instance the pool water circulation system may be substandard, the buried pipework leaking, the paving may be very tatty.

Large pools of 12m x 6m or more may cost about £200 - £250/m2 for renovation.

The cost increases dramatically for small pools because the overall costs relate to the pool wall length compared with the pool floor area and to costs that do not reduce much for a smaller pool.

Very small pools as small as 8m x 4m may cost as much as £300 per square metre of pool area for renovation.