Thread: 60's Pool Renovation - Time for a Change

My wife and I decided last fall that this year would be the time to update our 50 year old pool. The liner was on it's last legs. It's one of the early steel wall & vinyl liner pools. Other than the occasional new liner this one has been untouched since new. I found the original brochure. The quote was hand scribbled between pics on the inside. $7,000 all in. What happened to those prices??

Instead of telling you what the plan is I thought I would reveal it in stages as it happens so those interested can follow along. I'll post pics of the work as it progresses. Our first decision was to keep the shape as it is. We really like the retro look of it. The angular shape compliments the squared off retaining walls and other landscape features.

Hope you find the process interesting.

Today was day one. Peel off the cover, drain, inspect and start removing the old decking (cement squares - very heavy). Interesting growth revealed but no unfortunate furry woodland creatures. Steel walls are in great shape. Contractor says this was a first class installation at the time. Likely no repair required.

Beauty- maybe I'll show the wife this - she won't let me put a pool in our backyard, we've got plenty of space and she won't bend.

Love the retro shape - very nice, can imagine Herb Alpert playing in the background and some 60's 70's retro swimsuits and shirts....very cool.

You'll be right on time for next pool season . Looking at your surrounding your pool pump must be running non stop to keep the pool free from leaves and all kinds of tree litter. That's not even taking into account the manual cleaning and pool brushing. I just ended up pulling two 6 year old African Sumac trees from my yard as I couldn't stand the mess anymore that they made in my pool and back yard. I replaced both with a Mexican blue fan palm. As of now my pool is surrounded by palm trees, cacti and minimal litter free shrubs. Good luck with your endeavor. I'll be watching.

Will enjoy following your progress..
I will be updating our liner and surround in the next few years as well. Mines a kidney shape and I'm kicking around infinity style conversion ideas.
Like the water line flush with the surrounding deck idea, not to mention the skimming power of the design.
My yard, like yours is filled with mature trees and pines that love to drop their bounty into the pool.
Good luck and post your challenges along the way!

Joining in as well, looks like the pool area is very nice to start out with, the pump house/changing station looks very cool.

The day begins with 2 wheel barrels. Add a couple guys with shovels and we got a little action happening at the shallow end. Next thing you know a steel wall disappears and wow something new shows up. Second major decision add a set of walk in steps. Looks good. By this time the crew is 10 strong with a lot of digging going on. Old liner and coping is gone, new plumbing all around. Amazing number of tree roots under the old floor. Day 2 ends with good progress. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Thanks for the thread. Will be interesting to follow.

Must have been a couple of scientific experiments going on underwater judging by the last pics in your 1st post.

Looking good, Love the steps as an addition! Makes the pool pet and wildlife friendly as well in case of accidental tumbles.

Are you going saltwater or chlorine injection for your water treatment management?

Reason I ask is that if going the latter, while you have your side weir (skimmer basket) exposed is a great opportunity to tie in all the chlorine lines from the injector. Put in a bulkhead fitting of the appropriate size into the weir and have automatic chlorine dispensing, below water line, and invisible to the pool proper. You can bury all the piping before the back fill.

As an aside, I also used the side weir to tie in a flush mount, under water led pool light on my vinyl pool that throws an amazing light display in the evening. Routed the 12 vdc wiring through another watertight bulkhead fitting in the weir above the skimmer basket itself.

Not sure if you were adding a light in your upgrade, but highly recommend it..

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Not sure if you were adding a light in your upgrade, but highly recommend it..

Totally agree. I have a Savi melody with all kinds of different setting from single color(s) to a light show. I ended up hooking it up to a timer so my pool is lit from sunset to sunrise. Always makes for a spectacular view into my backyard especially with the landscaping lights mixed in.

This was taken early last year when before I pulled those damn trees.

Beautiful shot Max. Fantastic accent lighting usage sir.
I too run a timer for my pool light but it shuts off 6 hrs after dusk, so about 2 am with our earlier sunsets this time of year.

I particularly like the Dachshund-cam view of the Nevada night sky.