New Fiberglass Pool- Size Questions

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violet-mermaid

violet-mermaid

Well-known member
Mar 22, 2015
130
Baton Rouge, LA
Hi everyone!! We are just getting started with the planning of our new pool, and I am SO EXCITED!!! We have decided to go with a fiberglass pool that is 12x24 in size. Approx 5,600 gallons. We are a family of 3 with one on the way, and I am wondering if any of you have a pool around this size? We have some limitations on the size pool we can put in, b/c our backyard has a slope to it. I am just worried that I may one day regret getting a pool this small- I need some good feedback lol! I'd love to see photos of your small pools! We don't have family over often (they all live pretty far away), and may have 2-3 people over at most. I'm hoping the pool will be the perfect size for us. Anyways, thanks for reading and I'm so excited to dig deeper into these forums and learn all about being a pool owner! I'm also attaching photos of the two pools we are trying to decide between... hoping to get started in about a month or two!!

Thanks!
 

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Welcome to TFP! :wave:

I would suggest getting the biggest size you can fit, tolerate and afford. If that's it, it sounds like it will be perfect for your backyard. There are some definite benefits to a smaller pool.

Enjoy the forums, and good luck on your project! :cheers:
 
I also have a smallish fiberglass pool (14x32) and a seriously sloped yard. It is a nice standard rectangle because I wanted to make sure I had room for laps. I worried that a curvy pool and fancy stairs would take up more space in the pool? Our builder was able to build up the area for the pool, and put some retainer walls in. Perhaps that is an option for you? Its not the biggest pool in the world but it is perfect for our yard. The pictures in my signature line show how our builder addressed the slope. On the far side is a hill the builder reinforced with rock, gravel and clay and compacted then planted with many assorted junipers, monkey grass and some other greens (low growing) that help maintain the hill and control erosion.
 
Just one comment, as
kids get older, they will want to have more than one friend a piece over, promise.
 
I love your pool- thank you so much for sharing! While I do love the curvy pool I pictured above, we have decided to go with the more rectangle shape- it is actually a 12 x 26ft and I think we will have more swim space without the curves. Here's a photo of the same pool with a few kids in it- I think it will be perfect!

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YippeeSkippy said:
I also have a smallish fiberglass pool (14x32) and a seriously sloped yard. It is a nice standard rectangle because I wanted to make sure I had room for laps. I worried that a curvy pool and fancy stairs would take up more space in the pool? Our builder was able to build up the area for the pool, and put some retainer walls in. Perhaps that is an option for you? Its not the biggest pool in the world but it is perfect for our yard. The pictures in my signature line show how our builder addressed the slope. On the far side is a hill the builder reinforced with rock, gravel and clay and compacted then planted with many assorted junipers, monkey grass and some other greens (low growing) that help maintain the hill and control erosion.
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Although I really liked the bubbler in the the curvy one, I think we will do a cascade in this one to keep the water flowing ;)
 
Go with the biggest pool you can fit and afford!
 

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Awesome! It's very nice, love the color!

I have another pool company coming out today and I'm going to see what they suggest, and if they can do some type of retaining wall to possibly get a 15-16ft pool in. I've been thinking a lot about what you guys said, and I do want to get the largest pool we possibly can. The yard is big, just has a big slope...
 
We just did a FB pool last summer! Congrats its soooo worth it ! We are of similar size --about 8000 gallons including the 6 person spillover spa-kidney shaped deep end 6 ft. If you can swing it DEFINITELY do the spa. We use it so often here in FL in cooler months and would sit in it and say thanks goodness we did this spa! We just got a small Hayward heater ONLY for the SPA. It was economical and works great and not too hard on electric. Does take a good 1.75 hour to heat up in Winter months but hey we are in FL whos complaining! As far as size we could not go any bigger but honestly its fine and we don't mind the size at all.
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I have a 14 x 30 viking fiberglass pool that is 5 years old. it looks great and we are very glad we went with fiberglass. the thing to keep in mind however is that when the pool manf says 12 x28 they are mesuring from the edge of the fiberglass. the actual inside dimension will be more like 11 ft not 12 ft. i would recommend you go with at least a 14 ft wide pool because even then the inside dimension will be a lillte less than 13 ft.
 
I was thinking the same thing from the first pictures you posted. The more square one will give you a little more space for kids playing and etc.

There are some nice pro's for going with a fiberglass pool and i was sold. Faster install was one of the biggest to me. The problem was the fiberglass pool installer in Covington,La. never returned my 3 calls or web inquires and the guy in Slidell,La. screwed over a guy on this site with an unlevel install that he didn't want to correct. They were the only two that installed fiberglass pools in my area that were local. At least it looks like you have a choice of fiberglass pool installers there in Baton Rouge.
 
One thing to keep in mind with a FG pool. Make sure the installer includes a dry sump inspection pipe. Its nothing more than a 8in piece of pvc put in the ground at one end of the pool for monitoring ground water. Viking requires it by the installer for their lifetime warranty to be good.
 
This is absolutely correct. We have the sump on our Viking pool and at certain times of the year like early spring we just insert a small sump pump to clear the water out. By having this sump and pipe all of the issues with ground water just sort of go away .
 
rmturner54 said:
We have a 12x26 FG freeform design. We too had limitations in our yard. Other wise would have gone with a little larger. And yes a smaller pool has it's benefits.
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rmturner54 said:
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tam87 said:
We just did a FB pool last summer! Congrats its soooo worth it ! We are of similar size --about 8000 gallons including the 6 person spillover spa-kidney shaped deep end 6 ft. If you can swing it DEFINITELY do the spa. We use it so often here in FL in cooler months and would sit in it and say thanks goodness we did this spa! We just got a small Hayward heater ONLY for the SPA. It was economical and works great and not too hard on electric. Does take a good 1.75 hour to heat up in Winter months but hey we are in FL whos complaining! As far as size we could not go any bigger but honestly its fine and we don't mind the size at all.
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I saw your profile that said you live in my area and wondered if Pettit Pools made and installed your pool.

I've signed a contract with them and hope I made a good choice... :)
 

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