Here is a simple time lapse video showing the installation of an inground swimming pool liner.  Penguin Pools uses a water delivery service to fill our pools so it goes much quicker and allows for less problems with wrinkles.

This pool is 20′ x 50′ so we needed to use 3 vacs to get the suction we needed on the liner, even though we always seal all the wall seams.

Here is a basic timeline of how we install our liners ::
1.  Place liner in deep end and open it to the shallow end of pool.
2.  Tuck bead into coping at couple of places around pool.
3.  Start at the step to make sure it is aligned perfectly, if the step is lined up correctly the rest will fall into place.
4.  Start working around the pool tucking the bead » Continue reading “How to Install a Vinyl Liner in an Inground Swimming Pool (video)”

We were just notified that Penguin Pools of WI just won a design award in Region 5/6.  The award will be given to us at the MidAmerica Show on January 18th.  Penguin Pools submitted a couple of pools this year so we aren’t exactly sure which project won this year.

Thanks to everyone involved!

In this time lapse video, Penguin Pools is using Pool Krete from Strong Manufacturing to pour the bottom of an inground vinyl liner swimming pool.  By using the mixer from Strong along with their specialty pump, we are able to do the entire pool with 3 guys.
The mixer makes it so you get perfect consistency the entire time you are pouring the bottom.

When this bottom was poured it was 40 degrees out & snowing, so we » Continue reading “Pouring a Vermiculite Bottom in a Vinyl Liner Inground Swimming Pool (video)”

Here is simple time lapse of how Penguin Pools installs our Vinyl Liner Pool walls.  Once the walls are up, we then put down the footing to hold it in place for years to come.

You can see that Penguin Pools uses a leveling system that is unique to most pool builders which doesn’t require any shims to level the pool.

We had limited access to the back yard, that is why we had to » Continue reading “Installation of Vinyl Liner Inground Swimming Pool Walls and Footing (video)”

Algae is a major concern for pool owners. Algae is a one-celled plant that can grow in your pool if conditions are favorable. The most common myth concerning algae growth in pools is that it is ONLY a result of low chlorine (or its alternative). Although this is definitely a major cause of algae, it is not the single contributing factor.

Despite water treatment facilities, actual traces of algae may very well be present in the tap water that is used to fill your pool. Therefore, it is always a good idea to add an algaecide and to shock your pool after it has been filled or refilled. Yet another contributing factor toward algae growth are millions of microscopic algae spores that are carried by wind, eventually falling into your pool, where they will grow into outbreaks of algae if conditions are favorable.

A few of these favorable conditions are environmental. Algae, like all plants, need light and food in order to survive and grow. Temperature, humidity, sunlight, and nutrients (food) foster algae growth. Temperature, humidity and sunlight are self-explanatory. Nutrients consist of lawn fertilizers and other industrial products that are carried by wind and blown into the pool. Nutrients also consist of certain minerals that are already present in water. Since water chemistry relies on some of these certain minerals to be present, they cannot simply be removed from the water.

Here is a possible sequence of events: Algae spores will blow into your pool, where they are supported by temperature, humidity and sunlight. The algae spores then consume various nutrients. From temperature, humidity and sunlight, as well as from nutrients, the once unnoticeable algae spores have now grown into actual algae.

In addition to these environmental factors, other factors, such as limited water circulation, poor filtration, a neglect of routine pool maintenance, heavy bather loads, a neglect of overall water chemistry, neglect of shocking, and of course, insufficient levels of chlorine (or its alternative), also make conditions favorable for algae growth.

Algae is not harmful to swimmers. It just causes the appearance and integrity of your pool to suffer and occupies time to correct. If you do get algae, you are not alone; it has been seen in pools of some of the foremost authorities on pool care and maintenance. Rest assured, any algae can be killed, but not without a few days of continued effort and time. Therefore, it is best to begin with a discussion on the necessary steps to prevent algae growth. An ounce of prevention is worth a hundred pounds of cure.

For years, Penguin Pools of Waukesha has used duct tape on all of the seams on our pool walls when building a vinyl liner pool.  It has always been told that the tape will help keep dirt out & create a better suction for the liner vacs, so we did it.  After years of replacing liners and the duct tape that is old, brittle, and useless; we have changed our story a little.  We now silicone all of our wall joints (steel or polymer) right after we straighten the walls.

The little cavity that the silicone fills can be wiped smooth and dries in a matter of hours.  The silicone will hold strong yet it will not crack or become brittle like duct tape with temperature changes or gets wet.  Once the silicone dries, it does a couple of other things that are a nice by-product. » Continue reading “To Tape or Not to Tape . . . walls for Vinyl Liner Pools ?”

Going Green is the right thing to do, but it usually means it costs you more time &/or money.  Pentair has changed the rules a little with its Pentair IntelliFlo pumps.  The VS-3050 (VS stands for Variable Speed) now allows you to save money by using a fraction of the electricity when running your pool equipment, as a result you are “going green”.  Traditional pumps run at one, maybe two speeds, but you aren’t able to control what speed that is or the amount of water being moved.  Pentair’s VS pumps allow you to set the speed of the pump to allow for the amount of water you need to move for that application.  Why move 80 gallons a minute when your fountains need 30 gallons, or your slide needs 20 gpm?

This pump utilizes the simple fundamental law of pumps ::
Slower moving pumps consume less power! » Continue reading “Pentair’s IntelliFlo VS-3050 Changes Pump Technology – Lets Go Green”

Do you have clay as your soil base?
Do you have a high water table?
Do you just have water issues?

Water takes the path of least resistance and will essentially find any gap around your pool to fill into.  If you have a high water table or a soil base that doesn’t allow water to run through it easily, you can get what is called a “floating liner”.  When the ground water pressure is more than the water pressure inside the pool, it essentially pushes the liner off the vermiculite bottom.

The pool water in the pool didn’t have enough pressure to hold back the ground water.  While this can happen to anyone that doesn’t have enough water in the pool, it can also happen when your pool is completely full of » Continue reading “Sump Systems – The Correct Way to Prevent a Floating Vinyl Liner (video)”

Vermiculite is the preferred base for vinyl liner swimming pool bottoms as they require a smooth, level, & nonabrasive base.  Strong is the leader in vermiculite (pool krete) for the swimming pool market.  Strong premix pool krete is easily applied and gives a perfectly formed bottom so the liner will not slip or wrinkle.  All of the pools that Penguin Pools builds in the Milwaukee, WI  and Minneapolis, MN area, have vermiculite bottoms.

Along with just doing vermiculite bottoms on all of our inground vinyl liner pools in WI, MN, & IL, we also apply it with a special mixer and pump from Strong Manufacturing.  The mixer and pump give us a perfect consistency throughout the entire pool so we don’t have to worry about some areas being too dry or wet.  The time that it takes » Continue reading “Strong Pool Krete Mixer & Pump – Vermiculite Mixer for Pool Bottoms”

When it comes to inground pools, nothing changes the look from ordinary to exceptional like a good set of steps.  While most vinyl liner swimming pools come standard with fiberglass walk-in steps, they very common.  They don’t look bad and are extremely durable, but they have become common place over the years.  Also, walk-in steps aren’t idea for undertrack auto covers as they need to be perfectly square.
The easiest way to upgrade your steps is to get custom steel inground swimming pool steps.  Penguin Pools of Milwaukee and Minneapolis can custom make any size or shape step you like with our distributor Kafko Manufacturing.

This step is perfectly functional and will last for 30+ years, however it doesn’t jump out and say “look at me”.  While white walk-in steps are common, you can dress them up by » Continue reading “Custom Steel Inground Swimming Pool Steps”

Everyone wants an inground swimming pool build to go smoothly, but things always come up when you least expect it . . . usually when you start digging.  The biggest variable is usually what you are going to find once you start digging over 3′ in the ground. 

Penguin Pools often comes across rock or bad fill in many newer subdivisions.  Builders take fill from one site and put it on another site until they don’t have any more sites to hid the fill.  Rock and buried construction trash makes building an inground pool very challenging.  When building a vinyl liner pool, the walls have to sit on virgin ground so there is no worry about settling.  When you hit soil or earth that doesn’t hold its form / collapses, you need to find away to create virgin soil.

In the Milwaukee, WI area we hit clay or rock 90% of the time.  Rock is most common in the Waukesha, Merton, Hartland, Sussex areas; however we have had poor conditions in Waterford, Menomonee Falls and Brookfield areas.

» Continue reading “Building an Vinyl Liner Inground Swimming Pool on Rock”

Getting a custom dig or layout for your inground swimming pool isn’t hard  & shouldn’t cost you more.  Do you want your pool 8′, 6′, 3′ deep?  Depth really shouldn’t matter all that much for your pool builder.  Most builders consider 8′ deep a standard inground pool depth, anything less will take less time to dig and dump the dirt.  While depth is just one aspect of your pool, the amount of shallow end is your other main decision.

Many inground pool builders don’t give customers the options to maximize your shallow end.  You may think that the amount of shallow end doesn’t matter, but think about it.  How often do you stand in an inground pool and not have to tread water?  Most people jump in, swim a little bit then go to the shallow end or a part of the pool that they can stand.  Face it, we aren’t all Michael Phelps in the pool and we need to stand.

» Continue reading “Custom Swimming Pool Digs, Depths, & Dig Specs”

By Megan O’Neill, Rodale.com

Public pools across the country are open for the summer season, but a recent survey could make you think twice about jumping in. According to the poll, almost half of swimmers admit to one or more behaviors that contribute to an unsanitary pool. And you’ve probably suspected as much, since the poll also shows 84 percent of us believe our fellow swimmers participate in unhygienic pool behavior.

THE DETAILS: The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted in late April and early May of this year by the Water Quality and Health Council, a body of scientific and other experts who advise the American Chemistry Council, an industry trade association. One in five respondents (17 percent) admitted to urinating in the pool, while almost eight in ten (78 percent) are convinced that their fellow swimmers are guilty of this act. Plus, about a third (35 percent) jump in without showering first, and three-quarters (73 percent) think other swimmers do the same. Even though most people seem wary of the hygienic standards of the swimmers around them, only 36 percent say that pool water cleanliness is on their mind when they take the plunge.

WHAT IT MEANS: Besides being just plain gross, filthy pool practices can lead to unsafe swimming conditions. Urine—as well as sweat and even sunscreen—contain nitrogen, which eats up a pool’s free chlorine. Free chlorine is what kills waterborne germs that could make you sick if ingested. So if too many people are peeing in the pool or diving in while sweaty, that could mean less chlorine’s available to wipe out nasty critters.

Even when chlorine levels are at proper levels, some illness-causing organisms can survive. For example, about two-thirds of all recreational water illnesses (or RWIs) are caused by Cryptosporidium, a chlorine-resistant microorganism that causes diarrhea. “Crypto can survive for as many as 10 days, even in a well-maintained pool,” says Michele Hlavas, epidemiologist in the Division of Parasitic Diseases for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Which is why swimmers need to take on some of the responsibility for maintaining the safety of their pools. “Pool operators can’t do it all by themselves, as it’s the swimmers who bring the parasites into the water,” says Hlavas. “Swimmers have to get invested in keeping their pool clean and keeping themselves healthy.”

Here are a few tips to help you protect yourself, and other swimmers, from pool-related illness: » Continue reading “Peeing in the Pool . . . Go Figure It Happens”

Penguin Pools of Milwaukee, WI offers a full line of vinyl liner replacements.  While we specialize in inground swimming pools, we will do work on above ground pools also.

On standard rectangle or grecian pools our rate is $3,000 + water.  That includes draining the old pool, removing the liner, and up to 5 bags of patching for the bottom of your pool (vermiculite).  We will install new gaskets for your lights, skimmers, main drains, returns, and wall mounted fountains.

The vinyl liner is a standard 20 mil with a 15 year pro-rated warranty.  Upgrades can be done if you want a 30 mil liner, a solid pattern, or foam on the floor of your pool.
You can view all of our liner selections here.

» Continue reading “Vinyl Liner Swimming Pool Replacements – Milwaukee Branch”