Fiberglass or Gunnite?

Dear K.,
I don't personally have a pool, but I know many people who do have them.
For one thing, we live in earthquake country. Cement pools or fish ponds crack and are a huge pain in the rump to try to repair.
At least in our area, fiberglass is much more forgiving.
In ground pools are awesome either way. I wish I had one. But, you have to make sure to have safety latches on gates and fences and a way to keep children from just hopping in or falling in by accident.
My friends live where it's in the hundreds right now. But, in the winter, it will snow. They got a huge soft sided above ground pool with a pump and sweeper, the whole thing. It's up in summer and fall, put away in the winter. Aside from the time it takes to fill it with water, it only takes 45 minutes to set up. They've done it for years and have their system down.
Whatever you get, just have a great time. My dream is to have an indoor/outdoor pool so we can swim year 'round.

We have a fiberglass pool and we love it. It is economically a great deal. They go in fast and clean but your are limitted to shapes and colors, We bought ours from Viking. Just make sure all of the city code requirements are met, we were held up bacause of a power line being to close to the pool. good luck

Hi,

We put in a fiberglass pool last year and love it. It was much less money to go fiberglass than gunnite, and we were told by the pool supply companies that fiberglass pools use less chemicals and hold the heat longer. We never had a gunnite pool to compare it to, so I cannot say if I noticed a difference or not. What I do like most about the fiberglass is that it does not tear up your bathing suits like the gunnite does. We also went with the salt system and I do believe that is easier on our skin and hair than traditional chlorine. We also put an automatic cover on the pool that requires a key to open and close it. The cover can be walked on. I have one young child and knowing our pool is covered and locked gives me peace of mind when her friends are over - and she can go outside without me worrying that she may "sneak" over to the pool and fall in. It was a significant additional cost but well worth it to me - and it helps hold the heat and helps with saving chemicals. The downside to the fiberglass pool - you may not find a design and depth you want.

Have fun - it was exciting watching the pool being put in.

My sister had had a fiberglass pool for about 35 years no major problems. Now,I noticed her pool was always warm. We have a gunite pool and it is always cold even with a pool cover. We have had it about 25 years and, we have had so many issue in trying to keep it clean, we were just told we had to resurface the pool. After checking around we decided to have it resurfaced with fiberglass, it only took one week from start to finish, significant savings. It was done in May and We are enjoying the pool very much the fiberglass is holding the heat and we have used it at least 3 to 4 times a week. If I had to do it over I would get a fiberglass pool.

We have gunnite. It's been over 7 years and holding up well. We just don't like the scratchy surface though. If we were to do it over again, it would be pebbletech which last longer than gunnite.

Hi K.,
My husband and I just had a gunnite built in pool put in our yard (tahoe blue). We love it!! They did a remarkable job. It is very smooth to the touch. I can highly recommend the local, family owned company we went through if your interested. They did all the work (plumbing, electrical,filter & pump system,stamped concrete, etc.) themselves besides the gunnite.That was the only thing they sub contracted out. They were a pleasure to work with. The pool was ready to swim in less than six weeks. I was amazed at how fast our back yard was transformed into a paradise!
I'm not familiar with fiberglass pools. My friends have lined pools. They have to be replaced over time and are very slick in my opinion.

Gunnite for us.
Also, not sure what your surface options are BUT we did not go for pebbletech which is popular in our area for two reasons. 1) there was according to our builder, DalPINO pools, only 1 certified pebbltech person and during the heydey of building a few years ago, was overscheduled and overpriced and others were not certified and secondly, pebbletech is hard on your feet and it snags bathing suits. We selected polished marble and LOVE it. Initally more expensive but worth it. Everyone talks about how smooth our pool is and no snags. Good luck!!!

Have you considered a vinyl pool? We had one put in two years ago from Imperial Pools. The whole project was done in 8 days! It is guaranteed for 20 years. And it was cheaper than both gunnite and fiberglass. It's a beautiful royal blue and makes our backyard look amazing. Our 3 kids (and all their friends) use it all the time! If you want to talk to the contractor from Imperial whose territory is the Sacramento area, call Ron at ###-###-####. He works through referrals, so tell him Lance and K. Patterson sent you.

I have a fiberglass shower and hate it. I read that it suppose to be the easiest thing to clean, but not true. Dirty feet stain very quickly and hard to get off. Have to use harsh chemicals at times. Not sure how different that is from a pool though. I would go with the gunnite that proabably looks better, especially when the sun sparkles on it ;)

Hey K.,

We have Gunnite pool, it can be sanded cleaned and we can if we want to change the dimentions, or texture of the pool (ie. to the dark pepbble) I'm no expert but with the fiberglass it is premanufactured in a certain shape, color, and size. No changing that. And as temperatures (and we know how even here in California they change) fiberlass can crack and become unstable. Concrete pools have survived the decades look at the Hotels, Casino's...they don't have fiberglass.

From my basic homeowner's opinnion I'm with Gunnite.

Married 20 years, seven kids ages 17-2, who swim daily. the pool has been the greatest child activity in our family.

With solar our swim season starts in March and ends in November.

I have had two gunite swimming pools. If you are planning on staying in your house for more than 10 years and you want something that gives you a lot of options when designing your backyard you should go with gunite. With gunite you have a lifetime guarantee on the shell of the pool. You also have all kinds of options for colors and beautiful finishes (Diamond Brite, Hydrazzo, River Rock) My husband is a gunite swimming pool builder. He has been building them for over 10 years. With a gunite pool you have a lot more options (raised bond beams, water features....)
Also, I am not sure what the price comparison is but do your homework because I have heard fiberglass pools can end up costing not much less than gunite pools. Good Luck!

If you only plan on staying in your house for 10 years I would go with fiberglass. They go in fast with little labor and are easy to maintain in the short term. However long term use can cause damage that is difficult to fix and if you decide you want to change the color of your pool you're pretty much out of luck.

If you are in your dream home and plan to stay there forever go with the gunnite. Cracks can be easily fixed the color can be changed and with good maintanance it can last generations. But it's way more expensive to install.