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Swimming Pool - In-Ground

Pool Floor

How will your pool area look?

Pool Landscaping is something to think about.

Depending on the pool builder there are two possible types of floor material that could be used.

One type is a sand/concrete mixture. This is a bit different then standard concrete since it has no stones. It is a very fine mixture designed to provide a very smooth surface.

The other type of floor mixture is a product called Vermiculite. When I was shown this by one pool sales company, I was told that it provide a soft, pliable surface under the liner. Another pool company said its pliable nature was a potential drawback based on its ability to absorb water. As I noted on the first page, you really have to double check what you hear.

I can only say that we have a sand and concrete floor and it is great. Softness is not an issue.

To prepare for the floor construction, they put a cement mixer almost next to the pool. That was followed by a truck load of sand. The cement had been delivered in bags along with the rest of the pool parts. 

The process of installing the floor takes a lot of skill. 

Below you see the crew starting the project. It surprised me that they start at the stairs instead of ending there. They told me the floor dries very quickly and it would not be a problem for them to exit when done. 

The sand/cement combination is dumped into the pool using a wheel barrow. The crew in the pool uses shovels to spread the mixture where needed.  

There are two stages to the process. First it is roughly leveled, then they smooth it to a very smooth surface. There is a lot of attention to details, filling in even the slightest imperfection. It was very impressive to watch. 

They continue the process to the edge of the shallow part. Then, they start to work on the sides of the deep end. The last part is the floor of the deep end.

As you can see in the photo above, the floor is very shallow. And the side walls of the deep end really take some time to complete. The helper throws shove loads of mixture against the wall and the skilled person trowels it on, and smoothes it to a very smooth surface. 

On day 1 of the floor, they completed about 75% of the total job. The next day they continued working on the floor until about 3pm. As soon as they were done, they took a 30 minute break and then installed the liner, which we will discuss in the next section.

Per my sample situation, another payment is due after the liner is installed - in this case it is 20% of the labor.

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