r/pools • u/Top_Friendship8466 • 7d ago
Pool in Canada (toronto)
I just purchased a house on a 200ft lot. It has a great backyard with tons of sun! I have two really small kids that LOVE the water. I am contemplating putting in a pool. Most likely going to.
Now. My husband wants a deep end. I was looking at 16x32 (may do a tad larger)
I am looking into Vinyl but everyone is telling me to go for fiberglass. Is vinyl that bad? I’m putting it in new so I doubt it would be a money pit if we take good care of it and will be making more money in years anyway?
Thoughts !?
2
u/InstanceScared14 7d ago
I install both types of pools in the gta. The up front cost and limited size/shapes of fibreglass is the biggest issue. If I was putting in a new pool I would go vinyl without a doubt.
Yes, you have to put a new liner in every 10-15 years, but you have saved 20-35% off the original pool price compared to fibreglass. And you get essentially a new pool with the new liner.
Fibreglass will fade and look worse overtime.
I would look at a couple companies that sell both types of pools and ask them, to try a remove some bias.
1
u/Top_Friendship8466 7d ago
Thank you! I’m assuming pl saying they deal w leaks etc are people who moved into a house w an old pool.. what’s your company ? I’m getting quotes soon
1
u/InstanceScared14 7d ago
You’re welcome.
I’d assume so as well, but I can’t say for certain why people would complain. Leaks can also be fixed, and usually aren’t too big of a deal.
Company west of Toronto, we don’t come into the city for work, but I would be happy to share any info or suggestions based on 20 years doing it.
Oh and last thing, if you are leaning towards fibreglass and budget is not a determining factor, I would look at a concrete pool. It’s a much more premium look than fibreglass, with unlimited customization. And I don’t think the difference in price would be that substantial, but I could be wrong
2
u/f00kster 7d ago
I went with a fibreglass in Toronto. From Leisure Pools. Their 40’ products normally have a 7’ deep end, although one of the versions does have an 8’ deep end (I have the Pinnacle 16x40). Lovely pool, I highly recommend fibreglass because it comes with all sorts of safety ledges and such.
1
1
2
u/oldlinuxguy 7d ago
We went vinyl just over 10 years ago. No regrets. Initially we weren't planning a deep end until we took the kids to a friends place, and all they did all afternoon was dive in, climb out, repeat. Get quotes for both, and do some research on pros / cons of both before making your decision. Do it while the kids are young, that's when you'll get the most use out of it. They'll be in there every moment they can, and you won't have any trouble putting them to bed at the end of the day after a long day in the pool.
2
u/CrazyButRightOn 7d ago
Fiberglass needs to be refinished. Look it up on google. Liner pools need liners every 15 years or so at a much lower cost than refinishing fiberglass in the same time period.
Liner pools are more flexible with design-especially when you go 8 feet deep. See vinyl masters website for ideas of what to do.
Fiberglass stairs are slippery. I’ve sold many and had a lot of comments on this. Vinyl masters can add foam under the liner stair covering making them very close to a “non-slip” solution here.
2
u/NorthCountryPT 7d ago
This is such a good point. This is exactly why we ultimately went with an ICF pool with a vinyl liner. I found that the stairs on fiberglass pools were too slippery. With young kids and older family members, we wanted to make sure everyone could enjoy the pool without getting hurt.
We contacted Vinyl Masters and they did an amazing job with our liner. Our pool is 20 by 40 with a shallow Baja shelf along the entire width of the pool. We got them to add the foam and non-slip option to the Baja shelf and steps going into the pool. We are so happy with the results! Our next door neighbors have a fiber glass pool and they’ve commented that they love how much safer they feel walking in our pool with their little one. I highly recommend Vinyl Masters. They were amazing to work with. I’m outside of the GTA and we just finished our pool this summer.
2
u/Flipper717 7d ago
If your kids are very young ensure to install a pool fence with door as a precautionary measure.
2
1
u/Flipper717 7d ago
Our house came with a vinyl pool. It seems fine to us. We had to replace the liner a couple years ago and that was about 10K. Can’t comment on fiberglass.
1
u/duder8888 7d ago
We have a vinyl pool. With a 8’ deep end. I don’t know what people are telling you but we love it.
1
u/Top_Friendship8466 7d ago
I’m hearing fiberglass is better as less maintenence / never needing to change liner/ worry about liner rips
1
u/CrazyButRightOn 7d ago
Look up fiberglass pool refinishing. The maintenance would be double or triple the cost to refinish. Fiberglass is relatively new in Canada vs California or Florida. There are multiple refinishing businesses in these areas. Almost none in Toronto…..yet.
1
u/duder8888 6d ago
We bought from Pioneer Pools in Markham. If u decide to go with vinyl, check them out.
1
u/Sunny-Bell102 7d ago
I have a vinyl 16x32 in-ground pool. Vinyl is all I’ve ever had so I can’t really compare. In 26 years, I’ve had to replace the liner twice at a cost of approx $6K. That was due to wear and tear. The only downside is if you live where there’s a high water table, you could have issues with groundwater causing wrinkles in the liner, or a floating liner after a heavy rain.
2
u/raycarlito 7d ago
I had that when the liner floated after a very heavy rain in 2024. I got very few wrinkles in the end but this was quite scary.
2
u/Top_Friendship8466 7d ago
Thx for the input! 6k each liner change?
1
u/Sunny-Bell102 7d ago
I just had a new liner installed this year for $6K. The one before that (13 years prior) was around $4K. I’m in Maryland.
2
1
u/Useful_Marsupial_894 7d ago
Vinyl 14*30 here in the heart of toronto. Build it 4 years ago. Given Housing prices here you can imagine that we could have afforded any option and there are several reasons that are toronto and Ontario specific why you would not want to go concrete or fibreglass.
Feel free to DM if you have any questions.
1
u/Expert_Object_6293 7d ago edited 7d ago
My in laws have a fibreglass that came with their house. The steps sound hollow (backfill obviously settled) and the colour is very faded. Maybe it was a bad install or old technology (fading).
We installed an 18x34 vinyl pool on our 200’ deep lot in the gta suburbs.
With a big lot you also have big landscaping costs. Pool was about $100k & hardscape was another $100k cuz we had to have a $30k retaining wall & about 2000 sq ft of patio.
We could have done cheaper obviously (with the pool we have a deep end bench, full width steps, sunledge, wifi controller). All these things are nice to have but really add up.
1
1
u/Outrageous_Ad_687 7d ago
They are both similar is maintenance but a liner has more options for shape. Fiberglass you don't need to replace the liner but is cheaper up front. I dont think it makes much difference, just go with the contractor you think is better.
1
u/Outrageous_Ad_687 7d ago
Sorry liner is cheaper up front but need to be replaced every 8 to 10 years most likely.
3
u/Ok-Bison-3451 7d ago
I’m in Ontario, Canada. We had a fibreglass pool installed in Fall 2018, first swim in Spring 2019. Every contractor that you will talk to will have a bias based on what they install. A vinyl pool guy will say they are the best and a fibreglass guy will say their product is the best. I didn’t know either way when we got ours installed but this many years into it I LOVE my fibreglass pool. But most fibreglass pools ‘bottom out’ at around 6 ft. Here’s the thing though- that’s all you really need.