I have read all of the pool threads on this board, but most are a little vague. I was wondering specifically what if anyone has used as a liner for a icf pool and how they installed it. Thanks P

Gunite finish, sprayed in, tile on top, painted below, fill with water and enjoy.

Save on energy costs of heating the pool

Chris Johnson, is the Gunite sprayed directly on to the ICF forms? Is there a wire mesh or anything else used?

Use mesh with stand offs...it needs something to adhere to

Like pjf said, not a lot has been written about this. How would the bottom of the pool be constructed if using ICF?

I was just talking to a guy who was going to pour a slab first with in floor radiant heat then build the walls on top. The slab would be formed to finished floor.

Correct, pour the floor, doesn't matter before or after the walls, have a foam fabricator make the corners or you can purchase them from someone who makes mouldings for stucco...same thing

Any other options other than gunite? Can you do vinyl liner, or any other options Thanks P

I'm sure you could do a liner, would require the track at the top to hold in place and it should work. Why would you want a liner? Damages easier then gunite and requires periodic replacement, etc.

Not to many gunite pools up here in Ontario, Canada. Would be a little worried about cracking etc. From a structural standpoint do you know what thickness of block would work, or more rebar etc.

Paul...This is your backyard...take over...if you need struct. details let me know I will email to you

PJF...I'm 3000 miles from you...things are a little different here

Chris Johnson, I sent you a private message with my email if you wouldn't mind sending construction details...thanks!

PM sent

pjf, just called the guy I know up here to see what he is using, right now he is still investigating, he mentioned a spray liner, Line-X, the same guys that do the pickup beds, its a little pricey but will last a life time, you can also get custom fit liners as well. Sean said he would be more than happy to talk to you about it if you want. get in touch with me and I will give you his info>

[email protected]
705-333-1091

Paul

I have no direct experience with this product. Months ago I was researching building ICF pools and this seemed like a very interesting way of creating a waterproof liner. Basically it is a fiberglass system that can be applied over foam:

http://www.armorpools.com/index1.html

Hey Paul Thanks, I have seen a company advertising scorpion coatings, they make a zero biological growth spray liner that i have inquired about to see if it will adhere to icf blocks I have not heard back from them yet

The heck with gunite. In a "normal" in-ground pool, the gunite is structural, right? If so, then what's the point of the icf walls? I'm trying to swing a deal where the icf guys doing my house stack and pour pool walls using Lite Form extruded strippable forms, I strip off the inside, and then get the plasterer who's stucco-ing my house to cut me a deal on a Permacrete urethane "plaster" job for the pool.

Now if I could just find an engineer who wouldn't look at me like I'm crazy and refer me to a useless pool contractor...

I'll tell you how it turns out in six months.

yours/
peter.

My neighborhood is refurbishing our pool, shell is intact. New boulder retaining wall, concrete deck, landscaping, pool plumbing and small bathroom/equipment room $250,000 !!

I am planning a pool on a new home build in MN and looking for alternatives. I got a quote of 35-50000 for a basic 20x40 vinyl liner and 70,000 to 100,000 for gunite pool.

I can't believe these pool contractors aren't selling insulated pools especially w/ the ICF knowledge out there now. Maybe they don't care in order to sell you additional heating equipment and solar pads. Seems like a great opportunity there.

Here is one www.insulatedpoolkits.com

Peter, what's the point of ICF walls you say, well we know from our geo-thermal heat guys that the ground has a constant temp of 55 degrees all year long, well I want my pool at 80 or so it takes a lot to heat a pool when the ground keeps stealing the heat, the solution, ICF walls used the same way as in the house, keeps the hot in and the cold out, put a solar blanket on top and there you have it!!!

Paul Stevens, the way I took Peter's comment was if you're going to use gunite to finish the ICF, then why use the ICF in the first place (meaning they are both structural and therefore using both would be overkill). The benefit of an ICF pool wall is pretty clear, but how best do you finish it so that it's going to last for years underwater?

I received a confirmation from Scorpion spray coatings yesterday that there spray on bed liners will bond to expanded polystyrene and be water tight. I might be more expensive but will last a lifetime and will bond directly to the icf. So no vinyl liner or gunite.

Interesting about the Scorpion coating. I wonder what it would look like over time - it's not like you could paint it when it starts looking bad. It will stick to the ICF but what about the concrete bottom of the pool? You mentioned it being expensive - what kind of price are we talking about?

I know if this coating every gets scraped or cut with items being thrown in the back of a pickup, that small area can be resprayed and it reseals it completely. I also now that it bonds to concrete, wood and other materials. I have talked to a gentleman that sprayed it on a concrete floor in hockey arena and skate blades have not cut it when walking on it. It's tough stuff, just have to see how much it is a square foot.

I wonder about the integrity of the joint where the pool bottom meets the sides, with gunite it is not a problem as it is placed as one continous unit.

I am checking out another product, it is for sealing roofs on metal buildings it is called Hy tech insulating paint.

I have purchased the product and applied it to an old pitch and gravel flat roof on our local museum it dried fairly hard and it has sealed the roof so far, this was just applied a week ago and it has rained several times since.

I have noticed that even though it has stayed some what flexible it is also some very tuff stuff, I will be watching this for another week or so and if it continues to work in the application on the roof, I will find out if it will adhere to foam. If that is the case I will be the test dummy and let you know.

you can solve your problem also by heat welding a pvc membrane, your will have joint but , it cost less then polyurea

How about using Giga-Crete as the interior finish? you can do any color, its ballistic rated and can be sprayed on and finished with any design?
I'm an ICF builder and do pools but just starting with my first ICF pool anyone used the giga crete?

Jay

I am contemplating building my first ICF pool and have researched using Giga-Crete and similar products. PermCrete makes several products that I think would work well. I was going to pour the bottom, stack the ICF walls, pour walls, then add a rounded foam band around the wall/bottom joint, then spray/trowel in a PermaCrete coating. Once that is done, I am going to pour a cap over the wall and surround area with stamped/colored concrete.

Has anyone attempted an ICF pool using this method before?

Check out insulated pool kits as well. They make various shaped eps pool panels.

With all due respect Slenzen would you piss off and stop continually trying to sell your crap on here we are trying to find solutions and you are non stop with your sales shit.

We just built a small (14'x14') pool out of ICF. We formed the slab exterior, and hung the ICF forms to the interior, and poured it monolithic. We then stripped the interior foam, and coated the entire interior with a pebble tech finish. The total pool depth is 5', with interior cast in place steps and a swim up bar. We used 6" core ICF for the walls

Greg Fasano
ICON Structures LLC
239-438-2670

Posted By Jay23 on 01 Apr 2011 10:31 AM
With all due respect Slenzen would you piss off and stop continually trying to sell your crap on here we are trying to find solutions and you are non stop with your sales shit.

Jay provide any proof I have anything to do with any company.  If not, screw you.

I am a home enthusiast planning on building a passive modern minimalist home with an infinity pool on a lake property I have.  I've always wondered why insulated pools aren't more common.  I have been on the forums for quite some time mostly learning but adding a bit to the discussion on various products I come across.

ICFConstruction has been to my property.

If you are a real man then apologies are in order.

With all due respect Slezen I went back and looked at your comments on all forums and with 350 Responses you said the same thing as in copy and pasted "Check out blah blah they make blah blah" over 320 times got to wonder right?

ground has a constant temp of 55 degrees all year long, well I want my pool at 80

The ground is only 55F if you don't have a 80F pool sitting in it. At that point, the ground starts warming up and acts as insulation (about R1 per foot). The savings from using foam are there, but not as much as one would calculate if they thought the ground would stay at 55F.

Well our first ICF pool was a great success go to YouTube and search HamptonsICF and there are some videos on there.
We did not strip inside of pool and used a product from base coat with mesh and rolled on 1.4" thick coating over with sea glass from Sider Oxydro would like to try the pebble tech finish over base coat but very expensive material.

What's the cost of the pebble tech material per sqft installed??

I wonder if one can do a partial in ground and then above ground pond out of ICF? I don't see why not.

We recently built an ICF pool that was half underground and half above ground. Due to slope of land, we made half of the pool bar height so they could put barstools on the outside. We even plumbed in a beer tap with lines running to the pump area for the keg. We used 8 inch Logix Platinum series. One in-ground wall was a radius.

Posted By LoneStar ICF on 04 Jul 2012 08:45 PM
We recently built an ICF pool that was half underground and half above ground. Due to slope of land, we made half of the pool bar height so they could put barstools on the outside. We even plumbed in a beer tap with lines running to the pump area for the keg. We used 8 inch Logix Platinum series. One in-ground wall was a radius.

If you got any pics, please post them or the link!

THANKS!