Answers to the Luxury Vinyl Liner Pool Controversy

It didn’t take long to hear from a few doubters when we named our most popular pool the Luxury Vinyl Pool. “Upscale and luxury don’t belong in the same sentence as vinyl,” one commenter said on a social media post.

It’s true that not all vinyl liner pools are luxury pools, just as not all gunite pools are luxury. That’s because luxury is in the design, not the materials used to build your pool. Luxury is in the craftsmanship, not just the raw materials. Luxury is in obsessive attention to detail, not just the construction materials. We could write a book on all the essential ingredients that go into creating a luxury pool project. For now, let’s focus on why a luxury pool isn’t necessarily a gunite pool.

The gunite pool perception

Gunite has long been perceived as the ultimate in pools. But as we pointed out in “A Concrete Guide to Ultra Luxury Swimming Pools,” shotcrete has long been the preferred choice of the world’s most renowned ultra-luxury pool designers and builders.

Now, a new class of premium vinyl pools has begun to further erode gunite’s hold on the luxury pool image. Our Budd Luxury Vinyl pools, like our Ultra Luxury Shotcrete pools, are built with steel and concrete. Both pools meet and exceed the international pool standards for concrete strength and durability. Both afford luxury designs in multiple shapes and sizes, and both look great.

Feel the difference

The most notable difference between vinyl and gunite is in how the pool surface is finished. The typical vinyl pool finish is, well, a vinyl liner. The typical gunite pool is finished with plaster and may have an additional layer of tile.

Vinyl liner pools are easier to maintain, and chemical treatment costs are lower. Even without the tile, plaster costs more but should last longer than vinyl if properly maintained. Vinyl liner replacement, on the other hand, costs less and gets done faster than re-plastering a pool.

A vinyl pool that looks good

Those who say “gunite pools look better” haven’t seen the premium look of a Budd Luxury Vinyl pool. Even the most experienced will mistake our vinyl pools for gunite. As for how they feel, vinyl liners start smooth and remain smooth for the life of the liner. Plastered gunite pools should feel smooth initially, but they must be carefully maintained to retain a smooth finish.

The Budd Luxury Vinyl pool value proposition

Neither vinyl nor gunite will produce a luxury pool without the expert design and construction of an experienced pool design/build company.

• Initial Luxury Vinyl pool cost: Significantly less cost than a gunite pool of equal size, shape, and design features
• Built-in features of a Luxury Vinyl pool: Many of the same premium features as can be found in our Ultra Luxury Shotcrete pools
  • Sun shelf
  • Elegant pool-wide entry steps
  • Water and fire features
  • Creative and dramatic lighting options
  • Connected spa
  • Luxury custom coping
  • “Looks like gunite” vinyl liners
• Chemical and maintenance cost for a Luxury Vinyl pool: Chemicals and maintenance generally cost less than gunite; vinyl liner replacement costs less than re-plastering a gunite pool
• Time to design, build, maintain, and renew a Luxury Vinyl pool: You save time with every step from initial design to construction, service, and liner replacement, which means more time to enjoy your pool