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Pool Construction in Difficult Ground Conditions

Experience gained from over 30 swimming pools contracts

The difficult clay ground conditions in S and SW France

As you know we are both Civil Engineers and and Civil Engineering education teaches students to be very aware of ground conditions wherever they are. As we have both spent plenty of time in South and South West France we expected to be building pools mainly in rock and some alluvial material in the river valleys.

What we did not appreciate is how the limestone rock in the South and South West of France weathers into clay that is unimaginably difficult to deal with when it is saturated. We also did not realise that the limestone is predominantly covered by a metre or so of this clay just about everywhere.

Neither did we appreciate that the swelling and shrinkage in this layer is as bad - if not worse - than the swelling and shrinkage in the heavy clay soils that are common in England.

In fact just recently the French government has become increasingly concerned about "La Secheresse". This occurs when a long dry period causes clay shrinkage that is damaging more and more French property.

Ground Water also causes Problems

Ground water levels in the limestone rock also fluctuated much more than we expected and we found that problems with high flows of ground water and springs can occur in the most unexpected places.

The Video Contents

We have made this video to provide more information on ground conditions in SW France and to help you put your pool installation contract in place so that the risk of an unexpected problem is reduced.

The video takes you through:-

  • Why the pool buyer should be concerned about Ground Conditions

  • The Geological background and the reasons why the clay is there

  • The experience we have had in dealing with it

  • How it can cause failure in panel wall pools and fibre-glass pool floatation

  • What your contract with the pool installer needs to include to give some protection

  • What you need to do before choosing your pool installation Contractor

PDF files of the Video

Click here to download PDF file of video

The Video

Click below to view the video

Ground Conditions and Pool Installation Video

 

 

 

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Thank you to Bluepools for the lovely swimming pool you have installed for us. We are very pleased with it and this justifies our decision to choose Bluepools to do the installation for us. It has been a great success with our gite clients also, from whom we have had some very complimentary comments.

Best Regards
Kevin & Debbie MILLS

"Blue Pools have done a fabulous job on the pool at our holiday home in Argenton-sur-Creuse. It wasn't easy to instal but they kept us informed of progress and always came up with solutions that overcame the obstacles & ensured we got our dream pool. What I liked most is that they returned to put right a couple of problems with the equipment after the job was done, at no extra cost. The finish is very good and is made to a high standard with very low maintenance. It is great to see such dedication & integrity - I can't speak highly enough of Will, Luke & their staff.

Andrew Campbell"

I appreciated the answers to my questions and the time Luke spent at our initial meeting, going thriough the various options, with helpful suggestions and observations on our plans for our new pool at our holiday home near Tarbres. It was a relief to find a company that was prepared to offer a full construction solution including the terracing, steps and landscaping. I found the quotation very comprehensive, and useful to have an idea of the costs we might incur should ground conditions prove difficult - which they did!! Also appreciated Bluepools ability to overcome the difficulty encountered with the water table.

You were pretty accurate in terms of timescale for completing the project although there was an over run of three days because of the day or two later than advised start, the extra work involved in overcoming the water table issue, and the inclement weather towards the end of the final week.

Having been initially advised by Luke that an engineering project of this scale would undoubtedly create damage to the land surrounding the pool site, we were pleasantly surprised at how little damage had actually been caused.
Overall, very happy with how everything has been handled, and would happily recommend Bluepools - especially now they're going to have a presence down that way.

Kind Regards

Andrew Lund-Yates

I would like to thank you for the way you handled the installations off the two swimming pools for me. You managed to start just after the selected time, proved to be totally reliable and finished in the time frame you had expected. The quality of the work was fine and you left everything neat and tidy after you had finished. I have good relationship with Luke and he has always been available to sort out any teething problems. I would like to wish you all the very best for the future.

Kind Regards Keith Trenter

When working on an old house there are always many unforeseen problems, and, like many other Brits, our house is old. So when it came to putting a swimming pool close to the house it was not surprising to find some complications. Bluepools proved themselves by recognising these complications and coming up with solutions.
Their ability to cope with these extras has made such a difference. Otherwise we would have been chasing around, spending time we really do not have, looking for additional artisans to do those unforeseen bits and pieces.
From the earliest stages, a test hole for the fosse septique soak-away, through to completion of the swimming pool Bluepools products and services have been good which means peace of mind for us."

Peter Butler

Hi Luke,

The pool has been brilliant and we have had an increase in the number of people wanting to visit as a result. But that is something we can put up with!

Caroline Jones - August 2007

Dear Luke

Many thanks to you, Will and the lads for a terrific job, Amanda and I are really pleased with the result.

Tom Dodds 20th June 2008