Perth Fibreglass Pools is the only company to service the Pilbara and Northern WA with a proven track record. We have been servicing the Pilbara since 2017 and we have gained an incomparable reputation for top class quality and customer service over the years. Keep a look out for our unique logo.

We all love our annual visit to the Pilbara – the people are so friendly and we have been made very welcome by our wonderful customers (see our Facebook page for comments and pictures of our work).

The Perth Fibreglass Pools team are highly experienced and well equipped with the best transport, tools and materials to service WA’s north. We use the best materials in the trade (ALLNEX resins) designed and proven to withstand the tough Pilbara conditions, ensuring that your pool lasts for many years to come.

Please contact us if you live in the Pilbara or surrounds and are interested in a quote to renovate your swimming pool. I take a Pilbara visit prior to our annual trips to quote and discuss options with our Pilbara customers.

We hope to see you soon!

Nick and the Perth Fibreglass Pools team

A common problem we come across is seeing fading around the inner gel coat that produces dark lines showing on the most visible part of the pool surface. This is not normal and should be checked by a pool installer like Perth Fibreglass Pools.

These problems can also be known as spider cracks. We have some good and bad news about gel coat spider cracks.

• The bad news: it’s hard to spot them before its a problem even in an empty pool and they don’t show up very well.
• The good news: it’s hard to see them, so in the unlikely event that they develop in your pool it is unlikely for them to be seen.

Spider cracks have always been accepted as a reality of all types of fibreglass products. But what exactly is a spider crack?

Spider cracks are hairline cracks that occur in the surface layer, or gel coat, of a fibreglass product. They are not structural in nature—the crack is normally only through the thin layer of gel coat and does not typically extend into the structural laminate layers of the pool.

They are typically isolated to one small area of the pool and not a phenomenon that affects large areas. They call them spider cracks because of the way they resemble a spider web.

To analyse the problem we generally ask these two questions:

1. What causes gel coat cracks?
2. What can be done to prevent them?

What causes gel coat cracks in fibreglass pools?

Gel coat spider cracks in fibreglass pools are a result of pressure on a given point of the pool shell that exceeds the gel coat’s ability to flex. This pressure could be a result of improper shipping, improper manufacturing, or improper installation.

We sometimes have to work on pools by other manufacturers that were simply built too thin and couldn’t withstand the pressures of lifting and shipping. They arrived on the job site with gel coat cracks, and unfortunately, we had to send them back. We’ve received pools that were built correctly but not stabilized properly during shipping with the same result.

But installation is when the most common human error leads to gel coat cracks. All care should be taken when installing a pool base.

Sometimes a protrusion on the pool floor like a tree root or clump of dirt (neither should be there) exerts enough pressure to cause a spider crack in the gel coat. This occurs occasionally, but the most common cause of pressure on the floor of a fibreglass pool comes from the installer’s attempts to level the pool shell.

Many times, fibreglass pool installers are forced to attempt to level a pool shell that is 2–3″ out of level despite their best efforts to modify the base that the pool rests on. They lift and tweak the pool shell until they get it within a tolerable range. This exerts a tremendous amount of pressure on the pool that sometimes results in gel coat cracks that can happen immediately or eventually develop over time.

It’s also true that some manufacturers simply don’t build level pool shells. This leads to these extreme efforts by the installer to make an unlevel pool level.

Another cause of gel coat spider cracks can stem from the manufacturing process. The ideal is 25 to 30 mils. If gel coat is applied too thick, it becomes less pliable and more prone to cracking

Also find a reputable contractor who will level the pool properly and install the pool with care. To determine the “levelness” of a manufacturer’s pool shells, contact a few of their dealers and ask them point blank, “How level are their pool shells?”

Why Do I Have Air Bubbles in My Pool?

Commonly,the air is coming from the suction side of your swimming pool — this means anything before the water enters the filter. There are three places you can check to see if air is getting into your system.

1. The Skimmer’s

Check the water level. If your pool doesn’t have enough water, your skimmer(s) might be pulling in air. Be sure that the water level is in the middle of your skimmer’s opening. Here’s an illustration depicting where your water level should be:

Check the skimmer basket. Make sure your skimmer baskets are not damaged and seated properly to ensure good water suction.

Check the weir. The weir (or skimmer flap) is the door that “flaps” in front of your skimmer — it’s there to trap large debris from entering back into your pool. And it regulates water flow into your skimmer. Sometimes it can get jammed, so make sure it’s freely moving back and forth. If you don’t have a skimmer weir, I would recommend getting one, although it’s not the end of the world if you don’t have one.

2. The Pump

Check the pump lid. If it’s cracked, that’s the problem. However, the most common issue has to do with the lid’s O-ring.

Check the O-ring. Turn the pump off, remove the lid, and check the O-ring for cracks. Just bend the O-ring between your fingers — around the whole O-ring — to check for any signs of cracking. If it looks like your O-ring is splitting or dry-rotted, you need to replace the O-ring. If there are no signs of cracking, that’s a good thing. However, I would recommend using a Teflon-based O-ring lubricant to create a better seal.

Check the pump basket. Sometimes if your basket is cracked, it won’t be seated correctly in the housing. Replace broken filter basket and make sure it’s cleaned (frequently) and properly seated so that the lid can be sealed properly.

Check the drain plugs. On the pump housing, you should have a drain plug (maybe two). Make sure the drain plugs are not leaking or loose. You can apply some pipe thread sealant tape (plumber’s tape) to the drain plug threads for a tighter seal.

This is just our suggestion and you should always hire a professional for jobs that you may consider outside your realm of comfort.

3. The Union’s

If you have an inground pool, you might have some unions in the plumbing. Unions are threaded connectors between piping that will allow you to easily replace your filter equipment without having to cut any pipe.

Inside the union, you should have yet another O-ring to check for damage. If you see cracks in the O-ring, replace it. And if it’s not, make sure the O-ring is properly seated inside the groove it belongs in. If the O-ring is not in its groove, it will not create a proper seal and allow air to get into your system.

If all this sounds a bit much then give us a bell and we can get it back to normal for you.