Shotcrete, Fiberglass or Vinyl: Choosing an Inground Pool for Mid-Missouri Ground

Most people who walk into a pool showroom already have a picture in mind: the shape, the deck, maybe a waterfall at one end. What they don't have yet is an opinion about the shell, the structure that holds the water and that you'll never look at again once the pool is full. At Columbia Pool & Spa an inground pool comes three ways: shotcrete, fiberglass, or a steel wall with a vinyl liner. All three are real pools and all three can last. Each one suits some yards and some budgets better than the others, and here's how we'd talk it through at the counter.

Shotcrete: the most freedom

Shotcrete, which a lot of people call gunite, is concrete sprayed over a steel cage. The cage in a Columbia Pool & Spa shotcrete pool is half-inch steel tied on 9-inch centers, and the concrete goes against wood forms. Their pool pages describe the finished walls as stronger than your home's foundation. Because the shape is built on your lot rather than delivered, shotcrete is the one to pick when the design is the point.

• Freeform curves or a modern rectangle with crisp angles
• Beach entry, benches, sundecks and swim-up bars
• Waterfalls, grottos, fire bowls and laminar deck jets
• Infinity edges, slides and diving boards
• A spa built into the same shell, plus an automatic cover

The finish is PebbleTec, and the company is a PebbleTec Certified Pool Builder through Pebble Technology International. The tradeoff is that a fully custom pool is a bigger project. It takes longer than setting a factory shell, and it's priced as a custom bid after a design consultation, not off a list.

Fiberglass: a shell made in a factory

A fiberglass pool starts as a one-piece shell, molded ahead of time and trucked to your yard. Columbia Pool & Spa installs Thursday Pools shells, which are made in the Midwest, in a long line of shapes with names like Sea Turtle, Cathedral, Monolith and Grace, plus spa and wading models. Many of them come with tanning ledges, oversized benches, sun shelves or zero entry already formed in. The install goes in a clear order: dig out the hole, set the pool and equipment, calibrate, backfill, run the plumbing, then test the water.

The tradeoff is that you're choosing from the shapes the maker offers, and the shell has to physically reach your backyard. A tight side gate, overhead lines or a steep drive can change the plan, so mention them early. If one of the standard shapes fits how your family swims, fiberglass is a very good answer.

Steel wall and vinyl liner: the practical one

A steel wall pool has a framework of steel panels, a sand or similar base, and a vinyl liner holding the water. It's the more affordable route, it works on lots of different sizes, and it can still have a custom sundeck and a deep end. It also pairs well with an automatic cover if that's on your list.

The honest part is the liner. It's a wear item, and the ranges Columbia Pool & Spa publishes run from about 7 years to 14 years depending on the page and how the pool is used and cared for. Plan on replacing it at some point, and think of that as part of the price of owning this type of pool. The service department does liner replacement and the renovation side handles tile, coping and decks.

What Missouri ground does to a pool

Soil in mid-Missouri isn't the same from one neighborhood to the next, and plenty of it swells and shrinks with wet and dry spells. Their shotcrete pages call out gravel drainage around the shell to deal with soil that shifts, and that's a good thing to ask any builder about, whatever type of pool you choose. Water has to have somewhere to go that isn't against your pool wall. Ask what's under your particular lot, where your yard drains, and how the builder handles both.

Questions to settle before you pick

• How much do you care about a custom shape, or would a standard one do the job?
• Can equipment and, for fiberglass, a delivered shell actually get into your yard?
• Do you want an automatic cover, a built-in spa or a swim-up bench?
• How long will you stay in the house, and how do you feel about replacing a liner someday?
• Where does your yard drain when it rains hard?

Answer those honestly and the choice usually gets short. A big lot and a bigger imagination point toward shotcrete. A straightforward shape on a yard with good access points toward fiberglass. A smaller budget or an awkward lot often points toward steel wall and vinyl.

Where to go from here

Pool prices aren't published because no two yards are alike. You get a custom bid after a conversation about the property, the features and the timeline. Call the Columbia showroom at (573) 874-6972 to talk it through, or reach the Osage Beach showroom at (573) 878-5152 if your lot is at the Lake.