What bottom mix ?

[JessyBoy86]

hey what's up guy !
the famous question:

what mix do you use for bottom pool ? Vermiculite, concrete, grout, sand and portland ?
i live around Montreal, Qc, Canada...so winters are cold as heck.

Some people say, wire mesh with standard 3/4" stone concrete

others, Vermiculite and portland mix everywhere, no wire mesh

others, concrete slab for shallow and deep end, then vermiculite for the slopes

others, strictly grout, no aggregate at all.

what do you guys do in Nordic climates ?

 

[jimmythegreek]

Vermiculite all the way. Anything else can crack with deep freeze and then rip your liner over winter.

 

[JessyBoy86]

Vermiculite all the way. Anything else can crack with deep freeze and then rip your liner over winter.

Really ? it's funny how some people only swear by that and others would stick to concrete ! my local pool specialist told me just yesterday: Wire mesh and Concrete with fiber....
it looks a lot overkill to me !

what is the exact mix you would suggest ? The premix such as Palmetto Pool base ? or do you mix your own stuff ?

 

[jimmythegreek]

Either way is fine. I use alot of premix I dont use a mixer. I pour the deep end hopper floor out of concrete while I'm doing the collar. Then i use that as a base station and mix right on it with a shovel and a hose and start troweling it from there. Using mortar amd concrete with fibermesh is fine, but the slab needs to be 5 inches thick to survive long term. No reason for it and it's very hard underfoot. Verm is soft and flexible and forgiving. I've done it every which way, I had a guy who wanted a perfect floor he had 6 LEDs on his build and was a night owl. His words were make it glass smooth and add the extra to the bill. We shot screed boards with the laser and screeded the verm amd power troweled it after.

 

[JessyBoy86]

Either way is fine. I use alot of premix I dont use a mixer. I pour the deep end hopper floor out of concrete while I'm doing the collar. Then i use that as a base station and mix right on it with a shovel and a hose and start troweling it from there. Using mortar amd concrete with fibermesh is fine, but the slab needs to be 5 inches thick to survive long term. No reason for it and it's very hard underfoot. Verm is soft and flexible and forgiving. I've done it every which way, I had a guy who wanted a perfect floor he had 6 LEDs on his build and was a night owl. His words were make it glass smooth and add the extra to the bill. We shot screed boards with the laser and screeded the verm amd power troweled it after.

Ok good, so if i understand correctly, you pour a 5-inch concrete slab at the deep end, then you put vermiculite on top of it afterwards ?

no wire mesh anywhere ? Concrete slab for the deep end only ? Vermiculite all the way up onto the slopes and the shallow end ?

 

[jimmythegreek]

Yup just vermiculite nothing else. I only cover the concrete if the pool is less than 6ft deep and can be walked on. Otherwise I leave the bottom concrete amd that's the hopper floor I vermiculite up to it

 

[JessyBoy86]

Yup just vermiculite nothing else. I only cover the concrete if the pool is less than 6ft deep and can be walked on. Otherwise I leave the bottom concrete amd that's the hopper floor I vermiculite up to it

Excellent, thanks man !

 

[jimmythegreek]

Make sure to trowel the hopper floor decently so its smooth for the liner. Dont broom sweep the finish like a sidewalk