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What You Should Be Prepared For During a Pool Installation

Pool Building

What You Should Be Prepared For During a Pool Installation

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Exactly what you will be faced with during the installation of your new pool will depend partly on what type of pool it is. As space is limited, we are going to confine ourselves to examining the installation process for a fibreglass pool. We will look at the same process for concrete pools at a later date. While there may be certain additional steps that need to be taken into account if you have any special requirements, those listed below are common to every fibreglass installation and will give you a very good idea of what you can expect once work commences.

The Fiberglass Pool Installation Process: What You Can Expect

Installation procedures are fairly standard across the globe so even if you are not sitting here in Toronto while reading this, you will hopefully find the following information very useful. We are now going to quickly run through the main steps involved in the installation of a fibreglass swimming pool.

  • Excavation – An inground swimming pool needs a hole in which it can be set so before your new pool arrives, your contractor will have to excavate a hole that is big enough to accommodate it. This will involve digging up a sizable area of your back yard or garden with a mechanical excavator so you should be prepared for this part of your home to resemble a construction site for a few days and plan accordingly.
  • Setting and Levelling the Pool – The next stage involves creating a solid, level foundation for the fibreglass mould before it is set in position. Gravel is most commonly used for the building of foundations (and as a backfilling material too). However, some pool installation firms use sand instead so it is a good idea to check this detail beforehand.
  • Plumbing – All the pipes and filtration equipment are installed next. Some Toronto contractors may install the plumbing on the fiberglass mould before it is set on the foundation.
  • Backfilling – Once the Pool, plumbing, and filtration is in place, it is time to backfill the pool, i.e. to start filling in the space between the fiberglass mould and the edges of the hole in which it is sitting. At this stage of the pool installation, you can expect trucks carrying gravel to need access to your back yard. This is also the stage when your pool will first be filled with water.
  • Installation of Coping and Decking – Once the pool itself has been installed and inspected, it is time to install the coping (the concrete sections used to cap the wall of the pool mould) and the deck/patio. This will not be a particularly disruptive phase compared with what has preceded it but your back yard will of course still be populated by skilled workers and machinery. It is at this stage that everything starts to come together, from a visual perspective, and you realize that the end is in sight
  • Fencing – The final phase of your pool installation will be the erecting of a perimeter fence, for safety reasons as well as aesthetic concerns. How long this takes and what the process involves will depend on the type of fencing you have chosen but it should not be a lengthy or particularly difficult job. If you have young children, it is a good idea to install an alarm system linked to the gate in your fencing.

 

Once your pool installation team have cleared up and performed a final inspection, you are free to enjoy your beautiful new swimming pool! If you would like a free estimate for any type of pool, don’t forget to call the team at Seabreeze.

Hiring Pool Builders? Follow this Foolprof, Guaranteed Checklist

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There are many pool contractors in Toronto and the surrounding area. Some of them are reputable firms with an excellent track record whereas others are not so reliable. What you need to do, if you are planning to have a pool built in your back yard, is to sort the wheat from the chaff: establish which firms can be trusted to do a first-class job at a reasonable price and which are best avoided. In this article, we are going to tell you exactly how you can weed out the less desirable candidates and put together a shortlist of companies that should be a pleasure to do business with.

Pool Builders You Can Trust: Questions to Ask Before Making Your Shortlist

Ask these questions when talking to contractors in the area and if you receive a positive answer to all of them from any particular firm, put them straight on your list of contractors to investigate further.

  • Can I See Some Examples of Pools You Have Completed? – This may not be the easiest thing to arrange, owing to the fact that most people are not that keen on allowing an endless stream of visitors into their homes but well-established pool builders should be able to show you a couple of examples of their work in the Toronto area.
  • Will You Guarantee the Quality of Your Workmanship? – Any company that you hire to build a new pool in your back yard should be willing to guarantee the quality of the work they perform. In the event that any defects are found once the installation has been completed, they should be willing to correct these defects at no cost to you.
  • Can You Provide Me with a Comprehensive and Accurate Quotation? – A new pool is not a small investment so you should make sure that you have full details of the costs for all materials and labour before agreeing to hire a particular team of pool builders. One of the reasons you should establish the unit cost of materials to be used in the construction of your pool is to make sure that you are not overcharged in the event you need larger quantities of certain items than you originally thought. You may, for example, decide to extend the patio area around your pool after the work has begun.
  •  Do You Build Free Shape Pools? – While you may well decide to go with a prefabricated fiberglass pool after looking at all the possibilities, it is nice to know that the option to have a pool built to your personal specifications is there. Some homes have odd-shaped back yards in which standard pool designs will not readily fit and some homeowners simply want a unique design to enhance the aesthetic appeal of their yard and garden. Whatever your needs, pool builders that are capable of constructing free shape pools will be better placed to give you objective advice and guidance.
  • Do You Have a Showroom? – Companies with a showroom will be able to do more than simply describe the type of pools they can build and show you photographs of past projects: they will be able to let you see evidence of their workmanship and expertise with your own eyes.

 

There are more questions that you should ask, such as whether they have liability insurance and what type of contract they are willing to put together for you, but if you start with those listed above, you will be able to narrow your choice of pool builders down to those, such as ourselves, who are experts in their field. Give us a call to get started on your dream outdoors.

Backyard Pool Design: Tips to Ensure Your Landscaping Complements Your Pool

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Building a swimming pool in your back yard is not just a case of digging a large hole, filling it with concrete or a fiberglass mold and then adding water. If you want to make sure that you end up with an aesthetically pleasing water feature that enhances rather than ruins the appearance of your yard and garden, the following tips will come in handy.

Getting Backyard Pool Design Right First Time

Most people only ever design one pool in their lives so it makes sense to get help from the professionals. However, if you would like to have a go yourself first, to make sure you know what you want before you approach any pool companies in Toronto or the surrounding area, bear the following points in mind:

  1. Think of Your Pool as the Centrepiece – One of the best ways to ensure that a new swimming pool installation looks like an integral part of your yard rather than a last-minute addition, is to make it the main feature. In your mind’s eye, see your pool as the centre of the yard and plan other features that radiate out from this central point towards the edges of your land. If you have a particularly large back yard, you can use this backyard pool design idea in a smaller area by making your pool the central water feature of a formal garden.
  2. Use Plants to Soften the Edges – Although you will want a tiled or concrete border immediately surrounding your pool, and a safety fence around that, you can soften the overall effect by placing mature shrubs and small trees at irregular intervals by the fence. Anything that breaks up the straight lines of your backyard pool design will give your garden and yard a more natural feel once the pool has been installed.
  3. Natural Stone – An excellent way to make your swimming pool look like a luxurious feature in a private garden rather than a pool at the local public baths is by using natural stones to create an informal border between it and the rest of your yard. Whilst these stones should not take the place of a safety fence, they can be placed in and around the fence, perhaps in conjunction with the shrubs and trees mentioned earlier, to form a beautiful border that separates your new pool from the rest of your yard in a visually pleasing manner. Such a backyard pool design is relatively easy to execute and not overly expensive.
  4. Wooden Structures – Erecting wooden structures in close proximity to your pool can create a relaxed environment and enhance the functionality of your backyard pool design. You could, for example, erect a small pagoda nearby, where you and your friends can enjoy al fresco summer lunches, shaded from the midday sun.

If none of the above ideas appeal to you, please don’t hesitate to call us at Seabreeze Pools to tell us what you really want and we will help to make your dreams a reality.

How to Tell Good Pool Builders from the Not So Good Ones

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The swimming pool industry in Toronto is a thriving business sector that supports numerous manufacturing, building, installation and maintenance firms, along with a fair few companies that offer several or all of these services. Whilst this is a good thing because it means that there is plenty of choice when it comes to selecting pool companies to supply all the necessary materials you will need and pool builders to complete your new swimming pool installation, it can also make life more difficult as you may find it hard to tell the good firms from the bad. To help you avoid those companies that give the industry a bad name, we have put together this short guide.

Choosing the Right Pool Builders

Most of the time, you can avoid the bad companies by asking the right questions when you first get in touch with prospective suppliers and builders.

  • Where is Their Principal Place of Business? – Whilst it may be more convenient to arrange to meet company representatives in your own home, asking to meet them at their place of work can be a far more informative exercise. By limiting yourself to firms that have a proper office and showroom, and avoiding one-man bands that don’t actually retain any staff on a full-time basis, you will give yourself a much better chance of picking a decent company.
  • Have They Ever Failed to Complete a Job? – A common problem that smaller, less reputable firms often encounter is a negative cash flow. Not having enough money coming in to cover their basic operating costs, they may experience financial difficulties that leave them unable to meet their commitments. By asking the pool builders you are thinking of hiring whether they have ever left a swimming pool unfinished, you will quickly be able to weed out the bad eggs. They could always lie to you of course but a quick search online should turn up the information that you are looking for.
  • What Kind of Payment Schedule Do They Require? – If you would like to make sure that the firms you are considering are run in a fiscally responsible manner, by people who know exactly what they are doing, ask to see an example of the payment terms they usually offer to new customers. Any firms that collect the majority of the money up front, or in the very early stages before they have actually done much work, should be avoided. This is not because they are likely to run off with your cash; it is because experienced pool builders know that the majority of their costs will come during the latter stages and if they collect too much money too early, they may run out of cash before the job is finished.

Always Ask for References

Once you have established the answers to the above listed questions, there is one remaining task that you need to complete: requesting references from any of the pool builders who actually managed to make it to your short list.

Looking for pool builders in Toronto? Call Seabreeze Pools today!

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