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See Our Entire Process for Manufacturing Fiberglass Pools

At River Pools, we're obsessed with transparency. That's why this page shows exactly how we make our pools and what makes them the best manufactured one-piece pools in the world.

The River Pools Way: Advanced Fiberglass Pool Manufacturing

1. Gelcoat Surface Layer

The entire surface of the pool that we see and touch is a thin layer of gelcoat. Because fiberglass pools are actually built from the inside out, gelcoat is the first layer applied during the manufacturing process.

Our gelcoat is spray-applied to a thickness of 27 to 30 mils and provides the rich color and smooth finish that make fiberglass pools beautiful and user-friendly.

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Gelcoat surface layer

2. Vinyl Ester Resin for Blister and Corrosion Resistance

The second layer of the fiberglass pool manufacturing process is our vinyl ester chopped fiberglass layer. Vinyl ester is a premium-grade resin specifically blended to prevent an unwanted process called osmotic blistering—a phenomenon where the gelcoat surface forms actual blisters and separates from the next laminate layer.

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Vinyl ester resin

3. Chopped Fiberglass for Strength

Now that we have our gelcoat surface applied and our corrosion and blister resistance covered, it’s time to start building the strength of the pool shell. We apply chopped fiberglass by a “chopper gun” that simultaneously chops continuous strands of glass fiber into roughly 1” pieces while spraying resin and catalyst all onto the mold. We then roll it out to consolidate and remove air.

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Chopped-Fiberglass

4. Hand-Laid Woven Roving at Stress Points

Specific areas of the pool shell are subject to higher levels of flexural stress. Think where the pool floor meets the walls, tanning ledges, steps, and benches. We reinforce these areas with this added layer of woven roving fiberglass for additional strength.

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Hand-Laid-Woven-Roving

5. Structural Comb Supports

Fiberglass is naturally flexible. In fact, its tensile strength is many times that of concrete. But there are times where we want it to stay put.

Consequently, we use structural comb ribs and support layers throughout the pool shell and obtain a much higher strength in these areas with very little material or labor cost.

See Where We Use It

Structural-Comb-Supports

6. Final Chopped Fiberglass Strength Layer

Our fiberglass pool manufacturing crescendo is a final layer of chopped fiberglass to provide even more strength. The exotherm from this layer is the final heat blanket that will continue to drive the cross-linking process of all previous layers to a full cure. While adding this layer, we also glass-in the lifting points on the pool.

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Final-Chopped-Fiberglass

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