Contemporary Pool

Sourcing of raw materials starting with pool materials comparison and selecting the best quality materials that would guarantee the parameters of our swimming pools such as durability, longevity or cosmetic details and design features.

Video transcription: 

Anthony Cross: So Paul you’ve mentioned a lot about vinyl ester resins. You tell us that you’ve searched the world, you’ve been to the factories, you’ve sourced out the best product. But I also am aware in my role that you’re bringing these products in, particularly the vinyl ester resin and you’re reformulating them here in Australia before delivering them to our factory. What is important about doing that? Why is that something that you guys do?

Paul Bennet: Ok, well especially with the vinyl ester, we want to make sure that when you get it, it’s as fresh as it can be. So what we do is formulate it to you, we make a specification that suits your application. So we thix and promote it. It comes in un-thixed and un-promoted which means if you put catalyst with it, it wouldn’t go off. So at that stage it can last for a long period of time, maybe eighteen months. But if it had a promoter system in it, then it would only last three months. Then by the time it came on a ship, it may be six weeks old, that is if you used it that day.

As we know because of the amount of material you’re using, you’re using maybe a tonne or more than a tonne of vinyl ester everyday, all of a sudden that material would start to get long in the tooth. We manufacture it so you’ve never got material that is more than two weeks old. It is all mixed, it’s really thoroughly mixed and it doesn’t have time to settle. When it is on the ship, it could settle. Then it needs to be remixed and then it could open the opportunity to have an issue. In your case, you don’t have that opportunity. It’s just always going to be fresh and perfect.

I think it’s important. Ian calls it back to the future. For us, it just seems to work better and I really think that’s a big part of the perfection.

Anthony Cross: It’s about quality control.

Paul Bennet: It is about quality control. It’s what everything is about these days, quality control and risk management.

Anthony Cross: The other advantage of that is that as the seasons change, we’ve got hot weather in summer and we’ve got cooler weather in winter, you can also adjust products to suit the weather conditions too.

Paul Bennet: We can change on a weekly basis. Your guy in the factory, Dan, could ring up and say, can you speed it up a bit or slow it down. We can do that instantly. Then it always fits the climate that you’re operating to.

Anthony Cross: Yes, sure. Look, I appreciate the time you’re taking to talk to us about the technicalities of the business. I know we’re both passionate about what we do. Our focus is to build the best product, your focus is to provide the best raw materials. I think we make a pretty good team in that sense.

Paul Bennet: Give one of the team a call today on 1300 667 445.

Read more about vinyl ester resin and polyester resin pool materials comparison in terms of inherent water resistance and other parameters on our page explaining the tough ceramic core of our swimming pools.

There is an art in building a great fibreglass pool. It requires excellent materials, and Compass Pools uses only the best. Our company uses only high quality vinyl ester resin, which is chemically resistant, top rate glass and a superior gelcoat. It all adds up to producing a pool which will successfully cope with the effects of the environment and chemically treated water over many years. To find out more about why Compass Pool is such a reliable investment, phone us on 1300 667 445.

Video transcription: 

Anthony Cross: Paul, you’ve worked with Compass for quite a few years. I guess it’s fair to say we do things a little differently to a lot of other fibreglass pool manufacturing companies. I know that you’ve spent a fair bit of time with us and your involvement stretches back many years, particularly with Ian Mewett who is the founder and owner of Compass Pools. What can you tell us about that collaboration between you and Ian and how that’s shaped your involvement in our industry and particularly with Compass Pools?

Paul Bennet: Well I’ve been lucky enough to have a good background in the fibreglass industry and obviously many years ago I met Ian. But to answer the first part of your question Anthony, what does Compass Pools do a little bit differently to everyone else? Well they’re very thorough with their production of the pools. I’m sure you’ve got more glass and especially more vinyl ester in the pools than the majority of any other people have got, if not all of them.

For example have a look at your EVEC 300 pool. That basically tells us that it’s got 300 kg of vinyl ester resin in it.

Anthony Cross: That’s right.

Paul Bennet: So I’m pretty confident that no one else has got that much vinyl ester in it. So if you look at the process, you’ve got the best gelcoat, we’ve established that. You then want to have the best tie layer. So you’ve got the best glass and you’ve got the best vinyl ester resin. The base resin is sourced from AOC in America. I believe they’re the best resin company in the world. That’s why we buy it from them. I’ve been there and seen their quality system. So you’ve got the best vinyl ester which you’re using the most of and you’ve got the right resin to glass ratio.

Then one of the big differences that you have compared to other people is you use a material called e-sphere resin. No one else would have a ceramic core pool. You guys have got a ceramic core which obviously doubly helps on chemical resistance but its main reason is core strength. That then tells the story that your pool is a lot thicker than anyone else’s. To my knowledge no one else uses e-sphere resin, certainly not filled with ceramic core. Then you put your back up on the outside which is your ortho layer which is also a good quality material.

The other thing you do differently to everyone else is you have a backup base colour. Over the top of your gelcoat you’ve then got a vinyl ester barrier layer before the vinyl ester resin ceramic core layer. All in all, I think you’d struggle to find a better laminated fibreglass pool.

Anthony Cross: You mentioned vinyl ester quite a bit. Vinyl ester is I guess the main ingredient in ensuring that we build a really good quality chemically resistant pool. I don’t think it’s any secret to those in the industry that it is a much more expensive resin. Hence the reason companies are keen to keep the lid on their costs and be careful of what they’re spending. But it is the most important ingredient, isn’t it? It really isn’t something we should be compromising on.

Paul Bennet: No, if you were going to cut a corner, you certainly wouldn’t cut it on vinyl ester. Certainly you wouldn’t cut it on the quality. One of the main important factors I believe for using the best vinyl ester resin is one, have the best base resin, which you have. Also, have a high solid content. Some of the alternative companies I guess could have trouble wetting out their glass properly because the alternative would be to have a lower solid content. In your case, you have a high solid content but a very easy wet-out resin to make sure the fibres of the glass are wet–out. That is the secret to not getting osmosis. I believe we’re definitely supplying the best materials.

Anthony Cross: So there is a real art in building a high quality fibreglass pool that is going to cope with the effects of weather and the environment and chemically treated water over many, many years. As you point out, the gelcoat, the first surface layer, that is really important. It’s got to be durable, it’s got to have the right colourfast properties. Then you get into the chemically resistant layers like the vinyl ester. That’s what we’re talking about here of course.

It might sound like a technical conversation and there are lots of different layers we have been discussing and different ingredients. But that is all essential at the end of the day in ensuring we have a product that we are proud of, that fits in with our heritage of thirty-five years and that we can provide industry leading warranties on.

Paul Bennet: Yes, I definitely believe you’ve got the best products for the purpose you’re trying to serve. You’re right, you’ve summed it all up with the process of building the fibreglass pool there. You can’t cut any corners. You’ve got to have the best material and I believe you’ve got that. Give one of the team a call today on 1300 667 445.

To build great swimming pools, you need the best materials. Compass Pools’ advanced gelcoat technology, which uses the best base resin and UV stabilisers, ensures your pool will maintain a consistent colour throughout all seasons. Your pool will also have built-in chemical resistance. For more information about how we build our pools, phone 1300 667 445.

Video transcription: 

Anthony Cross: One of the people who is instrumental in the R&D efforts here at Compass Pools Australia particularly with our gelcoat and colour technology is Paul Bennet from Trojan Fibreglass. Paul sources the best raw materials from all over the world and then he carries out his own testing onsite and reformulation. I’m going to ask Paul a few questions about this today.

So Paul, just tell us a little bit about how that works and why it’s so important to get the best raw materials and best result for Compass Pools.

Paul Bennet: Well Anthony, I guess when you talk about the gelcoat technology, there are several things you want to be able to achieve. You want to be able to achieve a fantastic colour and you want to be able to not have any yellowing. So you want it to stay pure for as many years as possible. You also want to have some chemical resistance. I believe with our gelcoat, we’ve covered all those situations.

We’ve made you several different colour ranges that are exclusive to you. I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world and see some of the best resin and gelcoat manufacturers and we believe we’re supplying you the best gelcoat. You get the best base resin, you’ve got the best promoter system, you’ve got the best chips and you’ve got the best UV stablisers. So I believe the gelcoat that we supply you with is definitely the best on the market.

Anthony Cross: I know first hand that you come to our factory regularly. You’re on the factory floor sometimes at 4 am, 5 am with the boys. You’re observing the performance of the materials, the spray patterns and the equipment, that sort of thing. You’re making recommendations and just making sure that everything is working as it should and that you’re on top of what we’re doing. You check on the performance of your materials. That’s obviously the approach you take – a hands on approach.

Paul Bennet:  Yes, I like to get into the factory. I guess I come from a hands-on background. I was a boat builder by trade before I got into the resin business. So I’ve actually used all the materials in my own hands for many years before I did this. So I like to keep an eye on what is going on. I need to make sure the guys are going well, the materials are getting catalysed correctly. Sometimes it’s good in the factory to have another opinion.

Anthony Cross: Yes and the boys respect that I’m sure. You talk their language. They can tell you exactly what they’re experiencing on a day- to-day basis. As you know, things can change so much depending on the conditions on the day, the humidity, the temperature. All of those things can affect what you then need to go back and do to tweak and reformulate.

Paul Bennet: Yes that’s right, we make the materials suit your application. Also your factory is very well set up. It’s got the heaters, it’s all done correctly. The staff you’ve got on the floor do a great job.

Anthony Cross: That’s great to hear. I appreciate the efforts that you make and your involvement in that Paul. Give one of the team a call today on 1300 667 445.

Video transcription: There are many reasons people choose a Compass swimming pool. That’s pretty important when you do my job.

One of the great things about it is that we have a small number of people out there who have soil conditions called reactive soil. One facet of our swimming pools is that they are literally twice as strong as a traditional fibreglass swimming pool and they’re built to ground conditions. Anyone who has done a lot of research on reactive soils and the right product for their place often ends up with a Compass pool.

Another reason people choose Compass pools is for a unique ability to be able to install these pools up out of ground, to put them in some really unusual site conditions that have generally only been the domain of concrete pools.

When you spend some time talking to Compass pools, you’ll soon come to understand that the process for building a Compass pool is totally unique. The product that we have here at Compass is different from anything else that is on the market.

In fact we pioneered a couple of different technologies when it comes to the construction of swimming pools. Those technologies are a really important feature of owning a pool that is going to last in the sense that it is going to be durable and give you something that you’re going to be enjoying potentially for the rest of your life.

Something that we’re excited to offer you and will give you tremendous peace of mind when owning a Compass pool is the warranty. The warranty associated with your Compass pool is totally unique and it is unique in the industry. We can’t wait to talk to you about it if given the opportunity to come out and talk to you.

Another great feature of that warranty is that it is backed by a company, an Australian company, that has been manufacturing swimming pools for thirty-five years with the benefit of being continuously owned by the same family. Give one of the team a call today on 1300 667 445.

Video transcription: One of the great things about Compass Pools and one of the great technological breakthroughs is that we won an Australian Design award for creating a product called Maxi-Ribs. Maxi-Ribs lets us take our unique ceramic core shell and free stand the pool without using retaining walls. What I mean by free standing is a that this pool is not necessarily a pool that is actually inserted into the ground. In some cases that pool may be partially out of the ground, meaning it is above ground, or it might be fully out of the ground. There are many approaches and versatile aspects of actually installing a Maxi-Rib pool. Give one of the team a call today on 1300 667 445.

Learn more about how we use Maxi Rib to build infinity pools.

Why do Compass Pools clients choose a Compass Pool

Video transcription: Another fantastic testament to the Compass pool is that we have a lot of people who are not too far dissociated from the pool industry purchasing a Compass pool. We do a lot of pools for real estate agents. They know the power of introducing a prospective buyer to a house and saying, hey, this pool literally looks after itself.

I’ve had a couple of great experiences working with a few council people this year. They’re choosing their Compass pool for really specific reasons. I put a pool in just recently for the head inspector of one of the local councils here. He’s got an interesting job. He would go out to properties and he would issue them with what is called a final occupation certificate. That usually happens about twelve months after someone has had their pool installed.

Out of self interest, he was building his own home and wanted to install a pool. Every time he went to a property, he said to someone what do you think of your pool? People would say, yes, the kids enjoy it. There is a bit of work associated with it. Then he found someone who owns a Compass pool. Every time he spoke to a Compass pool owner, they’d say, it’s great. We don’t have to do anything. All of a sudden, this particular gentleman thought Compass was the right company for him.

I recently had a great experience working with an MD of a local council. I’d put several pools in for some of his staff and he didn’t know it. I immediately thought, this is how he knows about us.

But when I asked him about why he was installing this Compass pool or even how he found out about us, he said, this house is really important to us. We designed the house and we built the house. We always thought a pool would really complement it but we just weren’t sure. One of the reasons we weren’t sure is we are really only intending to stay here for the next ten to twelve years. So I asked a very good friend of mine to come over and give me their recommendation as to whether or not we should put a pool in.

I said, who was that? Were they a Compass pool owner? He said, actually, they’re not. They were a local real estate agent. She came over and said, I thoroughly recommend that you put in a pool. This type of house commands it and you will get a lot of enjoyment from it. What you do is, you don’t put anything in but a Compass self-cleaning pool.

Wow! That’s pretty exciting for us. That’s pretty much where our technology is today. Give one of the team a call today on 1300 667 445.

Great pool planning advice from the Compass Pools team

Video transcription: Having worked at Compass for a little under ten years now, one of the best pieces of advice I can give anybody considering or looking at putting in a swimming pool is take your time. A swimming pool is generally something that when people are considering putting one in, they’re usually pretty committed to their house. It usually means a long term investment in the property that they currently reside in.

This is not like going out and purchasing a motor car. If you went out and bought a motor car and decided, you know what, I just don’t like this car, there is something wrong with it, you can sell it. You can’t sell your pool without selling your house. So you want to be really careful when you think about all of the different options and all of the different inclusions that you can make part of that swimming pool.

That’s why we really encourage you to come and talk to us. We have tremendous and unique options. There are so many points of difference with a Compass swimming pool that we get pretty excited about it. We’d like to take the time and take you right through and make sure you’re fully equipped with as much information as you need. Often that will result in us getting you out to talk to some of our customers.

So take your time, there is no rush because once it’s in, it’s in for good. Give one of the team a call today on 1300 667 445.

Concrete vs Fibreglass, which is best and why

Video transcription: We’re often asked, what is the difference between a concrete and fibreglass pool? That’s a great question. The one tremendous advantage that concrete has over fibreglass is that you can shape that concrete pool any way you want to shape it. If you want to go round a right hand bend in your yard or so forth, then you can certainly do it. But if there’s a Compass shape that appeals to you, that you certainly think is going to suit your backyard, then the benefits of a fibreglass pool over a concrete pool seriously stack up on the fibreglass side.

Generally fibreglass pools are much quicker and easier to install. This cuts down on both the build time and sometimes some of the associated costs that are unforeseen in relation to concrete pools. This is because of the nature of the job and the fact it is an ongoing building process.

One of the biggest points of dissatisfaction for a lot of people who own a concrete pool is surface finish. When you swim in a Compass pool and you brush up against it or the kids are playing and they get a bit rough in that swimming pool, they’re going to be hitting up against a surface that is glass smooth. It’s a really nice finish on your skin.

Most concrete pools, because of the frightening costs associated with tiling the whole pool, are usually left with a finish that is quite rough and abrasive, like small stones, like a pebble creek or such. That is one aspect that I tend to talk about to a lot of people who’ve owned both, that they’re certainly concerned about.

Talking to people who own concrete pools, they often talk about the fact that they’re much colder than a fibreglass pool. So temperature can certainly be an issue for some people. Another difference between fibreglass and concrete is warranty. When you build a concrete pool, it’s considered construction work. Construction work is covered by a six year building warranty. When we build a Compass pool shell, we’re backing our pool shell with a lifetime warranty that has even got a bigger story than that. I’d encourage you to come and talk to us about it.

The great thing about a fibreglass pool versus a concrete pool is fibreglass pools are much easier to look after. Anyone who has owned a concrete pool and has subsequently owned a fibreglass pool knows the difference. There is more work associated with a concrete pool generally because of a combination of two things. One, most pools suffer from circulation issues and concrete pools generally have a porous surface. So unless you can get your chemicals moving to the very bottom of the pool, if you get algae in that pool which usually starts at the radius and down at the bottom of the concrete pool, it’s very difficult to get out.

A fibreglass pool has an inert smooth surface making it much easier to look after and much less susceptible to algal issues. Give one of the team a call today on 1300 667 445.