Pool lengthening

[passedout]

That's probably something nobody around here has ever done but there are a certain amount of folks in here who have built their own pool so I guess they’ll have a good idea whether this is possible or not and maybe the cost involved. If you have a 5x10mts concrete and tile pool with overflow can you lengthen it and turn it into a 5x20mts lap pool? And if the original pool cost was roughly 1 million baht to build is one looking at 1 extra million to complete the project or possibly more due to the need of a bigger pump etc.?

Thanks in advance

[cooked]

What was supposed to be an Olympic sized swimming pool turned out to be a few centimetres too short as they had forgotten to calculate for the tile thickness (Neuchatel, Switzerland)!

The pool could not be used for top class sporting events and it was a long expensive business fixing it. Maybe cheaper ans easier to just build a new one?

[sappersrest]

Get yourself the services of a good structural/ civil engineer on board ,I have in the past seen a 25 meter pool with a broken back repaired, so it could be possible with the right team I think. Yes you would certainly need bigger pumps and filters.

[SwimmingPoolsThailand]

It will almost certainly cost as much again as the original build. This also depends very much on what is discovered when the first exploratory excavations have been made., and whether the existing tiles can be matched, etc.

The technical equipment is of the least concern, in many cases a simple doubling of the pumps and filters would be sufficient and are not the most costly part of the operation. Pool companies experienced in the construction of large pools will nkow what to do. Pool constructors who are specialised in building small to medium sized domestic projects may be met with a challenge they will find hard to rise to, but they may find it equally hard to say 'no' .

You can always ask us for our preliminary free professional advice - depending on your location.

[fdimike]

I would think the structural problems would be significant. You would have to determine if the old pool was built directly on the ground or on pilings. Even if you match the supporting structure you would have to deal with the "cold joint" between the old and new concrete and attempt to waterproof it. Any settling in the new part of the pool would certainly open that joint resulting in a significant water leak. Sure you could expose enough of the old rebar to tie in the new rebar but waterproofing that joint will be very difficult. Then you would have to match the tile which may have discolored a bit from the exposure to the sun. The bottom line as I see it is it would be much better to simply remove the existing pool and build a new one. JMHO

[Crossy]

I'm not a civil engineer but looking at the problems people have with relatively light-weight home extensions and differential settlement I see the issues with something weighing in excess of 100 tons (just the additional water) as being a recipe for disaster, particularly as it has to hold water too.

How about a swim jet device? Cheaper and easier and the pool will then be of infinite length

[IMHO]

I'm with everyone else... but instead of ripping out the existing pool, how about just adding a 2nd one? Assuming you have the land

[Don Mega]

I'm with everyone else... but instead of ripping out the existing pool, how about just adding a 2nd one? Assuming you have the land

For the life of me I cannot vision how 2 pools at 10m in length equal a single pool 20m in length, how do you swim the area that separates them ?

Edited December 29, 2015 by Don Mega

[TheCruncher]

I'm with everyone else... but instead of ripping out the existing pool, how about just adding a 2nd one? Assuming you have the land

For the life of me I cannot vision how 2 pools at 10m in length equal a single pool 20m in length, how do you swim the area that separates them ?

It's an opportunity to practice your dolphin jump skills.

[Chaichara]

fdimike raises some relevant issues, but one pool constructor has already suggested that the pool extension is doable. As the only thing missing is one end wall, with the extra engineering involved it might probably cost significantly more than building another pool of similar size. The question is whether the need justifies the cost. I would certainly suggest getting some quotes from proper pool firms, and depending where you are located, this might not be evident, and companies located further away will certainly load their prices for the distance. Baht 1,000,000.00 is probably going to be the absolute minimum.

[IMHO]

I'm with everyone else... but instead of ripping out the existing pool, how about just adding a 2nd one? Assuming you have the land

For the life of me I cannot vision how 2 pools at 10m in length equal a single pool 20m in length, how do you swim the area that separates them ?

I didn't say to make the 2nd one only 10M long

What I'm saying is, there's 2 viable options:

1. Rip out the 10M pool, and build a new 20M long on in it's place

or

2. Don't rip out the 10M pool, and just build a 20M one beside it

Overall costs will be lower for option #2.

[passedout]

Thank you all for the comments and advice.

So it turns out that pool lengthening is a bit more complicated task than I thought it would be and several things could go wrong in both the short and long term like some posters very helpfully pointed out.

I’m crap at dolphin so the second 10mts long pool is out of question :-) where as building the second 20mts pool maybe an idea. The only problem with that is that you end up with nearly double the maintenance cost for two pools and all I need is one. I can always empty it, cover it and forget about it I guess.

I have looked into the swim jet device but it just doesn’t feel right to me. It must be very good for your daily pro training though if that’s your thing.

Should I decide to go ahead with it I will definitely be looking for professional advice.

Cheers and happy New Year to all

[TheCruncher]

Thank you all for the comments and advice.

So it turns out that pool lengthening is a bit more complicated task than I thought it would be and several things could go wrong in both the short and long term like some posters very helpfully pointed out.

I’m crap at dolphin so the second 10mts long pool is out of question :-) where as building the second 20mts pool maybe an idea. The only problem with that is that you end up with nearly double the maintenance cost for two pools and all I need is one. I can always empty it, cover it and forget about it I guess.

I have looked into the swim jet device but it just doesn’t feel right to me. It must be very good for your daily pro training though if that’s your thing.

Should I decide to go ahead with it I will definitely be looking for professional advice.

Cheers and happy New Year to all

Cheapest solution that will serve your purpose.

[passedout]

Haha...awesome! That beats the swim jet device hands down!

[SantiSuk]

If I had a spare pool I would cover it properly with steel and concrete, put a waterproof concrete skim over the tiles and convert it to an underground water tank. Then I would rig up all the rooves to collect rainwater (for all use other than drinking) with divert technology to avoid collecting the first roof-cleaning downpours. But only after looking into how you maintain the clarity and roughly appropriate sanitary levels in such a structure.

If I were rebuilding my house again*, now knowing that my (largely ThiaV-inspired) skepticism over marriage longevity here was misplaced, I would have built in that and similar eco approaches to the house. I'm not particularly New Age and I know many of these things do not actually save money, except over the very long term, but I do like the thought of leaving the Thai family with something a little more self-sustaining when I shuffle off the mortal coil.

*mean 'having it built again'. I'm not as manually clever or resolved as some expats on here