Hybrid Pool
Hybrid pools have an 8" concrete bottom covered with 5/8" of marcite with 3' or 4' fiberglass walls. They were popular in the Midwest in the late 1970's and early 1980's. They were manufactured by Ft. Wayne pools and marketed under the name Starlite and were rolled fiberglass with an acrylic finish. Many were manufactured by Hallmark. At the time there were lots of manufacturers making these pools with gelcoat and different methods of wall support. There are no builders today of hybrid pools and few people who know how to maintain them.
Ft. Wayne pools can often be identified by the style of coping and embossed tile design which would mean its a acrylic finish on the walls.[1]
Hybrid pools have reached the point when they need help, and pool professionals have no idea of how to care for them.
If you have inherited a hybrid pool you have a few options[2]:
- Stick with the pool as it was made. Replaster the floor, replace or repair the fiberglass walls. If there's no longer a builder that does this type of construction in your area you'll have a hard time finding someone to tackle the walls but you never know. This would be your most expensive option.
- Patch and paint the whole thing as described in the link. This has been done to 2 of the 3 pools I mentioned above. It's a quick fix, lasts for about 2-3 years and then you're back in the same boat. If you do a DIY job it's definitely the least expensive but it will continue to be a headache.
- You can insert a vinyl liner. This is a complicated task. You have to do a VERY thorough measurement of the pool because it's basically a freeform bottom. The cost is more than doing paint DIY, comparable to hiring someone to repaint, and will have the lifespan of a vinyl liner (10-15 years if installed and cared for properly).
- Construct gunite walls on top of the concrete floor and build a traditional plaster pool within the shell.
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