Liner pools have limitations and a shorter lifespan that gunite pools do not. Therefore, you might wonder, can I convert my liner pool to gunite?The short answer here is yes, absolutely.
Can I Convert My Liner Pool To Gunite Follow Up Questions
However, that answer must be followed up with a another question. How much money do you want to spend? Gunite pools are expensive to build, so converting your liner pool to gunite is a costly endeavor.
Liner pools can be built with 4 different types of walls. These include wood walls, metal walls, polymer walls, or concrete walls. The walls hold back the earth from pushing into the pool. The liner is placed over the wall structure to waterproof and voila, you have a liner pool.
Common Liner Pool Problems
Over time, liner pools experience a lot of problems. They can develop tears, the liner fades, and the wall structure can partially collapse. If any of these issues are plaguing your pool, we can see why you might be considering gunite as the replacement.
Now that you know it’s not a matter of asking, can I convert my liner pool to gunite, we’ll explain how it’s done. To replace a liner pool with a gunite pool, you first need to remove the liner pool completely. This includes the wall structure and the deck. The process for doing this is similar to removing a gunite pool, only much easier.
Can I Convert My Liner Pool To Gunite And Keep The Deck?
We’re often asked when removing a liner pool if we can save the deck. That way, you could build the gunite pool inside the existing deck. Unfortunately, this simply is not a good idea.
The deck inevitably will move during the demolition process of the vinyl pool and will need to be removed. In most cases the area immediately surrounding a vinyl pool is not compacted all that well either and the deck is in most cases already uneven before removing the vinyl pool.
Once the vinyl pool and deck is removed it’s time to build the gunite pool in its place. There will be some additional costs you should be aware of when building a gunite pool in the place of the vinyl.
Liner to Gunite Conversion Process Explained
As a result of removing a pool, the walls of the excavation will be sloping, not vertically benched. This means that the gunite pool will need to be formed with full wall height forms which increases the overall price of the pool. It requires additional costs in the forming phase, the steel reinforcement phase, and the gunite phase of construction. Additionally, once the structure of the new pool is in place, there will be additional backfill and compaction required to prepare for the plumbing and deck installation.
Additional Cost and Ideas Of Converting Liner To Gunite
Converting a liner pool to gunite is a complex process. It entails replacing the vinyl pool and deck with a new gunite pool and new deck. Expect to spend an additional $5,000 to $20,000 on top of the price for the new gunite pool and deck to accommodate the removal of the existing vinyl pool. It’s an investment some homeowners consider worth it. Instead, others may choose to replace the liner only, or to remove the pool completely and level the backyard.
