2018: Fiberglass install uxbridge ointario

Jump to latest Follow Reply
I never even thought about how they locked the slab to the pool. Where did you hear about doing this? AND where do you even find solid PVC pipe? Never even knew they made such a thing. Learning more and more on this build! Loving it! Thank you Chris for being so kind as to share this information!

Kim:kim:
 
I can't ever remember being called kind. lol.

It's a solid fiberglass rod. not pvc. it's available online. I used it years ago for electrical fence posts. I thought about using rebar a couple years ago when I first starting planning this pool. Then I found on Google that some fiberglass pool dealers use fiberglass. it made total sense. strong as steel and no risk of rust migrating down and I to the pool.
 
Wait a minute... lemme think...<steam coming out of ears>.... I'm not entirely positive but recall that the coping needs to be able to move independently of the pool. I'm wondering if these fiberglass rods won't hinder that?

<did some searching to refresh memory banks> Yup. I recalled reading this sort of advice a couple of times.

Read this--> Help on fiberglass pool coping re install

and this--> Poured in Place Coping Help...

I'm going to seek out more "expert" advice here.... don't move!

Maddie :flower:
 
Maddie is correct. rigidly binding the pool shell and the decking together is likely a bad idea. The pool body and decking are kept separate in an IG pool and it may be more important to do so for fiberglass.

The concrete decking needs to (and it will) move independently of the pool wall. If they are rigidly bound together, something has to give (and it will).

If you are set on that cantilevered deck, I would place a layer of roofing felt on top of the fiberglass so the deck and the pool body DO NOT touch and allow them to slide a little.

I am almost certain if you make that a rigid connection it will be prone to crack.

EDIT: Probably no need for the roofing felt. The concrete will not bond well to the fiberglass shell anyway
 
First of all, I welcome and appreciate all advise and opinions whether it is for or against my ideas. it’s kinda like the flex vs rigid pvc debates. There are people on both sides and there is no convincing them otherwise.

My install method has been in use for years from some very reputable pool companies. There are other ways, yes.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Yes, fiberglass rebar is available for use in certain applications and it can often be a better alternative to steel. The only problem is, it is non-conductive and so how have you squared that with local electrical code that requires (maybe in Canada it's not a requirement??) the deck be electrically bonded to the pool water and equipment?? I absolutely have no idea how to answer that as it might be ok to have a deck that is not bonded to a fiberglass pool shell and only have the water bonded to the equipment...however, that would seem like a problem to me as the water could be at one voltage potential relative to the deck thus leading to a potential (pardon the pun) electrocution hazard....

Maybe one of our resident NEC Pool Code experts can comment :scratch:
 
some companys use 2 seperate pours, they do a collar "bond beam" around the fiberglass pool and leave it low, then pour on top with a seperate pour. Not worth it to me the monolithic pour is fine its not a huge pool and hes doing proper fill w perimeter drain around pool its not going anywhere. Not sure what your using for base, pea gravel is whats the most recommended for fiberglass, make sure and get a tamper in there on the base material, and compact in lifts, u want that sucker snug and if your shooting w a transit and screed rails you should be golden. Make sure u use spreader bar when lifting the pool, Ive seen one crack from a 4 point lift but it was much larger, be patient and make sure u walk the shell and its solid throughout, only one shot to sit it right. Fiberglass has gotten expensive, I wanted to do glass not much bigger in NJ and I was seeing 17-18k US without delivery, going steel wall w liner at this new house next month
 
People think Concrete expands and contracts like crazy. From the engineering information I've seen (the actual calculation) suggests that a slab on grade, concrete pad 100' long, will stretch or shrink about 5/8" with a temperature differential of 100 degrees F. If you extrapolate to how small a pool pad is, there isn't much movement from summer to winter. The fiberglass itself if meant to flex.

Frost heave itself is much more dangerous than concrete expansion but it can almost be eliminated if you eliminate the moisture in the soil. Gravel will not hold water and a gravel base will not heave unless...... The ground water level is higher than the frost is deep. My area is high and dry, and lots of natural gravel.
I will have weeping tile around pool base into sump and weeping tile burried around the parameter of my pool deck with a gravity drain.

Jimmy, backfill and base will be HPB. High performance bedding. Google it, expensive but good stuff and the friction between stones is a lot more effective than pea gravel.

Cheers.

- - - Updated - - -

jimmythegreek said:
some companys use 2 seperate pours, they do a collar "bond beam" around the fiberglass pool and leave it low, then pour on top with a seperate pour. Not worth it to me the monolithic pour is fine its not a huge pool and hes doing proper fill w perimeter drain around pool its not going anywhere. Not sure what your using for base, pea gravel is whats the most recommended for fiberglass, make sure and get a tamper in there on the base material, and compact in lifts, u want that sucker snug and if your shooting w a transit and screed rails you should be golden. Make sure u use spreader bar when lifting the pool, Ive seen one crack from a 4 point lift but it was much larger, be patient and make sure u walk the shell and its solid throughout, only one shot to sit it right. Fiberglass has gotten expensive, I wanted to do glass not much bigger in NJ and I was seeing 17-18k US without delivery, going steel wall w liner at this new house next month
Click to expand...

$22000 Canadian tax and delivery in for my little 12 x 25. lol
 
I get the reasoning behind the rebar to the patio. Make sure you reinforce the patio with continuous bands of steel that mimic the shape of the pool. If you want the patio to hold the edge of the pool it needs proper reinforcement or it will just crack and be no good. Don't rely on just the fiber reinforcement that the video recommends.

As for the electrical bonding you are good as long as you bond to the steel in the patio or put a copper wire grid under the patio. The shell of the pool being fiberglass doesn't need any bonding electrically. Then all your other standard bonding of water and equipment. Don't forget about a bonding jumper to your light.

Sounds like you've spent a lot of time doing homework nice looking job so far.
 
I have poured all kinds of concrete slabs. Always using 6" steel grid as reinforcement. The first time I used fibre mesh was in 2009. That slab with fibre mesh is the only slab I've poured that had absolutely no cracking. I sold that property in 2016 and still no cracking.

last year, I spent 6 weeks running an excavator with a concrete breaker on it in a commercial restoration project.
Without exception, every slab I broke up had steel grid reinforcement and guess where it was? Sitting on the gravel at the bottom of the slabs. Totally useless.

Find impact tests of fibre reinforced vs plain concrete on YouTube.

I am a complete believe of fibre mesh. Imo it is a recent advancement that some people are just having a hard time trusting.
 
I'm not arguing against your experience. But you know as well as I do if reinforcement steel wasn't in the middle of the slab it was installed wrong an is useless at the bottom of the slab. I was also sugesting a pertimeter band of rebar not wire mesh, again not doubting fiber but adding another layer around the edge of the pool as that's going to be a high stress area.

Either way you will still need either copper bonding wire under the slab or steel in the slab for electrical bonding of the pool and equipment.
 
I watched the video and understand what and why they are doing the extra concrete and fiber "rebar".

It seems they are assuming that the backfill of the pool walls and substrate of the decking is ALWAYS subject to settling. They are overcoming this settling with a lot of extra materials.

If there is NO settling, then the "rebar" and 12" concrete collar are simply not needed. If there is EXCESSIVE settling, no amount of reinforcement will prevent a crack in the structure at some point.

So, it seems to me that proper backfill (rock) and proper substrate preparation of the decking area eliminates the need for the extra materials.

Their technique makes sense but if the dig is done properly, I see no need for the extra expense and labor of 5" concrete and that 12" collar

As an aside, they don't put their best foot forward when they say they built 200 pools before they stopped using sand as a backfill
 
I've always been a proponent of high quality concrete and lots of it. Specially in a climate where we get lots of frost. my utility shed slab is 8" of 40mpa with air and fibre mesh. haha Compare an extra $500 in concrete vs the cost of a pool...

Soil is being taken away today. Monday I will have the HPB brought in.
 

Attachments

  • 20180317_104005.jpg
    20180317_104005.jpg
    99.3 KB · Views: 159

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply