By mixing vermiculite with portland cement, it becomes an insulating concrete that can be troweled to a non-abrasive smoother finish than a sand base, adding years of life to your pool. It is flexible enough to move with the frost yet dense enough that the occurrence of footprints is rare, which is not the case with sand or clay.
Here are some of the many benefits of a vermiculite pool base:
• We guarantee a firm, permanent base that won’t wash out. Sand and clay wash out easily. Most contractors will not cover this type of damage under their warrantees. Washout is particularly common in slopped yards when water from the rest of the yard or the house gutters is directed toward the pool. Washout can also happen when a filter hose fails or when a liner develops a leak and can be quite extreme in the case of a liner seam split. This should cause extra concern if your pool is above yours or your neighbor’s home. When a liner gets a small tear, water begins to leak near the wall of the pool. This can wash sand out from underneath the liner, causing the liner to stretch. Meanwhile, the tear gets bigger causing a larger hole in the ground. It is this kind of leak that can cause considerable damage to the area surrounding the pool. When over 50 tons of water starts to move, it can cause quite a bit of damage.
• A Vermiculite pool base will control root, stone & grass intrusion much better than sand and clay.
• Recently wooded areas that have heavily rooted or stony soil should give this type of base extra consideration. This base should also be considered if the pool area tends to stay wet for long periods.
• Some types of oval pools have substructures under the liner that allow sand and clay to settle around these parts. This settling shows up as sink areas under the liner. Ask the contractors you are considering if their warrantee covers this. We guarantee that vermiculite concrete will hold its shape against this type of settling.
• Liner replacement is less expensive with this type of base. Sand and clay bases have to be raked and repacked after the old liner is removed, which increases the time the job takes by up to 30%. With a vermiculite pool base, we give a $100 credit on every liner change for the life of the pool. When averaging the cost over the life of the pool, it should be no more than $20 a year for a considerably more stable foundation.
