(hat in hand) I have a 21’ steel above-ground pool (plus a deep end). The pool wall is rusting, and I need to replace it soon. I like the long life of fiberglass above-ground pools, but they’re pretty expensive. If I were to make my own, how much glass and what kind of resin should I use? The wall is 48" tall x 66’ circumference. Maybe 3-10’s and vinylester plus a roll-on gelcoat layer?
I don’t know if this will help alot but when I was in college I had a summer job making fiberglass pools, both above and inground. They were made with a mold and the glass was applied with chopper guns. The glass was about 3/4" to an 1" thick. Also the part of the pool that was not seen, foam ribs were placed about 3 feet apart and then glassed over and the bottom was lined with balsa wood and glassed over. AS far as I can recall we just used regular laminating resin. Good luck, Frank.
Thanks Frank
Noodle: Just outside of Corpus on SPID as you approach Flour Bluff/ NAS there is a customer camper shell mfr. that sells direct. Recently they began making fiberglass pools, there are several large molds visible from the freeway. They do the work on site. A direct price from them might be reasonable or at least a pre-sale tour might reveal some of the details. I’ll try to get the name for you on my return trip later this week. Tom S.
Tom and Frank, I didn’t want to throw water after the good responses, but i’ve gotta. Thanks for the info, but I just want to make a 4 foot high wall, curved into a 21 foot diameter circle and joined. I’ll drop a vinyl liner in it, and fill it with water… something for the grandkid. It doesn’t hafta be strong enough to make its own structure, because the water will make into a cylinder.