Fibreglass Company

In-Ground Pools

Our approach to pool building

There are 3 major considerations when designing a pool 1. Function 2. Form and 3. Maintenance. We work with you to ensure that the pool we design and build is a quality addition to your home that meets your unique needs and desires. However, the most important element of your project is communication. In order to establish a common understanding of the major elements of your project, it is useful for you to be familiar with the choices available. The pros and cons of each, and special considerations which may factor strongly into the decisions ahead. It is important to note that quality is paramount in every project we take on. The project elements outlined below will affect the use, aesthetic, and maintenance characteristics of your pool, but you can be confident that the choices presented represent only the highest industry standards, and even more stringent self imposed standards.

1. Function

When considering having a pool built, the most important thing to remember is that THERE IS NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL POOL. And in saying this we don’t just mean physical size, but pool characteristics in general. There are potentially thousands of elements that make up a given pool, and those elements need to be compatible with you. A pool company could build you an amazing masterpiece, like the Neptune Pool at Hearst castle for instance, and you could be utterly disappointed after trying it out. Maybe it lacks a place for your toddler to sit and splash around, the style clashes with your landscape, you want to swim laps in the spring and fall but the huge surface dissipates all the heat and won’t warm up for less than $3000 per month, its situated so that you cant see your kids or your water feature from the living room, etc.etc.etc. Your friend or neighbor may love their pool, but this is going to be YOUR pool. While it can be very useful to talk to others about their experiences and preferences, remember that people have widely varied reasons for wanting a pool in the first place. It may seem all too elementary, but the single most important question to ask yourself is “What do I want this pool to be?” Will it be primarily an elegant landscape centerpiece, a place for the kids to hang out, a soothing naturalistic retreat, a place to exercise, or something else? While these and other uses are not necessarily mutually exclusive, they are important to prioritize. Identifying how you want to use the pool and what you want it to be is the only way to ensure that it will be everything you expect it to be when completed.

The second admonition we give is not to underestimate advances in pool technology. We offer pools, components, and features today that didn’t exist just a few years ago, and many that have changed so much that they are practically unrecognizable from their earlier forms. These advances make owning a pool more enjoyable, more comfortable, and much easier to maintain. Owning a pool may be easier than you ever thought possible.

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2. Form

At Paramount, we believe that form follows function. Once you have determined what you want from your pool, we can begin to assign forms to meet those functions. Based on the functions desired, we can make some fairly automatic selections from the forms. However, it is important to us to make sure that you know why some options are preferable and others are excluded. And in some cases we need to work together to further identify and refine your options. Below, we detail some of the key decisions that will need to be made and the Criteria used to determine which is the most preferable in a given situation. The information provided is oriented toward our customers benefit. It would be far easier for us at Paramount to offer less variety and fewer options. To build the same handful of pools the same way over and over again, but we don’t. For the ownership and team of Paramount, building pools is more than just making a living. To us, it’s a chance to create the most enjoyable addition your home will ever have, and the satisfaction of doing that well is priceless.

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Pool Types

There are many types of in-ground pool construction available today. Gunite, Fiberglass, and Vinyl Liner are the most common types offered by pool builders. Of these, we feel that both Gunite and Fiberglass represent the best of modern pool building, and have unique qualities that best suit specific site and homeowner requirements. Vinyl liner pools offer what many consider to be acceptable performance, but we see few benefits to this type of construction, and significant weaknesses. In the interest of only offering what we see as the highest quality construction, we have chosen not to offer this type of pool, or any other second quality options. In the paragraphs below we provide a brief summary of our two construction methods, and give a Pros and Cons comparison between them.

Gunite 

Gunite is one of the oldest and most common methods of pool construction. Technically, Gunite is a name brand for a process known as shotcrete. As “Gunite”was a major development in the pneumatic placement of concrete, the name became a common reference to the more general process of shotcrete. Much in the same way that “Coke” is a word used for cola, or “Kleenex” describes facial tissue. A Gunite pool shell is usually 6 to 8 inches thick, and is reinforced with rebar. A gunite pool has the benefits of being able to be fashioned in nearly any shape or size. An odd shaped lot, hillside perch, or unique water shapes are not impossible challenges for this material. Shape and size flexibility is the deciding factor for many of our Gunite customers.

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Fiberglass

Fiberglass pools have been built for over 30 years, and have seen a lot of innovations in that time. Even in the early days of fiberglass pool building the fiberglass construction method had some attractive features. Primarily the fact that the smooth, non-porous surface of the pool required far fewer chemicals and filtration cycles than gunite pools to remain sparkling. Over time, the materials and processes used to create the fiberglass pool benefited greatly from advances in composite technologies. Particularly the pools manufactured by Composite Pool Corporation. These fiberglass pools are the latest in composite technology, manufactured by a company with over 30 years of experience in building them. We at Paramount looked at every major manufacturer of fiberglass pools before selecting the pools manufactured by CPC as those we would offer to our customers. The CPC pools offer the absolute latest in technology, resulting in the highest flexural strength of any fiberglass pool available. The inherent durability and ease of maintenance of a CPC fiberglass pool coupled with our exacting standards for quality planning and installation make this a great choice for many of our customers. View a list of our fiberglass pools.

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Interior Features

Interior features can add usability to your pool. They are underwater additions which can greatly enhance your use and enjoyment of the pool. The primary types are detailed below.

Color

Pools can be built with a wide variety of interior surface colors and patterns. White is the most traditional option, and black is the latest craze. It is important to recognize that water reflects the color of the sky to a large extent. Whatever color one chooses, the water tends to retain some shade of blue. While a white pool usually appears as a bright tropical light blue, a dark bottom pool takes on more of a silvery, reflective blue hue. A tan and gold surface creates an aquamarine water color. The color of the pool surface is primarily an aesthetic preference. There are only two functional differences between colors that are worthy of mention. The first is heat absorption. The darker bottom pool will tend to gather more heat from the sun and raise the temperature of the water, but this effect is generally in the single digits and not a major factor in most applications. The second issue is stain visibility. If your pool collects a stain, it will be more easily visible on a lighter colored pool. There are several options available in both Fiberglass colors and Gunite colors.

Steps

Steps are present on nearly every in ground pool built. However, the length and location of those steps vary. The location of the steps is almost always at the shallow end. In lap pools or small pools where space limited, the steps are usually small and off to the side of the shallow end so they do not interfere with the swim lane. In larger, more formal pools, the stairs may extend across the entire width of the shallow end and lend themselves to a more dramatic appearance. On most pools the stairs are sized to be easily usable, and maximize the “swimable”area of the pool.

Benches

You won’t find benches on most older pools, but they have really gained popularity over the past decade. Benches can serve a dual purpose. First as a place to sit and relax without having to leave the cool comfort of the pool, and secondly, as a convenient place to exit the pool away from the stairs. For this reason, benches are sometimes called “Swim outs”. Especially when a located nears the deep end and children use them as a shortcut to their favorite jump-in spot. Benches/Swim outs are relatively inexpensive and work with most pool types.

Pool Depth and Slope

This aspect of the pool is really a part of its structure, but deciding its form has everything to do with its function. As pool builders, we say a pool has either a constant slope, or is bi-level. The floor of a constant slope pool slopes straight between the shallow and deep ends. Don’t confuse this with a pool that has a flat bottom all the same depth, but rather an almost straight line between the shallow and deepest points. A Bi-level pool is one where there is a shallow end that is almost flat, then a steep drop down to the deepest area, which may also be relatively flat. In deciding which “floor profile” you want, determining the intended use is critical. The real issue is depth. And for the sake of brevity, the information here will deal with the general preferences of “most people”. If you choose to speak with our company personally, we can explore more exotic configurations. Here were going to make assumptions that will be relevant to 99% our customers. The assumptions are as follows

1. The pool should have a shallow area with water between 3 and 4 feet deep.

2. The pool floor should slope downward to provide an area of deeper water.

How deep is the big question, and deeper is not usually better. The decision usually hinges on one question; do you want to allow for diving. If diving in is expected, either from a diving stand or other apparatus, then a minimum depth of 8 feet is advised. If the pool is to be 8 feet deep then it will probably need a bi-level floor. This way you can have a usable shallow area, and an area deep enough to allow for safe diving. Most pools are less than 40 feet long, and if you tried to build an 8 foot deep pool with a constant slope, the floor would be so steep that the shallow end would barely exist, and standing anywhere would be nearly impossible. Experience has taught us that “most people” enjoy spending most of their time in the pool wading and bouncing around with the water level somewhere between their waist and chin. They jump in, splash around for a minute then assume a game, or leisurely stroll around the pool, keeping the water somewhere in this comfortable range between waist and chin. In a deep, bi-level pool, this activity is restricted to the shallow end, about 1/3 of the pool area. However, in a constant slope pool of approximately 6 feet deep, the majority of the pool falls within the waist to chin range. Shorter people comfortably stand and wade in the shallower 2/3 of the pool and taller people in the deeper 2/3. So, in the final analysis, most of our customers do not want a diving board or elevated jumping apparatus, so most of them benefit most by choosing a shallower pool. Diving is not the only legitimate factor in determining pool depth, and you know, or are quickly realizing what your factors are. The discussion above should help solidify your convictions on the issue either way.

Sundeck

Sundecks are another feature that were not very common just a few years ago, but have gained favor quickly with pool owners. The sundeck is a shallow area of water open to the main body of the pool, 6 to 14 inches deep and usually 30 to 100 square feet in size. They can provide an area to place a lounge chair and sit coolly with ones hands and feet in the water, or a place for toddlers and small children to play. A variation of the sundeck can provide a means of entry similar to a Beach Entry, described in the next paragraph. This variation uses the sundeck as a large first step into the pool, followed by a traditional set of stairs. Sundecks are attractive additions to either a fiberglass or gunite constructed pool. The interior surfaces of the sundeck can be finished in a similar manner to the main pool body, or often decorated with a tile mosaic in the center. A sundeck can add both beauty and utility for many pool owners.

Beach Entry

Generally one enters a pool via steps placed near the edge of the pool decking. With a beach entry, one enters the pool via a sloped ramp allowing a gradual progression into deeper water. The ramped area is covered with a slip resistant surface from a few inches above the waterline, to at least the end of the ramp area. A pool with a beach entry is only available through gunite construction, and usually surfaced with a Pebbletec material both on the entry and the body of the pool. One of the biggest factors to include when considering this option is yard space. pool industry standards provided by ANSI specify that a beach entry should allow no more than a 1 foot drop in elevation for every 7 feet of distance. This means that a true beach entry would need to be over 20 feet long. It’s a very dramatic addition to a pool if you’ve got the space. If not, a modified beach entry might be the ticket.

Modified Beach Entry

The Modified Beach Entry enters the pool in the same way that the regular beach entry does, but after a short distance of 6 or 8 feet, transitions to a set of steps. It’s a good option for someone who likes the look of a beach entry, but not the large area required to complete it. This option, like the regular beach entry is only available with gunite pools.

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Water Features

Water features can greatly expand the enjoyment of your pool. The sight and sound of moving water is something that can be enjoyed anytime you venture into the backyard.

Many of our customers love to eat dinner on the back patio in the spring and fall and enjoy this feature of their pool even at cool times of the year when they have no desire to get in it. Water features can be very simple and inexpensive, or a grand and considerable investment. Whatever your tastes, there is a water feature for you. Below, we outline some of the more popular options for your consideration.

Classic Rock Waterfall

The original water feature. These are constructed in limitless configurations. The sizes, types, and configurations of the individual stones that form the waterfall are chosen to meet your design and budgetary wishes. Waterfalls tie in best with freeform pool shapes in a natural type setting.

Raised Beam Cascades, Sconces, and Rosettes

A raised beam is simply a continuation of the pool wall above the waterline. It can be just above, or several feet above. It can be straight, and it can follow a curve. Raised beam water features tend to have an elegant feel that accentuate both naturalistic and formal looking pools. Water can be discharged from the wall in sheets, streams, or bubbling surges. There is a great deal of variety in these features, however, as compared to the other types of water features, these usually offer the most dramatic movement of water. The raised portions can be covered with tile, stone, stucco, or any number of other materials. These coverings have a dramatic affect on the character of a pool.

Raised Planters

A raised planter is closely related to the raised beam water features. The primary difference is that the sides and back are enclosed to allow for plants. Besides those additions, the raised planter is finished to look just as the raised beam is. These are a great way to add some architectural scale and artistic interest to an otherwise flat landscape.

Laminar Jets

Laminar jets are one of the newest pool water features to come along. They launch a perfectly formed stream of water several feet up from the pool deck and out into the pool. The ark of water is so cohesive that it appears just as if it flows through a flawless glass tube. While any water feature can be lighted, only the laminar jet can project light from within. A fiber optic light at the base of the jet passes multiple colors of light through the ark similar to what a neon light plunging into a pool might appear like. These features can be both fun and elegant. A conversation piece for sure.

Spillovers

A spillover is what happens when one vessel of water flows over into another. The most common application for this is when a spa is installed next to a pool and slightly raised up to form a cascading sheet of water falling from the overflowing spa into the pool below. Customers sometimes express concern that their hot spa water will be wasted, needlessly heating the pool. However, they soon are assured that a number of methods are available to insure that either vessel can be isolated to deliver the hot water exactly where it is needed.

Fountains

Fountains can be outfitted with a wide variety of heads to create many fountain patterns. The height and width of the plume can be varied as well. Fountains are usually designed so that as the water falls into the basin it spills over into the pool. The water can spill back into the pool similarly to a spillover spa, through sconces, or other passageways between the vessels. Fountains are one of the most variable of water features. Both the look and sound of the fountain can be changed through the installation of different heads or simply varying the water flow through the fountain. The raised portion of the vessel provides more opportunities to instill your pool with character. Tile, Stone, Stucco, or other coverings can influence the natural, fun, or formal feeling the fountain instills. No matter what the pool style, a fountain can enhance it.

Negative Edge, Vanishing Edge, or Infinity Pools

These pools are called by many names, but at Paramount, we refer to them as Negative Edge pools. This is due to the movement of water over the edge of the pool vessel because the edge of the pool is lower than the level of the water. This effect is possible in nearly any setting, but is most dramatic when the pool is perched atop a vast landscape. When viewing the pool, the water appears to extend out into the horizon, and hang still by some invisible force. This feature provides an endless number of design possibilities. It can be constructed as part of either a fiberglass or gunite pool, although gunite is usually the more advantageous material.

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Decking / Coping / Concrete

There are many options available with pool decking. The most common are poured concrete varieties, still others are brick, natural stone, or even wood. In some situations a combination of these materials are used. This is most commonly the case when a brick is used for a coping around the edge of the pool, and concrete is placed behind it to form the decking. Besides the water itself, the pool deck is usually the most prominent feature of a pool project. The shape, color, texture, and heat characteristics of a pool deck can have a major impact on its character and usability.

Brick Coping

A classic touch. Most pools built before the 1990’s were outfitted with some form of brick, or pre-cast coping. It can add a more formal feeling to a pool, and is sure to be a timeless feature.

Cantilevered Concrete Coping

Gaining popularity in recent years, this variety extends the pool decking all the way out over the edge of the water. It offers increased flexibility for colors and textures, and provides for uniformity with the decking. This is a great option for most pools, especially those with a naturalistic theme.

Cool Deck

This is a finish where regular concrete is topped with a colored, slip resistant coating. Its name is derived via its ability to slightly reduce the amount of heat your feet may feel when walking across it on a sunny day. It is a durable and attractive finish.

Salt Finish

This option gets its name from the method of texturing. While the concrete is still wet, rock salt is broadcast over the surface, and pressed into the concrete. When dry, the salt is removed, and small random depressions are left in the surface. This gives an attractive and non slip texture. A wide variety of colors are available.

Stamping

Our stamped concrete finishes are the most natural looking options. We use textured rubber mats to create a stone like texture on the concrete. To further enhance the finish, an assortment of contrasting colors can be used to accentuate the texture. Stamping can provide an added degree of class to a pool project.

Brick Pavers

Pavers are another classic and classy deck option. The bricks can be placed in a wide variety of patterns, and are available in many colors. It is best to install the bricks on a concrete foundation, and as a result this can be a more expensive way to go. However, a brick paver deck should outlast most other options.

Natural Stone

This can be a dramatic enhancement of a naturalistic type pool. In a rustic, minimalist variety, stones can be placed directly on the ground and surrounded by grass or other landscaping material. In a more structured form, stones may be set over a concrete foundation to prevent settling. Flagstone or other stone types can be chosen to accentuate the pool setting and desired feel. These surfaces are generally uneven, and not well suited for tables and chairs. They are however very beautiful.

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3. Maintenance

No discussion on swimming pools would be complete without considering maintenance. Pool maintenance is rarely mentioned in advertisements for them, but is often the first thing prospective pool buyers mention to us. Many times, our would be customers have heard maintenance horror stories from a relative, or had unpleasant upkeep experiences on a pool they previously owned. These unfortunate experiences exist for a wide variety of reasons, and stem from an even wider variety of causes. However, technology and experience has made it possible for us to build pools which avoid all but a few minor ongoing requirements. While many pool builders design and build pools the same way it was done 20 years ago, we have chosen to study, and utilize the collaborative advances within the pool industry. Among those advances, none have been as dramatic, and beneficial as those made in the area of maintenance. Pools that appear to be very similar on the outside may indeed be very different in the places not easily seen. The filtration equipment, sanitation method, hydraulic design, and even underground piping vary from pool to pool and builder to builder. Proper selection and installation of the right type, size, configuration, and style will have a direct effect on the maintenance requirements of your pool. In keeping with our quality only philosophy here at Paramount, We will endeavor to provide you with the best functioning high efficiency pools available. Pools designed and built to be surprisingly easy to maintain, and with maintenance characteristics that best fit your life. It’s no exaggeration to say that many of our customers average less than 5 minutes per week completing everything required to keep their pools beautiful. The following descriptions of the elements of pool maintenance will show you what makes it possible.

Pool surface

The surface of the pool has a great deal to do with the maintenance characteristics of a pool. Let’s start by discussing texture. On a microscopic level, the plaster used as the surface of many pools, is very porous. Meaning, it contains tiny caves where algae and other tiny organisms try to find a home. Sanitizers, like Chlorine, kill these tiny unwanted guests. Some pool surfaces are less porous than regular plaster surfaces, and therefore less hospitable to microorganisms looking for a place to live. Millions of pools with plaster surfaces around the world are clean, safe and beautiful. White plaster is a great material for pool surfaces, but in a discussion of pool surfaces, it is simply accurate to acknowledge it as the most porous. As compared to white plaster surfaces, a Pebbletec surface is one such less porous option. The little stones which make up the surface are held in place by a plaster material, but contains substantially fewer of those tiny caves. As a result, a Pebble tech surface will require less sanitizer (chlorine or other type) to prevent poor water/surface conditions. Additionally, the less porous surface can be returned more quickly to proper condition if an organism such as algae begins to move in. The prize for the easiest surface to maintain goes to fiberglass. The CPC fiberglass constructed pool is nearly completely non-porous. There are virtually no tiny caverns for microorganisms to hide. The fiberglass pool uses relatively little sanitizer, approximately 60% less than a comparably sized plaster pool. Additionally, the less porous the pool surface, the less prone to staining it is. The potential for oak leaves, metal objects, or other stain sources to find their way into your pool may be a factor in your choice. The last consideration is durability. We have found fiberglass to be the most durable surface available for pools today. The overwhelming majority of fiberglass pools, many over 30 years old, have never required any type of resurfacing. Traditionally, fiberglass surfaces were restricted to pools with fiberglass construction, but this is no longer the case. At Paramount we are now able to place a fiberglass surface in both new and existing gunite pools. Fiberglass surfaces generally perform wonderfully, and retain their low maintenance characteristics year after year. This has often been true even in cases where water chemistry and proper balancing on the part of the pool owner was poor. Another durable surface is the Pebbletec material. Although this process has not been around as long as fiberglass, it has proven capable of maintaining its functional beauty for years. In general terms, a Pebbletec surface should last 20 years or more if maintained properly. Regular plaster, white or colored, is a good pool surface material. However, it is the softest of the three, and most susceptible to poor maintenance. If water chemistry is not regularly balanced, a plaster finish can deteriorate quickly. If maintained well, it may last for 10 or more years before significant change is noticed. Equipped with these facts and knowledge of yourself, were sure we can help you choose the surface that best fits your needs.

Sanitation

For the sake of this topic, we are going to take for granted that we need some sort of sanitizer in the pool to kill bacteria and other microorganisms that we don’t want in our pools. The sanitizer that we are all most familiar with is chlorine. Pool chlorine comes in the form of tablets, grains, liquid, and gas. It’s a great sanitizer. It’s economical, it kills the stuff we want killed, and when used properly, is completely safe for us. The tablets are the most commonly used form, and are the easiest to dispense. When we build a pool that uses chlorine as its sanitizer, we install an inline feeder that dispenses the sanitizer in measurable amounts. This removes the need to have that floating feeder that most people are familiar with bobbing around the pool. In addition to being more convenient than the floating feeder, the in-line system avoids safety hazards that exist when concentrated chlorine is present where children may be. In residential pools, granular and liquid chlorine are usually applied to a pool manually. They are both a fairly uncommon method for regular pool sanitation because very few pool owners want to physically add sanitizer to their pools every day. The chlorine tablets, also known as tri-chlor, coupled with an automatic feeder can supply a pool for a week or more between fillings. Although the above types of Chlorine are widely recognized as effective ways to keep pool water sanitized, many people seek alternatives. These pages do not have enough room to discuss every alternative, but we will include what we at Paramount feel is the best. And the leader of the alternative systems is commonly known as a salt system, or chlorine generator. This system takes advantage of a simple molecular operation. Using regular salt added to the water, the electrolytic cell generates natural chlorine. After the chlorine has done its job, it converts back to salt and the whole cycle repeats. The water is softened and more comfortable to swim in. The water is slightly less salty than your own tears, and even comfortable on eyes. It is quickly becoming the most popular of all our pool options. Ozone, Minerals, Bromines and other substances can also be used effectively to sanitize water. However, we believe their usefulness is generally limited. We may expand our site in the future to include more information on these and other options.

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