Inground Swimming Pools

Considering a backyard swimming pool this summer? There are more than one way to put a pool in the ground so a little research may be in order before you start digging.

Inground swimming pools are constructed in several different ways. Budget, time, and climate play big roles in deciding which type of construction is best for you.

Perhaps the least expensive of the inground swimming pools is a vinyl-lined pool. It's the least permanent, too. The hole is lined with sand before the vinyl liner is fitted over a frame wall and secured by a concrete deck. Vinyl liners last about ten years.

The most quickly installed of the inground swimming pools is a fiberglass mold. Once the hole is prepared and plumbing assembled, the fiberglass pool mold is placed into the ground and secured with the surrounding deck materials.

Inground swimming pools made of gunite are the most popular design in the US. They take a couple of weeks or more to install but they last the longest. Gunite is a mixture of cement and sand which is poured over steel reinforcing rods. Once the gunite mixture sets, in about a week, a decorative finish is applied to the gunite surface.

Shotcrete inground swimming pools are quite similar to gunite pools. Both these types of construction are very durable and can be constructed in any size or shape.

Poured concrete is another method of constructing inground swimming pools but they are rather difficult to build. Wet concrete is poured between wood frames to form the pool. This process is tricky and takes a long time to set for finishing.

Masonry and concrete blocks are yet another method for building inground swimming pools although blocks and poured concrete are both losing ground to the popularity of gunite.