Hi
Have you succeeded in obtaining a pool. I am looking for one but am having trouble. We live in Cher and that might be the problem
Regards
Jayne
Hi All,
Found this forum and hopefully you all maybe able to help. I am moving to a house close to Nere in a couple of months and want to plan to have a pool installed, and reading the posts it looks like next year will be favourite, as anyone had any luck in finding a good installer ?
Regards
Gary
Hello Gary and welcome to the forum.
It might be an idea to find out if you will be given permission to put in a Pool. Itās not a god-given rightā¦
Talking things through with your local Mairie, will clarify thingsā¦ and you just follow their advice on Paperwork etc.
Whatever you doā¦ do not commit to any sort of Pool until you have done the necessaryā¦
We are in the process of installing a pool near Jarnac. We have been happy so far with the workā¦ā¦presently the hole has been dug, walls complete and concrete for terracing complete. The liner will be put in when the weather warms up with a view to the pool being complete by Easter. Happy to talk to anyone ā¦ our installer lives quite a way away, but we are happy with himā¦
Elizabeth Wilson
Independent Partner at Flamingo Paperie
07967 234662
Hi Elizabethā¦
Jarnac is a lovely town. Glorious area.
When you applied to put in the poolā¦ did you come across any ādetailsā that others might learn fromā¦ ??
We had no problems at all! The key thing was that the land earmarked for the pool was the correct use category - had it been the other side of a wall it would not have been allowed. It has to be a certain distance from neighbouring walls, and a certain distance from the wrong category landā¦
We had an English chap who lives locally and runs a property serving business to help us - he submitted the application for us. Hope this helps a bitā¦
Elizabeth Wilson
Independent Partner at Flamingo Paperie
07967 234662
Hi Gary and welcome,
A pool from the customers perspective is just a very pretty looking water tank that cost a lot of money. From a pool engineers point of view it can be somewhat different. How well it actually works depends on how well designed the water flow (hydraulics ) function. The better that works the easier the pool is to look after. Done properly that can also result in much much lower running costs both electrically and chemically.
The level of knowledge in France is pretty poor considering the number of pools. One thing pool companies and shops are very good at is separating you from your hard earned money. The number of add on gadgets the pool industry produce to cure a problem that doesnāt exist if the pool has been designed well.
Who ever builds yours please, for you own sake avoid a monoblock filtration system that would be the start of your problems Magiline, Desjoyeux and Waterair should be avoided. If your pool builder includes a packet of dip strips or two little bottles of water test reagent in with your package it means they know very little about pool water chemistry and are far more interested in their profit margin than your pool.
Hi Stella
Permission has been approved
Elizabeth
If you could pass on the details that would be great
John
What would be your key points and choices when deciding on what to go for.
Regards ro all
Gary
As a former pool owner and current maintainer of five pools of different designs/brands I would go for a simple rectangular shape with a sand filter that is easy to maintain, I was going to say cheap but then realised how stupid that sounds. I have to agree with John that the likes of Magiline etc are only interested in selling you an expensive product with unique filtration systems that tie you to their equipment for ever.
I live quite close to the OP and whilst I canāt recommend an installer from personal experience I would suggest that he visits Aqua Creations in Saintes who have always given me excellent service in sourcing spares etc for the pools we look after as they also construct pools and have been around for nearly 25 years.
Hi Gary,
Will your pool be used solely for your family or may you rent it for paying guests at any point?
Will you be permanently resident or frequent visitors?
Will you use someone to look after your pool in your absence?
Structure, look for an insulated structure, insulation, walls and floor makes a good comfort factor and allows warmer water to be retained in the cooler ends of the year and reduces any pool heating costs. Likewise a good covers, winter and summer retains heat and reduces chemical usage and water evaporation. Definitely donāt get conned into fitting a winter cover that looks like a mesh construction, you need to keep out the daylight, mesh fails to do this.
What type of finish do you want, liner pools are easier to look after chemical wise and when the liner eventually fails a nice new liner up dates the pool instantly with latest designs, like changing wallpaper.
Tiles, very hard wearing, labour intensive to apply and longevity is governed by how good your tiler is and what products are used to bond and seal the tiling. Best to use an epoxy adhesive and grout. Chemically a little more trouble than vinyl liner.
Plaster and quartz type finishes can form unsightly mottled patches due to various factors when finish is being applied. More care required chemically and can be prone to staining from metal sources. Rougher surface finish doesnāt suit everyone and is harder to keep clean.
Polyester resin coque pools (fiberglass) similar to liner pools to maintain chemically. Smooth finish to the touch like vinyl although can also be ceramic tiled (according to your budget) often restricted to the placement of things like skimmers and inlets are governed by the molds used and may not be located in the best place hydraulically. Some now feature insulation sprayed on the back of the form.
The real heart of the pool and how easy it becomes to manage is the pool filtration system. Domestic pool filters can capture the dirt as required but are often poor at releasing it when washing out the filter. The better the filter the better this task is achieved. Sadly lots of pool equipment manufacturers just copy one another so progress in the pool industry is somewhat slow. Pool filters state a flow rate and it seems to be a competition to make the highest rate filter, this is absolutely counter productive to good filtration, the proper flow rate to achieve the best filtration at the correct rate is what is needed. Finding someone who really understands this aspect is a rare find.
The financial difference in making a poor hydraulic flow and filtration system compared to a good one is not that great but the benefits are. Using the best filtration media to remove the most dirt and bacteria is right up there with the important features and currently is AFM glass from Dryden Aqua. Knock off lookylike products do not have itās unique features i.e. self sterilising so it wonāt support bacterial growth.
Variable speed pool pump, sure they cost more but they allow the correct flow for best filtration whilst saving electricity to the point that most recoup the additional cost within a couple of years. They can also be set on the higher speed to help clean the filters, single speed pumps do neither of these functions well.
Pipe sizing for the plumbing needs to be correct for the flow required, frequently undersized pipe is used to save the pool company money (most customers wonāt know or understand or see the reduced cost) however we do know that a higher flow rate is needed for back washing filters and that is not achieved with the smaller pipe sizes or flow restrictions.
Will you require heating the pool? If I had a Ā£10 for every customer who said no to heating from the outset, only to change their mind after 2-3 seasons because they are not getting the use they thought they would. Important to consider this from the start, even if itās just to add the requirement at the design stage, to be fitted later when funds allow.
Probably enough from me for now! take a coffee break, there will be a short test at the end 
1 Like
We are using poolsbyjonathan.com
Good Luck
Elizabeth Wilson
Independent Partner at Flamingo Paperie
07967 234662
Possibly controversial post:
Poolsbyjonathan are not here to comment but it does illustrate the points I made earlier. Pictures of finished water tanks, do they look fine to the average viewer? Not to me, I see the same old ideas which are counter intuitive to the hydraulic performance of the pool. No pictures of the plant room, after all no one is interested in the pump and filter arrangement. That is the engine room of the pool, done well and you can virtually ignore it, get it wrong and youāll spend more time in there than youād like.
All of these pools will work, the difference being if something does go wrong how easy is it to get the pool right. If you turn up on holiday and find a green swamp, who wants to spend their weeks holiday getting back to clear again?
This is not a criticism of poolsbyjonathanās construction abilities or their dedication to their customers, just observations from the pools illustrated on their website. There is a small picture top left which shows a man swimming under water. No way of knowing if that is actually one of their pools but the water is very hazy to the point that you cannot see the back wall of the pool, that is bad quality water and if it were my website I wouldnāt be using an image like that to sell my services.
Iām also not going to comment about the above named specifically but I wouldnāt spend 20k+ with a company until I had checked them out and had seen their business registration and decennale assurance certificate that covered the installation of swimming pools.
Hi Elizabeth
I have followed the link you offeredā¦ and taken a look at the websiteā¦ but I cannot locate the Siret/Siren number.
As you know this company ā¦ could you please let me have that information ā¦ it will appear on a Quote or Invoice.
Cheers
Shall we do this off line to stop too much stuff going onto this page? elizabeth@summerisle.co.uk !!
Elizabeth Wilson
Independent Partner at Flamingo Paperie
07967 234662
2 Likes
Iāll message youā¦ you should see it arriveā¦ it will be private.
Hi John
Thanks for your reply, Where do I startā¦!!
OK, so itās going to be solely for us and maybe the odd friend visiting but weād probably be there anyway. For the first couple of years we will be frequent visitors but with a permanent move say in 3 years, and Iād like to think that we
could get someone to look over the place in our absence.
Iād definitely want it to be heated and would also want to invest in a good cover and filtrationā¦
Taking in all of the above what are your thoughts ?
Regards
Gary
Hi Elizabeth
Thanks for that, if you donāt mind can I ask you for updates as the project goes on ?
Regards
Gary
Weāll be interested to follow your progress, Garyā¦
When it comes to Pools ā¦ @Corona ā¦gives nothing but the very best advice.